Berkley Center

Judd Birdsall is assistant professor of the practice in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Georgetown University, where he is also a senior fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs and the project director of the Transatlantic Policy Network on Religion and Diplomacy (TPNRD). In addition, he is a senior advisor on the religion and peacebuilding team at the United States Institute of Peace. From 2011 to 2020 Birdsall was based at Cambridge University, where he earned his Ph.D., founded a research center on religion and international studies, and served as an affiliated lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Studies. Prior to his time at Cambridge, he served in the U.S. State Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom and on the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff. Birdsall is the editor of Religion & Diplomacy, and his work has appeared in the Washington Post, Foreign Policy, Guardian, Huffington Post, Christianity Today, and Religion & Politics. He is also a senior editor and a frequent contributor at the Review of Faith & International Affairs.

Stephen Offutt is a leading expert on religion and gangs in Central America and a non-resident fellow at Baylor University's Institute of Studies for Religion. His books include Blood Entanglements: Evangelicals and Gangs in El Salvador (2023) and New Centers of Global Evangelicalism in Latin America and Africa (2015). He previously taught at Asbury Theological Seminary and is the founder of Empower Transformation, which equips Christian development professionals to pursue holistic mission with excellence and integrity. Offutt received his B.A. from Wheaton College, M.A. from Johns Hopkins University, and his Ph.D. from Boston University.

Mary Speck is a former senior advisor for the Latin America Program at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) and a non-resident senior fellow at the Inter-American Dialogue. Prior to joining USIP, Speck served as executive director of the Western Hemisphere Drug Policy Commission and directed the International Crisis Group’s Mexico and Central America Project. Speck holds a Ph.D. in history from Stanford University and a B.A. from Bryn Mawr College.