Joel Aguilar

Joel lives in Guatemala City with Annnette, his wife, and Mariana, their daughter. Joel serves as the Director of Leadership Development at Center for Transforming Mission, Guatemala which is a part of the Leadership Foundation movement. Joel is working on his PhD at the University of Pretoria, in South Africa. His studies focus on the intersection between René Girard’s mimetic theory, and practical theology for civic engagement. The title of Joel’s doctoral dissertation is: “A Practical Theology of Peacebuilding: Living, Laughing, and Loving in Guatemala City.”

Joel’s particular focus as Street Psalms Senior Fellow is how to develop contextual theological vision of peace in one of the most violent countries in Central America. Joel is working to gather leaders from different sectors of Guatemalan society to create civic engagement that brings healing to the collective woundedness of Guatemala.

Joel is a devoted martial arts student who finds deep peace in the disciplines of Kenpo Karate, and Boxing. He is trying to learn as much as he can to achieve his dream of becoming some kind of a super-hero for Guatemala City. The closest he has achieved at the moment is to be a sidekick to captain underpants.