John Decostanza

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT JOHN DECOSTANZA

John DeCostanza, Jr. is a theologian, pastoral minister, social worker, and higher education administrator who loves to build things. He is a partner, a father of three children and the son of blue-collar, first and second generation U.S. citizens who teach young children and repair automobiles. His grandparents and great-grandparents immigrated to the U.S. from Italy because of poverty and war. John\'s cultural lenses emerge from his ancestry, these lived experiences and his Catholic faith, which is both credal and cultural. John holds the Doctor of Ministry from Catholic Theological Union where he was also named a Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Scholar. With Master’s degrees in divinity and social work, John has diverse professional experience in a variety of clinical and pastoral contexts. He has spent the majority of his career in Catholic secondary and higher education, where he has been able to successfully integrate his passion for creative, community-based justice work. John is a co-founder and board member of the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership, a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-generational spiritually-rooted organization that labors to transform systemic structures through grassroots coalition building, community organizing, and liberative formation.