Paolo Piscitelli is a Visiting Lecturer in Sculpture in the Department of Studio Arts at University of Pittsburgh. Influenced by the atmosphere of the Arte Povera movement, he has worked in a broad range of techniques and disciplines including drawing, sculpture, installation, digital media, phenomenological experimentation with materials and their interaction with time. His sculpture prioritizes a sustainable ecological practice developed, in part, through traveling and teaching. Piscitelli’s current work and research involve the use of simple hand tools to carve small-scale sculptures assessed with sight and touch. Piscitelli has exhibited internationally, doing many shows in private spaces–like Studio Tucci Russo, Torre Pellice and e/static, Turin (Italy); Galerie Paul Andriesse, Amsterdam (Holland)--as well as in public spaces like Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (GAM) in Torino and in Bologna, Museo Laboratorio di Arte Contemporanea (MLAC) - Sapienza, Rome; and Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin (Italy); the FRAC-Bourgogne in Dijon (France); Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX and the Museum of Art, Denver, CO (United States). He holds BFA and MA degrees in Sculpture from Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti in Turin, Italy, and an MFA in Creative Practice from the Transart Institute in the School of Art and Media at University of Plymouth, UK. Piscitelli lives and works in Pittsburgh, PA. See more of his work at: artpaolo.com.

Dr. José E. Balcells Gallarreta is the Executive Director of Iodea, a non-profit organization providing religious educational programs. At Iodea, Balcells explores how to make theological studies more engaging and effective by using proven methods of instruction that integrate Digital Tutor (DT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies. Prior to this, he taught at several universities in California and in Puerto Rico. Dr. Balcells holds an MA in Biblical Languages from the Jesuit School of Theology of Berkeley and a PhD in Biblical Studies, with an emphasis on texts of Second Temple Judaism and the archaeology of the Ancient Near East of the Persian period, from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. His article “Old Testament Archaeology.” appears in The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century (Bloomsbury, 2022). Part of his research has focused on the integration of archaeology with biblical studies. One of his most important projects in this area was the publication of Household and Family Religion in Persian-Period Judah: An Archaeological Approach (SBL Press, 2017) as part of the Society of Biblical Literature’s Ancient Near East Monograph Series. He has participated in archaeological excavations in Tel Akko and Tel Azekah, Israel. He also has been involved with other projects related to the archaeology of the ancient Near East. Professional memberships include: American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR), Asociación Bíblica Española (ABE), and Society of Biblical Literature (SBL).

Sudabée Lotfian-Mena is in her first year of the doctoral theology program at the University of Dayton. She is a multi-racial, multi-ethnic Latina-Middle Eastern scholar whose area of study focuses on First-World neoliberal and globalist schemes and their effects on the Third World. She hopes to explore the implications of these postcolonial/decolonial realities for the religious sphere, both in Latin America and in transplanted population spaces.

Edward Vidaurre is an award-winning poet and author of eight collections of poetry, including Cry, Howl (Prickly Pear Publishing, 2021) and By Throat, By Miracle: New & Selected Poems (Luchadora Press, 2023). His writings have also appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Texas Observer, and Los Angeles Review of Books, as well as in other journals and anthologies. He is the publisher and editor-in-chief of FlowerSong Press and its sister imprint Juventud Press, as well as the founder of Pasta, Poetry & Vino and Barrio Poet Productions. He was the 2018-2019 City of McAllen, Texas Poet Laureate; a recipient of an Award of Merit 2020 by The Philosophical Society of Texas for Best Book of Poetry by a Texas Author; and a 2022 inductee to the Texas Institute of Letters. Vidaurre—a Californian of Salvadoran ancestry born in East Los Angeles and transplanted to the Texas borderlands—resides in McAllen, TX with his wife and daughter, where they foster dogs in need until they find their forever homes.

Charles Alcorn has lived in and written about Texas his entire life. A former all-state linebacker, Alcorn founded Splendid Seed Tobacco Company, was a sportswriter, and worked as a packaged goods copywriter before receiving his PhD in English Literature/Creative Writing (Fiction) from the University of Houston. Alcorn is the author of the short-story collection Argument Against the Good-Looking Corpse (Texas Review Press, 2011). Beneath the Sands of Monahans (Deep Vellum Publishing, 2023) is his debut novel. Alcorn currently lives in Edinburg, Texas on the US-Mexico border.

