Rev. Mickey Correa, a native of Brooklyn, NY, is of Puerto Rican descent. A bi-vocational and bilingual pastor, he serves as clergy at Christ Church Washington Heights, leading worship in English and Spanish, and providing pastoral care. In addition to ministry, his professional experience includes working as a licensed psychotherapist and, currently, as the Chief Program Officer at Blanton-Peale Institute & Counseling Center in New York City. He also serves as a lecturer at the City College of New York and has lectured at Fordham University. Rev. Correa earned a BA in History and Religion from Hunter College; an MSW at Fordham University, focusing on Clinical Social Work and specializing in the treatment of addiction; and an MDiv from New York Theological Seminary.

Dr. Angela Valenzuela is a professor in both the Cultural Studies in Education Program within the Department of Curriculum & Instruction, and the Educational Policy and Planning Program within the Department of Education Leadership and Policy at the University of Texas at Austin, where she also serves as the director of the Texas Center for Education Policy. Her research and teaching interests are in urban education from a sociological and multicultural perspective, with a focus on minority youth in schools, particularly at the K-12 level, culturally relevant curriculum, Ethnic Studies, and indigenous education. A Stanford University graduate, she has held appointments at Rice University, the Center for Mexican American Studies at the University of Houston, and most recently at the School of Education at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Dr. Valenzuela served as co-editor of the Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education and the Anthropology and Education Quarterly, and founded the education blog “Educational Equity, Politics, and Policy in Texas.” She is the award-winning author of Subtractive Schooling: U.S. Mexican Youth and the Politics of Caring (SUNY Press, 1999), Leaving Children Behind: How "Texas-style" Accountability Fails Latino Youth (SUNY Press, 2005), and Growing Critically Conscious Teachers: A Social Justice Curriculum for Educators of Latino/a Youth (Teachers College Press, 2016).

Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston’s first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston’s Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God (Fiction Collective 2, 1998) and The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital (University of New Orleans Press, 2022) is the first book in his series on Community Organizing.

Patricia Núñez Porras has been in education for twenty-plus years and currently works with the Austin Independent School District in Texas. Her career in education started early in Mexico as a pre-kindergarten teachers’ assistant. She holds a Master’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin in Curriculum & Instruction, with a concentration in Bilingual/Bicultural Education, and is currently a doctoral student in Cultural Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Certified as an Education Administrator with the Texas Education Agency, Núñez has worked as a bilingual teacher, an instructional coach, and an advocate for equitable access to high-quality bilingual education at local and national levels. Her greatest joys include collaborating on designing and co-teaching engaging units grounded in culturally relevant pedagogy. Núñez also stays energized, designing summer programs with themes like El maíz y el chocolate that sustain and revitalize languages, and highlight cultural assets and strengths.

Dr. Mark S. Young, president of Denver Seminary, is a theological educator and pastoral leader with over 40 years of global ministry experience. Prior to joining Denver Seminary in 2009, he served as professor of world missions and intercultural studies at Dallas Theological Seminary from 1995–2009 and was the founding academic dean of the Biblical Theological Seminary in Wroclaw, Poland.

Dr. Young has authored several publications, including The Hope of the Gospel: Theological Education and the Next Evangelicalism (Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2022); One True Story, One True God: What the Bible Is All About (Our Daily Bread Publishing, 2021); “Marriage and the Mission of God,” published in Marriage: Its Foundation; Theology and Mission in a Changing World (Moody Press, 2018); and “Recapturing Evangelical Identity and Mission,” published in Still Evangelical? Insiders Reconsider Political, Social, and Theological Meaning (InterVarsity Press, 2018). He has also presented on issues in theological education and mission for numerous international symposia and conferences.

Dr. Young holds a PhD in Educational Studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and a ThM in New Testament Literature and Exegesis from Dallas Theological Seminary. He serves as the board chair for the Association of Theological Schools and is a member of the International Council for Evangelical Theological Education, Evangelical Theological Society, OMSC Missions Leaders Forum, and several other organizations. He has been married to Priscilla Young for nearly 40 years, has three children and eight grandchildren.

