Catherine Orsborn, PhD

Catherine Orsborn is the Senior Director of Programs and Public Policy at the El-Hibri Foundation, where she leads programmatic initiatives—including leadership and training programs for grantees—and helps drive efforts, alongside the senior leadership team, to advance representation and inclusion across sectors. Catherine’s experience spans the fields of academic research, peacebuilding, and nonprofit leadership. Prior to her work at El-Hibri, Catherine served for 7 years as the Executive Director of Shoulder to Shoulder, a nonprofit organization focused on multi-faith engagement to address anti-Muslim bias in the United States. In this role, she trained faith leaders across the country, organized advocacy campaigns, and provided thought leadership within the faith sector on issues of religious engagement and discrimination.

In addition to her leadership in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors, Catherine is accomplished in the fields of academic research and teaching. As a researcher on the project “Religion and Social Cohesion in Conflict-Affected Societies” through the University of Denver’s Korbel School of International Studies, Catherine co-wrote chapters for the project’s academic publication while coordinating research teams in seven countries across the globe. She has taught courses at the University of Denver, West Virginia University, Belmont University, and Vanderbilt University, and led undergraduate academic programming at the University of Denver. Catherine has spoken at the United Nations and in Congressional briefings, and has been featured in the Washington Post, The Hill, the Christian Science Monitor, and Huffington Post, among other outlets. Her academic publications appear in Bloomsbury, Routledge Press, Palgrave Macmillan, the Journal of Ecumenical Studies, Evangelical Interfaith Dialogue, Digest of Middle East Studies, and the Applied Anthropologist. Catherine holds a PhD in the Study of Religion from the University of Denver and Iliff School of Theology, an MA in Religious Studies from the University of Denver, and a BA in Philosophy from Asbury University in Kentucky.