Staff Bios

Mark Tooley

Mark Tooley was appointed the new president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD) in April 2009. Tooley has been with the IRD since 1994, directing the United Methodist committee (UMAction) of the Institute on Religion & Democracy. He will continue in this role as UMAction helps traditional United Methodists working to reclaim America's third largest religious body for historic Christian beliefs. Mark is the editor of UMAction Briefing, a publication with a circulation of 475,000 households. Among the publications that have published his articles are The Wall Street Journal, The American Spectator, The Weekly Standard, Human Events, The Washington Times, Crisis, Touchstone, and The Chicago Tribune.

Prior to joining the IRD in 1994, Mark worked eight years for the Central Intelligence Agency as an analyst. He is a graduate of Georgetown University and is a native of Arlington, Virginia. Since 1993 he has served as a board member of Good News, an evangelical renewal caucus within United Methodism. He is a life-long United Methodist and belongs to Pender United Methodist Church in Fairfax, Virginia.

Order Mark Tooley's Book, Taking Back the United Methodist Church

Jim Tonkowich

Jim Tonkowich served as President of the Institute on Religion & Democracy from March 2006 through April 2009. After retiring from this role, Tonkowich plans to remain with IRD as a scholar, in which position he will continue to offer commentary on how Christians develop a political witness. 

Prior to joining IRD, Jim served as the Managing Editor of BreakPoint radio. Jim comes to IRD with a varied background. He worked in prep school youth ministry with FOCUS (Fellowship of Christians in Universities and Schools) directing boarding school outreach. After that he pastored Peninsula Hills Presbyterian Church, a congregation in the heart of California's Silicon Valley. He then spent two years in a Northern Virginia high-tech company.

Jim holds a degree in philosophy from Bates College and both a Master of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. His doctorate focused on issues of spiritual and cultural transformation and renewal making it a solid educational foundation for his work at IRD.

Jim is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America. He and his wife Dottie attend McLean Presbyterian Church in McLean, Virginia.

Alan Wisdom

Alan Wisdom has served since October 1994 as Vice President of the Institute on Religion & Democracy. While serving as IRD Vice President, Alan also served as Director of Presbyterian Action for Faith and Freedom (formerly called Presbyterians for Democracy and Religious Freedom)—an IRD-affiliated committee that works within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). He has attended every PCUSA General Assembly since 1988. Alan’s research has had a particular focus on the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and Latin America. He has written articles on these and other topics for IRD's quarterly publication Faith & Freedom, of which he also serves as executive editor.

Alan served as interim president of IRD from July 2005 to March 2006, filling the position left vacant by the passing of Diane Knippers in April 2005.

Alan is an elder at the Georgetown Presbyterian Church and a member of the Global Mission team of the National Capital Presbytery. Before coming to IRD, Alan taught high school in Florida. He received his B.A. in history, English, and Spanish from Rice University in Houston, Texas, in 1979. He then did two years of graduate work in history at Princeton University. In 1983 he received a second B.A., in education, from the University of Maryland.

Faith McDonnell

At IRD since 1993, Faith McDonnell is the Director of Religious Liberty Programs and of the Church Alliance for a New Sudan. She writes and speaks on the subject of the persecuted church and has organized rallies and vigils for Sudan in front of the White House, the State Department, the Canadian Embassy, and the Sudanese Embassy. She has drafted legislation on religious persecution for the Episcopal Church and for the United States Congress. In June 2007, her book, Girl Soldier: A Story of Hope for Northern Uganda’s Children, was published by Chosen Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group. 

Faith has a BA in English from Eastern Nazarene College, Quincy, MA. She received her master’s degree in English from the University of Maryland.

Faith is a member of Church of the Apostles, Anglican, and serves on the church’s international missions committee. She serves as a board member for several human rights organizations. Faith is married to Francis John McDonnell, and they have a daughter, Fiona.

Jeff Walton 

Jeff Walton is Communications Manager for the Institute on Religion & Democracy and also serves as a staffer on the Anglican Action program. Prior to joining IRD, Jeff worked as Systems Administrator for Congressman Frank Wolf (VA-10) and later as Legislative Correspondent for Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (NC-05).

Jeff worships at Restoration Anglican Church in Arlington, Virginia, a daughter congregation of the Falls Church in Falls Church, VA, where he is active in the young adult and global missions programs. Jeff holds a degree in Political Science and Communications from Seattle Pacific University.

Connor Ewing

Connor Ewing joined the IRD staff as a Research Assistant in August of 2009. In addition to his primary role as support for the Methodist program, he regularly covers events as a reporter, writing for the website and Faith and Freedom.

Connor graduated with Distinction from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, double majoring in Philosophy and Political Science. From 2008-2009 he was a Fellow of the John Jay Institute for Faith, Society & Law. 

Lori Mashburn

Lori Mashburn joined the IRD staff in July 2009 as the Business Manager. She was previously Banking Officer and Banking Manager at a branch of NewBridge Bank in North Carolina, and brings years of business and financial experience ranging from business management and development, operations organization, regulatory and accounting compliance, lending and customer service. She was an Adjunct Instructor of Reading and Writing at Davidson County Community College and did a stint in DC as an intern with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Before returning to DC, she was actively involved in charity work in Davidson County and was secretary of the Midway chapter of the North Carolina Lion’s Club.

Lori attended Urbana High School in Frederick, Maryland and received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in history from North Carolina State University, graduating cum laude.
 

Kristen Seda

Kristen Seda is the Publications Assistant for the Institute on Religion and Democracy. She first joined the IRD as an intern in September of 2008 during her year as a Capital Fellow of McLean Presbyterian Church (a local program of the Fellows Initiative).

Kristen received her Bachelor’s degree with Honors in Studio Art from Messiah College and a minor in Art History. She studied abroad in Italy and NYC. While in undergraduate school, she was a participant in the Messiah College Boyer Scholars Program that recognizes seniors based on their exemplary scholarship, leadership, and service.