ISN Staff
Working for a faith that does justice.
Erin Brown
Program Director
ebrown@ignatiansolidarity.net
216-200-4359
Erin Brown joined the Ignatian Solidarity Network in 2019. Originally from the Milwaukee area, Erin received her B.A. in theology and Hispanic studies from the College of Saint Benedict in Minnesota. After graduation, she moved to the Peruvian Andes as a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. As a volunteer, Erin worked in after school programming for elementary school students at Parroquia San Pedro Apóstol in Andahuaylillas. Most recently, she was a member of the admissions team at Marquette University High School in Milwaukee, WI. While in Milwaukee, she also served as a support person for the local Jesuit Volunteer community. Erin is an avid reader and outdoor enthusiast.
José Arnulfo Cabrera
Director of Education and Advocacy for Migration
jacabrera@ignatiansolidarity.net
216-200-4761
José Arnulfo Cabrera was born in a small village in Mexico and grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. Growing up, Cabrera remembers his mom organizing undocumented workers in Cincinnati for a just wage and safe working conditions. During this time, he learned organizing tricks and skills to keep people engaged and hopeful during disappointing moments. It wasn’t long until Cabrera started organizing for immigration reform issues, sharing his family’s story and how he would benefit from legislation like the DREAM Act. After high school, Cabrera, studied at Xavier University, while at the same time working at the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center (IJPC) in Cincinnati where he started a group called Youth Educating Society (YES). Through his work at IJPC and YES he became an advocate for DACA recipients across Cincinnati, particularly at Xavier, by training and working with staff members on making Xavier a DACA friendly campus. In 2017 Cabrera attended his first ISN program, the Ignatian Justice Summit on Immigration, where Cabrera fell in love with ISN’s mission. He spoke at the Advocacy Day Public Witness during the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice in 2017 and the 2018 Ignatian Justice Summit, and has contributed to ISN’s online content. After graduation, Cabrera served as a government relations associate at NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice in Washington, D.C. where he enhanced his understanding and knowledge of furthering pro-immigrant policy. Cabrera is a former DACA recipient.
Lena Chapin
Networking and Development Director
lchapin@ignatiansolidarity.net
216-200-4809
Lena Chapin joined the Ignatian Solidarity Network in 2016. She loves meeting new people, forming relationships, and sharing her passions for humanity, faith, and social justice. She grew up in the Appalachian foothills of Southern Ohio. After graduating from John Carroll University, she spent a year in Immokalee, Florida with the Humility of Mary Volunteer Service. In 2013, she earned the title of Master of Science in Journalism and Public Relations from Ohio University in Athens. Lena enjoys outdoor activities, cooking, and reading. She lives in Cleveland Heights, OH.
Kim Coleman
Integrated Marketing Director
kcoleman@ignatiansolidarity.net
216-200-4201
Kim (Miller) Coleman joined the Ignatian Solidarity Network staff in August 2011. After graduating from Gonzaga University with her degree in marketing and broadcast studies, Kim spent two years serving in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. During her first year, Kim worked with teens with developmental disabilities and provided programming and marketing services for STRIVE in South Portland, Maine. In her second year, Kim served as the outreach coordinator for Jesuit Refugee Service/USA in Washington, D.C. While at JRS/USA, Kim became very familiar with the Jesuit networks and created interactive refugee awareness programs, spoke to groups nationwide, and equipped students and parishioners to take action on issues affecting forcibly displaced persons. Kim is daily inspired by the Ignatian family members she meets, and she looks forward to continuing to empower students and parishioners to promote justice within their local and global communities.
Brenna Davis
Director of Education for Justice & Environmental Initiatives
bdavis@ignatiansolidarity.net
216-200-4959
Brenna Davis joined the Ignatian Solidarity Network in February 2019. Originally from Tennessee, Brenna graduated from Boston College in 2010 with a B.A. in theology and Spanish. After graduation, she moved to Cleveland as a Jesuit Volunteer and served at The West Side Catholic Center, a multiservice center for people experiencing homelessness. In this role, she started holistic wellness classes such as yoga and creative writing for center patrons. At the end of her JV year, Brenna began working at Saint Martin de Porres, Cleveland’s Cristo Rey High School, as a theology teacher and cross country coach. After four of the most joyful and challenging years of her life as a social justice teacher, Brenna transitioned to the role of main office coordinator at the school and focused on not only administrative functions but also developed initiatives to promote joy and self-care for faculty and staff. More importantly, she was the self-proclaimed assistant to the director of facilities in all sustainability initiatives on campus. She is a certified spiritual director, Cuyahoga County Master Recycler, and is a member of NCR’s EarthBeat Advisory Panel. In her spare time, Brenna enjoys reading, running, bullet journaling, speaking Spanish, writing letters, and digging through trash cans to properly sort recycling.
Christopher Kerr
Executive Director
ckerr@ignatiansolidarity.net
216-200-4676
Twitter: @chris___kerr
Chris joined the Ignatian Solidarity Network (ISN) as executive director in 2011. He has nearly twenty years of experience in social justice advocacy and leadership in Catholic education and ministry. The Ignatian Solidarity Network is a lay-led, US-based national social justice education and advocacy organization grounded in Catholic Social Teaching and the spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Best known for convening the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice, the largest annual Catholic social justice gathering in the United States, ISN also engages hundreds of thousands of individuals each year through in-person and online programs, advocacy campaigns, and website content and resources.
