OUR SPEAKERS | TFAM Conference

United by this year's theme, Practicing Ubuntu: Resist. Repair. Regenerate., our speakers will challenge us to think deeply, lead courageously, and imagine new possibilities for our communities and the world. From prophetic preaching and transformative worship to practical workshops and engaging panel discussions, each presenter offers wisdom, experience, and a unique perspective for navigating this moment with faith, integrity, and collective courage. Whether you're seeking inspiration, practical leadership tools, or meaningful dialogue, you'll find voices that will encourage, equip, and challenge you throughout the conference.

meet our speakers

(Speaker listings will continue to be updated as additional presenters are confirmed.)

Rev. Dr. Heber Brown, III

Rev. Dr. Heber Brown, III has been a catalyst for personal and social change for more than twenty years. From 2008 - 2022, he served as Senior Pastor of Pleasant Hope Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland. Under his leadership, the church grew tremendously and garnered national attention for its innovative approaches to ministry. In 2015 he launched the Black Church Food Security Network a national alliance of more than 200 congregations that work together to co-create Black food ecosystems anchored by Black churches in partnership with Black farmers and producers. Dr. Brown's dedication to service has been widely recognized. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the Ella Baker Freedom Fighter Award and The Afro American Newspaper’s “25 Under 40 Emerging Black History Leaders” award. In 2011, Urbanite Magazine identified him as one of the “Change Makers of Baltimore City." In 2013; he received a $10,000 Fellowship Award from The Beatitudes Society who identified him as one of eight leading young progressive Faith leaders in the country. In 2016, Grist.Org named him among innovators, organizers, and visionaries as one of "The 50 People You'll Be Talking About This Year." In 2018, Baltimore Magazine named him a Visionary of the City and the Baltimore City Office of Civil Rights presented him with their Food Justice Award. In 2019, he received the coveted Emerging Leaders Award from the Claneil Foundation which brought with it a $250,000 investment in the work of the Black Church Food Security Network. In 2021, Rev. Dr. Brown was inducted into the Martin Luther King, Jr. Board of Preachers at Morehouse College. In 2022, he was chosen to become an Ashoka Fellow - which places him among some of the most influential social entrepreneurs around the world. In 2023, he received Humanitarian Awards from both the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference and the Morgan State University Baltimore Alumni Chapter. That year, he also received the Community Service Award from the Epsilon Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. In 2024, he received the Locke Innovative Leader Award and the Invested Faith Fellowship which identifies faith-rooted individuals who are working to change unjust systems. He has presented and lectured at many institutions of higher learning including Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC), Drew Theological School, Wake Forest School of Divinity, Methodist Theological School of Ohio, Virginia Union University, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, St. Mary's Seminary, Memphis Theological Seminary, and the Black Theological Leadership Institute at Princeton Theological Seminary. He earned his B.S. degree in Psychology from Morgan State University, a Master of Divinity degree from Virginia Union University and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Wesley Theological Seminary. (Washington, D.C.) He serves on the board of many impactful organizations such as Bread For The World, Black Farmer Fund and Future Harvest-Chesapeake Alliance For Sustainable Agriculture. He is also the author of the forthcoming book, Nothing More Sacred: Radical Stories Of Black Church Faith, Food and Freedom.

Rev. Racquel C.N. Gill

Rev. Racquel C.N. Gill is a native of Winnsboro; SC. She is the daughter of Camilla Gill and the late Stephen Gill. Having begun her preaching ministry as a teenager, Racquel was ordained in 2008 at the St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church in Winnsboro under the leadership of the late Rev. Roy C. Jeffcoat. Racquel is a 2012 graduate of Columbia College in Columbia, SC where she holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English Education. Racquel received her Masters of Divinity in May of 2015 from Duke Divinity School in Durham, NC. Racquel is currently pursuing doctoral studies in Christian Spirituality at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Racquel served faithfully as the Lily Pastor In Residence on the pastoral staff at the St. Paul Community Baptist Church in Brooklyn, New York under the leadership of Dr. David K. Brawley. After her time in Brooklyn, Racquel transitioned into higher education and served as the Associate Chaplain at Presbyterian College in Clinton, SC and as the Minister for Intercultural Engagement at her alma mater Duke University in Durham, North Carolina for six years. After a season of working in local government for the City of Raleigh, Racquel currently serves as the Pastor of Community Life and Engagement at the Southeast Raleigh Table United Methodist Church under the leadership of Pastor Lisa Yebuah. In addition to her professional commitments, Racquel is a proud member of the Board of Directors for the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice. She lives in Durham with her spouse the Reverend Chelsea Brooke Yarborough, Phd She enjoys local library visits with Chelsea, walking trails and greenways, great coffee, learning pickleball, and traveling to visit her nephew and niece.

