Jonathan Hamilton-Diabo is Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream in Theology, June Callwood Professor in Social Justice, Special Advisor on Indigenous Issues, and convenor of the Indigenous Advisory Circle at Emmanuel College of Victoria University in the University of Toronto. His work focuses on the history and impacts of Residential Schools, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Calls to Actions; Indigenous interactions with Christianity and the Church; and building community relationships. As well, he is interested exploring the impacts of educational systems and teaching methods on individuals and communities.  His teaching focuses on the use of personal stories, experiences and worldviews to make connections. 

Previously, Hamilton-Diabo served as Director of the Office of Indigenous Initiatives (Provost’s Office and Human Resources & Equity) at the University of Toronto.  He has also taught at the Waterloo Lutheran Seminary (now the Martin Luther University College) at Wilfred Laurier University.  Prior to entering post-secondary education, he was an ESL (English as a Second Language) Instructor with LINC (Language Instruction to Newcomers to Canada) and coordinated a Basic Skills and Career Program for adults at the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto. 

Hamilton-Diabo is Mohawk from Kahnawake, a First Nations community outside of Montreal.  He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Concordia University; a Bachelor of Education from York University; and a Master of Theological Studies from Emmanuel College at Victoria University in the University of Toronto. He is the co-author (with Tom Reynolds) of the essay "Two Ears, One Mouth: Theological Education Towards Respect," published in A Quest for Respect: The Church and Indigenous Spirituality (Mennonite Church Canada, 2017).

Christian Silva is an MA candidate in theology and history at Princeton Theological Seminary. He received his BA from Moody Bible College. As a Chicano, he values the intersection of social justice, theology, and the Mexican-American experience, seeking to do theology and studies pa' la gente. Silva also values his particulars as a biracial Chicano whose familial roots can be traced to pre-Guadalupe Hidalgo, Texas and New Mexico. He enjoys exploring Latinx theologies and histories just as much as he loves cooking family recipes.

Alma Lizzette Cárdenas-Rodríguez is a countercultural and faith-rooted writer, speaker, and mentor. She currently serves as an academic advisor for graduate students at Fuller Theological Seminary. A Mexico-Estadounidense born and raised in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California, she is the daughter of parents who migrated from Mexico’s Durango and Jalisco states. Her upbringing was heavily influenced by her protestant Latina faith community whose unwillingness to engage or answer her questions led her to seminary school. Cárdenas-Rodríguez holds an MA in Transformational Urban Leadership from Azusa Pacific University, an Urban Youth Workers Certificate from Fuller Theological Seminary, and a Bachelor in Christian Ministry from Facultad de Teología. She has over ten years experience in co-leading and mentoring youth and young adults at a local multi-generational Latina congregation in the San Fernando Valley, and other non-profit spaces. Cárdenas-Rodríguez is the author of Groanings from the Desert (Alegría Publishing, 2020). Through her writing, she hopes to encourage youth and women of color in faith, academic, and community spaces by sharing her story and facilitating workshops to help write visions to light. In her free time, she enjoys hanging out at local coffee shops; being in the company of her daughters, family, friends, or a good book; silent retreats; and exploring the outdoors or dreaming with her husband Sergio.

Erasmo Guerra is the author of the Lambda Literary Award-winning novel Between Dances (Painted Leaf Press, 2000) and the story collection Once More to the River: Family Snapshots of Growing Up, Getting Out and Going Back (CreateSpace, 2012). He was a longtime freelance contributor to the Daily News, covering the New York Latino immigrant community, and he was the research editor at Cosmopolitan for Latina Magazine during its print run. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Texas Monthly, Texas Observer, and a number of literary anthologies. Guerra holds a BA in Creative Writing from The New School. He was born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley on the U.S.-Mexico border and currently lives in New York City.

