Dina Cervantes is Chief of Staff for Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo, California State Legislature. Cervantes is the daughter of once Mexican-immigrant parents who worked the fields of Fresno, CA and came to the U.S. in pursuit of the American Dream. She was born in and attended El Buen Pastor, aka Culver City Apostolic Church, under Pastors Rev. Manuel Rangel and Felipe Rivas; there, she served the Youth Ministries as Sunday-school teacher and was a member of the City of Angels (COA) LA District Choir for many years. Having once been labeled an “at-risk” youth, Cervantes turned anger into activism, finding more value as an active participant in the political process and being part of the solution. She learned organizing in the church, and later found her way and voice by organizing students in California’s community colleges to fight for access, quality, and affordability in the state’s higher-education systems. An active Democrat, Cervantes chaired the 2014 CA Young Democrats Convention, the 2015 Young Democrats of America Convention, and most recently ran as a Democratic candidate for California State Assembly. In 2020, she served as an administrator of Apostolics Pentecostals for President Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris, a national platform for discussion. Cervantes lives in Sacramento, CA. She is a proud of graduate of Santa Monica College and of California State University, Northridge.

Dr. Andrea Johnson is an Associate Professor of History at California State University, Dominguez Hills. She received her doctorate in History from the University of Missouri. Dr. Johnson is currently completing a book that compares the strategies and imagery used by Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with those of César Chávez and the farm labor movement. Her other research interests include the history of Pentecostalism, and she is currently co-editing a collection of essays on the multi-ethnic history of oneness Pentecostals in North America.

Rev. Evang Freda Morrison has occupied various roles at her local church, Pentecostal Faith Assembly Church (Philadelphia, PA), and at the Pentecostal Assemblies of World, Inc. (PAW), where she recently broke the “glass ceiling” as the first female President of the International Pentecostal Young People’s Union in its 85+ year history. Described as Anointed, Innovative, Gifted and Talented, she has a fresh approach to ministry that crosses denominational, cultural, and socioeconomic lines. Rev. Evang Morrison has made a lasting impact in youth ministry on the local, state, and international levels for close to 20 years. As a licensed Evangelist with the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World Inc., she has travelled across the world, evangelizing and preaching the gospel in various countries, including Canada and Mexico, and throughout Europe, Asia, and Central America. She is an administrator for Apostolics Pentecostals for President Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris, a national platform for discussion. Also a gifted song writer and entrepreneur, Rev. Evang Morriso resides in Philadelphia with her husband, Derrick Morrison. Together, they enjoy serving the people of God through ministry and music.

Alexandra Zareth is a child of God, Board-Certified Chaplain, and the Associate for Leadership Development & Recruitment for Leaders of Color for the Presbyterian Mission Agency PC(USA). Previously, Alexandra served in PC(USA) as Field Staff for Racial Ethnic Young Women, as a trauma chaplain for Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, PA, and directed National Programs for Hispanic Clergy with Esperanza, Inc. These positions have all enabled her to partner with leaders all over the country to create and implement leadership institutes and experiential learning opportunities for clergy and lay leaders who have served diverse communities. Alexandra has worked with local community entities to co-found relevant programs and non-profits in multiple communities that serve to address emerging needs. Having also served in the violence prevention/intervention field for 17 years, she is committed to empowerment, education, leadership development, and healthy living. An alumna of Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton (M. Div) and St. Mary's University in San Antonio, TX (BA in Psychology), Alexandra is finishing her PhD in Marriage and Family Therapy at Eastern University.

Ana Echevarria DelCorazón is the queer daughter of Puerto Rican migrants who grew up Pentecostal in North Philadelphia. She is a first-year seminary student pursuing an MDiv from United Theological Seminary in the Twin Cities and hopes to pursue a PhD in theology. She also holds an MSW in clinical Social Work from the Smith College School for Social Work and an MPA from Princeton University. She and her spouse and young son currently reside in Iowa.

Dr. Elías Ortega-Aponte, a Professor of Religion, Ethics, and Leadership, is the President of Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago, IL. Dr. Ortega is an interdisciplinary scholar who received his MDiv and PhD (Religion and Society, Magna Cum Laude) from Princeton Theological Seminary (2005, 2011). He also holds a B.A. in Communications Arts & Sciences and Philosophy and Religion from Calvin College. Prior to Meadville Lombard Theological School, Dr. Ortega served as Associate Professor of Social Theory and Religious Ethics at Drew University Theological School. He is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) Commission on Institutional Change.