Rev. Dr. Melva L. Sampson

Rev. Dr. Melva L. Sampson is an author, womanist practical theologian, and cultural curator whose work lives at the intersection of faith, imagination, digital culture, and Black communal life. She is widely recognized for her pioneering scholarship and practice in what she names Afrowomanistfuturist Digital Insurgent Homiletics—a framework that brings together sacred memory, womanist theology, Afrofuturism, and digital practice to reimagine proclamation, community, and liberation in the 21st century. Whether in the classroom, the pulpit, the digital sphere, or cultural gatherings, her work consistently asks: what does it mean to create spaces where Black life can flourish, fully and freely? Dr. Sampson serves as Assistant Teaching Professor in the Practice of Preaching and Practical Theology at Wake Forest University School of Divinity. There, she forms students to engage preaching and theological reflection not as static disciplines, but as living, embodied practices shaped by context, culture, and community. Her teaching invites students to take seriously lived experience as a site of theological knowledge, to wrestle honestly with systems of power, and to cultivate forms of proclamation that are both intellectually rigorous and deeply accountable to the communities they serve. Across courses such as Introduction to Preaching, Digital Proclamation, and Practical Theologies of Social Change, she equips emerging leaders to see the pulpit as only one of many sites where transformative proclamation can occur. Central to Dr. Sampson’s work is her commitment to sacred memory as both method and practice. She understands memory not as nostalgia, but as a living archive of ancestral wisdom that can be retrieved, reinterpreted, and reactivated for present and future liberation. Drawing on Africana religious traditions and womanist thought, she frames sacred memory as a form of embodied knowledge—carried in story, ritual, and communal practice—that resists erasure and reclaims dignity. This commitment shapes not only her scholarship but also the experiential learning spaces she creates, including immersive courses and public gatherings that invite participants into practices of restorying and collective remembering. Dr. Sampson is also a leading voice in the study of digital religion, particularly Digital Black Religion. Her work examines how Black women, in particular, have used digital platforms to create what she calls “digital hush harbors”—online spaces of refuge, resistance, and reimagined community that echo the hidden worship spaces of enslaved Africans. Through livestream preaching, social media engagement, and online communities, she demonstrates how digital spaces can function as sites of theological formation, spiritual care, and insurgent proclamation. In these spaces, authority is reconfigured, community is reimagined, and new forms of religious expression emerge. Beyond the academy, Dr. Sampson is a dynamic public theologian and cultural architect. She is the co-founder and co-producer of the 1Love Festival, a multi-day cultural gathering that centers African diasporic history, art, wellness, and innovation. Under her leadership, 1Love has grown into more than a festival; it is a living ecosystem that brings together artists, scholars, practitioners, and community members to engage culture as a site of healing, resistance, and collective imagination. Through music, visual art, conversation, and embodied practice, the festival creates space for joy, reflection, and the reimagining of what community can be. At 1Love, Dr. Sampson’s theological commitments take on tangible form. She understands culture not as peripheral to spiritual life, but as a primary site of meaning-making and transformation. The festival’s emphasis on wellness, mutual care, and creative expression reflects her belief that liberation must be holistic—attending not only to intellectual and political dimensions, but also to the body, the spirit, and the imagination. In this way, 1Love becomes a kind of contemporary sanctuary, a space where participants can experience what it feels like to be held in community while also being invited into new ways of seeing and being. Dr. Sampson’s work as a curator and convener extends into her role as a co-creator of the Restorying Institute, a multi-day immersive experience designed to help leaders and communities reimagine systems of care, power, and value. In collaboration with the Faith Compass Center and the Sacred Memory