Our Team
Staff
Kathleen Bonnette, Academic Program Manager
Kathleen Bonnette is the Assistant to the Director and Events Coordinator at the Center on Faith and Justice. She also teaches theology here at Georgetown. Bonnette holds a Th.D. from La Salle University, and her focus areas include moral theology, Catholic social thought, Augustinian spirituality, and ecofeminism. She was the 2022 Imbesi Fellow at Villanova University’s Augustinian Institute and recently served as the Assistant Director of the Office of Justice, Peace, & Integrity of Creation for the School Sisters of Notre Dame, Atlantic-Midwest Province. Bonnette is the author of (R)evolutionary Hope: A Spirituality of Encounter and Engagement in an Evolving World, and you can find her scholarly writing in sources such as the Journal of Moral Theology and the Journal of Catholic Social Thought; for public opinion pieces, look for her by-line in America: The Jesuit Review, U.S. Catholic, and Millennial.
Jim Simpson, Executive Director
Jim Simpson has served as the executive director of the Center on Faith and Justice at Georgetown University since its creation in 2021. Before joining Georgetown, he served as political director at Sojourners, a Christian advocacy organization focused on social justice issues. Prior to joining Sojourners, he served as a legislative aide to Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and as a legislative correspondent on the Democratic staff of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship following an internship in the office of Senator Mark Warner (D-VA). Before his work in the Senate, he spent time in Kerala, India, through the Young Adult Volunteer Program (YAV) through the U.S. Presbyterian Church. Simpson is a member of the Working Group on Child Rights and Family Values, part of the Culture of Encounter Project.
Jim Wallis, Faculty Director
Jim Wallis is a writer, teacher, preacher and justice advocate who believes the gospel of Jesus must be emancipated from its cultural and political captivities. He is a New York Times bestselling author, public theologian, preacher and commentator on ethics and public life.
He is the inaugural holder of the Chair in Faith and Justice and the founding Director of the Georgetown University Center on Faith and Justice. In 2022, Washingtonian magazine named Wallis one of the 500 most influential people shaping policy in DC.
Raised in a Midwestern evangelical family, as a teenager Wallis questioned the racial segregation in his church and community, which led him to the Black churches and neighborhoods of inner-city Detroit. He spent his student years involved in the civil rights and antiwar movements at Michigan State University.
He is the founder of Sojourners, and is the author of 12 books, including America’s Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to America; God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get it; The Great Awakening; The Call to Conversion; and Christ in Crisis: Reclaiming Jesus in a Time of Fear, Hate, and Violence; and host of the popular podcast The Soul of the Nation.
He served on President Obama’s White House Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships and has taught faith and public life courses at Harvard and Georgetown University. He also serves as a Research Fellow at the Georgetown University Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs. Wallis has previously taught at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and was awarded an honorary doctorate in humane letters from Georgetown University in 2007 when he gave the college commencement address.
“Coach Jim” also served for 22 seasons as a Little League coach for his two baseball playing sons.
Graduate Assistants
Uendjii Black
Uendjiundja Black is a 30 year old, first year Masters in Development Policy student from Namibia. Her prior academic pursuits through the University of Cape Town focused on Organizational Psychology and Social Policy & Management, which in turn influenced her to see politics and the outcomes of political activities through the lens of organizational behavior and strategic human capital management.
Her interests include:
• Promoting civic engagement and political participation, particularly among
professionals and young people
• How governments and political parties employ human capital strategies to improve
governance and public sector performance
• The impacts of colonization and neo-colonization on foreign policy and multilateral
organization
• Poverty eradication
• Labour
Prior to joining McCourt she worked as a Parliamentary Research Consultant come Project Assistant for a non-profit political foundation, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung. This followed her time at Namibia Institute for Democracy, where she worked as a Project Consultant.
Uendjiundja sees a future working for the African Union, and/or the Office of the President and/or Planning Commission in Namibia and eventually aspires to being a member of the National Assembly in Namibia.
Brennan Gallagher
Originally from New York City, I attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison where I received a BS in Legal Studies and minors in Criminal Justice and Public Policy. After graduating in 2022, I spent the last two years working as a data analyst with Aon’s Global Reinsurance Clients team in London. I am excited to be back in the States and living in DC, working towards my MPP and MBA at Georgetown! My policy interests center around criminal justice policy, and in particular how to prevent teens and young adults from becoming involved with the criminal justice system.
