Joseph Tomás McKellar is the Executive Director of PICO California, the state’s largest faith-based organizing network dedicated to building spiritually rooted people power so that all Californians can belong and thrive. He provides strategic leadership to 10 multi-faith, multi-racial organizations representing 450,000 people and supports statewide programs that develop more than 2,500 grassroots leaders.

Joseph helps lead PICO California’s Faith Votes campaign, which aims to expand the California electorate by engaging millions of young, low-income, and voters of color around a shared vision for a State of Belonging. He also guides statewide campaigns focused on transforming the criminal justice system, advancing immigrant justice, increasing affordable housing, promoting structural tax reform, and strengthening an inclusive economy.

Joseph began his career as a community organizer and later founded and directed Faith in New York and Faith in the Valley. He has also served as an educator with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and as a prison minister. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and Political Science from the University of San Diego and is a Fellow of the Aspen Institute’s Civil Society Fellowship and the Durfee Foundation’s Stanton Fellowship.

He serves on several boards, including Homeboy Industries, the Haynes Foundation, the California Budget and Policy Center, and the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. He is also helping lead a new national Catholic social ministry initiative called Powered By Faith.