Dr. Vincent W. Lloyd is professor of theology and religious studies and the director of the Center for Political Theology at Villanova University, where he researches and teaches about the philosophy of religion, religion and politics, and race. Dr. Lloyd's publications include Black Dignity: The Struggle Against Domination (Yale University Press, 2022); Break Every Yoke: Religion, Justice, and the Abolition of Prisons, with Joshua Dubler (Oxford University Press, 2019); Religion of the Field Negro: On Black Secularism and Black Theology (Fordham University Press, 2017); and Anti-Blackness and Christian Ethics, edited with Andrew Prevot (Orbis, 2017). He coedits the journal Political Theology as well as the book series Transforming Political Theologies, published by Routledge, with Judith Gruber and David True. A second-generation Panamanian-American, Dr. Lloyd is vegan and lives with a partner, two children, and a pit bull in Philadelphia's Powelton neighborhood.

Dr. Matthew Vega is an assistant professor of theology and religious studies at the University of San Diego, where he is also an affiliated faculty member with the Africana Studies department. Dr. Vega earned a PhD in theology and religion as well as an MA in religion from the University of Chicago. He holds a BA in biblical and theological studies from Wheaton College. A scholar of race and religion, Dr. Vega's teaching and research explore the dynamics of race and class in Black (USA), Latin American, and majority world theologies of liberation. His work has appeared in various publications, including The Journal of Ecumenical Studies, Sojourners, and The Political Theology Network. Additionally, he co-authored a chapter in the Theology and Pop Culture series published by Fortress Press and Lexington Books, which compares the emergence of Black (USA) theology in the 1960s with the emergence of the Miles Morales Spider-Man. Dr. Vega's scholarship has been funded by the Hispanic Theological Initiative, the Forum for Theological Exploration, and the Anthony C. Yu Fellowship in Comparative Religion.

Dr. Philip Jenkins is Distinguished Professor of History, and Co-Director of the Program on Historical Studies of Religion at Baylor University. He works in several diverse fields, with major current interests that include the studies of global Christianity, past and present; new and emerging religious movements; and Late Modern U.S. history, chiefly post-1975. Dr. Jenkins holds a PhD from Cambridge University and has published thirty books, which have been translated into sixteen languages. These most recent include He Will Save You from the Deadly Pestilence: The Many Lives of Psalm 91 (Oxford University Press, 2022); Climate, Catastrophe, and Faith: How Changes in Climate Drive Religious Upheaval (Oxford University Press, 2021); A Global History of the Cold War 1945-1991 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021); Fertility and Faith: The Demographic Revolution That Is Transforming All The World’s Religions (Baylor University Press, 2020); Rethinking a Nation: The United States in the 21st Century (Macmillan/Red Globe, 2019); and Crucible of Faith: The Ancient Revolution That Made Our Modern Religious World (Basic Books, 2017).

Dr. Joel Pérez is an executive and leadership coach (PCC) with over 25 years experience in higher education. He is the owner of Apoyo Coaching and Consulting, LLC and a Professionally Certified Coach with the International Coach Federation (ICF), where he currently serves as the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Los Angeles Chapter, leading inclusion efforts. He specializes in career transitions, career coaching, identity-conscious leadership coaching for professionals who want to develop their cultural humility. As a consultant, he assists organizations that want to move from performative statements toward sustainable change. He has a certification in the the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI), is a Qualified Administrator for the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), a Gallup Strengths Certified Coach, and a certified coach through the Academy of Creative Coaching. Dr. Pérez has over 20 years of experience in higher education, serving in various key leadership roles. He recently served as the Interim Executive Director for the Immigration Resource Center of San Gabriel Valley, which provides low-cost immigration legal services, educational events, and connection to local community resources in California.

