Berkley Center

Dr. Odeh Al-Jayyousi is currently the head of innovation and technology management at Arabian Gulf University in Bahrain. He previously worked as an independent international consultant in energy, water, and environment and served as vice president for science and research at the Royal Scientific Society, Jordan. Dr. Al-Jayyousi holds a Ph.D. in urban planning and policy analysis from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Thomas Banchoff is director of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs and serves as vice president for global engagement at Georgetown University, where he is a professor in the Department of Government and the Walsh School of Foreign Service.

Dr. Willis Jenkins is Hollingsworth Professor of Ethics and chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia (UVA). He co-directs three transdisciplinary projects at UVA, each involving arts, sciences, and humanities in the study of environmental change: the Coastal Futures Conservatory, Sanctuary Lab, and the Water Justice team of the Water Futures Initiative. Jenkins is the author of two award-winning books on the intersections of religious and environmental thought, along with many essays on environmental ethics.

Sevim Kalyoncu is the executive director of Green Muslims. She is involved with multiple local climate action groups and dedicated to helping educate youth about the importance of environmental awareness for spiritual, mental, and physical well-being. She holds a B.S. from Georgetown University and a master’s degree from the University of Chicago and has many years of nonprofit experience.

Dr. Laurel Kearns is professor of ecology, society, and religion at Drew University in New Jersey, where she has taught since 1994. Her research is focused on religious involvement in ecological issues and movements, with a particular interest in environmental justice, climate change, and food. She is a co-founder of the Green Seminary Initiative and serves on the board of the Parliament of World Religions.

Dr. Fachruddin M. Mangunjaya is associate professor at the School of Graduate Program Universitas Nasional and the chairman of the Centre for Islamic Studies Universitas Nasional in Jakarta. He is the author of 30 books and chapters and several scientific publications. Dr. Mangunjaya has extensive experience in the “eco-pesantren” system (Malay environmental religious schools) and is one of the leading environmental activists in the Muslim world.

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; one way she shares her expertise is through her blog Faith in Action. 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.

Safwan M. Masri is dean of Georgetown University in Qatar and distinguished professor of the practice at Georgetown’s Walsh School of Foreign Service. Prior to joining Georgetown in October 2022, Masri was executive vice president for global centers and global development at Columbia University, where he was also a senior research scholar at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs.