Matthew Ippel is a Jesuit of the USA Midwest Province and joins the MIMR program after six years of working with the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS). Most recently, he worked with JRS France, where he accompanied asylum seekers in the organization's hospitality program and contributed to ongoing reflection on the mission and values of JRS France. His efforts focused particularly on helping staff and volunteers sustain and deepen their commitment to accompanying, serving, and advocating with and for forcibly displaced persons. Simultaneously, he accompanied JRS staff worldwide through the organization's orientation program. From 2018 to 2021, Matthew served in Maban, South Sudan, where he facilitated various psychosocial interventions for Sudanese refugees, primarily youth. During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, he managed project operations, overseeing the implementation of psychosocial, education, and pastoral programs across refugee camps and the host community.

A native of the Detroit area, Matthew completed his undergraduate studies at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, specializing in regional and comparative studies with a focus on Latin America and the Middle East, particularly in international development and social justice. He entered the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 2013. After three years of formation in the US, he was sent to Lima, Peru, where he earned an MA in Philosophy while working at a Jesuit social action center on the outskirts of the capital. Since 2021, he has been studying theology in Paris, France. Matthew is fluent in Spanish and French and has an intermediate proficiency in Arabic.