The Reverend Doctor Kahli C. Mootoo is the Pastor of The Historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in New York City. Dr. Mootoo received his BA degree from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Government and Public Administration in 1996. In May of 2006, Dr. Mootoo graduated from New York Theological Seminary with the degree of Master of Divinity and was ordained an Itinerant Elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Finally, in 2013, Dr. Mootoo graduated from the New York Theological Seminary’s MICAH program and earned a Doctor of Ministry degree in Social Justice and Community Organizing. Dr. Mootoo has also served as the pastor of Mt. Pisgah AME Church (Harlem), Bright Temple AME Church (Bronx), Bethel AME Church (Far Rockaway), Bethel AME Church (Arverne) and founded Love United AME Church (Bronx).


Presently, Dr. Mootoo is the Vice President & Co-Founder of the 400 Foundation. As political advocates, this “Moral Movement for Economic Equality” engages in lobbying activities around economic justice for people of color. Specifically, Dr. Mootoo focuses on small business development, job training and real estate ownership for people of the diaspora. Dr. Mootoo also serves as the Vice President of 400 Forward, the 501(c)3 arm of the 400 Family of Organizations, which works to initiate grassroots programs, including community collaborations and CBO joint ventures, to impact the real life of people on the community level.

Dr. Mootoo is also the Vice President of Governmental Relations for AL Consulting Group. In this capacity,  Dr. Mootoo facilitates public relations between elected officials; governmental funding agencies and AL Consulting clients with a focus on grant and bid procurement, MWBE compliance, and advocacy for increased minority owned business participation and capacity building. Dr. Mootoo also engages in business development, providing small minority, women and veteran owned business with access to procurement opportunities in the construction industry and government contracting.

Dr. Mootoo is an entrepreneur with tentacles in many different business genres. Dr. Mootoo began his career in financial services, earning a Series 7 and Series 63 financial license. He continues on that path as the Director of Gideon’s Army, a faith-based investment portfolio focused on long-term growth for church endowment. As the President & CEO of Mootoo, Inc., an ecumenical development consulting group, Dr. Mootoo brokers relationships between developers and faith/community groups to leverage land equity to provide affordable and market rate housing development. The firm is also a holding company for the many business ventures associated with Dr. Mootoo’s consultant work and business endeavors including The Oliver Construction Company, a small contracting firm focused on affordable repair and remodeling of houses of worship and small homes.


On a social level Dr. Mootoo is the former President of the Bronx Chapter of the National Action Network. In this capacity, Dr. Mootoo coordinated and organized NAN’s work around social justice and community organizing in the Bronx. Dr. Mootoo has also served in varied capacities in the field of HIV education and politically advocacy with the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS (NBLCA), a consultant for Watchful Eye, and Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement. In these positions Dr. Mootoo educated community members and facilitated social, ecumenical and public policy advocacy resulting in the allocation of public funds to CBO’s and Faith Institutions for HIV/AIDS outreach and education. Dr. Mootoo was also a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention certified Facilitator and Trainer of Trainers for several DEBI Interventions (Diffusion of Effective Behavioral Intervention), and an expert HIV 101 trainer to faith communities and clergy. Dr. Mootoo also served as the Coordinator of Religious & Cultural Education at the Jewish Child Care Association where he counseled youth in residential treatment foster care for 16 years.


Dr. Mootoo is a proud Brother of the Jersey City Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity
Incorporated. As a member, Dr. Mootoo works diligently every day to maintain the organization’s motto of “Achievement In Every Field Of Human Endeavor.” But above all of these, the true passion of Dr. Mootoo’s life is his family. Dr. Mootoo is married to the lovely Dr. Malissa F. Mootoo, and has 5 beautiful daughters, Barbara 28, Malina 14, Mailana 12, Mahlia 10 and Maeliya 7.