Reyna Grande holds a BA in Creative Writing and Film & Video from the University of California, Santa Cruz, as well as an MFA in creative writing from Antioch University. She is the author of the bestselling memoir The Distance Between Us (Atria, 2012) and the sequel, A Dream Called Home (Atria, 2018). Her other works include the novels Across a Hundred Mountains (Atria, 2006), Dancing with Butterflies (Washington Square Press, 2009), and The Distance Between Us Young Readers’ Edition (Aladdin, 2016). Her books have been adopted as the common-read selection by schools, colleges, and cities across the country. Her two most recent books are A Ballad of Love and Glory (Atria, 2022), a novel set during the Mexican-American War, and an anthology by and about undocumented Americans titled Somewhere We Are Human: Authentic Voices on Migration, Survival and New Beginnings (HarperVia, 2022). Grande has received an American Book Award, the El Premio Aztlán Literary Award, and a Latino Spirit Award. In 2012, she was a finalist for the prestigious National Book Critics Circle Awards, and in 2015, she was honored with a Luis Leal Award for Distinction in Chicano/Latino Literature. The young readers’ version of The Distance Between Us received a 2017 Honor Book Award for the Américas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature, a 2016 Eureka! Honor Awards from the California Reading Association, and a 2017 International Literacy Association Children’s Book Award. Writing about immigration, family separation, language trauma, the price of the American Dream, and her writing journey, Grande has written for many publications, including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News, CNN, “The Lily” at The Washington Post, and Buzzfeed. In March of 2020, she appeared as a guest on Oprah’s Book Club television program.

Rev. Alex Evangelista is the Designated Pastor at the Church On The Mall in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania and former Associate Pastor of Christian Formation and Technology Ministries at Swarthmore Presbyterian Church. He was born to two Salvadorean immigrant parents in Calgary, Alberta. At the age of five, his family moved to Tulare, CA. He spent his adolescence at the church, which empowered him and led him to affirm that he was being called to ministry. Rev. Evangelista holds a BA in Theology/Biblical Studies from Azusa Pacific University and an MDiv and an International Certificate in Youth, Theology, and Innovation, both from Princeton Theological Seminary (PTS). After his undergraduate studies, he worked as a Program and Outreach Intern at the first nonprofit immigration resource center of the San Gabriel Valley in Monrovia, CA, during which he began to see how his theology in action could make a difference in people’s lives. He later accepted the call to serve as Assistant Student Minister at Mannofield Church in Aberdeen. Rev. Evangelista has also served as Seminary Intern at San Marino Community Church; and as Chaplain Intern at Penn Medicine Princeton Health and at the Trenton Psychiatric Hospital. Passionate about Latin music, he plays guitar and bass, and enjoys spending time either teaching other people how to dance or dancing to bachata and salsa at home with his fiancé Andrea or away (he led dance-fitness courses at PTS and learned L.A. salsa from a Polish dance teacher in Aberdeen, Scotland). The couple’s cat is named after King Nebuchadnezzar, though Nebbie is the name he meows to.

Norma Ortíz McCormick is a retired educator who served in the public education sector for 28 years. For 18 of those years, she served at the regional non-profit Region One Education Service Center, which provides educational opportunities to the 38 districts and 10 charter systems served. During her tenure, she occupied various roles, the latest as Director of the Office of College, Career and Life Readiness, where she supported the growth of staff from 13 to 50. Additionally, she directly managed the Center for Excellence in College and Career Readiness, providing ongoing leadership and support. As an administrator for various multi-million dollar federal grants, McCormick also served as the budget manager, ensuring that local, state, and federal guidelines were followed. During her years at Region One, McCormick, along with the leadership team, was able to secure nearly $200 million in funding.  Brought up in poverty on the Texas/Mexico border, McCormick was an altar server and a member of the youth group at Sacred Heart Church in McAllen, Texas. In 2008, she joined the Episcopalian Church and, in 2021, was received as a “Daughter of the King” at St. Matthew’s Church in Edinburg, Texas. After retirement, McCormick and her husband Michael of 25 years followed God’s guidance and moved to Nevada, where she joined the Trinity Episcopalian Cathedral, continuing her work as a “Daughter of the King,” and is a national education consultant who also provides business-strategy coaching to select clients. The McCormicks have two adult daughters and currently live with their pets in Reno, Nevada, enjoying God’s creations, especially North Lake Tahoe. 

