Dr. Maricela M. Luján Maffey works with the County of Orange Health Care Agency, California Children’s Services, a program for children with Special Healthcare needs such as Cerebral Palsy, Prematurity, Congenital Heart Disease. She holds an MD (1990) from the University of California Irvine School of Medicine, where she also completed her residency in 1993. A member of the American Board of Pediatrics, with a CA State Medical License since 1991, Dr. Luján Maffey has served as a pediatrician in Santa Ana, California and has been in practice for more than 30 years. Her specialties are in Pediatrics; she was trained to meet the unique needs of infants, children, and adolescents through all of their developmental stages. Dr. Luján Maffey grew up in Orange County, CA and attended Apostolic Assembly, a predominantly Latinx Pentecostal denomination in Santa Ana, CA.

Prof. Dr. Lenny Lopez is Chief of Hospital Medicine and Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of California San Francisco. He is also Senior Faculty at the Disparities Solutions Center, Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. López is an internist trained at the Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), who completed the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Minority Health Policy at the Harvard School of Public Health and a Hospital Medicine fellowship at BWH. Dr. López joined the Mongan Institute for Health Policy (MIHP) in 2008 after his research fellowship in General Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and was an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School until 2015. With an ultimate goal of reducing healthcare disparities in cardiovascular disease and diabetes, his current research addresses issues relating to patient safety and language barriers, optimizing primary care clinical services for Latinos with cultural and linguistic barriers, and using health information technology to decrease disparities. A second line of research is investigating the epidemiology of acculturation among Latinos in the US and its impact on the prevalence and development of cardiovascular disease and Type II diabetes. This research will help inform how to better design clinical interventions for improving chronic disease management among Latinos. Finally, Dr. López also teaches medical students and residents, with lectures and preceptorships. Dr. López received his BA in Religious Studies (1994) and MD (2001) degrees from University of Pennsylvania, and completed his residency at Harvard Medical School, BWH (2004). He received MDiv (1999) and MPH (2005) degrees from Harvard University. With an ultimate goal of reducing healthcare disparities in cardiovascular disease and diabetes, Dr. Lopez's research addresses issues relating to patient safety and language barriers, optimizing primary care clinical services for Latinos with cultural and linguistic barriers, and using health information technology to decrease disparities. A second line of research is investigating the epidemiology of acculturation among Latinos in the US and its impact on the prevalence and development of cardiovascular disease and Type II diabetes. This research will help inform how to better design clinical interventions for improving chronic disease management among Latinos. Dr. Lopez's work is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIDDK) and the Harold Amos Faculty Development Award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Past funders have included the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Aetna Foundation and the McKesson Foundation. Currently, Dr. Lopez serves as the Chief of Hospital Medicine at the UCSF - San Francisco VA Medical Center. In addition, he is a faculty member in the following research translational centers: The UCSF Center for the Study of Adversity and Cardiovascular Diseases (NURTURE Center) and the Kidney Health Research Collaborative. Dr. Lopez has been inducted as a Fellow of the American Heart Association and as a Senior Fellow of the Society of Hospital Medicine.