Dr. Pérez earned a BS in Business Administration from Biola University, an MEd in College Student Affairs from Azusa Pacific University, and a PhD in Higher Education Administration from Claremont Graduate University. He has been married over 25 years and has four children, and he enjoys cheering on the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

Dr. Peter Rios is the author of Untold Stories: The Latinx Leadership Experience in Higher Education (Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2021) and is currently writing a second book titled Apostles of Equity: A Guide to Transforming your Leadership from Exclusion to Inclusion (Fortress Press). Ongoing research interests include: the political engagement and representation of minoritized and marginalized people in the U.S. and the Caribbean, Whiteness and normativity, diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, the intersections of race, religion and politics, and social transformation through business and leadership.

Dr. Rios brings transdisciplinary theory and practice to his teaching and research, applying critical race and Latina/o/x Critical theory, intersectionality, narrative inquiry, leadership and liberative theologies to address issues with social justice and organizational leadership. He has served as a leadership consultant and coach to diverse organizations including churches and religious institutions, businesses, educational institutions, and non-profits. Most recent projects include work with Duke Divinity School, Harvard University, and the Lilly Endowment. Presently, he serves on the Board of Directors for La Asociación para la Educación Teológica Hispana [Association for Hispanic Theological Education] (AETH), a network of theological institutions and people that, since 1992, has served throughout the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and, more recently, in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Dr. Rios has been invited to speak and train leaders, nationally and internationally. He previously served as a lecturer of leadership studies at Penn State and has been an affiliate faculty at various institutions, teaching undergraduate and graduate students. He has also been a vice president at two universities. Prior to academia, he was involved in pastoral ministry for over ten years and has over twenty years of leadership development experience.

Dr. Rios holds a PhD in Intercultural Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary, a Doctorate in Strategic Leadership (DSL) from Regent University School of Business and Leadership, and he completed doctoral coursework at the University of Southern California. For more information, please visit www.peterriosconsulting.com.

Dr. Sergio M. González is an assistant professor of Latinx Studies in the Departments of History and Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at Marquette University. As a historian of twentieth-century U.S. immigration, labor, and religion, his scholarship focuses on the development of Latino communities in the U.S. Midwest. His first book Mexicans in Wisconsin (Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2017) offers a concise introductory history of Mexican settlement and community formation across the state. His current project Strangers No Longer: Latino Belonging and Faith in 20th Century Wisconsin explores the relationship between Latino communities, religion, and social justice movements in twentieth-century Wisconsin. Dr. González has bridged his academic scholarship to broader audiences by serving as a founder of the Dane Sanctuary Coalition, as well as serving on the board of Voces de la Frontera, Wisconsin’s largest and most active membership-based immigrant justice organization.

Dr. Rafael Vizcaíno is Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at DePaul University. His work focuses on Latin American and Caribbean philosophy, especially decolonial thought, and on the intersection between religion, politics, and secularization. He holds a BA from Northwestern University, and an MA and a PhD in Decolonial Thought from Rutgers University. Winner of the American Philosophical Association’s 2020 Essay Prize in Latin American Thought, Dr. Vizcaíno is currently working on a book-length manuscript that interprets the modern dialectics of secularization from the perspective of Latin American and Caribbean thought. His publications appear in the anthology Decolonising the University, the APA Newsletter on Hispanic/Latino Issues in Philosophy, and the following journals: The Journal of Speculative Philosophy, Journal of World Philosophies, Comparative and Continental Philosophy, TRANSMODERNITY: Journal of Peripheral Cultural Production of the Luso-Hispanic World, The CLR James Journal, Political Theology, Philosophy and Global Affairs, Radical Philosophy Review, and LÁPIZ.

Dr. Maggie Elmore is an assistant professor of history in the Department of History at Sam Houston State University. A historian of the 20th century United States, she specializes in immigration, religion and politics, and human rights. Dr. Elmore holds BA and MA degrees from Texas Tech University, and a PhD from University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Elmore is currently the 2021-2022 Clements Fellow for the Study of Southwestern America at Southern Methodist University. Her current project, Torn Soul: The American Catholic Church and Mexican Immigrants, tells the story of the Catholic Church's fraught relationship with Mexican immigrants and its attempts to reshape U.S. immigration policy.

