Our Staff

Jessica Roland is the Executive Director of the Parliament of the World’s Religions, where she leads the organization’s global efforts to advance interfaith cooperation and mobilize religious and spiritual communities in pursuit of a more peaceful, just, and sustainable world. She is also currently the Co-Chair of the Gender Working Group for the Multi-Faith Advisory Council to the UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Religion and Sustainable Development.

Roland has extensive experience at the intersection of inclusive peace and security, interfaith engagement, gender equality, human rights, and multilateral affairs. Prior to joining the Parliament, she served as Senior Advisor for Inclusive Peace Processes and Multilateral Engagement at the Network for Religious and Traditional Peacemakers. In this role, she led work to strengthen inclusive peace processes and advance the meaningful participation of religious and traditional actors, women, youth, persons with disabilities, and other historically underrepresented communities in peacebuilding and global policy processes. Her work included developing international partnerships, leading research and capacity-strengthening initiatives, and designing programs on religion and mediation, interfaith dialogue, advocacy, and inclusion.

Jessica Karpilo joined the Parliament of the World’s Religions as Communications Associate in 2025 with the goal to amplify the organization’s story in support of its global interfaith work.

Jessica is an experienced nonprofit professional with a demonstrated history of working in communications and raising money for civic and social services organizations. She specializes in digital marketing and data management.

She earned her Master of Science in Nonprofit Management from Johnson & Wales University and her Bachelor of Arts in Geography from the University of Denver.

Jessica currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Seattle Metals Guild.