Kenia Vanessa Mendoza

Credentials: BS, American University / JD, Washington College of Law – American University / MDiv, Wesley Theological Seminary / Ph.D., Drew University (Present)

Denomination: Non-denominational

Specific Field: Ethics and Social Theory

Biography: 

Born in La Paz, Bolivia, Kenia Vanessa Mendoza was raised in the DC metropolitan area. After some years of practicing immigration law in the area of deportation defense within the Latine community, she was baptized in a US Protestant church. Together, these experiences propel her doctoral studies of coloniality in church histories and social ethics (particularly concerning the lived experience of Latinas). She uses a mujerista hermeneutic to critique and liberate Latinas’ identities to self, others, and the divine. She is also interested in bioethics, liberation theologies, decolonial feminist theory, Latina feminist thought, Christian social ethics, and critical race theory.