Prior to ISN, Chris served in multiple roles at John Carroll University, a Jesuit university outside of Cleveland, Ohio, including coordinating short-term international immersion learning trips and social justice education as an inaugural co-director of John Carroll’s Arrupe Scholars Program for Social Action. Before his time at John Carroll, he served as a teacher and administrator at the elementary and secondary levels in the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland.
In December of 2020, Very Rev. Arturo Sosa, S.J., the Superior General of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), appointed Kerr to serve as a member of a new six member Advisory Committee for the Social Justice and Ecology Secretariat (SJES) of the Society of Jesus Curia in Rome.
Chris speaks regularly at campuses and parishes across the U.S. about social justice education and advocacy, Jesuit mission, and a broad range of social justice issues. He completed his undergraduate and graduate studies at John Carroll University. Chris, his wife Jill, and their three boys reside in Northeast Ohio where they are actively engaged in their Catholic parish and community.
Julie Myers
Ethical Purchasing Coordinator
jmyers@ignatiansolidarity.net
216-200-4120
Julie Myers is a mother to two young kids and married to a fellow justice advocate. After graduating from John Carroll University, she spent three years in Colombia, South America doing human rights work. She then got her master’s in ministry at a Presbyterian school in Chicago before moving back to Cleveland. She loves gardening, new recipes, and book recommendations.
Kelly Swan
Communications Director
kswan@ignatiansolidarity.net
216-200-4259
Kelly Swan joined the Ignatian Solidarity Network staff in 2016 and is a graduate of Wheeling Jesuit University. Kelly began her career in northern New Jersey with children experiencing homelessness and in family ministry for an Episcopal parish. She then returned to her childhood mountains of West Virginia and coordinated a religious education and service immersion trip program at a parish in Charleston, WV. With her husband and young children, she then spent a year working and living in community at Nazareth Farm in Doddridge County, WV, and most recently spent six years in Wheeling, WV, engaged in projects related to holistic family life, community education, Appalachian advocacy, sustainable agriculture, and mothers’ spirituality. Kelly served as interim director of Wheeling Jesuit University’s Appalachian Institute in 2010, co-founded Black Swan Organics, a precursor to Grow Ohio Valley, a food justice non-profit in Wheeling, WV, served as interim director of the Children’s Museum of the Ohio Valley, and most recently worked as a writer and the production editor for INWheeling and Metroburgh Magazines in Wheeling and Pittsburgh. Kelly lives in the Cleveland area with her husband and four children.
Interns
Francis Boccuzzi
Parish Social Justice Engagement Intern
interns@ignatiansolidarity.net
Francis is currently a master of theological studies student at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, where I specialize in both systematic theology and the Frankfurt school of thought. Francis was born and raised in Cleveland, OH and enjoys spending time with his wife and dogs, backpacking, biking, and writing.
Matt Cuff
Ethical Purchasing Project Coordinator
interns@ignatiansolidarity.net
Matt is currently working on his master of theological studies degree at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. Prior to his studies, Matt served as senior policy advisor in the Jesuit Conference’s Office of Justice and Ecology. Originally from Scranton, PA, Matt is a graduate of Scranton Prep and Fordham University.
Cailin Drake
Intern
interns@ignatiansolidarity.net
Caitlin is a student at John Carroll University majoring in early childhood education with minors in Spanish and peace, justice & human rights. Caitlin is from Akron, Ohio and attended Walsh Jesuit High School. At John Carroll, she is also involved in weekly service with the Center for Service and Social Action, greek life, and the Arrupe Scholars Program. Caitlin has been on immersion trips to Nicaragua and Ecuador and will being going to the U.S.-Mexico border in January 2022.
Emily Girard
Intern
interns@ignatiansolidarity.net
Emily Girard is a student at John Carroll University and is from Cuyahoga Falls, OH. She is double majoring in psychology and peace, justice and human rights.
Allison Lampert
Intern
interns@ignatiansolidarity.net
Allison is a student at John Carroll University and is orginally from Parma, Ohio. She is majoring in sociology and criminology and minoring in Spanish and Hispanic studies. She is an Arrupe scholar and a member of the Ohio Innocence Project-U and environmental club at JCU.
Kiera Reilly
Intern
interns@ignatiansolidarity.net
Kiera Reilly is a student at John Carroll University. She is majoring in psychology with a concentration in child and family studies and minoring in peace, justice, and human rights. Kiera is from Avon, OH and is a graduate of Saint Joseph Academy in Cleveland. On campus, she is very involved in campus ministry, the Center for Service and Social Action through weekly service, and Greek life. She is also an Arrupe Scholar. Kiera’s passion for social justice stems from being involved in Catholic Schools for Peace and Justice in high school, attending two service trips to Louisville, KY, and the Navajo Nation in Arizona, and from attending the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice in 2016, 2017, and 2018.
Annika Timm
Intern
interns@ignatiansolidarity.net
Annika is a student at John Carroll University, where she is double majoring in sociology with a concentration in criminology and peace, justice, and human rights. She is also minoring in leadership development. She is involved with the sorority Chi Omega, the Arrupe Scholars Program, and the Student Hearing Board. During the summers she lives in Daytona Beach, Florida, right off the beach!
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