Board Members
I have always been incredibly grateful that my parents deemed it important that my life be rooted in a relationship with God and that my faith be nurtured in the Catholic Church. The lifelong journey of faith has allowed for to meet many people with an extraordinary devotion to God. A majority of these persons who have inspired my life have been religious whom have devoted their lives to God in the pattern of the life of St. Francis of Assisi. I too, in my own way, believe that St. Francis’ example is a one that we all can aspire to follow in our service to God.
CSPL has afforded me the opportunity to share my God-given gifts by be being a part of his legion of servants who believe that advocating for fair social justice policies is paramount to be a “delight” in God’s eyes. I truly believe that I am a citizen of the world and that all lives are precious. I delight in being able to get up each day and doing what I enjoy as a businessman. However, my greatest joy is being on a journey with God that is allowing me to share in a common effort of promoting justice for all people in all facets of life.
John DeCostanza is a theologian and minister and the Director of University Ministry at Dominican University in River Forest, IL. John is very proud to be a founding board member of the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership. John received his BA in English from Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, PA. Shortly after graduating, John organized people of faith in San Diego, CA with the Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice as a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and served in prison and parish ministry with the Congregation of Christian Brothers in Chimbote, Perú. John earned a Master’s Degree in Divinity and a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Loyola University Chicago. He has worked in campus ministry at both Cristo Rey Jesuit High School and Saint Ignatius College Prep and walked with some of Chicago’s most marginalized people as a community-based, clinical social worker. John recently earned his Doctorate in Ministry from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, IL where he studied as a Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Scholar. His academic interests include the popular religious and social movements, pedagogies, Catholic higher education, and Latinx theologies. He lives, prays, works, and ministers on the west side of Chicago and the collar suburbs with his partner Susan and their three children.
Arturo Gonzalez currently serves as the Ministry Coordinator for the Claretian Missionaries and the Claretian Bible Institute. From 2006 through 2013 he was a Citizenship Coordinator and a Community Organizer with the Interfaith Leadership Project in Cicero, IL and during this time he organized with Catholic parishes across Chicago to engage in social justice work and held many workshops and trainings on Catholic Social Teaching and community organizing. Between 2013 and 2015 he worked with the United We Can Initiative to continue his work with Catholic parishes by developing programs that helped to support immigration integration across the region. Beginning in 2015 Arturo served as a Pastoral Migratoria organizer with the Office of Human Dignity and Solidarity through the Archdiocese of Chicago. Arturo is a widely respected Catholic leader across the Chicago region and he’s been involved with CSPL’s Immigration Committee since early 2020.
Sue Ross joined the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership at its founding at the Quinn Center at St. Eulalia Church in Maywood in May 2017. Before CSPL’s first meeting, Sue learned political organizing when she worked from 2011 -2012 for the re-election campaign of President Barack Obama. Following that experience, Sue reflected on the power of organizing in drawing people together to achieve a common goal that seems beyond our reach. The prospect of using organizing to chip away at poverty, racism, and social injustice excited her and prompted her to sign on with CSPL as a member of the Immigration Committee.
Since then, Sue has served at CSPL as a Co-Leader of the Immigration Committee, as a board member, and as treasurer. Sue is proud of the growth of our organization, and of the actions CSPL has completed in three short years. She enjoys meeting new people and planning the means to address inequities. At this writing (February 12, 2020), CSPL’s Census committee is engaged in informing residents throughout Proviso Township about the importance of responding to the 2020 Census. If they succeed in reaching a high census count for Maywood and surrounding municipalities, they will be responsible for bringing millions of Federal Dollars to the community to use for improvement projects for roads, bridges, and schools. In addition, CSPL has created the Safety & Violence Prevention Committee which has improved the safety of children on their way to and from middle school, and CSPL now has a full-time organizer developing worker cooperatives. The spirit of God is with us!
In her personal life, Sue is the mother of four adult children who live independently. Her family is a refugee from Iraq, which has deeply inspired her work on the immigration committee. She and her husband Bob have been married for more than thirty years. They consider themselves cradle Catholics and have raised our children as Catholics. Sue’s work with CSPL is founded in her enduring belief that people are on earth to love one another and that we all must endeavor to create God’s kingdom while we live.
Faith is an Executive Vice President with SEIU HCII and has been a member of CSPL since 2021. She has been a dedicated leader of CSPL's Western Suburban table for several years and has deep roots in the Western Suburbs. She is passionately committed to worker's rights and organizing alongside grassroots leaders to work for social, racial and economic justice.
Over a span of thirty years, my work experiences always landed me in some form of social service. As a social worker in the areas of adult Corrections, child foster care, mental health, and developmental disability, I have been exposed to a variety of situations that have brought a broad understanding of how social justice issues affect the human condition. In each area, I was exposed to the many societal circumstances that left many people on the margins of our society and deemed to be of little importance to the masses. We are all called to be agents of change to assure that our society has leveled the playing field so that equality is at the heart of our daily actions.
I heartily embrace the mission of CSPL and hope to impact the lives of those left behind in a world that is filled with so many challenges with regard to equity in opportunity. I am delighted to be a part of this organization as it strives to address the world’s iniquities … issue by issue.
Sr. Francetta Glowinski is a Wheaton Franciscan who loves to be with family; to be in Nature, especially near water; to take pictures, especially candids, closeups, shadows, and reflections; to enjoy and create stories, especially with little children; to find humor wherever possible. She is owned by a rescue cockatiel named Smokey Bertie Francis. Is retired from teaching science K through college; from retreat work and from University and Hospital chaplaincies. She now works most days in various Wheaton Franciscan ministries helping women, children, and men in vulnerable situations. Fran came to CSPL because the Holy Spirit Loves for us to work for peace through justice and deepening relationships.
