project coordinator
Matt serves as the Project Coordinator for the National Council of Churches. Originally from northern New Jersey, Matt is the son of two pastors of churches deeply involved in social advocacy. His mother is a pastor in the United Church of Christ and his father serves as a United Methodist pastor. These churches taught him the importance of caring for people on the margins of society just as Jesus did. It was these values that brought him to American University, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude with a bachelor’s in sociology. His undergraduate education helped him gain a greater understanding of social constructs that shape society and ways to lift those oppressed by structural inequities.
While at American University, Matt interned with the National Council of Churches as the social
advocacy intern. He performed administrative duties at a national and international level,
organizing several virtual summits with dignitaries from South Korea, Latin America, and
Europe. He also assisted in lobbying efforts for HR40, a bill to establish a commission to research reparations. It was his work with HR40 that inspired him to write his capstone on the attitudes Protestants’ hold regarding reparations.
For three years, he served as a Teaching Assistant for a class regarding
issues of race, racism, and oppression. He learned important tools for anti-racist pedagogy and facilitating
dialogue on interpersonal, internalized, institutional, and structural racism.
More recently, Matt worked at the Washington National Cathedral, where he assisted in religious services, events, and general sightseeing in the building. He has also participated in the consecration of the Episcopal Bishop of Maryland and the funeral of Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O’Conner.
In his free time, Matt enjoys singing in his church choir, hiking, traveling the world, exploring new restaurants, and cooking tasty meals for his friends and family.