Staff

  • Vilma Balmaceda, PhD

    President & CEO

    Dr. Vilma “Nina” Balmaceda is a scholar-practitioner at Duke University whose work centers on civic leadership development and education for justpeace and reconciliation. Nina is the director of the Center for Reconciliation and the Irene and William McCutchen associate professor of the Practice of Reconciliation at Duke Divinity School, where she teaches theology and practice of conflict transformation and leads several key initiatives, including the Certificate in Conflict Transformation and Reconciliation, the Americas Initiative for Transformation and Reconciliation, and the Certificate in Faith-based Organizing, Advocacy, and Social Transformation. A former Fulbright scholar, Nina holds a PhD in Political Science, MA in International Peace Studies, MA in Government and International Studies, all from the University of Notre Dame; and a Licentiate in Law from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru’s School of Law, where she previously taught courses on International Human Rights.

  • Ryan Smedes

    Deputy Director

    Ryan Smedes is an international development program design and evaluation specialist with extensive experience in Latin America and beyond. Currently serving as PHI’s Deputy Director, Ryan supports the organization’s mission of promoting justice, peace, and human dignity across Latin America. He previously held senior roles in program design, learning and evaluation, resource development, and food security, including serving as a national director in Peru. Ryan lived and worked in Latin America for over a decade and continues to champion global initiatives from his home near Seattle, Washington. He holds bachelor’s degrees in Environmental Studies and Religion from Pacific Lutheran University and a master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Washington. Ryan lives with his wife and three young adult children.

  • Roberto W. Chia, MA, LPC

    Chief Operations Officer

    Roberto is a certified mental health counselor by the National Board of Clinical Counselors, and the State of New York. Born and raised in Lima, Peru, Roberto now lives in Durham, NC where through his professional practice he serves families and individuals of all ages as they struggle with mental, emotional and relational issues. He holds a Master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling from the School of Human Services at Nyack College, and a Master of Divinity from the Alliance Theological Seminary, New York. Roberto is also a faculty member of CETI Continental in the area of mental health and family resilience.

  • Ann Jennings-Grisham

    Andemos Director

    Ann and her family live in Medellín, Colombia and have worked with Paz y Esperanza since 2011.  Prior to her current role, Ann served as Office Administrator of the Santa Cruz, Bolivia office. Aside from coordinating international volunteers and interns with Paz y Esperanza offices in Latin America, Ann is busy raising two young daughters.  Ann holds a degree in Elementary Education, and has found her passion in providing opportunities for bridge-making and mutual learning between cultures and people.

  • Jonathan Raber

    Director of Capacity Development

    Jon works to support local leaders in Latin America and the international growth of Peace and Hope. With a degree in Intercultural Studies and International Relief & Development, Jon gained experience as a practitioner in his hometown in Pennsylvania. For 12 years he ran a community initiative, bringing people together across socio-economic barriers, walking alongside people in poverty working to build long term stability and community solutions. This led to leadership involvement for local coalitions and healthcare, as well as advocacy work on a state and federal level, and served on the National Advisory Council on Migrant Health in the USA. Jon brings to the PHI team his experience in community organizing, strategic partnerships and organizational leadership. He is passionate about the power of relationship, being present in the margins of society, peace and grace. Jon lives with his wife and five daughters in Huánuco, Peru.

Board of Directors

  • Loramy Gerstbauer, PhD

    Chair

    Loramy “Mimi” Gerstbauer is Professor of Political Science and the Raymond and Florence Sponberg Endowed Professor of Ethics at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota.  She grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio and attended Wheaton College and the University of Notre Dame du Lac. She teaches courses in International Relations, Latin American Politics, and Peace Studies and researches peacebuilding NGOs and post-war reconciliation and forgiveness in politics.   In 2017 she published US Foreign Policy and the Politics of Apology (Routledge). In Spring 2020 she was a visiting faculty member at Kansai Gaidai University in Japan and in 2014-2015 she taught at Collegium Civitas in Warsaw, Poland as a U.S. Fulbright scholar.  Mimi serves as an AWANA Ministries Director at her church and lives in St. Peter, MN with her husband, Fabian, and their three sons.

  • Ryan Juskus, PhD

    Vice Chair

    Ryan Juskus is an assistant professor at the Center for Social Concerns at the University of Notre Dame, where he teaches about ethics and the common good and conducts research on the faith dimensions of the environmental and climate justice movements. He has worked in the areas of urban affordable housing, international experiential education for justice and flourishing, environmental justice, and cultivating ethical leadership. While interning with Paz y Esperanza in Peru in 2004, Ryan began to discover his life’s calling. Since then, he has recruited and sent many volunteers to the Andemos program. Ryan is married to Kendra and lives with their two growing boys in South Bend, Indiana.

