Dr. Thomas Banchoff – moderador

He is the Vice President for Global Engagement at Georgetown and Director of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. He holds a Ph.D. in politics from Princeton University. He became the founding director of the Berkley Center in 2006. He joined Georgetown’s Department of Government in 1993 and the university’s School of Foreign Service in 2000.

Professor Banchoff is also the author or editor of six books, including Religious Pluralism, Globalization, and World Politics (Oxford University Press, 2008) and Religion and the Global Politics of Human Rights (Oxford University Press, 2011).

Fr. Luis Arriaga, SJ

A Jesuit priest, legal scholar, and esteemed academic leader, Father Arriaga has devoted his professional life to the defense and advancement of human rights within his native Mexico. Currently serving as the President of the Universidad Iberoamericana (IBERO) in Mexico City, his extensive leadership also includes presidencies of ITESO Jesuit University in Guadalajara and the Association of Jesuit Universities in Latin America.

Dra. Azul Aguiar

Azul A. Aguiar Aguilar is a full-time professor at ITESO, the Jesuit University of Guadalajara and a lecturer at the University of Guadalajara in Mexico. Since 2014, she has been recognized as a member of the National System of Researchers of Secihti, level II (2025-2029). Her research interests include comparative judicial politics and democratization processes.

She is the author of the book "Legal Culture, Sociopolitical Origins, and Professional Careers of Judges in Mexico" (Palgrave 2024). She is an ex-officio member of the executive committee of the International Political Science Association (2023-2025) and president of the Mexican Association of Political Science (2023-2025).

Dr. Phillip Arnold P. Tuaño

Dean Ateneo School of Government. He holds a PhD (2015) and MA (2001) in Economics from the University of the Philippines Diliman. He also has an MA in Development Economics (1996) from the University of Sussex. He obtained his AB Economics from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1989.

He is also actively involved in external networks as Project Coordinator for the Human Development Network (2015 – present), and as Acting Coordinator for the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Philippine Chapter (2016 – present). His research in economics, trade, and development, coupled with his extensive work experience and diverse leadership roles in and outside the University, prepared him in leading the School of Government.

Dr. Paul Newman

He studied at St Joseph's College and got his doctorate degree from Bangalore University, has researched extensively on 'Internal Displacement and Human Rights Situation in Northern Sri Lanka' and is also a lawyer specialising in Human Rights, his main area of interest being war crimes.

Fr. Matthew Carnes, SJ

He is an associate professor in the Department of Government and in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. His research examines the dynamics of labor and social welfare policy in developing and middle-income countries.

A specialist on Latin America, he has conducted extensive field research in Argentina, Peru, Chile, and Bolivia, and he has worked on development projects in Honduras, Mexico, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Ecuador. He is the author of Continuity Despite Change: The Politics of Labor Regulation in Latin America (Stanford University Press, 2014), and numerous journal articles.

Dra. Sonia Alonso Saenz

She is a professor at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar. She was a researcher at the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB) from 2004 to 2014. She has been a doctoral fellow at the Juan March Institute since 1998. Between 1998 and 2004, she taught and conducted research at the University of Salamanca, Carlos III University of Madrid, the General Gutiérrez Mellado University Institute (UNED), St. Antony's College at the University of Oxford, and Royal Holloway College at the University of London.

Her research interests include political decentralization and nationalist conflict; political parties, particularly nationalist and regionalist parties; democratization processes and the quality of democracy; and methods for the content analysis of political texts.

Her latest book is Challenging the State: Devolution and the Battle for Partisan Credibility (Oxford University Press, 2012). She is a member of the Regional Manifestos Project research team.

Fr. Elias Opongo, SJ

Dr. Elias Omondi Opongo, S.J., a Jesuit priest, is the director of Hekima Institute of Peace Studies and International Relations (HIPSIR) and the regional coordinator of the Africa Forum for Catholic Social Teaching. Elias holds a Ph.D. in Peace and Conflict Studies from University of Bradford, UK and M.A. in International Peace Studies from University of Notre Dame.

His research focus is in the areas of transitional justice and post conflict reconstruction, state building and community peacebuilding. He has published books, book chapters and articles including, among others, books titled: (2006) Making Choices for Peace: Aid Agencies in Field Diplomacy; (2007) Faith Doing Justice: A Manual for Social Analysis, Catholic Social Teaching and Social Justice; (2008) Peace Weavers: Methodologies of Peacebuilding in Africa; (2014) Catholic Leadership in Peacebuilding in Africa.