Rita Gail Cedillo was born in Austin, Texas to Ernestina and Ramiro Rodríguez, Pastor Emeritus of the Apostolic Assembly of the Faith in Christ Jesus. There, Cedillo began her ministry at the age of 16 as a Sector Youth President, then as District Youth Treasurer, Federation Ladies Vice-President, Federation Ladies President, Treasurer, National Ladies Treasurer, and National Ladies President. Together, she and her husband Rufino Cedillo, Jr. have continued to work in God’s Kingdom on the local, district, and national levels. She has also taught several classes at South Texas District International Bible College. In 2013, the Cedillos were called to be Pastors at New Beginnings Apostolic Church in Corpus Christi, Texas, where they served for eight years. In 2021, the Lord called them to be Missionary Presidents in Paraguay, where they serve in expanding the gospel of Jesus Christ; with servants’ hearts, they also serve the people in Paraguay, the majority of whom are underrepresented and underserved. Cedillo holds a Bachelor’s in Interdisciplinary Studies (with a minor in Bilingual/Bicultural) and in Theology; a Master’s in Education, and a Mid-Management Certificate. Her hobbies include singing, traveling with friends and family, and bike riding and swimming.

liz gonzález is the author of the historical creative nonfiction chapbook The Original OLG: San Bernardino’s First Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, forthcoming from Los Nietos Press; the multi-genre book Dancing in the Santa Ana Winds: Poems y Cuentos New and Selected (Los Nietos Press, 2018); and the poetry collection Beneath Bone (Manifest Press, 2000). Her creative nonfiction and poetry appear in various journals and anthologies, including Air/Light, Poets & Writers Magazine, San Bernardino Singing, The International Literary Quarterly, and Puro Chicanx Writers of the 21st Century. gonzález’s honors include the Arts Council for Long Beach Incite / Insight Award for her community work in North Long Beach through Uptown Word & Arts, a literary and arts series she co-founded with her spouse; an Arts Council for Long Beach Professional Artist Fellowship; an Elizabeth George Foundation Artistic Grant; and an Irvine Fellowship at the Lucas Artists Residency Program. In 2016, she founded Women's Write Inn, a rotating group of women poets and writers that meet regularly to write alone together and support each other. She teaches creative writing at the UCLA Extension Writers' Program. A fourth-generation Californian, gonzález lives in Long Beach.

Edgar Sandoval is a National Correspondent for The New York Times, writing about Texas and the nuances of the U.S. Latino experience. A graduate of the University of Texas Pan-American, he began his career in journalism at The McAllen Monitor, his hometown newspaper, where he wrote obituaries while still in college. He went on to complete a training program at The Los Angeles Times, then worked as a reporter for The Morning Call in Allentown, PA, and at The South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale. He spent almost three years writing about the assimilation of Latino immigrants in Pennsylvania; the articles are anthologized in The New Face of Small-Town America: Snapshots of Latino Life in Allentown, Pennsylvania (Penn State University Press, 2010). The Nieman Storyboard Notable Narrative blog, affiliated with Harvard University, featured his 2004 Sun-Sentinel story about mothers behind bars, “Learning Their Lessons.” Sandoval worked for the New York Daily News for a decade, before joining The New York Times in 2019.

T.I. Frazier is a writer of inspirational books and children’s stories. Born on the East Coast and partly raised in Southern California, Frazier served ten years with the United States Army National Guard in various roles, including Chaplain Assistant, and was deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He holds an undergraduate degree in Sociology from Calvin University and an MBA from Western Governor’s University. He has worked in a variety of financial-related roles, including business banking, private banking, analysis, and procurement in the healthcare and food industries. Currently, Frazier works for a trust company as he continues to write, teach, motivate, and serve others, empowering them to strive past the unknown and to explore their passions. He is the author of Faith Arising (Timothy Frazier, 2022), the forthcoming devotional Faith Growth Stages (Timothy Frazier, 2023), and the children’s book Lauren the Cow (Timothy Frazier, 2022). He lives with his family in Michigan; when he isn’t running around, playing with his three-year-old son and wife Lauren, he may be on a farm with his faithful dog Rocky and cat Al.