Paloma Garcia-Lopez is the associate director of the Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame. In her role, Garcia-Lopez manages and oversees all of the activities and staff of the institute. Garcia-Lopez focuses on enhancing annual programming, special events, communications, fundraising, and budgeting. She is a central figure in the development of a strategic plan to support scholarly initiatives in Latino studies as a key component of Notre Dame’s academic mission. At the College of Arts and Letters level, she serves as a Diversity Catalyst. Additionally, she serves as the president of AdelanteND: Latinx Staff and Faculty Association, an employee resource group sponsored by the human resources department.
Prior to her position at the university, Paloma served as the inaugural executive director of the Maker Education Initiative where she launched a national organization at the Clinton Global Initiative-America conference, established the board of directors, secured multi-year corporate and foundation support, and executed four national programs impacting 100,000 educators annually. She worked closely with the founder of MakerMedia to realize his vision as part of President Obama's Educate to Innovate Campaign. Preceding her work at MakerEd, Garcia-Lopez served as director of the Posse Foundation site in Washington, D.C., a national college access and leadership development organization recognized by President Obama and the Catalogue for Philanthropy. She became engrossed in nonprofit management as the development director of Future Leaders of America, Inc., the country's premier Latino youth leadership organization. Since 2007, she has extensive experience consulting and training nonprofit boards and executive directors in best practices for sustainability.
Paloma started her career stuffing envelopes and filing news clippings as a student assistant at the United Farm Workers union in La Paz, California at 9 years old, where her parents worked for Cesar E. Chavez. Her family relocated to the pacific northwest for the third great Grape Boycott before settling in Ventura County, California, serving the Mexican immigrant population in various capacities (doing "papeles," teatro Chicano, and folkloric dance) in the citrus and strawberry capitals of the world.
Paloma Garcia-Lopez is a graduate of Stanford University and the Stanford Graduate School of Education. She co-authored Learning to Teach For Social Justice, published in 2002 by Teachers College Press-Columbia University, with Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond and Jennifer French. At the time she was a credentialed social studies teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Currently, Paloma is the board treasurer of the Community Science Workshop Network, a STEAM organization serving low-income families across the state of California. She serves on the board of the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership based in Chicago. In 2021, she joined the Advisory Council of the Indiana chapter of Proteus, Inc. She resides in South Bend with her husband and three children.
Rita joined CSPL just before COVID with a shared mission to help communities working for social justice, with a great appreciation of diversity in its members and spiritually-rooted way of serving. Rita earned a Master of Social Work from Loyola University. She has lived, worked, and served in marginalized communities for over 35 years. She has worked as a school social worker in Chicago and suburbs and served in various youth ministry roles in several Chicago Latino parish communities. She was the founding Program Director of a national non-profit organization serving 12 to 18 year-old youth assessment and short-term residential program. She continues to volunteer and server marginalized communities in various forms, including serving on the Board of Directors in non-profit organization with a focus on service to immigrant women. Rita loves intimate and extended family gatherings, cooking, and reading. She lives with her husband of over 25 years and young adult daughter and son.
Joyce Lane has held leadership positions in a variety of healthcare and university settings to include Howard University, Rush University, and Chicago State University. She has worked as a Senior Public Service Administrator for the State of Illinois Division of Mental Health with oversight responsibilities for statewide staff training, cultural competence initiatives and consultation for rehabilitation hospital services. She was honored as an early recipient of a Kellogg National Leadership Fellowship. She was honored in 2017 by the American Occupational Therapy Association with being selected as one of 100 Influential Persons during its Centennial Year celebration. During her retirement, Joyce has maintained her professional service with Access Living Inc., a Chicago based disability advocacy organization. Joyce is also a member of Our Lady of Africa’s Social Justice Committe.
I am a Clinical Associate Professor at Loyola University Chicago (since 2013) and the Interim Dean of Loyola’s Institute of Pastoral Studies (IPS). I grew up in North Texas (Ft. Worth), worked on my parent’s farm, studied business at Texas Christian University, and briefly operated my own business before deciding to return to school to pursue theology and ministry formation. I completed the Master of Theological Studies degree at TCU and then the Ph.D. (Catholic Moral Theology and Social Ethics) at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX. I convinced an extraordinary woman named Jennifer to marry me in 1999 and we have two wonderful girls (one in high school and one in college).
Walking with our students at IPS as they form themselves for service and ministry as chaplains, licensed counselors, community organizers, spiritual directors, youth ministers, and many more is a dream come true for me. I am committed to the process of encounter, listening, and shared discernment for action as a pedagogy and a way to catalyze the work of the Spirit in people’s lives, and their lives in community. I am thrilled to be a part of the CSPL board and appreciate the opportunity to serve with such extraordinary people and contribute with this kind of work in a new way and in a new context!
Pablo Montalvo is a first generation Latino who graduated from Dominican University and was CSPL's very first intern in 2017. He is currently a tax accountant who works in public accounting. He is also dedicated to helping his community as an organizer who is committed to acting for social change and justice.
Dan Rhodes is Associate Clinical Professor and Coordinator of Contextual Education at Loyola University Chicago's Institute of Pastoral Studies. He is also a cofounder of The Black Mountain School of Theology & Community. His work and interests focus on faith-based community organizing, congregational development, political theology, and public theological education.