about us > leader biographies

Executive Director, Kim Bobo

	Kim Bobo is the Founder and Executive Director for Interfaith Worker Justice. In 1991, she founded the Chicago Interfaith Committee on Worker Issues out of which the vision for Interfaith Worker Justice developed.

Prior to working with Interfaith Worker Justice, Bobo was a trainer for ten years with the Midwest Academy, and Director of Organizing for Bread for the World for ten years. Bobo is the author of Lives Matter: A Handbook for Christian Organizing, and co-author of the best-selling organizing manual in the country, Organizing for Social Change.

Ms. Bobo earned her BA in Religion from Barnard College, Columbia University and her MA in Economics from the New School for Social Research. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Ms. Bobo is married to Stephen Coats, has twin sons, and is the Choir Director at Good News Community Church in Chicago.

Co-President, Board of Directors, Rev. Nelson Johnson

	Rev. Nelson Johnson is the director of the Beloved Community Center and Senior Pastor at Faith Community Church in Greensboro, NC. He is one of the founders and key leaders of the Pulpit Forum that was instrumental in the Greensboro K-Mart worker struggle.

Rev. Johnson is active in supporting worker initiatives throughout North Carolina and has been recognized for his long service to community. He has been honored with such awards as the Bennett College Human Relations Award; the National NAACP Democracy, Freedom and Human Rights Award; the Greensboro NAACP John B. Ervin Service Award; the National AFL-CIO Faith Leader Award; the Greensboro Human Relations Service Award; and the University of Massachusetts Labor Relations and Research Center Robert Haynes Award. Rev. Johnson is affiliated with the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.

 

Co-President, Board of Directors, Bishop Gabino Zavala

	In 1994 Bishop Zavala was named and consecrated Auxiliary Bishop for Los Angeles, currently serving as the Regional Bishop in the San Gabriel Pastoral Region. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Canon Law at Loyola Marymount University, where he presently teaches.

A native of Mexico, Bishop was raised in Los Angeles, California. He was ordained for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 1977. In 1985, Bishop Zavala finished his studies for a Licentiate in Canon Law from the Catholic University of America. He has been a parish priest, Associate Director in the Metropolitan Tribunal, faculty member at St. John’s Seminary, Professor of Canon Law at the Seminary and served as the Dean of Students, and Vice Rector before being named Rector of St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, California. He also serves on the boards of A Place Called Home, The House of Ruth, and Don Bosco Technical High School. In 2003 he was named Bishop President of Pax Christi USA. Bishop Zavala is a steadfast supporter of the rights of immigrants, workers, and the incarcerated, their victims and family members. He is a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and has served on several committees of the USCCB and is presently Consultant to the USCCB Office of Hispanic Affairs.