Project, the Institute brings together academicians, ministers, public health workers, and institutional leaders to engage in practices of restorying rooted in what she calls Kindred Abundance. This framework challenges dominant narratives of scarcity and competition, inviting participants instead into an understanding of abundance grounded in reciprocity, relationship, and collective imagination. Within the Restorying Institute, Dr. Sampson helps cultivate spaces where participants can engage in deep dialogue, shared learning, and creative experimentation. These are not spaces of passive consumption, but of active co-creation, where participants are invited to bring their full selves into the work of imagining and building more just and life-giving systems. A particular focus of the Institute is the restorying of HIV/AIDS, an area where Dr. Sampson’s commitment to dignity, care, and community is especially evident. By centering the voices and leadership of those most impacted, the Institute seeks to move beyond narratives of stigma and fear toward frameworks of healing, pleasure, and collective thriving. As an author, Dr. Sampson brings her scholarly and practical insights into deeply personal and accessible forms. Her forthcoming book, The Pink Robe Chronicles, is a memoir and spiritual reflection that weaves together themes of love, loss, resilience, and liberation. Using the symbol of a pink robe as a throughline, she explores her own journey of faith, identity, and calling, offering readers a powerful testament to the possibility of healing and transformation. The book reflects her unique voice—at once scholarly and lyrical, prophetic and pastoral—and her ability to speak across contexts while remaining deeply rooted in the experiences of Black women. In addition to her writing, Dr. Sampson is a sought-after speaker and preacher, known for her ability to move seamlessly between intellectual rigor and spiritual depth. Her preaching is marked by a commitment to truth-telling, a deep engagement with scripture, and a refusal to separate faith from the realities of social and political life. Drawing on womanist, Black feminist, and liberationist traditions, she offers proclamations that challenge, inspire, and invite listeners into new ways of understanding themselves and their world. Throughout her work, a consistent thread emerges: a belief in the transformative power of imagination. For Dr. Sampson, imagination is not escapism, but a critical tool for survival and liberation. It is through imagination that communities can envision alternatives to oppressive systems, reclaim their stories, and build futures that honor their dignity and humanity. This commitment to imagination is evident in her teaching, her writing, her digital practice, and her cultural work, all of which seek to expand the horizons of what is possible. Dr. Sampson’s work is also deeply relational. Whether mentoring students, collaborating with colleagues, or convening community members, she approaches her work with a spirit of care, humility, and openness. She understands that transformation does not happen in isolation, but in relationship, and she is committed to creating spaces where those relationships can flourish. This relational ethos is at the heart of everything she does, from the classroom to the festival grounds to the digital spaces she inhabits. As a public theologian, Dr. Sampson engages the pressing issues of our time with clarity, courage, and compassion. She addresses questions of race, gender, power, and justice not as abstract concepts, but as lived realities that demand thoughtful and faithful response. Her work invites individuals and communities to consider how their beliefs and practices can contribute to systems of harm or to processes of healing and liberation, and to choose, intentionally, the latter. Rev. Dr. Melva L. Sampson’s work ultimately points toward a vision of community that is expansive, inclusive, and life-giving. It is a vision where love is not merely an emotion, but a practice; where memory is not a burden, but a resource; and where imagination is not a luxury, but a necessity. Through her scholarship, her teaching, her writing, and her cultural work, she continues to create and cultivate spaces where that vision can take root and grow. In every space she enters, Dr. Sampson carries a simple yet profound commitment: to help people remember who they are, to imagine who they might become, and to build together the conditions for collective thriving.

