Matt Hoffman, i3b, elected to ACSLHE board of directors

Initiatives for Identity, Inclusion, and Belonging's Matt Hoffman, assistant director, Gathering Space for Spiritual Well-Being, has been elected to serve on the board of directors for the Association of Chaplaincy and Spiritual Life in Higher Education (ACSLHE). ACSLHE brings together professionals who are committed to nurturing the religious and spiritual life of students as a critical part of the mission of higher education in the 21st century. 

As someone committed to holistic well-being, Matt feels called to support and inspire college students--from all traditions and backgrounds--as they navigate faith, the demands of school, discern vocation and explore questions of identity and belonging.  Overseeing the Gathering Space--a space utilized by 300+ weekly visitors and 24+ religious and belief organizations--Matt has prioritized programs that lift up spirituality, invite spaces for education and collaboration, and highlight intersectional identities and interfaith work, centering radical love and belonging and energetic pluralism. He is also serving as team leader for a $30K grant awarded to UMBC by Interfaith America.

Prior to UMBC, Matt was the Associate Director for Interfaith Initiatives and Instructor of Religious Studies at Warren Wilson College, near Asheville, North Carolina. There, he co-created a minor in Interfaith Leadership, helped lead religious and spiritual life programming on campus, and taught classes about religion, centering interfaith work, environmental justice, and food access. 

Matt has a B.A. in International Studies and Political Science from Miami University (Oxford, Ohio), a Masters of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, and a Masters of Sacred Theology from the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. Additionally, Matt is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.