Dr. Ruth Behar was born in Havana, Cuba and grew up in New York. She holds a BA from the College of Letters at Wesleyan University, and MA and PhD degrees in Anthropology from Princeton University. As a cultural anthropologist, poet, writer for young people, teacher, and public speaker, Dr. Behar is known for the compassion she brings to her quest to understand the depth of the human experience. She has lived in Spain and Mexico, and returns often to Cuba to build bridges around culture, literature, and Jewish life. In her career as a cultural anthropologist, she has written books about her travels—Translated Woman, The Vulnerable Observer, An Island Called Home, and Traveling Heavy—and is also the author of a bilingual book of poetry, Everything I Kept/Todo lo que guardé. More recently, Dr. Behar has begun writing books for young people, and she won the Pura Belpré Author Medal for her debut middle-grade novel, Lucky Broken Girl. Her new middle-grade novel, Letters from Cuba, a Sydney Taylor Notable Book, is based on her grandmother’s escape from Poland to start a new life in Cuba on the eve of WWII. Her debut picture book, Tía Fortuna’s New Home, is forthcoming in 2022. Dr. Behar was the first Latina to win a MacArthur “Genius” Grant and has been named a “Great Immigrant” by the Carnegie Corporation. She has recently been elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and is the Victor Haim Perera Collegiate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Marta Lucía Vargas is a poet, editor and educator. She is a founding member and senior editor of Aster(ix) Journal, a literary transnational feminist arts journal, and co-founder of WILL: Women in Literature in Letters. She also serves as Managing Editor for HTI Open Plaza, an online platform of the Hispanic Theological Initiative. Her poetry and creative nonfiction works have appeared in various journals and anthologies, including So We Can Know: Writers of Color on Pregnancy, Loss, Abortion and Birth (Haymarket Books, 2023), The Lake Rises: poems to and for our bodies of water (Stockport Flats, 2013), and the chapbook For the Crowns of Your Head (Poets for Ayiti, 2010). Vargas has taught writing and literature at Hunter College and New York Institute of Technology. She was the inaugural Poet-in-Residence for the Montclair Art Museum and serves as Poet-in-Residence for Bloomfield High School's What's Your Story program in New Jersey. Vargas holds an MFA from Drew University and allocates her time between South Orange, New Jersey, and New York City.

Alicia Sosa-Provencio is an artist born and raised in New Mexico. As a graduate of The University of New Mexico, she is a former primary grade and art educator, though currently the stay-at-home parent of her 3 young boys. She is a passionate believer in the power of arts’ healing abilities and an advocate for neutralizing color across gender expectations. She is known for her use of bright colors in playful abstracts and cultural connections to her native New Mexico roots. She also has a unique series of Breastfeeding Virgen De Guadalupe paintings portraying Our Lady cradling and feeding the infant Jesus at the breast. She currently sells her original acrylic paintings, print reproductions and greeting cards in her online Etsy Shop.

Radhiyah Ayobami is Brooklyn-born with Southern roots. She holds a B.A. in Africana Studies from Brooklyn College, an MFA in Prose from Mills College, and has received awards from the New York Foundation of the Arts, the Sustainable Arts Foundation, and a residency with the Atlantic Center for the Arts. She has been published in several anthologies and journals, including AGNI, Apogee, Aster(ix), and Tayo Literary Magazine. Some of her most enjoyable work has been facilitating workshops with pregnant teens, inmates, and elders. Her free time is spent listening to plants, going to her son's basketball games, and working on her first novel. Ayobami self-published her first book, the long amen (2019).

Joshua Robbins is the author of Praise Nothing (University of Arkansas Press, 2013), part of the Miller Williams Series in Poetry, and his recognitions include the James Wright Poetry Award, the New South Prize, selection for Best New Poets, and a Walter E. Dakin Fellowship in poetry from the Sewanee Writers' Conference. He received MFA in creative writing from the University of Oregon and a PhD in English from the University of Tennessee. Robbins is Associate Professor of English at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas.

Natalia Treviño is an immigrant from Mexico and the author of the poetry collections, VirginX (Finishing Line Press, 2018) and Lavando La Dirty Laundry (Mongrel Empire Press, 2014). She is a Professor of English and an affiliate Mexican American Studies faculty member at Northwest Vista College in San Antonio, Texas. She has won several awards for her writing including the Alfredo Cisneros del Moral Award, the Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Prize, the Literary Award from the Artist Foundation of San Antonio, and the Menada Literary Award at the Ditet e Naimit Poetry Festival in Macedonia. Recently, Lavando La Dirty Laundry was translated to Albanian and Macedonian and published in a dual-language edition in Macedonia through their National Ministry of Culture. Natalia graduated from The University of Texas at San Antonio with an MA in English and from the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s MFA program. Her publications appear in The Southern Poetry Anthology, Mirrors Beneath the Earth (Curbstone Press), Bordersenses, Borderlands Texas Poetry Review, Sugar House Review, The Taos Journal of Poetry and Art, and several other journals and anthologies.