Rev. Naomi Washington-Leapheart

Reverend Naomi Washington-Leapheart, a daughter of Detroit, is a Black-queer preacher, teacher, and activist. She develops spaces of spiritual candor, disruption, reflection, transformation, and action. Rev. Naomi is the founder of Salt | Yeast | Light, a consultancy that supports individuals, congregations, institutions, and groups in the work of radical inclusion, courageous spiritual practice, and faith-rooted advocacy. Rev. Naomi is the first-ever Strategic Partnerships Director at Political Research Associates (PRA), a social justice research and strategy center that provides strategic insights and actionable research that identifies, disrupts, and competes with movements and institutions that undermine democracy, justice, and human rights. In her role, she leverages PRA's research and communications capacities to support effective organizing and advocacy by movement organizations around the nation and globe. From 2020-2023, Rev. Naomi served as the Director for Faith-Based and Interfaith Affairs in the Mayor’s Office of Public Engagement for the city of Philadelphia. In that role, she served as a public facing leader, collaborator, advisor, program facilitator, and subject matter expert for the Mayor’s Office and City Hall on local and national matters that impacted Philadelphia’s diverse communities of faith. She also recruited and managed the Mayor’s Commission on Faith-Based and Interfaith Affairs. Prior to working in government, Rev. Naomi was the Faith Work Director for the National LGBTQ Task Force, the country's oldest national LGBTQ justice and equality group. In that role, she coordinated the Task Force's public faith messaging, led local, regional, and national faith gatherings, and trained hundreds of LGBTQ people of faith and cis-het comrades in faith-rooted organizing and advocacy for LGBTQ justice. Before joining the Task Force, Rev. Naomi was a faith organizer for POWER Interfaith, a multi-faith, multi-racial network of congregations in Southeastern and Central Pennsylvania. She also served as Co-Pastor and Minister of Music at the Wisdom's Table at St. Peter's United Church of Christ. Rev. Naomi is also a long-time educator. After teaching for many years in alternative school programs for out-of-school youth returning to community from carceral placements, in 2017, she joined the adjunct faculty at Villanova University, where she teaches a variety of core and upper-level theology courses, including two that she designed: "Do Black Lives Matter to God? A Theological Exploration of Race, Suffering, and Resistance" and "Agitating for Justice: An Introduction to Faith-Rooted Community Organizing." In 2019, Rev. Naomi received the Pohlhaus-Stracciolini Award for Teaching Excellence from Villanova. She is often invited to lecture and consult for various student and faculty groups within the University, and as a multifaith advisor to Campus Ministry, Rev. Naomi also directed the Villanova Gospel Choir for a season and has preached in ecumenical worship services on campus. Rev. Naomi also created and taught a religion & science fiction course at Arcadia University, where she was also active in facilitating faculty dialogues around topics related to racial justice and equity in the classroom. In summer 2022, Rev. Naomi was named the Religion and Public Life Government Fellow at Harvard Divinity School, and was reappointed for the 2023-2024 academic year. In that role, she co-taught a course, advised master’s degree students, and facilitated public conversations on religious literacy and the vocation of public administration. Rev. Naomi has also taught in the prison education programs at Villanova University and Eastern University, respectively. Rev. Naomi’s love for intellectually-rigorous moral formation began during her undergraduate years at University of Pennsylvania and she has since earned the Master of Divinity degree from Lancaster Theological Seminary and regularly presents work at annual meetings of the American Academy of Religion. She has earned certificates for completing intensive programs at The Wharton School, Duke Divinity School, Eastern University, and Princeton Theological Seminary. An engaging and insightful speaker and commentator, Rev. Naomi has spoken at congressional, state, and municipal hearings, and has held sacred space in sanctuaries and on the streets. She regularly preaches and teaches in diverse worship settings, national conferences, and religious and academic institutions around the country, including: Vanderbilt University School of Divinity, Swarthmore College, Ithaca College, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, Eastern University, Arcadia University, Yale Divinity School, Methodist Theological School of Ohio, Wake Forest University School of Divinity, Princeton Theological Seminary, Union Theological Seminary (NYC), Chicago Theological Seminary, the United Church of Christ, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Alliance of Baptists, the Union of Black Episcopalians, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the National Council of Churches, the International Council of Community Churches, and Evolving Faith. Rev. Naomi’s writings on faith, identity, and politics can be seen online and in print, and a video archive of her sermons and other public speaking can be seen at http://bit.ly/watchNWL. She is also featured in The Atonement Agenda, a 3-part television series on WHYY (2022), “Marriage Rites: Mainline Christian Denominations,” a special episode of the PBS television show To the Contrary (2018), and two documentary films -- The Grove: A Coming Out Story (Revry TV, 2023) and Taking the Long Road Home (PFLAG National, 2022). In 2022, Rev. Naomi was appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the United States Department of Homeland Security’s Faith-Based Security Advisory Council. In 2019, Naomi was named one of 9 LGBTQ Faith Leaders to Watch by the Center for American Progress and was included in The Root 100, an annual list of the nation’s most influential African-Americans, ages 25-45. In 2021, she was named one of “10 under 40 to Watch” by the Philadelphia Tribune and she was also honored as a “Champion of Pride” by The Advocate magazine. In 2022, Rev. Naomi was named to the Pride Power 100 List by City & State PA. Additionally in 2022, Rev. Naomi was appointed by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the United States Department of Homeland Security’s Faith-Based Security Advisory Council. In October of 2025, Rev. Naomi was inducted into the Martin Luther King, Jr. Board of Preachers at Morehouse College. Rev. Naomi serves on the boards of SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change and the Chair of the board of Pride in the Pews. She is a member of the Faith Advisory Council of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and volunteers her time with Christians for a Free Palestine. Rev. Naomi is proudly affiliated with The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries (TFAM).