Sandra Cisneros is a celebrated poet, short story writer, novelist, essayist, performer, and artist. Her numerous awards include NEA fellowships in both poetry and fiction, a MacArthur Fellowship, national and international book awards, including the PEN America Literary Award, and the National Medal of Arts. More recently, she received the Ford Foundation’s Art of Change Fellowship, was recognized with the Fuller Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature, and won the PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature; recently, she was honored by the Poetry Foundation with a 2022 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, one of the most prestigious awards given to American poets and one of the nation’s largest literary prizes, in recognition of her outstanding lifetime achievement. In addition to her writing, Cisneros has fostered the careers of many aspiring and emerging writers through two nonprofits she founded: the Macondo Foundation and the Alfredo Cisneros del Moral Foundation. As a single woman, she made the choice to have books instead of children. A citizen of both the United States and Mexico, Cisneros currently lives in San Miguel de Allende and makes her living by her pen. She has authored over ten books in different genres and translations, including the acclaimed, best-selling The House on Mango Street (Knopf, 1994) and, most recently, the poetry collection Woman Without Shame (Knopf, 2022).

Richard Vargas was born and raised in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, California. He earned a BA at California State University, Long Beach, where he studied under American poets Gerald Locklin and Richard Lee, and earned an MFA from the University of New Mexico. Vargas edited and/or published five issues of The Tequila Review (1977-1980) and twelve issues of The Mas Tequila Review (2010-2015). A recipient of the 2011 Taos Summer Writers’ Conference’s Hispanic Writer Award, he was on the faculty of the 2012 10th National Latino Writers Conference and of the 2015 Taos Summer Writers’ Conference. Vargas is the author of five collections of poetry: McLife (Main Street Rag, 2005), American Jesus: Poems (Tia Chucha Press, 2007), Guernica, revisited (Press 53, 2014), How A Civilization Begins (Mouthfeel Press, 2022), and Leaving A Tip At The Blue Moon Motel (Casa Urraca Press, forthcoming in 2023). He currently resides in Wisconsin, near the lake where Otis Redding’s plane crashed.

Ray Santisteban has worked for the past 26 years as a documentary filmmaker, teacher, and film curator. His work consistently gravitates toward political subjects and artist profiles, addressing the themes of justice, memory, and political transformation. A graduate of NYU’s Film and TV production program, he has explored a variety of subjects, including the New York-based Black Panther leader Dhoruba Bin Wahad (Passin' It On, co-producer), the roots of Puerto Rican poetry (Nuyorican Poets Cafe, 1994, director, producer, editor), and Chicano poetry (Voices from Texas, director/producer). Santiesteban was senior producer of Visiones: Latino Art and Culture in the U.S.., a three-hour PBS series nationally broadcast in 2004. Honors he has garnered include a 1992 Student Academy Award, a 1993 New York Foundation for the Arts Media Fellowship, a 1996 “Ideas In Action” Award from the National Tele-Media Alliance, a 1996 “Faculty of the Year” Award from the Chicano Studies Program at University of Wisconsin–Madison, a 2005 Rockefeller Film and Video Fellowship, a 2008 and 2016 San Antonio Artists Foundation Filmmaker Award, and a 2016 Tobin Award for Artistic Excellence. Santiesteban is based in San Antonio, Texas.

Amanda Calderón is a third-year MDiv (2023) student at Princeton Theological Seminary and a student aide at the Hispanic Theological Initiative (HTI). Born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, she holds a bachelor’s degree in Education from Temple University. Calderón has a heart for God, a passion for people, and an outstretched hand to those in the margins, specifically in education and in the Latinx community, to bring truth and light to those who have been crushed by the power of darkness.

Emanuel Padilla is president of World Outspoken, a ministry preparing the mestizo church for cultural change. After years as an undergraduate instructor, he now develops accessible resources and training for bi-cultural Christians facing questions of identity, culture, and theology. Emanuel is completing a PhD in Theological and Ethical studies at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. He also serves at The Brook, a church on the northwest side of Chicago, along with his wife Kelly. Connect with him on Facebook and Twitter for more on his research into theology and culture.

