Our Team

Staff Members

JOANNA ARELLANO-GONZALEZ - DIRECTOR OF TRAINING AND SPIRITUAL & THEOLOGICAL FORMATION

Joanna Arellano-Gonzalez is a first-generation Mexicana-American, born and raised in La Villita, Chicago. She is the Director of Spiritual and Theological Formation at CSPL. In addition to being a co-founder and founding board member of the Coalition for Spiritual & Public Leadership, she was a founding board member and Board President of The Co-Op Ed Center, a worker cooperative incubator dedicated to helping build cooperatives with communities of color in Chicago. 

She formerly worked at the Archdiocese of Chicago in the Office for Peace & Justice, and later in the labor movement for five years leading communications and press strategy at a local and national level.

Joanna received her Masters in Christian Spirituality at Fordham University, with a concentration in Spiritual Direction. She works to center mujerista/womanist, queer, indigenous, and liberation theologies and spiritualities. As an artist, Joanna centers her embroidery and beading practice around honoring her culture, familia, and spirituality.

Email: joanna@csplaction.org

She is particularly passionate about workers’ rights and access to effective mental healthcare and support.

She earned her B.A. in Communication Studies from Loyola University Chicago. She is on the boards for Chicago Fair Trade and the Development Leadership Consortium.

Bethany grew up in Southwest Michigan, and is a world traveler who has spent significant time in Mexico, Guatemala, and Colombia.

Email: bethany@csplaction.org

SR. LESLIE DAO - COMMUNITY ORGANIZER

Sr. Leslie Dao is the Community Organizer of the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership (CSPL). Her previous work experience with refugees and immigrants focused on disseminating information regarding community resources to empower them to become self-sufficient and to acclimate to American society. 

She possesses a BA in Sociology and a BS in Social Work. She is in the process of becoming a member of the Sisters of Providence at St. Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana. Her congregation is dedicated to the work of love, mercy, and justice. She has a passion for the arts and spends her time doing arts and crafts.

Sister Leslie was born and raised in Southern Vietnam.

Email: leslie@csplaction.org

SUSAN HURLEY - DEPUTY DIRECTOR

Susan Hurley is a passionate organizer for workers rights and economic, social and racial justice. Born and raised in Rockford, IL, Susan began her organizing career young as an activist in high school and then serving as campaign manager for her mother, a teacher who ran for state representative in the 69th district of Illinois in 1998. From there, Susan was recruited to join the labor movement through the AFL-CIO Organizing Institute, where she has since returned repeatedly as a teaching fellow.

Susan went on to lead successful organizing campaigns at SEIU both nationally and locally. This included both traditional NLRA organizing campaigns and corporate campaigns. Susan worked for SEIU in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Illinois primarily in organizing health care workers. Susan then served as Executive Director at Chicago Jobs with Justice for 13 years until April of 2023. Susan has a wide and deep knowledge of structural issues facing workers in today's economy and what solutions are needed.

Susan is thrilled to join the team at the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership as Deputy Director as she believes all organizing is valued-driven work. Susan lives in Chicago in the Rogers Park neighborhood, very close to her sister and nephews. 

Email: susan@csplaction.org

GABRIEL LARA - DIRECTOR OF ORGANIZING

Gabriel Lara is a faith-driven grassroots community organizer and trainer with over 15 years of experience mobilizing the skills, energy, and vision of community members impacted by injustice. He possesses a background in philosophy, Catholic spirituality, popular education and worker cooperative development. 

Gabriel was instrumental in founding the Quinn Community Center in Maywood as its first Executive Director where he successfully piloted and implemented a number of community programs and resources that engaged hundreds of community residents. He was also vital in the founding of CSPL as a co-founder and the first Board President before transitioning off the board to accept a staff position at CSPL. He has helped incubate several successful cooperatives in the Chicago area that are led and managed by immigrant women. 

He was born and raised in Guanajuato, Mexico, and has lived in Chicago for over 25 years.

Email: gabriel@csplaction.org

MICHAEL NICOLAS OKINCZYC-CRUZ - EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Michael Okinczyc-Cruz is the Executive Director and a co-founder of the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership (CSPL). As a community organizer he has worked alongside grassroots community leaders to address systemic inequities that advance justice through ambitious community-led solutions over the past 12 years on a local, statewide and national level. He has trained thousands of leaders across the country on the methodologies of faith-rooted community organizing.

He is also an adjunct professor at the Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola University of Chicago where he periodically teaches courses on Catholic Social Teaching, Christian Ethics and Leadership in Social Justice Organizations, and Kingian and Gandhian nonviolence.  

Michael possesses a BA from the University of California, Berkeley, a Master’s in Theology from Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School and a Doctorate of Ministry with a concentration in Latina/o studies from Fordham University. Michael’s maternal grandparents are from Guanajuato, Mexico and his father is a refugee from Poland. Michael lives in Chicago with his wife. 

Email: michael@csplaction.org