Ciarra Jones

Ciarra Jones (she/her) is a writer, speaker, and public theologian known as The Gardening Theologian. Blending theology, storytelling, and the wisdom of the natural world, she helps people untangle inherited beliefs and cultivate faith that’s rooted, liberated, and alive. Through her speaking and writing, Ciarra invites communities to explore how tending soil can mirror tending spirit—shedding systems of control, embracing new growth, and nurturing collective healing. A graduate of Harvard Divinity School, she weaves theological insight with practical wisdom to help people reimagine faith for our changing world. Ciarra is the founder of Ciarra Jones Consulting, LLC, a workplace belonging and well-being consulting firm that empowers workplaces to build systems and structures for all employees to thrive. Across social media, Ciarra has more than 150k subscribers and creates educational content across theology, politics, workplace inclusion, and ecology. Ciarra is signed to Levine Rostan Greenberg Literary Agency and is working on her first book proposal.

Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson

Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson is an Affrilachian woman from Southeast Tennessee, rooted in the working class and raised in the long tradition of Southern freedom movements. A lifelong strategist, storyteller, and organizer, she’s devoted her life to turning liberation from theory into practice — building pathways where courage, collaboration, and imagination meet. Through Utopian Visions, her evolving home for strategy and imagination, Ash-Lee helps movements, coalitions, and institutions build interdependent ecosystems of real power. One branch of this work, Experiments4Good, imagines and implements experiments that serve our common good — including WeAct, an emerging app designed to deepen community through shared calls to action. Her work invites people to remember that freedom isn’t only possible — it’s something we can design, build, and live together.

Rev. Cherisse Scott

Rev. Cherisse Scott is the founder and CEO of SisterReach, Tennessee's first reproductive and sexual justice organization. For more than two decades, she has advanced equity through advocacy, research, culture change, and faith-based organizing across the South and nationally. A nationally recognized leader, she has addressed the United Nations, testified before Tennessee lawmakers, and been featured in O Magazine, Essence, and the documentary PERSONHOOD: Policing Pregnant Women in America. An ordained minister, speaker, and movement builder, Rev. Scott is known for transforming lived experience into lasting systems change.

Elder Victor Hannah

Elder Victor Hannah is a Nashville-based faith leader, speaker, educator, and community engagement professional serving as Faith, Education & Outreach Coordinator for SisterReach, where he helps bridge faith communities and justice-centered advocacy through public programming, outreach, and transformative dialogue.

Rev. Alba Onofrio

Rev. Alba Onofrio is a Queer Femme spiritual activist and public theologian rooted in the Southern Appalachian mountains. They serve as a Global Presbyter for TFAM and Dean of Education for Wawa Aba East Africa. As Executive Director and Spiritual Strategist for Soulforce, they have authored a series of politicized theological publications on liberatory approaches to the Bible translated into 7 languages. Also known by their public persona, Reverend Sex, they are cofounder of the Sexual Liberation Collective and creator of Shameless Theology podcast, a bilingual (English-Spanish) digital platform on Queer-Trans feminist Latinx theologies with an online following in over 47 countries.

Dr. Shawnte' Elbert

Dr. Shawnte' Elbert is Founder and CEO of Elbert Innovative Solutions (EIS), where she supports mission-driven organizations in building infrastructure that sustains funding, impact, and long-term growth. Her work focuses on grant readiness, evaluation strategy, program alignment, and organizational capacity development. Dr. Elbert partners with faith-based and community organizations to strengthen systems that translate vision into measurable outcomes. Her approach integrates strategy, accountability, and equity-centered design, supporting leaders in developing sustainable structures that align mission, funding, and community impact while maintaining integrity and long-term viability.

Rev. Anthony W. Sullivan Jr., M.Div.

Reverend Anthony W. Sullivan Jr., M.Div., is a pastor, public theologian, retired federal civil servant, and community strategist. His work centers faith, justice, leadership, and institutional transformation. Drawing from ministry, advocacy, and senior leadership of complex public programs, he helps communities navigate conflict, confront hard truths, and build systems rooted in dignity, accountability, and collective flourishing.

Rev. Sara Green

Rev. Sara Green (she/her) is an organizer, artist and Unitarian Universalist minister driven by a lifelong commitment to resource stewardship that upholds revolutionary values and builds beloved community. Hailing from New Orleans, Sara finds her spiritual practice grounded in embodiment, valuing the connection between the physical and the spiritual in ways that have practical implications for being in right relationships. Sara is particularly interested in working with the stories we have around money and climate that excite our political magination. She consults as part of the Stewardship For Us team and is the organizer for the Greater New Orleans Interfaith Climate Coalition. Additionally, she serves on the executive committee of Alternate ROOTS.