  • Lisa Rodriguez-Watson

    Secretary

    Lisa Rodriguez-Watson is committed to reconciling people to God and each other. With over two decades of experience, she has engaged in urban church planting, international missions, community development, immigration advocacy, collegiate ministry, and seminary teaching. Currently, Lisa serves as the national director of Missio Alliance, a diverse network of Christian leaders dedicated to cultivating holistic practical theology and addressing the church’s most pressing issues. Lisa also serves as associate pastor at Christ City Church. A proud Cuban-American, she writes, speaks, and leads at the intersection of formation, justice, and mission. She has contributed to Voices of Lament, Red Skies, and The Least of These. Lisa lives in Washington, DC with her husband and three children.

  • Gregory Sabarese, J.D.

    Treasurer

    Gregory Sabarese is a compliance/audit professional within the financial services industry. Throughout his career he has served the public by conducting regulatory and assurance audits of financial institutions with the purpose of preventing fraud and ensuring safety and soundness within the marketplace. Currently, Gregory is a Senior Project Manager within Fifth Third Bank’s Internal Audit Department with a focus on Capital Markets. Gregory received a J.D. from UIC Chicago, a BA in Psychology & Theology from Wheaton College and an Accounting & Finance Certificate from the University of Chicago. He also has an MA from the University of Pennsylvania where he researched inequality in the United States. Gregory and his wife Rachel have two children (Elijah & Rosemary) and live in Chicago, Illinois.

  • Melissa Cross

    Melissa is a small business owner in Durham, North Carolina. After graduating from Campbell University, she officially became a Northern transplant living in the South. Melissa has served in church ministry leadership since 2007.  She helped establish a non-profit, No Longer Orphans, after spending time in India in 2008. In 2014, she and her husband Shaun planted a church in Washington, DC and returned to North Carolina in 2020. They have 3 children.

  • Joy Nissen Beitzel, J.D.

    Joy Beitzel is an attorney at the Program for Aid to Victims of Sexual Assault in Duluth, Minnesota. Her practice emphasizes serving victim-survivors of sexual and domestic violence in civil court actions. Joy graduated from Wheaton College in 2010 with a BA in International Relations and Spanish, and she received her J.D. from the University of St. Thomas School of Law in 2014. Joy enjoys spending time on the North Shore of Lake Superior with her husband and three young children.

  • Roberta Romano

    Roberta Romano is a migration policy expert and senior researcher with nearly two decades of experience in humanitarian response, displacement policy, and diaspora engagement. She has worked with the International Organization for Migration in Washington, D.C., Albania, and Sudan, and with academic and nonprofit partners in Zimbabwe and Uganda, where she supported communities affected by civil conflict and natural disasters in reconciliation and reconstruction efforts. She holds a Master of Theological Studies from Duke Divinity School. Her research, writing, and consulting explore the integration of theology, ethics, and politics, with a focus on overcoming the divisive thinking of our time and inspire political solutions that foster flourishing. She is particularly interested in nonviolence and in migrants’ welcoming as an ontological necessity, applying spiritual frameworks to migration governance, conflict transformation, and partnership building. She has authored high-impact reports and guidelines on migration crises, diaspora engagement, and humanitarian protection. An Italian by birth who feels at home as a global citizen, Roberta also holds a Master’s in Human Rights and Conflict Management from the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Pisa and a degree in Political Science from the University of Rome “La Sapienza.” She now lives in North Carolina with her husband and two daughters, where she continues to cultivate spaces and opportunities to co-create peaceful and just communities.

  • Courtney Turner

    Courtney lives in North Carolina with her husband and two children, where she has been an active member of Journey Church in Huntersville for 20 years. Courtney is a certified ophthalmic clinical trainer working for Charlotte Eye Ear Nose & Throat Associates in North Carolina. She has been in working ophthalmology for 18 years. More than this, she has a strong faith in Christ and a passion for leading her brothers and sisters in worship on Sunday mornings. She enjoys her role as a small group co-leader and also as a women’s ministry leader. Courtney also has a huge heart for missions. She helps lead her church trips every year to foster relationship and go and make disciples, sharing Gods love with all people.

  • Ross Wagner, PhD

    Ross Wagner is Associate Professor of New Testament at Duke Divinity School, where his research explores the ways scriptural interpretation has shaped the imagination and practices of communities of faith, both ancient and modern. For many years a faculty member at Princeton Theological Seminary, he has held research fellowships at universities in Göttingen and in Munich. His teaching has taken him beyond the university to classrooms in state and federal prisons, and he has led travel courses in Israel/Palestine and Italy. An Anglican priest, he serves in a local parish and takes an active part in the life of the Divinity School’s Anglican-Episcopal House of Study. He and his wife, Ronda, are the parents of four young-adult children.

  • Alfonso Wieland

    Alfonso Wieland is a human rights lawyer and author in Lima, Peru. He is one of the co-founders of Paz y Esperanza and currently serves as the National Director for International Justice Mission in Peru, with a focus in combating violence against women and children. With decades of experience working in the area of human rights, Alfonso brings strong leadership and vision to PHI. In addition to his law degree, he has graduate degrees in management, sociology and theology. Alfonso has published several books including In Love with His Justice (2003), Seeking Justice for All (2006), “Advocacy Manual for Justice Practitioners” (2010) among others.