Rev. Dr. David Vásquez-Levy serves as President of Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California –a progressive, interdenominational seminary and center for social justice that prepares theologically and spiritually rooted leaders to work for the well-being of all. A committed pastor, a nationally recognized higher education and immigration leader, and a sought-after speaker, Vásquez-Levy leads at the intersection of faith, higher education, and social change.
President Vásquez-Levy is committed to innovation and access in theological education and leadership formation. He serves on the GTU Consortial Council, is co-founder and convener for La Colectiva, a group of Latinx executive leaders at ATS schools, and is a member of the executive leaders group of AshokaU campus network and the Asociación para La Educación Teológica Hispana (AETH). He also serves as Vice-Chair on the board of Church World Service, one of the largest ecumenical development agencies in the world, and the Advisory Council for Encore.org.
He regularly contributes a faith perspective to the national conversation on immigration, including speaking at a congressional briefing, immigration consultations with both the Obama and the Biden White House, engaging in a series of public conversations with various State Attorneys across the country in an effort to reframe our national conversation about immigration. He has worked on consulted on a number of documentaries on immigration, labor, and human rights and is the author of various publications that explore migration stories in sacred texts and in people’s lives.
Vásquez-Levy has lived in four countries, including time spent working on refugee resettlement in Canada, and teaching courses and leading international study and service trips across the globe. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Texas Lutheran University and Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, including studies at Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich, Germany. He is married to Dr. Karla Suomala and they are parents of two college students—Dawit who is attending Howard University in DC and Meheret who is at Cal Poly Humboldt.
