Dr. Donald S. Lopez, Jr. (PhD University of Virginia) is the Arthur E. Link Distinguished University Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies at the University of Michigan. He is the author, translator, and editor of numerous works in the field of Buddhist Studies, on topics ranging from Buddhist philosophy to Buddhism and Science. He has also written extensively on the European encounter with Buddhism. Among anthologies, he is the editor of the Buddhism volume of the Norton Anthology of World Religions (WW Norton, 2017) and Buddhist Scriptures (Penguin Classics, 2004). His recent books include Dispelling the Darkness: A Jesuit’s Quest for the Soul of Tibet (with Thupten Jinpa) (Harvard University Press, 2017); Gendun Chopel: Tibet’s Modern Visionary (Shambhala, 2018); and Two Buddhas Seated Side by Side: A Guide to the Lotus Sutra (with Jacqueline Stone) (Princeton University Press, 2019). In 2008, he was the first scholar of Buddhism to deliver the Terry Lectures at Yale University. In 2014, The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (edited with Robert Buswell) (Princeton University Press, 2013) was awarded the Dartmouth Medal for best reference work of the year. In 2000, Dr. Lopez was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Dr. Efraín Agosto is currently the Croghan Bicentennial Professor in Biblical and Early Christian Studies at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts; he joined the faculty as a visiting professor for two years (2021-23), appointed jointly to two departments – Latinx Studies and Religion. Dr. Agosto had been Professor of New Testament Studies at New York Theological Seminary (NYTS) in New York City since 2011, and he also served NYTS as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Academic Dean (2018-19). Previously, he was Professor of New Testament and Director of the Programa de Ministerios Hispanos at Hartford Seminary for a period of sixteen years (1995-2011), which included four years as Academic Dean (2007-11). In his early years in theological education, Dr. Agosto was on the staff of the Center for Urban Ministerial Education of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Boston (1983-95), serving in a variety of capacities, including the last five years as Director and Dean of CUME. Dr. Agosto, a Puerto Rican born and raised in New York City, received his BA from Columbia University (1977), his MDiv from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (1982), and his PhD in New Testament Studies from Boston University (1996). He has published three monographs: Servant Leadership: Jesus and Paul (Chalice Press, 2005) on the theology and practice of leadership in earliest Christianity; Corintios (Fortress Press, 2008), a Spanish-language lay commentary on Paul’s letters to the Corinthians; and Preaching in the Interim: Transitional Leadership in the Latino/a Church (Judson Press, 2018), a book of sermons preached at the historic Segunda Iglesia Bautista de Nueva York (East Harlem). He also co-edited (with Jacqueline Hidalgo) Latinxs, the Bible and Migration (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018). In addition to being a Hispanic Theological Initiative (HTI) Post-doctoral Fellow, Dr. Agosto has served HTI as a Selection Committee member, mentor, Summer Workshop presenter, and Senior Editor of Perspectivas.

Joel Andrés Ramírez is a philosopher, theologian, and communicator with a degree in law from the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He was a seminarian in philosophy and theology with the Mennonite Church before serving as General Director of INDOMABLE CANAL 14 in Las Matas de Farfán, San Juan, Dominican Republic. Ramírez currently serves as a technical advisor and community administrator for various schools and organizations.

Beatriz Terrazas is a writer and photographer who believes in the transformative power of story. In 1994, she was part of a Dallas Morning News team that won the Pulitzer Prize for a global project about violence against women. Her writing credits include More, D, Skirt!, The Texas Observer, Texas Highways, and several anthologies, including Wise Latinas, Writers on Higher Education (Jennifer De Leon, University of Nebraska Press, 2014), and Literary El Paso (Marcia Hatfield Daudistel, Texas Christian University Press, 2009). She is a Nieman Fellow as well as a member of the American Society of Media Photographers and the Macondo Writers Workshop.

