Our Team

Rev. Dr. Neddy Astudillo, a Venezuelan-American, is a Presbyterian pastor and eco-theologian who has taught eco-theology at theological seminaries in Bolivia, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, and the United States.For fourteen years Rev. Dr. Astudillo served Parroquia San Jose, a joint ELCA and PCUSA Spanish speaking congregation in Beloit, WI. Rev. Dr. Astudillo co-founded the Angelic Organics Learning Center, a farm-based nonprofit helping urban and rural people build local food systems in northern Illinois. She is the Latinx and Latin America Organizing and Training Coordinator at Greenfaith, a part-time role she will continue as she works part-time for the Center for Climate Justice and Faith. Neddy earned her Doctor of Ministry in “Greening the Church” from Drew University and her Master in Divinity from McCormick Theological Seminary.

nastudillo@plts.edu

Sarah Berg (she/her) serves as the Assistant Director of the PLTS Center for Climate Justice and Faith. Prior to joining the team at the Center, Sarah was the Development Director at Interfaith Power & Light for seven years. During her time at IPL, Sarah led the communications team, organized in-person and online events, managed institutional giving, and built relationships with major donors.

Sarah got her start in faith-based organizing as an intern at the Faith Alliance for a Moral Economy in Oakland, CA and then working with SHARE EL Salvador where she witnessed the devastating impacts of a warming climate firsthand. She is an active member of the University Lutheran Chapel in Berkeley, CA and resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and two young children.

sarahberg@plts.edu

Cynthia Moe-Lobeda (she/her), Professor of Theological and Social Ethics, holds a joint appointment at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and Church Divinity School of the Pacific. She is a member of the Core Doctoral Faculty of the Graduate Theological Union. Dr. Moe-Lobeda has lectured or consulted in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Australia, and many parts of North America in theological ethics addressing matters of moral agency and hope, climate justice as related to race and class, economic globalization, public church, faith-based resistance to systemic injustice, eco-feminism, and ethical implications of resurrection and incarnation. She is author or co-author of six volumes and over 50 articles and chapters. Her Resisting Structural Evil: Love as Ecological-Economic Vocation won a Nautilus Book Award. Moe-Lobeda’s ethical approach weds Earth ethics to liberation theologies including eco-feminist theology.

cmoelobeda@plts.edu

Maureen Okasinski (she/her)  integrates academic rigor with practical, community-led practices in her work.  She has 20 years experience in leadership, program development, research, design and evaluation, grant writing and management, budget management, and direct practice. This includes nine years of social work teaching, fourteen years of social work practice and six years in consulting. She currently teaches at the University of Michigan, where she earned an MSW

Meghan Sobocienski (she/her) is a Co-Founder and  Director of Grace in Action Collectives in Southwest Detroit. Meghan spent five years as a Community Organizer with the PICO (Faith in Action Network), and five years working as a Co-Organizer for the Organizing for Mission Cohort (Network) through the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Through this work Meghan guided congregational leaders to utilize their land, financial, and community resources to create social justice projects in their communities. Meghan has an MDiv. from PLTS  in Berkeley CA and is an ordained Deacon in the ELCA.

Bianca Vazquez (she/her) is the Program Director at Beloved Community Incubator in Washington, DC. Neighborhood listening sessions led to her engagement with small micro-business projects with local residents, which led to the founding of BCI. Bianca is trained in community organizing by the Industrial Areas Foundation, Faith in Action Network, and Gamaliel Network. She works in Washington, DC, where she has shaped the creation of mutual aid disaster response networks and led worker campaigns for almost a decade.