Since 2021, Joanna Williams has been the Executive Director at the Kino Border Initiative (KBI), a binational Catholic ministry in Nogales, Arizona and Sonora that works towards a vision of migration with dignity through humanitarian services, holistic accompaniment, education, and advocacy. She started at KBI as a volunteer in 2011 and prior to her current position worked for 6 years as the Director of Education and Advocacy at the organization.

Joanna graduated with a Bachelor's in Science from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, where she researched the role of the Latino Church in creating social change. She was also confirmed into the Catholic Church her senior year at Georgetown. In 2019 she received a Master's in Public Policy from Arizona State University. Over the course of more than a decade, she has journeyed with migrants in a variety of contexts. She volunteered at a shelter in Tierra Blanca, Veracruz that served primarily Central American migrants travelling north on trains. In 2013 and 2014 she conducted Fulbright research in central Mexico on the reintegration of deported and return migrants. In 2014 and 2015 she worked as a coordinator for the American Civil Liberties Union’s Border Litigation Project.

Photo Credit: Paul Jones, Georgetown University