Eve Fairbanks writes about change: in cities, countries, landscapes, morals, values, and our ideas of ourselves. A former political writer for The New Republic, her essays and reportage have been published in The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Guardian, among other outlets. Born in Washington, DC, and raised in Virginia, she has lived in Johannesburg, South Africa, for thirteen years. She holds a BA in Political Science and Government from Yale University. The Inheritors: An Intimate Portrait of South Africa's Racial Reckoning (Simon & Schuster, 2022) is her debut, winner of the 2023 PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction.

Noemi Córdova is the founder of FLORA, a grassroots ministry supporting immigrant families and mobilizing the church to build with their communities. She is currently pursuing her MDiv at Fuller Theological Seminary. A pastor, mobilizer, and Spanglish speaker, Cordova is an immigrant from Lima, Peru and rooted in Queens, New York. Her faith is what fuels her heart for advocacy and community development.

Dr. Wanderley Pereira da Rosa holds a degree in Theology from the Rev. José Manoel da Conceição from São Paulo/SP; a degree in philosophy from the Federal University of Espírito Santo; a Master in Theology from Faculdades EST de São Leopoldo/RS; and a Doctorate in Theology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro/RJ. He is professor of History of Christianity in the Bachelor of Theology and of Religion, Democracy, and Public Sphere in post-graduate studies at the Faculdade Unida de Vitória, which he helped found in 1997, serving as General Director since then. His main research interests are the social and political theology of the Reformation and the history of Protestantism in Brazil. After his training, he was ordained pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Brazil (1992). His publications include O Dualismo na Teologia Cristã [Dualism in Christian Theology] (Fonte Editorial, 2010); Cristo e o Processo Revolucionário Brasileiro: A Conferência do Nordeste 50 anos depois (1962-2012 ) [Christ and the Brazilian Revolutionary Process: The Northeast Conference 50 Years Later (1962-2012)] (co-edited with Prof. José Adriano Filho – Mauad X, 2012); Religião e Sociedade (Pós) Secular [Religion and (Post) Secular Society (co-edited with Prof. Osvaldo Luiz Ribeiro – Academia Cristã, 2014); World Christianity as Public Religion (co-edited with Professors Raimundo Cesar Barreto and Ronaldo Cavalcante – Fortress Press, 2017); and Por uma fé encarnada: uma introdução à história do Protestantismo no Brasil [For an Incarnate Faith: An Introduction to the History of Protestantism in Brazil] (Editora Recriar, 2022). He currently coordinates the Research Group Intellectual Origins of Mission Protestantism in Brazil. He is a member of the Board of Directors of CETELA - Latin American and Caribbean Ecumenical Theological Education Community for the Quadrennial 2018-2021, of Society of Theology and Science of Religion (SOTER), and of the American Academy of Religion (AAR). Dr. Pereira da Rosa is also editor for Editora Unida.

José A. Pérez is a poet, actor, and foster-care reform/abolitionist advocate. A native New Yorker, he grew up in Queens as a systems-impacted person in foster homes, group homes, and other juvenile institutions. For Pérez, the arts have been synonymous with freedom, fostering spaces where relationships are forged under the common love for lyrics and unfettered expression. He especially found writing poetry and acting on stage to be his catalysts not only to survive in those institutions but also to thrive. While incarcerated, Pérez earned an AA from Bard College, a BS from Nyack College through HudsonLink, and capped his academic career with an MPS from the New York Theological Seminary. He has facilitated theater and poetry workshops, including the Harvest Moon Poetry Collective with Beat poet Janine Pommy Vega, and hosted poets like Naomi Shihab Nye and Amiri Baraka. As an actor, Pérez recently performed at the Bushwick Starr Theater in Quince (One Whale’s Tale Productions, 2022). He has also been a servant leader as an alternatives-to-violence facilitator, including work with gang-involved youth at the Center for Alternatives Sentencing and Employment Services as a community Benefits Project Supervisor. Currently, Pérez is Project Manager of YouthNPower: Transforming Care for the Children’s Defense Fund.