Alison Taetzsch
Alison Taetzsch earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations with a minor in Spanish at Wheaton College (Il.) and also completed a term at the University of Oxford in history, race, and gender studies. She then honed messaging skills as an independent copywriter for international disaster relief and nonprofit fundraising. A year of writing work positioned her to orchestrate fundraising support at an international microfinance organization, strategizing top donor engagement with fundraisers.
Currently, she is pursuing a Master of Public Policy degree at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University. She completed an internship at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities last summer and works to promote rigorous analysis and bias reduction as the Director of Partnerships at the McCourt Migration and Refugee Policy Initiative and as the McCourt Co-Chair at the Conflict Transformation Lab.
Student Fellows
Walwala Bashir, MIDP ’26
I am Walwala Bashir, a solution-oriented advocate dedicated to advancing justice and development in my home province, Balochistan. With a focus on transformative change, my work spans policy analysis aimed at bridging the education gap for out-of-school children and enhancing Pakistan’s export potential. I am deeply committed to community service, engaging in discussions that promote inclusive development. I have led impactful initiatives, such as increasing Afghan refugee enrollment and optimizing waste management systems in Quetta , all with a focus on empowering marginalized communities. As a collaborative leader, I build meaningful networks and foster dialogues that bring diverse perspectives to drive sustainable local solutions.
Elana Elder, Biochemistry ’26
Elana is a Junior in the College of Arts and Sciences majoring in Biochemistry and minoring in History. Outside of academics, Elana is on the Women’s Openweight Rowing Team, is a member of the Georgetown Pep Band, and is an editor of Georgetown’s all-student run humanities journal, Utraque Unum.
Margaret Green, Government ’25
I am a Government major and History minor with a passion for policy, history, and justice. Currently, I work as a Research Assistant at the McCourt School of Public Policy’s Edunomics Lab, tracking developments in education finance. I also volunteer at the King County Bar Association’s Neighborhood Legal Clinic in my home state of Washington. As I approach graduation this year, I am eager to continue my studies in the legal field, with a focus on advancing social justice through public policy and legal reform.
Aamir Jamil, Government and Philosophy ’27
I’m a sophomore in the College studying Government and Philosophy with a minor in Spanish. Originally from New Jersey, I enjoy reading, biking, and playing the clarinet. I’m most excited to explore how faith and politics can influence each other.
Jina Lee, Sociology & Government ’26
Jina is a Junior in the College, pursuing a double major in Government and Sociology. She is excited to join the CFJ fellowship program in the spring semester 2025. She is also participating in the CALL program and is eager to contribute to her internship at the Father McKenna Center in downtown DC. Her passion for housing justice was ignited through her experiences with Habitat for Humanity and the GU HOME program. In addition to housing justice, Jina is keenly interested in the complexities of population dynamics—specifically the decline and aging populations—and migration issues. She is committed to expanding her perspectives and deepening her understanding of various topics through engaging in CFJ’s discussions, reflections, and her capstone project.
Nicholas Mensah, MIDP ’26
Nicholas Mensah is a medical doctor and environmental sustainability advocate dedicated to advancing health equity and social justice through public service and policy advocacy. He is the founder of Youth Network for Health Promotion, a non-profit based in Ghana that empowers youth as health promoters, earning him recognition as one of Ghana’s “100 Most Impactful Changemakers” in both 2022 and 2023. Currently, Nicholas is pursuing a master’s in international development policy at Georgetown University, specializing in health and environmental policy. He also serves as a Justice Graduate Intern at Georgetown’s Center for Social Justice and has been selected as a Spring 2025 Fellow at the Center for Faith & Justice. Nicholas’ selfless commitment to creating a healthier, more equitable world drives and inspires his impactful work in advocacy and leadership.
Emma Mitchell, MPP-EP ’27
Emma is a first-year master’s of public policy evening program student. Full-time, she works as a research assistant at the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA). Before coming to Georgetown, she did her undergraduate in Religious Studies at Loyola University Chicago, and did a volunteer year of service at a social service center in DC through the Capuchin friars. Emma has been involved in environmental education and advocacy in Catholic spaces, and is most interested in how communities can implement the teachings of Integral Ecology, and how to build and tend community structures that spread wellbeing and security in our current, precarious times.