Sheila Maldonado is the author of the poetry collections one-bedroom solo (A Gathering of the Tribes / Fly by Night Press, 2011) and that’s what you get (Brooklyn Arts Press, 2021). Her poems have appeared in Gulf Coast, Ping Pong, Rattapallax, and Callaloo, and online at Luna Luna, Hyperallergic, and Aster(ix) Journal. They have been anthologized in Brooklyn Poets Anthology, The Wandering Song: Central American Writing in the United States, and Me No Habla with Acento: Contemporary Latino Poetry. She is a CantoMundo Fellow and Creative Capital awardee as part of desveladas, a visual writing collective. She teaches English for the City University of New York. She was born in Brooklyn, raised in Coney Island, the daughter of Armando and Vilma of El Progreso, Yoro, Honduras. She lives in El Alto Manhattan.

Tyler B. Davis is a lecturer in theology at St. Mary’s University and University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas. He holds a PhD in theological studies from Baylor University and a MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary. He has published work in the Journal of Africana Religions, Religions, and other academic and popular outlets. His current research examines the significance of a black oral tradition about a tornado in Waco, Texas as an expression of liberation theology.

Born and raised in Brownsville, Texas, Dr. Felipe Hinojosa is the John and Nancy Jackson Endowed Chair in Latin America & Professor of History at Baylor University. Dr. Hinojosa was formerly on faculty at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, where he also served as Director for the university's Carlos H. Cantu Hispanic Education & Opportunity Endowment. His research areas include Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies, American Religion, Race and Ethnicity, and Social Movements. He co-edited Faith & Power: Latino Religious Politics Since 1945 (New York University Press, 2022) with Sergio M. González and Maggie Elmore. His recent book, Apostles of Change: Latino Radical Politics, Church Occupations, and the Fight to Save the Barrio (University of Texas Press, 2021) is set in four major cities (Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and Houston), where, in 1969 and 1970, Latino radical activists clashed with religious leaders as they occupied churches to protest urban renewal, poverty, police brutality, and racism. Latino Mennonites: Civil Rights, Faith, and Evangelical Culture (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014) received the 2015 Américo Paredes Book Award for the best book in Mexican American and Latina/o Studies by the Center for Mexican American Studies at South Texas College. His work has appeared in Zócalo Public Square, Western Historical Quarterly, American Catholic Studies, Mennonite Quarterly Review, and Latina/o Studies collections. Dr. Hinojosa holds a PhD in History from the University of Houston, an MA in History from the University of Texas Pan American, and BA in English from Fresno Pacific University. He serves on the Advisory Board for the interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed, and online moderated forum Latinx Talk.

Rev. Dr. Tony Tian-Ren Lin is a Research Professor at New York Theological Seminary. He is a cultural sociologist whose scholarship focuses on the intersection of religion, immigration, race, and ethnicity. He is the author of Prosperity Gospel Latinos and Their American Dream (University of North Carolina Press, 2020), which Publisher’s Weekly praises as a “well-reasoned,” “evocative debut” that “immerse[s] readers in the lives of his subjects.” He was previously a Research Scholar at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia where he held numerous academic and administrative positions. Rev. Dr. Lin was born in Taiwan and grew up in Argentina. He holds a bachelor degree from Boston University, a Master of Divinity and Master of Theology from Princeton Theological Seminary, and a Master and Doctor of Philosophy in sociology from the University of Virginia. He is an ordained Presbyterian minister who has served churches in New Jersey and Virginia. His work has been featured in The Atlantic Monthly, The Washington Post, LatinoUSA, WNYC, and other venues.

Dr. João Chaves is Assistant Professor of Evangelism and Mission at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and Associate Director for Programming at the Hispanic Theological Initiative (HTI). He holds a PhD in Religion from Baylor University, and has presented and published his research broadly, both in English and in Portuguese. Dr. Chaves is the author of four books, including Migrational Religion: Context and Creativity in the Latinx Diaspora (Baylor University Press, 2021) and The Global Mission of the Jim Crow South: Southern Baptist Missions and the Shaping of Latin American Evangelicalism (Mercer University Press, 2022). His forthcoming book, co-written with Mikeal Parsons, is titled Remembering Antônia Teixeira: A Story if Missions, Violence, and Institutional Hypocrisy (Eerdmans, 2023). He has contributed to numerous book reviews, peer-reviewed articles, and chapters in larger works. His ongoing projects include editing “Christianity, Race, and Ethnicity: Latinx Critical Conversations on Identity Construction and Religious Participation” for Perspectives in Religious Studies (Winter 2022) and co-editing, with T. Laine Scales, the forthcoming book Baptists and the Kingdom of God (Baylor University Press, 2023). Dr. Chaves is also co-editor for the Perspectives on Baptist Identity book series, published by Mercer University Press, and works with the Editorial Board for the HTI Series on Religion and Theology En Conjunto, a book series published by Baylor University Press.