Gus Clemens is a freelance writer and wine columnist. His “Gus Clemens On Wine” column appears weekly in the San Angelo Standard-Times, the Abilene Reporter-News, the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, and the Post Dispatch, with national distribution to Gannett/USA Today newspapers and websites nationwide. Clemens has written, collaborated on, edited, or produced more than 20 books.

Victor Hugo Mancilla is a native of Mexico City with extensive experience as a journalist, publisher, screenwriter, director, and associate producer. He is the founder and director/producer of Eravision Films, a production and film-research organization. For over 12 years, Eravision has worked in the field on special assignments in Mexico, the U.S., France, Italy, Spain, Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela, Costa Rica, and The Philippines. Eravision has provided services to cultural and historical projects by HBO, Green Moon Productions, International Films, Latino Smithsonian, Transcended, Mosaico, Basic E. Inc, Travel and Space Museum and Project Uplift. In addition to numerous commercial industrial films, Mancilla has served as director and/or producer of: The Forgotten Eagles (201 Productions); Noche de muertos (Eravision); Children’s Court (Lavine Productions); Our Neighborhood (A/P, Kidworks, Transcendental Media); Living with Autism and Deafness (The Willie Rose Foundation); The Catch; Buena Vista Social Rock (Eravision); and the award-winning documentary Art and Revolutions. The Forgotten Eagles, narrated by award-winning actor Edward James Olmos, tells the story of Mexico’s famed WWII 201 Squadron and was selected by the Smithsonian Institute for Best Historical Documentary in 2009. Mancilla’s works in progress include: the feature film The Lost Bullet (Ensuenos Entertainment); The Legend of the Volcanos, An Eagle Tribute Productions; An American Spy, the story of WWII spy Claire Phillips; the children’s video “Let’s Play” (Eravision); and Growing Dreams: Successes in Mexican-American Wineries. Among the many other notable artists Mancilla has worked with are Anthony Hopkins and Kelly Ho. Mancilla has two books in progress, several screenplays, and newspaper and magazine articles on Latino issues.

Elyssa Salinas-Lazarski is a doctoral student in theology at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. Her research focuses on theology of the body and sex, integrating her Lutheran faith, and her experience as a Mexican-American and as a woman. Salinas-Lazarski is a graduate of Valparaiso University, where she studied theatre, and holds a Master of Divinity from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Alongside her studies, she is a teaching assistant, poet, and hobby baker. She has been writing poetry since age seven and continues to dabble in the art form in the midst of reading, writing, and teaching. Salinas-Lazarski's poetry and blog posts can be found at Bold Café; The Mudroom; Naked and Unashamed; and We Talk, We Listen. She lives in Chicago with her husband, two children, and two cats.

Dr. Michael E. Lee is Professor of Theology with affiliation in Fordham’s Latin American and Latino Studies Institute. Born in Miami, FL of Puerto Rican parents, he holds graduate degrees from the University of Chicago (MA) and the University of Notre Dame (BA, MA, PhD). His research interests include: Roman Catholic theology, liberation theologies, Christology, spirituality, religion & politics, ecological theology, Latin American and U.S. Latinx theologies. Dr. Lee teaches courses in Roman Catholic theology, liberation theologies, Latin American and Latinx theologies, Christology, and spirituality. He has served as President of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States (ACHTUS) and on the governing board of the Catholic Theological Society of America (CTSA). His commentary has appeared in a wide variety of venues including The New York Times, Rolling Stone Magazine, CNN, ABC-NY, National Public Radio, The Tablet (UK), and El Faro Académico (El Salvador). He has lectured in universities across the U.S. and in Spain, Mexico, El Salvador, Belgium, and Austria.