Rev. Dr. Tito Madrazo is a Program Director in the Religion Division at Lilly Endowment Inc. Previously, he served as the founding director of the Hispanic-Latino/a Preaching Initiative at Duke Divinity School, and as a Missional Strategist in Duke's Hispanic House of Studies. Dr. Madrazo also pastored congregations in Texas and North Carolina for 18 years.

A native of Venezuela, Dr. Madrazo is a graduate of Baylor University, Gardner-Webb University, and Duke Divinity School. In addition to his academic and ministerial work in the United States, Madrazo has also taught extensively in Latin America. He recently published Predicadores: Hispanic Preaching and Immigrant Identity (Baylor University Press, 2021), an ethnographic exploration of the identity and preaching of first-generation, Protestant pastors in North Carolina.

Rev. Dr. Harold J. Recinos is professor of church and society at the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. A cultural anthropologist, he specializes in work and ethnographic writing dealing with undocumented Central American migrants and the Salvadoran diaspora. He has published numerous articles, chapters in collections, and written major works in theology and culture, including ten collections of poetry. His most recent collections of poetry, all published by Resource Publications/Wipf & Stock, are: No Room (2020), Wading in the River (2021), After Dark (2021), The Days You Bring (2022)—nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in poetry—The Looking Glass (2023), Tell Somebody (2023), and The Place across the River (2024). Rev. Dr. Recinos’s poetry has also been featured in Anglican Theological Review, Weavings, Sojourners, Anabaptist Witness, The Arts, Afro-Hispanic Review, and Perspective, among others.

Felipe Emmanuel Agredano serves on the Academic Senate at East Los Angeles College, where he is faculty in Chicana/o Studies, Noncredit and Social Sciences Departments, and has lectured in the history of religion, political science, Chicana/o studies, LGBTQA+ courses and United States Citizenship. He holds a Master’s degree from Harvard University, dual Bachelor’s degrees from UC Berkeley in political science and ethnic studies, and is most proud of his Associates of Arts degree from East Los Angeles College. He often contributes to global stories on religion and politics for The Harvard Crimson, ReVista: Harvard Review of Latin America, KCAL, including national networks like La Opinión, NBC/Telemundo, PBS, and Univision. A third-generation Apostolic Pentecostal, Agredano grew up and was formed in the Apostolic Church, where his family congregated at Templo Emmanuel, pastored by Bishop Rev. Benjamin Cantú in Highland Park, CA. When he was age 11, the Agredano family moved to Huntington Park and congregated at the Apostolic Church pastored by Rev. Hilario Gámez. There, Agredano directed the local children and youth choirs up until and during his attendance at East Los Angeles College. Later, as a transfer student at UC Berkeley, he was a member of the Union City Apostolic Church, pastored by Rev. Adam López, Jr. Agredano, and participated in the initial three productions of NorCal Mass Choir live-recordings, as well as the award-winning production team of “Nuestro Canto,” a history of the Apostolic Church in song. Agredano also attended the Apostolic Church of Oakland under Rev. Art Oceguera, directing the youth, church, and the ladies’ “Dorcas" choirs. Agredano attended Harvard Divinity School, where his advisor and greatest mentor was Rev. Dr. Cornel West. Agredano also joined the Harvard University Kuumba Singers and frequented various Apostolic congregations in the Boston area, such as the United Pentecostal Church (UPCI), Pentecostal Assemblies of the World (PAW), and eventually congregated at Saint Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After coming out, and coming back to California, Agredano founded an online community congregation of LGBTQ+ Apostolics/Pentecostals and attended Founders Metropolitan Community Church Los Angeles (MCC-LA), where he served on the Pentecostal praise team. In Los Angeles, he served on the Azusa Street Centennial Committee. In 2020, he founded Apostolics Pentecostals for President Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris, creating a global platform for discussion of church, race, and politics. Agredano has presented at the Society for Pentecostal Studies and at the National Association for Chicana/Chicano Studies.

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.