HTI Staff
Joanne Rodríguez
Executive Director
Rev. Joanne Rodríguez is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church USA, since 2011. From 1999, she has worked collaboratively with students, faculty, deans, directors of non-profit educational programs, and presidents to ensure that HTI doctoral students complete their doctoral studies and become leaders that make an impact in theological and religious education as well as in the larger landscape of education. Rev. Rodríguez received her Th.M. (2002) and M.Div. (1999) from Princeton Theological Seminary, and her B.A. (1986) from Pace University. She is a teaching elder at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Trenton, New Jersey.Email: Joanne.Rodriguez@ptsem.edu
Ángela Schoepf
Assistant Director
A native Colombian, Ángela joined HTI in 1999, after a career working for multinational companies. The transition required a bit of adjustment, but soon Ángela developed a deep passion for HTI’s mission, through the stories of the now more than 160 scholars she has worked for. Ángela is a graduate of Universidad Colegio Mayor de Cundinamarca and Institución Universitaria Politécnico Grancolombiano, with Bachelor’s degrees in business and languages and computer sciences. She sees in each one of the graduates a role model for her daughter.Email: Angela.Schoepf@ptsem.edu
João Chaves
Assistant Director for Programming
A native of Brazil, Dr. Chaves brings to the HTI team a unique combination of experiences in the church, academia, and business world. Over the last two decades, he planted and led churches, taught college classes, and managed businesses in the hospitality, food, and construction industries.Dr. Chaves graduated with an MTS from George W. Truett Theological Seminary and received his Ph.D. in religion from Baylor University in 2017. He has presented and published his research broadly both in English and Portuguese. His academic articles were published by peer-reviewed journals such as The Journal of Reformed Theology, Perspectives in Religious Studies, and Baptist History and Heritage. Dr. Chaves is the author of the book “Evangelicals and Liberation Revisited” (Wipf and Stock, 2013) and his second book, “O Racismo na História Batista Brasileira” (Novos Diálogos, 2020), will come out later this month. He is also finalizing two additional manuscripts, “The Global Mission of the Jim Crow South” (Mercer University Press, under contract) and “Transient Religion: Migration and Theological Change in the Latinx Diaspora” (under review).
Recently, Dr. Chaves has been invited to serve on the Commission on Racial, Gender, and Economic Justice of the Baptist World Alliance (pending confirmation vote). He was also an HTI Doctoral Fellow and HTI/Lilly Fellowship recipient from 2014-2018.
Email: joao.chaves@ptsem.edu
Suzette Aloyo
Office Assistant
Suzette Aloyo, a descendent of Puerto Rican parents, grew up in the Bronx, New York. The majority of Suzette’s career was spent in the legal field. First as a paralegal in corporations then 13 years in a prominent NY law firm working on trusts & estates, corporate and labor law. Moving to the Princeton area in 2000, Suzette has been aware and a part of the Princeton Theological Seminary community through her husband, Rev. Dr. Victor Aloyo, Jr. Over the past seventeen years, Suzette has also served as administrative assistant and office manager at a couple of area organizations. She looks forward to bringing to HTI her talents and skill set to further the objectives of the program.Email: Suzette.Aloyo@ptsem.edu
Leslie Enid Giboyeaux
Student Aide
Leslie Enid was born and raised in the heart of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania where her Puerto Rican parents pastor a bilingual Pentecostal church. She received her B.A. in Biblical and Religious studies and Ethnic and Area studies at Messiah College. Leslie was drawn to HTI’s mission, understanding the importance of Latinx representation and voices in religious education. She is a senior Master of Divinity student at Princeton Theological Seminary.
Lissette Gonzalez Sosa
Student Aide
Lissette, a native of New Jersey is a second-year MDiv student at Princeton Theological Seminary. She has a BS in Behavioral Health Counseling from Drexel University. Lissette has had many years in the workforce compiling experiences from various disciplines including mental health, farmworker programs, immigration services, youth service programs, non-profit work, and church ministry. She also served as a missionary in Honduras with the PC(USA). Lissette served as a ruling elder in her local church and is currently on the ordination track under care of West Jersey Presbytery. Lissette considers working at HTI a privilege and honor that allows her to support fellow Latinx community members in their pursuit of ethnically diverse religious and theological scholarship.
Carter GRant
Student Aide
Carter is a second-year MDiv student at Princeton Theological Seminary and a candidate for ordination through the Presbyterian Church (USA). She is from St. Augustine, Florida and comes to HTI by way of Columbia, South Carolina, where she received her BS in International Business, Finance, and Portuguese at the University of South Carolina. Carter feels extraordinarily lucky to be a member of the HTI familia and feels God’s presence in her life at Princeton and HTI.
Missy Roberts
Student Aide
Missy, a third year MDiv student at Princeton Theological Seminary, was born and raised in a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. She earned her B.S. at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN, where she majored in Psychology and Spanish, and minored in Latin American studies. She also spent a semester studying Human Rights and Politics in Argentina. Missy’s passions include learning new languages and serving as a bridge between different cultures, as well as advocating for immigrant rights. Because of this, she spent the past year in Milwaukee, WI developing a bilingual, multicultural ministry at Unity Lutheran Church and working as a translator, interpreter, and legal clinic coordinator at Voces de la Frontera, an immigrant and worker rights organization. She also had the privilege of serving as the director of a mission and ministry site in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, where an incredibly beautiful, resilient, and hospitable people taught her immensely about the character of God and the strength of a community. Missy is ecstatic to be involved with promoting the HTI’s mission of cultivating Latinx PhDs for leadership positions in the academy, the church, and the world.