Dr. Ahida (Calderón) Pilarski is Professor of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible at Saint Anselm College (NH). Her research focuses on the intersection of culture and gender in biblical interpretation, especially in Latina and Mujerista Biblical Hermeneutics. Her scholarly service to empower Latine (and Latina) communities includes, among others, being a member of the Editorial Board of the Wisdom Commentary Series (WCS), a member of the Steering Committee of HTI (Hispanic Theological Initiative), a member of the Committee for Underrepresented Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession at SBL (Society of Biblical Literature), a member of the Advisory Committee of Raíces Latinas at Boston University School of Theology, and the honor of having taught so far three courses at the HSP (Hispanic Summer Program). In June of 2022, she was elected Vice President of ACHTUS (Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States).

She holds a BA in Theology from the Facultad de Teología Pontificia y Civil de Lima (Perú); an MA in Old Testament from Catholic Theological Union; a ThM in Old and New Testaments from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago; an MLA from The University of Chicago; and a PhD in Hebrew Bible/Old Testament from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.

Dr. Pilarski has published many papers on the prophets, lamentations, migration, Latine and Latin American biblical hermeneutics, decolonial thinking and the Global South, and feminist critical inquiry. She has edited or co-edited Daughters of Wisdom: Women and Leadership in the Global Church (Wipf and Stock, 2023); 2 Kings [Wisdom Commentary Series] (Liturgical Press, 2019); Judges [Wisdom Commentary Series] (Liturgical Press, 2018); By Bread Alone: Reading the Bible through the Eyes of the Hungry (Fortress Press, 2014), and Pentateuco: Introducción al Antiguo Testamento/La Biblia Hebrea en Perspectiva Latinoamericana (Editorial Verbo Divino, 2014).

Dr. Nely Galán is a self-made media and real-estate entrepreneur. She was born in Santa Clara, Cuba and raised in Teaneck, New Jersey. Dr. Galán became the first Latina President of Entertainment for a U.S. television network—Telemundo—and an Emmy Award-winning producer of over 700 television shows in English and Spanish, including the hit reality series The Swan for 20th Century Fox, produced through her multimedia company Galan Entertainment. The company has created more than 700 television shows in English and in Spanish, helping to launch over 10 television channels around the world for companies like HBO, ESPN, FOX, MGM, and Sony. She holds a master’s and a doctorate in Clinical Psychology, with a focus on the psychology of money in multicultural communities.

Dr. Galán’s New York Times-bestselling book SELF MADE: Becoming Empowered, Self-Reliant, and Rich in Every Way (Spiegel & Grau, 2016; published in English, Spanish, and Mandarin) is an entrepreneurship-for-women manifesto that coined the phrase “Don’t buy shoes; buy buildings.” Her digital platform Becoming Self Made offers financial literacy content, including webinars and stories of self-made women of color. Money Maker/Mi mundo rico with Nely Galán (Money News Network), which targets listeners who have traditionally been denied a seat at the table, is the only business and entrepreneurship podcast for a mainstream audience with episodes in English and in Spanish. Dr. Galán is the founder of the 501c3 nonprofit The Adelante Movement, a national motivational tour and digital platform that unites and empowers Latinas socially, economically, and politically. Currently, Dr. Galán serves on the Aspen Institute’s Latinos and Society Advisory Board; formerly, she served as a board member of the Smithsonian Institute and of The Hispanic Scholarship Fund. She is the mom of Lukas Rodríguez and is based in Miami Beach, Florida.