Dr. Nicolás Panotto graduated from the Superior Evangelical Institute of Theological Studies [Instituto Superior Evangélico de Estudios Teológicos (ISEDET), Argentina]; he holds a Masters in Social and Political Anthropology and a PhD in Social Sciences, both from the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences [Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO), Argentina]. Dr. Panotto is an associate researcher of the Institute of International Studies (INTE) at Arturo Prat University in Chile and a professor at Comunidad Teológica de Chile. His research interests include contemporary theologies, faith and ideology, comparative religions, and systematic Theology. He also serves as director of Otros Cruces, an organization dedicated to inspiring dialogue, democracy and human rights through knowledge exchanges between faith and reality, religious communities and civil-society organizations, and between spiritual paths and political actors. In addition to Decolonizing Theological Knowledge in Latin America: Religion, Education and Theology with a Postcolonial Accent (Editorial JuanUno1, 2021), Dr. Panotto has authored several books and research articles in the field of religion and politics, public theology, and postcolonial theory/theology.

Crystal Cheatham (she/hers) received her MFA from Antioch University. She is an LGBTQ rights activist with a focus on religious liberty. Since 2011, Crystal has worked simultaneously as a ghostwriter and queer rights activist with groups such as Soulforce and the Attic Youth Center. As an entrepreneur, Crystal is the founder of two projects: Our Bible App and The IDentity Kit, both of which provide resources for marginalized communities of faith. An outspoken activist, she has written for The Huffington Post on the intersections of faith and sexual identity, a faith and spirituality column for the Philadelphia Gay News, sat on the steering committee of the HRC as the Faith & Spirituality chair, and partnered with Equality PA to influence clergy to support non-discrimination legislation. Crystal is the host of Lord Have Mercy, a podcast about God, sex and the Bible, and has been featured in TeenVogue, Autostraddle, and LGBTQNation. Contact her at Crystal@ourbibleapp.com.

Jasmin Figueroa (she/her) grew up in New York City, where she was influenced, in one way or another, by different religious and cultural traditions. Her Mennonite, Latinx evangélico, Catholic, and Jewish relatives, her years serving at a mid-sized charismatic church, and her time and internships in seminary instilled in her a deep appreciation for the roles that practical and pastoral theologies play in shaping communities. She is an HTI Scholar and a PhD student in Practical Theology at Boston University School of Theology, where she also serves as the Assistant Director of Contextual Education. Her current research interest focuses on the intersection of systematic oppression and religious trauma that QTPOC millennials of color face and the ways that they are subsequently reclaiming and renegotiating their spiritualities and communities in response.

Dr. Ryan Gladwin is an Associate Professor of Ministry and Theology at Palm Beach Atlantic University in Palm Beach County, Florida, of which he is a second-generation native. He is in charge of the Christian social ministry concentration and minor, and teaches a variety of classes in Christian social ministry, theology, ethics, and cross-cultural studies. His research interests are social ethics, Latin American and Latino/a religion and theology, practical theology, Pentecostalism, Anabaptism, and ecclesiology. Formerly, Dr. Gladwin was the program director of Messiah College’s Philadelphia campus and an assistant professor of theology and ethics. He has also lived and worked in pastoral ministry and community development in urban settings throughout the Americas (Santa Marta and Bogotá, Colombia; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Londrina, Brazil; Raleigh, NC; Philadelphia, PA; West Palm Beach, FL) and the United Kingdom (Edinburgh, Scotland). Dr. Gladwin is passionate about challenging students and local churches to work for social transformation, peace, and justice. He has published a number of book chapters and is currently reworking his doctoral thesis on Latin American ecclesiology and social ethics for publication. Dr. Gladwin holds a BA in Christian ministries and Spanish from Messiah College, an MDiv from Duke University Divinity School, and a PhD from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He is married to Natalia, a native of Argentina, and they have two children. Dr. Gladwin is an avid fan of Argentine soccer and enjoys reading, running, and long walks on the beach with his wife and kids.