Fray Dr. Gilberto Cavazos-González, OFM, SThD is a Friar Minor with a doctorate in spirituality from the Pontifical University Antonianum in Rome, Italy. He is a native of the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, where he formerly served as a pastor and youth evangelizer in San Antonio. As a Latino Spiritualogian, he has a particular concern for the relationship of Christian spirituality, Catholic social teaching and pastoral ministry. His academic research interests include methods for the study of Christian Spirituality, Franciscanism, art and spirituality, Marian spirituality, Hispanic/Latin@ spirituality, and Spiritual Formation. For over 15 years, he taught Christian spirituality at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and is a full professor of Spirituality Studies. Currently, he is the Director of Technology Teaching at the Antonianum, teaches in an online program, and is Treasurer of the Pontifical Academy of Mary International (PAMI). He has preached at many retreats and parish missions, and has spoken at academic conferences in the United States, Mexico, Europe, and South America. Fray Dr. Cavazos-González has written several books on Christian, Latino/a, and Franciscan spiritualities. His book Tradiciones of Our Faith: A Resource for Intercultural Faith Sharing (World Library Publications, 2012) was awarded a 2014 International Latino Book Award (IBLA), and he authored the Chapter on Spirituality Studies for the Wiley Blackwell Companion to Latino/a Theology (Wiley, 2015). Fray Dr. Cavazos-González is currently writing a book on the Marian Spirituality of Sor Juana de la Cruz Vásquez Gutiérrez, a Spanish Franciscan sister who was a mystic, a pastor, and a preacher to royalty, prelates, nuns, and her parishioners in the early 1500s.

Dr. Hosffman Ospino is a native of Colombia, where he pursued undergraduate studies in Philosophy. He holds an MA in theology with concentration in Church History and a PhD in Theology and Education from Boston College. His research explores the dialogue between faith and culture, and the impact of this interchange upon Catholic theological education, catechesis, and ministry. He has served as the principal investigator for several nationally recognized studies on how the Hispanic Catholic presence is transforming parishes, schools and organizations. Dr. Ospino writes a bilingual monthly column for Catholic News Services (Journeying Together / Caminando juntos), and his writings have received several prizes from the Catholic Press Association. He has also authored and edited more than a dozen books, including Cultural Diversity and Paradigm Shifts in Catholic Congregations (Fordham University Press, forthcoming). An officer of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States (ACHTUS), he is actively involved in ministry and faith-formation projects in various parts of the United States. Dr. Ospino has received many honors, among them the 2018 ACHTUS Virgilio Elizondo Award for his distinguished achievement in theology.

Dr. Rodrigo Serrão is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Hope College. His research focuses on the intersection of race/ethnicity, religion, and immigration in the United States. He also writes on political sociology, region, and race in Brazil. He has recently published an article on racism and regional bias in Brazil (published by Latin American Perspectives). With João Chaves, he wrote on the reactions and responses to COVID-19 by some Brazilian immigrant churches in Florida (published by the International Journal of Latin American Religions). In addition, Dr. Serrão has engaged in public sociology by writing essays on his experience as an international student in a theological seminary in the United States (posted on Good Faith Media) and on the issue of racial democracy and racism in Brazil (posted on The North American Congress on Latin America [NACLA]). Dr. Serrão was born and raised in Brazil and currently resides in Holland, Michigan, with his partner Adriana and their daughter Liz.

Dr. Gerardo Martí is Professor of Sociology at Davidson College. He is also President-Elect of the Association for the Sociology of Religion, and his book, The Deconstructed Church: Understanding Emerging Christianity (Oxford University Press, 2014), co-written with Gladys Ganiel, received the 2015 Distinguished Book Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. Currently, Dr. Martí’s research is funded generously through Lilly Endowment’s Thriving Congregations Initiative and focused on churches actively confronting racial injustice. His most recent book is American Blindspot: Race, Class, Religion, and the Trump Presidency (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2020).

Dr. Luis R. Rivera is associate professor of theology at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary (UMC), where he served as Academic Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs. He was a faculty member and Academic Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs at McCormick Theological Seminary (PCUSA) in Chicago. Dr. Rivera started his teaching career in 1986, when he joined the Faculty of the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico.

Dr. Rivera holds degrees from the University of Puerto Rico (B.A.), the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico (M.Div.), and Harvard University, the Divinity School (Th.M., Th.D.). His research and teaching have focused on the theological and hermeneutical challenges posed by the experiences of global migrations and the formation of diaspora communities and congregations amidst multicultural societies in a globalized world. Currently, he is conducting research to write a book on the history and legacy of the Latinx Protestant theological movement in US graduate theological education.

