Berkley Center

Katherine Marshall, a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, leads the center’s work on religion and global development. She is also a professor of the practice of development, conflict, and religion in the Walsh School of Foreign Service, teaching diverse courses on the ethics of development work and mentoring students at many levels. She helped to create and now serves as the executive director of the World Faiths Development Dialogue, an NGO that works to enhance bridges between different sectors and institutions. In September 2022, she was appointed as a member of the Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid at the U.S. Agency for International Development. Marshall has five decades of experience on a variety of development issues in Africa, Latin America, East Asia, and the Middle East, particularly those facing the world’s poorest countries. She was a World Bank officer from 1971 to 2006, and she led the World Bank’s faith and ethics initiative between 2000 and 2006. Marshall is a member of the Working Group on Child Rights and Family Values and the Working Group on Displaced Persons and Hospitality to the Stranger, both part of the Culture of Encounter Project.

Fathali Moghaddam is professor in the Department of Psychology and a faculty fellow at the Berkley Center. He previously was director of the Conflict Resolution Program in Georgetown's Department of Government. Moghaddam's expertise include culture and intergroup conflict, with a particular focus on the psychology of globalization, radicalization, human rights and duties, and terrorism. His recent publications include The Psychology of Democracy (2015), The Psychology of Dictatorship (2013), Psychology for the Third Millennium (2012, with Rom Harre), The New Global Insecurity (2010), and Multiculturalism and Intergroup Relations: Psychological Implications for Democracy in Global Context (2008), as well as numerous other books, journal articles, and book chapters. He is the editor of Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology. He was awarded the Outstanding International Psychologist Award for 2012 from the American Psychological Association’s Division of International Psychology. He holds a B.A. from the University of Liverpool and M.Sc. and Ph.D from the University of Surrey, England.

Ebrahim Rasool is the former South African ambassador to the United States. His previous positions have included member of parliament in the South African National Assembly, special advisor to the state president of the Republic of South Africa, and premier (governor) of the Western Cape Province. Rasool has a long history of involvement in the anti-apartheid struggle, including leadership in the United Democratic Front and the African National Congress. He has built up extensive experience in government, having led various departments including health, welfare, finance, and economic development. For his contribution to South Africa, Rasool has been the recipient of a number of leadership awards. He is founder of the World for All Foundation, which rethinks the intellectual tools available to Muslims and faith communities and creates cooperative relations between faiths, cultures, and communities at a global level.

Ibrahim Sharqieh is an adjunct assistant professor at Georgetown University in Qatar. He previously taught international conflict resolution at George Washington University’s Elliot School for International Affairs, George Mason University, and the Catholic University of America. Sharqieh has advised numerous international organizations on conflict resolution, mediation, and post-conflict reconstruction processes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), including national reconciliation, refugee repatriation, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, and national dialogue. He has published extensively on conflict resolution in the MENA region, with articles appearing in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the New York Times, and CNN, among other publications. Widely quoted on Middle East politics in Reuters, AFP, and the Associated Press, he is a frequent commentator on news channels, including NPR, CNN, Al Jazeera, and the BBC. He is the author of "A Lasting Peace? Yemen’s Long Journey to National Reconciliation" (2013) and "Reconstructing Libya: Stability Through National Reconciliation" (2013). Sharqieh received his Ph.D. from George Mason University in Conflict Analysis and Resolution.

Scott Taylor is an associate professor and the director of the African Studies program at Georgetown University. His research and teaching interests lie in the areas of African politics and political economy, with a particular emphasis on business-state relations, private sector development, governance, and political and economic reform. His articles have appeared in a number of political science and area studies journals. He is also the author of four books: Politics in Southern Africa: Transition and Transformation (2011, second ed., with Gretchen Bauer); Culture and Customs of Zambia (2006); Business and the State in Southern Africa: The Politics of Economic Reform (2007); and Globalization and the Cultures of Business in Africa: From Patrimonialism to Profit (2012). Taylor has served as consultant for numerous organizations, including USAID, the African Development Bank, the World Bank, and the Carter Center. Taylor has also served as an election observer in several African countries, including Zambia, Nigeria, Mozambique, Ghana, and Liberia.

Charles Villa-Vicencio is a distinguished theologian and leading global authority in matters related to transitional justice and reconciliation. His contributions extend beyond academics: from 1996 to 1998, he played a central role in South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, where he acted as national research director. Villa-Vicencio has used his insight and expertise to advise numerous countries dealing with the challenges of rebuilding their societies after periods of internal strife, including Peru and various African nations. Villa-Vicencio is the author of several books, including A Theology of Reconstruction: Nation-Building and Human Rights (1992) and Civil Disobedience and Beyond: Law, Resistance, and Religion in South Africa (1990). In addition, he has edited or co-edited various volumes, such as Africa Renaissance and Afro-Arab Spring: A Season of Rebirth (2015, with Erik Doxtader and Ebrahim Moosa), and The Provocations of Amnesty: Memory, Justice, and Impunity (2003, with Erik Doxtader).

John Voll is professor emeritus of Islamic history at Georgetown University and past associate director of the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. His areas of expertise include modern Islamic history, Islamic modernism, Islamic social and political movements, the history of Sufism, and Muslim-Christian relations in world history.