Matheus Reis is a PhD candidate in World Christianity at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. His research investigates the different ways in which Brazilian evangélicos in South Florida understand their identity and mission as an immigrant minority in the US, within their specific diasporic contexts. A native of Brazil who migrated to Florida in his early teenage years, Reis is interested in analyzing the connections and disconnections between areas of identity and concepts of missions amongst Brazilian evangélicos of varied diasporic contexts, and across different generations. Reis also holds a BA in Ministry and an MDiv from Palm Beach Atlantic University, where he is currently an Adjunct Professor in Religious Studies. His additional research interests are in Latinx Christianity in the United States; lived religious migrant experiences; religion and migration; the social responsibility of the gospel; misión integral; social justice, law, and Christianity; racial equity; and contextual theology.

Educator, producer, and screenwriter Jim Nikas is founder and Director of the privately held Posada Art Foundation, which is dedicated to preserving and promoting the legacies of Mexican artists José Guadalupe Posada and Manuel Manilla, mainly in the United States but internationally as practicable. Since 2003, Nikas has loaned and curated works from the Foundation’s collection at dozens of venues, including: Stanford University, East Los Angeles College, Museum of Latin American Art, The Mexican Museum, the International Print Center, Mexican Consulates, and the San Francisco Art Institute, to name a few. Beginning in 2019, the Posada Art Foundation formed a joint venture between the Catalina Island Museum and Landau Traveling Exhibitions, establishing an ongoing touring exhibition of Posada’s works. Nikas has lectured in the US and in Mexico on various aspects of the art, from Day of the Dead to the influence of José Guadalupe Posada on today's social-movement imagery. Together with film director Victor Mancilla, Nikas co-produced the first major English-language documentary film about José Guadalupe Posada, Searching for Posada—ART and Revolutions (2014) and is co-screenwriter for the documentary The Needle and the Thread (in post-production by Eravision Films) about the life of Franciscan nun María de Jesús de Ágreda. Nikas is a former member of the Advisory Board of the Documentary Film Institute Board at San Francisco State University and served on the board of directors of the Coro Hispano de San Francisco. He divides his time between San Francisco, CA and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

Mark Menjivar is a San Antonio-based artist and Associate Professor in the School of Art and Design at Texas State University—San Marcos. His work explores diverse subjects through photography, archives, oral history and participatory project structures. He holds a BA in Social Work from Baylor University and an MFA in Social Practice from Portland State University. He has engaged in projects at venues including the Rothko Chapel, the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, The Houston Center for Photography, The San Antonio Museum of Art, The Puerto Rican Museum of Art and Culture, Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum, and the Krannert Art Museum. Menjivar is currently the artist-in-residence with the Texas After Violence Project, which uses oral history and archives to create dialogue and action around capital punishment in Texas. He is also a member of Borderland Collective, which utilizes collaborations between artists, educators, youth, and community members to engage complex issues and build space for diverse perspectives, meaningful dialogue, and modes of creation around border issues. In 2019, Menjivar was named a Mid-America Arts Alliance Interchange Fellow, along with other “socially engaged artists making an impact in their communities.”

Daniel Montañez is a PhD student at Boston University in the area of theology, ethics, and philosophy, and an adjunct instructor for the Latino and Global Ministries Program at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Montañez’ research focuses on centering the voices of immigrants as an authoritative locus for theological reflection. He seeks to construct a social ethic of migration that can respond to the humanitarian crisis facing migrants in our modern world. He is the founder and director of Mygration Christian Conference, an organization that seeks to explore God’s heart through the stories of migration in the Bible. He also serves as Director for the Church of God Migration Crisis Initiative, a ministry that seeks to provide church leaders with the biblical, pastoral, and ministerial preparation to positively and proactively respond to the crisis facing our immigrant communities in the United States. Montañez holds an STM from Boston University, an MDiv from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and a BBA in Management from St. Mary’s University. Born in Visalia, CA to a Mexican mother and a Puerto Rican father, he is dedicated to serving his Latine community at the intersection of the Church, the academy, and the public square.