His award-winning research includes: Revolutionary Saint: The Theological Legacy of Óscar Romero (Orbis, 2018), which was supported by a Sabbatical Grant for Researchers from the Louisville Institute and earned a Catholic Press Association Book Prize. He edited Ignacio Ellacuría: Essays on History, Liberation, and Salvation (Orbis, 2013), providing an English-speaking audience access to a collection of Ellacuría’s most substantial theological essays. Bearing the Weight of Salvation: The Soteriology of Ignacio Ellacuría (Herder & Herder, 2010) won the 2010 Hispanic Theological Initiative Book Prize, sponsored by Princeton Theological Seminary.

Dr. Lee’s scholarly activity has always been complemented by a commitment to practical community engagement. He has lived at André House, a Catholic Worker-inspired community, and engaged in liturgical music and bilingual pastoral ministry in parishes in Miami, FL, Phoenix, AZ, Chicago, IL, South Bend, IN, and New York City. He has served on the boards of international NGOs, such as CRISPAZ (Christians for Peace in El Salvador) and the Foundation for Sustainability and Peacemaking in Mesoamerica.

Angel García was the Executive Director of South Bronx People for Change, a Church-based, direct-action membership organization co-founded by Fr. Connolly. Born in Puerto Rico, García is a graduate of Princeton University and Pace University. As a long-term resident of the South Bronx and a lapsed Catholic, García has volunteered on worker cooperative projects, and social justice, environmental and political campaigns, and an affordable housing board, happily recruited by Fr. Connolly. Currently, García is a member of Sierra Club NYC and the Rainbow Garden of Life and Health, a South Bronx community garden. He has spoken about his book The Kingdom Began In Puerto Rico: Neil Connolly’s Priesthood in the South Bronx (Fordham University Press, 2021) at Fordham University’s Curran Center for American Catholic Studies, at the Artists and Authors Series of the Princeton University Class of 1979, and at the St. Frances de Sales Pop-up Theology Lecture Series, named after Fr. Connolly.

Abel Alvarado is a playwright, book writer/lyricist, costume designer, community programs manager, and producing artistic director at Teatro Nuevos Horizontes/New Horizons Theatre Company (TNH Productions). He conceived and wrote ARENA: A House Music-al. An award-winning costume designer, he has worked on many productions, including In The Heights; It Happened in Roswell; A Force To Be Reckoned With; An L.A. Journey; Little Red, Drunk Girl; Remembering Boyle Heights; Bad for the Community; Teatro MOZ; Mariela In The Desert, They Shoot Mexicans, Don't They?; Vietgone; Enemy of the Pueblo; Evangeline, The Queen of the Make-Believe; and Disney's Aladdin: Dual Language Edition. Alvarado’s video work includes: Wardrobe Stylist for Grammy Award nominee Gerardo Ortiz’s music video “Para qué lastimarme?" and for the web series Café Con Chisme. In 2019, he was awarded "Best Costume Design" by the NAACP Theater Awards for his costumes in Disney's Beauty and the Beast - The Broadway Musical at CASA 0101. Producing the Brown and Out IV & V Theater Festival and designing for Josefina Lopez's Real Women Have Curves at the Pasadena Playhouse are personal highlights of Alvarado’s work. Alvarado’s community work includes being a Research Assistant for Spectrum Community Services at Charles Drew University, Voter Registration Manager with Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project, and Health Education Specialist with The Los Angeles LGBT Center.

Sammie Seamon is a senior at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, double-majoring in English and Spanish, with a focus in creative writing. She hopes to pursue bilingual journalism after graduation and wants to be of service to Spanish-speaking communities. She is particularly interested in the histories of her own family, which originates in Tepoxtepec, Guerrero, México, and is currently embarking on a short-story collection about life within the pueblo. As a half-white Texan latina growing up on the U.S. side of the border, she strives to reflect on her own identity and reconcile her experiences with family across borders through writing.