Dlia Adassa McDonald Woolery is an Afro-Costa Rican and Afro-Panamanian poet and essayist. Since 1997, she has been the director of the Don Chico Creation Workshops and director of the Francisco Zúñiga Díaz Cultural Café, in San José, Costa Rica. She is the founder and columnist of the art and literary criticism blog “La coleccionista de espejos” and a founding member of the Center for the Study of Ethnic Culture in Costa Rica. Her poetic works include El séptimo círculo del obelisco (Ediciones El Café Cultura, 1993), Sangre de madera (Ediciones El Café Cultural Francisco Zúñiga Díaz, 1995), …la lluvia es una piel (Ministerio de Cultura y Juventud, 2000), Instinto tribal…: Antología poética personal (Ediciones Kike y Tetey, 2004), Voces Indelebles (co-edited with Shirley Campbell, Universidad Nacional, 2010), and Todas las voces que canta el mar (Sediento Ediciones, México, 2012). Her poetry has been the subject of study for nine North American and European universities. In 2009, Woolery became the second Central American to be inducted into the Library of Congress, and her work has been featured in Place, Language, and Identity in Afro-Costa Rican Literature by Dorothy E. Mosby (University of Missouri, 2004); Under a Quicksilver Moon (Library of Congress, 2002); Woman Unfolding the City, edited by Anne Lambright and Elizabeth Guerrero (University of Minnesota, 2005); and meridians: feminism, race, transnationalism, edited by Kwame Dixon (University of Syracuse / Universidad de Salamanca, 2003); among other publications. She was a finalist for the 2001 International Library of Poetry contest, organized by poetry.com, and received the 2004 Queen Mumuhusa trophy, awarded by the African Diaspora Association. Woolery has been a member of the Association of Colonense Writers (Panama) since 2015.

Isabel Gonzalez is an MDiv graduate from Princeton Theological Seminary (2024) and currently serves as Communications Coordinator at the Hispanic Theological Initiative (HTI) where she amplifies and celebrates the stories of Latine leaders and scholars in higher education. Gonzalez earned her Bachelor of the Arts in Biblical Religious Studies and English at Messiah University (2020). Driven by her passion for research and writing, she plans to pursue a PhD. Gonzalez is originally from Reading, Pennsylvania.

Dr. Vincent L. Wimbush is an internationally recognized scholar of religion, intellectual leader, and academic gadfly, with more than thirty years of advanced graduate-level teaching and research experience. He is author/editor of more than twelve books, including White Men’s Magic: Scripturalization as Slavery; MisReading America: Scriptures and Difference (Oxford University Press, 2012), Theorizing Scriptures; and African Americans and the Bible (Rutgers University Press, 2008), and scores of articles and essays. He is founding director of The Institute for Signifying Scriptures (ISS), an international scholarly organization, and is conceptualizer and director of several collaborative trans-disciplinary research projects, including a documentary film Finding God in the City of Angels (2010), on the ethnography of scriptures. Recipient of numerous awards and research grants, he is past president of the Society of Biblical Literature. Dr. Wimbush’s general teaching and research interests focus on the trans-disciplinary and comparative study of “scriptures” as sharp wedge for critical research and theorizing in the politics of language, social formation, consciousness, and orientation. His particular area of expertise turns around the uses of scriptures in the historical and contemporary circum-Black Atlantic as window onto the larger comparative phenomena and dynamics of scripturalizing and scripturalization.

Dr. Natasha Gordon-Chipembere is a professor of African Diasporic literature and of Latin American and Caribbean Studies. She holds a PhD in English from the University of South Africa. Her dissertation focused on Sarah Baartman, “an enslaved Khoisan woman in the early 19th century who was taken to Europe and made to work in ‘freak shows,’” and appears in the anthology she co-edited, Representation and Black Womanhood: The Legacy of Sarah Baartman (Springer, 2011). Dr. Gordon-Chipembere’s writing has also been published in Essence Magazine, along with a monthly series, “Musings from An Afro-Costa Rican,” in the Tico Times. She is a Senior Co-editor with Eduardo Paulino of the AfroLatin@ Diasporas Book Series from Palgrave, where they prioritize the voices of emerging Afro-Latin@ scholars. Her current writing focuses on slavery and the legacy of Afro-descendants in Latin America, including her historical fiction novel Finding La Negrita (Jaded Ibis Press, 2022). Dr. Gordon-Chipembere is the founder and host of the annual Tengo Sed Writing Retreats in Costa Rica, an exclusive gathering of global BIPOC writers in Costa Rica for a week. She was born in New York to Costa Rican/Panamanian parents and eventually moved to Costa Rica with her husband and two children.

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.