Journalist and sociologist Carlos Martínez García is a member and founder of the Centro de Estudios del Protestantismo Mexicano (Cenpromex), a network of Evangelical researchers who produce studies about Protestantism from different perspectives. Their main goal is to promote and disseminate studies about religious minorities in Mexico and Latin America. The majority of Cempromex founding members are also active members of the interdenominational Fraternidad Teológica Latinoamericana [Latin American Theological Fellowship] (FTL). Martínez García is also a member of the Editorial Team of the FTL’s Mexican journal Espacio de Diálogo, a publication about Theology, Social Sciences, and the Liberal Arts. A member of the Mennonite Mexican Church and regular contributor to Mexico’s national newspapers, Martínez García is a very well known speaker on topics like religious freedom, specifically issues related to the Mexican region of Chiapas.

Jackie Cruz is a Licensed Real Estate Salesperson in New York and New Jersey, currently working with The Corcoran Group. Also a Licensed Hairdresser and Cosmetologist, Cruz ran her own beauty salon in New York City for over two decades. She traveled the world extensively as the personal family stylist of Canadian singer Paul Anka; as stylist to Charlene Nederlander, owner of the Nederlander Theater; and as stylist to Regina Resnik, known for The Threepenny Opera. A graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and of The Yoga Brooklyn Academy, Cruz is a Certified Health Coach and Certified Yoga Teacher who volunteers as a Cancer Coach for the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, NY. Cruz is a native of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where she and her family have been lifelong members of the Transfiguration Roman Catholic Church. The proud mother of two sons, she lives in the neighborhood with her mother and her husband. Cruz’s dedication to helping change the lives of those around her includes sharing her experience and providing support for hysterectomy and breast-cancer survivors via her website Pink Ribbons Talk at pinkribbonstalk.com.

Rev. Dr. Amos Yong is Professor of Theology and Mission, and Dean of the School of Mission and Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA. His graduate education includes degrees in theology, history, and religious studies from Western Evangelical Seminary (now Portland Seminary) and Portland State University, both in Portland, OR, and Boston University, Boston, MA, and an undergraduate degree from Bethany University of the Assemblies of God. Licensed as a minister with the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, he has also authored or edited dozens of scholarly volumes. Among the most recent are Renewing the Church by the Spirit: Theological Education after Pentecost (Eerman, 2020), Pentecostal Theology and Jonathan Edwards (T&T Clark, 2019), and Mission after Pentecost (Mission in Global Community): The Witness of the Spirit from Genesis to Revelation (Baker Academic, 2019). Rev. Dr. Yong and his wife Alma have three children and five grandchildren, and reside in Pasadena, CA.

Rev. Dr. Willie James Jennings is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at the Yale Divinity School. A Calvin College graduate, he holds an M.Div. from Fuller Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in religion and ethics from Duke. Rev. Dr. Jennings is widely recognized as a major figure in theological education across North America. Writing in the areas of liberation theologies, cultural identities, and anthropology, he has authored more than 40 scholarly essays and nearly two-dozen reviews, as well as essays on academic administration and blog posts for Religion Dispatches. He is the author of After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging (Eerdmans, 2020), which examines the problems of theological education within western education. His book The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race (Yale, 2010) won the American Academy of Religion Award of Excellence in the Study of Religion in the Constructive-Reflective category and the Grawemeyer Award in Religion, the largest prize for a theological work in North America. Englewood Review of Books called the work a “theological masterpiece.” His commentary on the Book of Acts, titled Acts: A Commentary, The Revolution of the Intimate (for the Belief Series, Westminster/John Knox), received the Reference Book of the Year Award from The Academy of Parish Clergy in 2018. He is now working on a major monograph provisionally entitled Unfolding the World: Recasting a Christian Doctrine of Creation, as well as a finishing a book of poetry, entitled The Time of Possession. Rev. Dr. Jennings is an ordained Baptist minister and has served as interim pastor for several North Carolina churches.

