Mark Yaconelli
Mark Yaconelli is an author, retreat leader, spiritual director, storycatcher, husband, and father. He is the founder and executive director of The Hearth, a nonprofit that utilizes personal storytelling to heal, connect, enrich, and mobilize communities for good. Mark is a co-founder of The Center for Engaged Compassion which seeks to cultivate compassion for peace and reconciliation.
Interviews and profiles of Mark’s work have appeared in numerous outlets including the Wall Street Journal, BBC Radio and ABC World News Tonight. Mark is the author of five books including The Gift of Hard Things: Finding Grace in Unexpected Places, Wonder, Fear, and Longing, Downtime, Growing Souls, […]
Ahren Samuel
Ahren Samuel is the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Coordinator at Fuller Youth Institute (FYI) where she is committed to diversity and making sure that inclusion and equity are tracked across race, gender and socioeconomic status. Ahren, a Pasadena native, holds a BA in International Relations with a Minor in Spanish & Latin American Studies from Spelman College, a Culinary Arts Degree from LA Trade Tech College, and an MA in Intercultural Studies with an emphasis in Children at Risk from Fuller Theological Seminary. Her passion is working with marginalized teens and making sure they have all the resources and opportunities […]
Montague Williams
Rev. Dr. Montague Williams is the Professor of Church, Culture, and Society at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, CA. He is an ordained minister and holds a Ph.D. in Theological Studies from Boston University. With a background in congregational pastoral leadership and campus chaplaincy, his research and teaching focus on the intersection of theology, ethics, and Christian ministry. Along with journal and magazine articles, he is the author of Church in Color: Youth Ministry, Race, and the Theology of Martin Luther King Jr.
David R. Caruso, Ph.D.
David R. Caruso, Ph.D. is a psychologist who develops and conducts emotional intelligence training around the world. David is the co-founder of Emotional Intelligence (EI) Skills Group, Senior Advisor to the Dean in Yale College, and a research affiliate at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. He is the co-author of the Mayer, Salovey, Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) and has provided assessment feedback to thousands of executives. He and colleague Peter Salovey wrote the “how-to” book, The Emotionally Intelligent Manager. He is a co-author (with Lisa Rees) of The Leader’s Guide to Solving Challenges with Emotional Intelligence, co-author of The […]
Traci Smith
Traci Smith is a pastor, mother of three, and author. Traci’s passion is helping families find times for connection and spiritual nourishment amid the hustle and bustle of daily life. What began as a quest to help her own family has provided valuable insight for thousands of others. Traci believes faith practices should be fun, easy to fit into daily life, and accessible to all.
Traci is the author of three books Faithful Families: Creating Sacred Moments at Home, Prayers for Faithful Families: Everyday Prayers for Everyday Life, and Faithful Families for Advent and Christmas: 100 Ways to Make the Season […]
Sanghoon Yoo
Pastor Sanghoon Yoo, the founder of The Faithful City (TFC), has led ministries and social services at Arizona State University (ASU) and the Phoenix metropolitan area over two decades. He holds Master’s degrees in Social Work (MSW) and in theology (MDiv). He launched “Arizona Trauma Informed Faith Community (AZTIFC),” collaborating with Arizona ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) Consortium that he is serving as a board member. He organizes a statewide conference and mobilizes trauma informed community movement, working with many organizations from diverse sectors.
With Arizona ACEs Consortium, he contributed to the authorship of training modules for opioid and substance […]
Yadi Martínez-Reyna
Yadi Martínez Reyna is a bilingual Latinx gender non-conforming artist, UCC Licensed Minister, Pastor, and borderlander, born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas. Yadi serves as the LGBTQIA Unconscious Bias Awareness Facilitator with ten+ years of experience working with young people in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metropolitan area. Their work includes using arts and networking skills to create community events, retreats, leadership conferences, and safe spaces. Yadi is a certified facilitator in the Our Whole Lives (OWL) curriculum, which provides comprehensive sexuality education for young people. Yadi serves as a Youth Pastor at New Church, Chiesa Nuova, […]
Phiwa Langeni
As a queer, Black, trans person from an immigrant family, the Rev. Phiwa Langeni is quite skilled at detecting and decreasing various societal gaps, especially with/for those with multiple minoritized identities. Since ordination in 2011, Phiwa has served in just about every local church setting possible: a thriving progressive church, multi-charge rural churches, a large suburban church, small churches deeply rooted in political and social justice, a new church start/nonprofit hybrid. They currently serve as the Ambassador for Innovation and Engagement in the Center for Analytics, Research & Development, and Data of the United Church of Christ. Phiwa is the […]
Matt Overton
The Rev. Matt Overton is a minister in the Pacific Northwest and the Executive Director of the Columbia Future Forge. The Forge is a non-profit church ministry providing teens and young adults with job skills, life skills, and mentorship. He is a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary with over 20 years of youth ministry experience. Matt has attempted to write about innovation and social enterprise as they relate to working with teenagers in the 21st century. His innovative model for student ministry has been featured in several publications and he writes articles for various publications as well.
Laurie Santos
Dr. Laurie Renee Santos is a cognitive scientist and Professor of Psychology at Yale University. She is also Director of Yale’s Comparative Cognition Laboratory, Director of Yale’s Canine Cognition Lab, Head of Yale’s Silliman College, and she is also the host of “The Happiness Lab” podcast. Her course, “The Science of Well Being” is the most popular in Yale’s history.
Jannah Scott
Jannah Scott is a Strategist, Planner, Advisor, Public Policy Expert, who has served in many capacities with faith, government, business and the nonprofit community.
For eight years, Jannah served in President Obama’s administration as Deputy Director, Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. In that role, Jannah guided the engagement of faith-based and community groups on issues of resilience integration, emergency preparedness and response; countering violent extremism; religious accommodations in homeland security; H1N1 and other issues within Homeland Security.
Her most recent endeavors included an assessment and engagement process in cities across the nation to promote […]
Ryan Gackenheimer
The Rev. Ryan Gackenheimer joined Silver Lake in 2016, coming from more than seven years of ministry as Associate Pastor of the First Congregational Church UCC of Essex, Vermont. As a young camper in Indiana Ryan found a passion for the life transforming ministry that happens at camp. He has prior camp experience in Indiana, Vermont, and Idaho, and has served on the Board of the UCC’s Outdoor Ministry Association and is currently the OMA Chaplain. A graduate of DePauw University and Eden Theological Seminary, he and his wife, Rev. Abby, have a young son, Keadyn.