Dr. Rivera has served throughout the years as leader or resource for some of the most important Latino/a/x organizations in theological education: Association for Hispanic Theological Education; the Hispanic Summer Program, the Hispanic Theological Initiative Consortium, La Comunidad, and the Center for the Study of Latino/a Catholicism in San Diego University. He has also contributed to the work of ATS Chief Academic Officers Society, the ATS Committee on Race and Ethnicity, the Board of InTrust Center for Theological Schools, the Forum for Theological Exploration, and the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion.

Frank Yamada is the sixth executive director of the Association of Theological Schools. He brings to this role years of leadership experience in theological education and in communities of faith. He has written about and speaks on the future of theological education. Before coming to ATS, he was the tenth president of McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago and was an active Hebrew Bible scholar with a focus on cross-cultural and feminist hermeneutics.

An active biblical scholar, Yamada has authored and edited books and articles on cross-cultural and feminist hermeneutics. He is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature, where he has served as a chair and as a steering committee member of the Asian American Biblical Hermeneutics Group, the Feminist Hermeneutics of the Bible Section, and the Committee for Underrepresented Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession. In addition, he was a member of the Ethnic Chinese Biblical Colloquium and the American Academy of Religion, and he was the cochair for the Managing Board of the Asian Pacific Americans and Religion Research Initiative annual conference.

A graduate of Southern California College, Yamada earned his Master of Divinity and Doctor of Philosophy from Princeton Theological Seminary. He is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church, USA and has written and spoken on the future of the church and theological education.

Dr. Erica M. Ramírez is Director of Applied Research at Auburn Seminary. A fifth-generation Texan, with deep roots in San Antonio, she was previously the Richard B. Parker Assistant Professor of Wesleyan Thought and Heritage at Portland Seminary in Portland, Oregon. Ramirez holds a PhD in Sociology of Religion at Drew University, where she studied under the late Otto Maduro, a leading sociologist of his generation. Her dissertation revisited the Azusa Street mission revival through the frame of the maternal divine, working with themes of revolution, disruption, and the carnivalesque. With broad interests in religion, contemporary politics, and culture, Dr. Ramirez is particularly interested in “how radical religious traditions present as a challenge to and resource against social oppression.” Bridging popular and scholarly audiences, she co-wrote an article on Pentecostals and Donald Trump for The Washington Post and has contributed scholarly articles to Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion, Canadian Journal of Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity, and Pneuma: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies. She has presented academic papers to the Society for Pentecostal Studies, Association for the Sociology of Religion, and the Red de Investigadores de Fenómenos Religiosos Annual Meeting. Dr. Ramirez is a Hispanic Theological Initiative scholar and a fellow of both the Forum for Theological Exploration and the Louisville Institute. She has three children with her husband, Chris: Judah, Julia, and Camilla.

Dr. Jonathan Calvillo is Assistant Professor of Sociology of Religion at Boston University School of Theology. His teaching and research center on the sociological study of religion, race and ethnicity, and immigration. His scholarship examines how religious affiliation influences ethnic identity construction among Latinxs. His new book, The Saints of Santa Ana, from Oxford University Press, examines how practices of lived religion shape ethnic identity among Catholic and evangelical Mexican immigrants. Through his ethnographic research at numerous churches, Dr. Calvillo has contributed to the Latino Protestant Congregations project, which spotlights themes of worship practices, ethnic identity, and community engagement in Latinx churches. Additionally, he has conducted neighborhood-based research within urban, Latinx communities, examining how lived religion shapes collective identities. Alongside his qualitative research, he is currently conducting archival research on Latinx congregations and religious movements. Finally, Dr. Calvillo is conducting an oral history project on hip hop, ethnoracial identities, and spirituality among Latinxs. Born and raised in Southern California, Dr. Calvillo is a second-generation Mexican American. He resides with his partner Nani and their three children in the city of Boston, MA.

Rev. Fr. Francisco Javiel de la Rosa is a Catholic priest from the Dominican Republic incardinated in the Diocese of San Juan de la Maguana (SJM), where he is pastor of the Parroquia San Pedro Apóstol in El Cercado, SJM. He studied philosophy at the Santo Tomás de Aquino senior seminary in 2003. He became a teacher at the Buen Pastor junior seminary and the college of the same name before receiving a degree in philosophy from the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCAMAIMA) in 2008. He studied theology at the Colegio Mayor of the Universidad Pontificia de Comillas, Madrid for a year and completed his theological studies in the Dominican Republic. In his pastoral experience as a temporary deacon, he worked in the Santa Teresa de Jesús parish of Elías Piña in the province of Comendador. In 2014, he presented his thesis in theology, entitled “El Modelo de la Iglesia del Concilio Vaticano II y su Aplicación en la Diócesis de San Juan de la Maguana [The Model of the Church of the Vatican Council II and its Application in the Diocese of San Juan de la Maguana]" and earned a degree in Religious Science from the Seminario Santo Tomás of Aquino.