
Joan F. Neal
Deputy Executive Director & Chief Equity Officer, M.A.P.S., D.Min (h.c.)
Joan F. Neal, M.A.P.S., D.Min (h.c.) is the Deputy Executive Director and Chief Equity Officer at NETWORK where she shares overall leadership of the organization, leads strategic planning, and works to build and strengthen NETWORK’s relationships with external partners. As Chief Equity Officer, Joan develops and advances NETWORK’s Racial Equity and Justice Transformation work, both internally and externally. Prior to serving in this role for NETWORK, Ms. Neal was a consultant for strategic planning and a Government Relations Fellow working on criminal legal system.
Formerly, Joan served as Vice President, Institutional Planning and Effectiveness and Chief Planning Officer at Cabrini College, in Radnor, Pennsylvania, and as Executive Vice President at Catholic Relief Services (CRS) where she founded and led CRS’ U.S. Operations Division and directed their national public policy and legislative advocacy.
Joan Neal is an Associate Member of the National Black Sisters Conference, and holds an honorary Doctor of Ministry as well as a Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago where she is also a Life Trustee. She is a member of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium and currently serves as a member of the Board of the Sister Thea Bowman Foundation (Chicago) and the Mission Committee of the Board of the University of the Incarnate Word (San Antonio).