Dr. Teresa Delgado is Dean of St. John’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and professor of theology and religious studies at St. John’s University, NY. She previously held teaching positions at Iona College, where she was Chair of the Religious Studies Department and Program Director of Peace and Justice Studies. Dr. Delgado mentors doctoral students of color to nurture their success in the academy, church, and world. A Senior Fellow of the Ford Foundation, she has served on the board of the Hispanic Theological Initiative, as a member of the mentoring consortium of the Forum for Theological Exploration, and the advisory committee of the Wabash Center for Teaching & Learning in Theology and Religion. Dr. Delgado served as President of the Board of WESPAC (Westchester People’s Action Coalition), a leading force of social justice activism in Westchester County, and currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of Colgate University and The Ursuline School. Dr. Delgado holds PhD, MPhil, and MA degrees in Systematic Theology from Union Theological Seminary and a BA in Religion and Women's Studies from Colgate University. Her research interests and scholarship engage the experiences of marginalized peoples to articulate a constructive theological/ethical vision. She has published on topics ranging from diversity in higher education, transformational pedagogies, constructive theology and ethics, and justice for racial/ethnic/sexual minoritized persons. Dr. Delgado is the author of A Puerto Rican Decolonial Theology: Prophesy Freedom (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), and she is currently working on a manuscript in sexual ethics, titled “Loving Sex: Envisioning a Relevant Catholic Sexual Ethic.”

Dr. Robert (Roberto) David Ogden is Associate Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at Texas State University in San Marcos, where he has lived since 1981. Originally from Dallas, Texas, he spent most of his professional life in the mathematical and computational sciences, working as a professor and programmer. In the 1970s, he took a year leave from DePaul University to teach physics at Rafael Cancel Miranda High School, a private school organized mainly by Puerto Ricans frustrated with the Chicago public school system. Dr. Ogden also spent years working in Mexico at la Unidad de Ciencias Marinas in Ensenada, Baja California. After rejoining the Episcopal Church of his teen years, he served in Hispanic ministry at St. Mark’s in San Marcos, TX. Dr. Ogden is licensed as a Lay Minister, Lector, and Catechist in the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas, and he has online credentials to officiate at marriages. Since retirement, Dr. Ogden has played in a rock band, worked on his writing, and spent time with nieces and nephews—and now their children. In their old age, he and Rosie, his wife of 38 years, spend quality time caring for one another. They have two daughters, Miletus and Martha.

Héctor Herrera III currently serves as associate pastor at Tokyo Union Church (TUC). He is the son of asylum seekers who escaped the Guatemalan civil war; his family became integrated into a larger international community of Latin American immigrants from 20 different countries at a local Spanish-speaking Baptist church, where Herrera’s Christian identity would form. Herrera holds a Bachelors in Philosophy from the University of California, Irvine, and MDiv and MA degrees in Christian Education and Formation from Princeton Theological Seminary. His pastoral experience and ministry include serving as a campus chaplain at Princeton University, a hospital chaplain at Arcadia Methodist Hospital, as a pastoral intern at San Marino Community Church near Los Angeles, and work with children and youth. Herrera also has international experience, having served at the Scotts Kirk in Lausanne, Switzerland and at Youngnak Presbyterian Church in Seoul, South Korea. With strengths in online communication and education, he has helped develop resources in Digital Learning for Princeton Seminary. Herrera aims to continue helping people of all ages and abilities connect with each other and with God as much of TUC’s ministry moves into digital space. Herrera and his wife Marie (childhood friend and high-school sweetheart) are the proud parents of Hector Herrera IV and Margot Herrera.

Dr. Chloe Sun was born in Beijing, China, raised in Hong Kong, and became a Christian while attending college in the US. Her PhD is from Fuller Theological Seminary. She is a Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament at Logos Evangelical Seminary, El Monte, California, where she also serves as Acting Director of ThM and PhD Programs, and Academic Dean. Dr. Sun has published in both Chinese and English, and conducts Bible seminars internationally. Her recent publications include Attempt Great Things for God: Theological Education in Diaspora (Eerdmans, 2020) and Conspicuous in His Absence: Studies in the Song of Songs and Esther (IVP Academic, 2021). She is interested in promoting diversity in theological education because of her own context as a Chinese woman in the academy and her vision for a more inclusive future. You may visit Dr. Sun’s website at: chloesunphd.com