Meet the Team

The Gender+ Justice Initiative is led by a dedicated team, including an executive director, faculty co-directors from the Main Campus, Medical Center, and Law Center, a program coordinator, and a steering committee. Supported by student assistants, this team works collaboratively to advance intersectional gender justice through research, advocacy, and community engagement across Georgetown’s campuses.

Team

Denise Brennan, Ph.D (she/her)

Professor and Chair of Anthropology, Georgetown University College of Arts & Sciences
Faculty Co-Director, AY2025

Deborah Epstein, J.D (she/her)

Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Domestic Violence Clinic, Georgetown University Law Center
Faculty Co-Director, AY2025

Kristi Graves- Ph.D (she/her)

Associate Professor of Oncology, Associate Dean for Faculty Development, Georgetown University School of Medicine
Faculty Co-Director, AY2025

Melyssa Haffaf

Executive Director, Gender+ Justice Initiative
Instructor

Alice Kukupa (she/her)

Program Coordinator

Naomi Mezey, J.D (she/her)

Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center
Faculty Co-Director, AY2025

Steering Committee

Nadia Brown, Ph.D (she/her)

Professor of Government, Chair of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program, Georgetown University College of Arts & Sciences
Steering Committee: Served 2022 – Present

Dionne S. Coker-Appiah, Ph.D (she/her)

Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Georgetown University School of Medicine
Faculty Co-Director 2019-2021, Steering Committee: Served 2018 – Present

Sara Omar, Ph.D. (she/her)

Assistant Professor of Arabic & Islamic Studies, Georgetown University College of Arts & Sciences
Steering Committee: Served 2022 – Present

Kwame Edwin Otu, Ph.D. (he/him)

Associate Professor of African Anthropology
Steering Committee: Presently Serving

Amanda D. Phillips, Ph.D. (they/he/she)

Associate Professor of English, Film and Media Studies
Steering Committee: Presently Serving

Student Assistants

Zahra Wakilzada, (she/her)

Communications Assistant