Rev. Samuel Offer & Elder Dr. Jamie Washington.jpg

Rev. Sam Offer and Rev. Dr. Jamie Washington

Rev. Sam Offer is a minister, educator, and leadership consultant committed to cultivating spaces of restoration, reflection, and collective care. With over 25 years in education and organizational development, he serves as Vice President of the Washington Consulting Group, supporting leaders across faith, higher education, nonprofit, and community sectors. Rooted in a deep commitment to justice and spiritual formation, Rev. Offer integrates faith, reflective practices, and community-centered approaches to support leaders in sustaining themselves while serving others. His work invites individuals to pause, engage in repair, and reconnect with their strength, courage, and wisdom for renewed leadership. Elder Dr. Jamie Washington serves as Pastor of Unity Fellowship Church of Baltimore and is a global leader in justice, inclusion, and spiritual transformation. As Founder of Washington Consulting Group and Co-Founder of the Social Justice Training Institute, he equips communities to live out equity in practice. Rooted in the spirit of Ubuntu-"I am because we are"- his ministry centers on collective healing, accountability, and liberation. Dr. Washington brings a prophetic yet pastoral voice to issues of harm, restoration, and communal care, inviting faith communities to resist injustice, repair what has been broken, and regenerate spaces where all can thrive.

Rev. Daniela Harrigan

Rev. Daniela Harrigan is a TFAM-ordained minister, movement chaplain, circle keeper, educator, and Director of Community Engagement for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health. A daughter of the African diaspora with Cape Verdean and Black Southern roots, she centers healing justice, ancestral wisdom, and liberatory spiritual care in her work with historically harmed communities. Daniela brings a lineage of resilience into her preaching, facilitation, and higher-education teaching, helping individuals and communities move from survival toward thriving. She earned her MDiv from Boston University School of Theology and is committed to creating spaces of liberation, solidarity, and right relationship with creation and our more-than-human kin.

Rev. Erica D. Geralds, LPC

Rev. Erica D. Geralds, LPC is a trauma-informed womanist therapist, counseling supervisor, chaplain, and ordained minister. She serves as Associate Director of Counseling & Psychological Services at Mercer University and is Co-Executive Director of Platform of Hope Services, LLC, alongside her wife, Rev. Doris Smith. Rev. Erica equips faith leaders and communities with trauma-informed, sustainable care practices rooted in mental health justice. Her work centers LGBTQIA+ and marginalized communities, integrating clinical insight, womanist theology, and embodied healing to support collective healing, resilience, and sustainable ministry.

Rev. Dr. Kendal Brown

Rev. Dr. Kendal Brown is a Baltimore-based multidisciplinary artist, minister, musician, and educator whose work explores the intersections of Black, queer, and religious identity. Through family research, material exploration, storytelling, and contemplative practice, his work invites deep reflection on the role of creativity and authenticity in fostering individual and communal healing. Working across media, including collage, archival photography, ephemera, botanicals, and fragrance, Brown creates layered, contemplative works grounded in memory, lineage, and place. Drawing from his early years in southern Virginia, he engages both personal and collective histories, incorporating vintage African American photographs that capture historical figures as well as the everyday beauty of Black life

Rev. Nereyda “Neddy” Yong

Rev. Nereyda “Neddy” Yong, MDiv is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) whose passion is to support diverse families with resources that nurture a compassionate and just spirituality in daily life. Rev. Neddy seeks to center the well-being of children and their parents/caregivers as a way to foster healing, wholeness, and liberation in the world. She has also received an MBA where she was trained in business management and a certificate in the Art of Spiritual Direction as she is continually cultivating her spiritual direction practice. She is a devoted mother herself, raising her four young children alongside her lifelong partner, Rev. Dr. Aizaiah Yong.

Rev. Dr. Danie Buhuro

Rev. Dr. Danie Buhuro is Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology at Gammon Theological Seminary, and Executive Director of Sankofa CPE Center, LLC. A womanist practical theologian and thought leader in digital spiritual care, Dr. Buhuro's work centers the healing and liberation of Black, LGBTQIA, and marginalized communities. She equips clergy and chaplains to practice audacious, justice-rooted spiritual care in a rapidly changing world.

Rev. Yunus Lawrence Coldman

Reverend Yunus Lawrence Coldman was ordained as an Interfaith Minister by The New Seminary of Interfaith Studies (Class of 2011) and earned a Master of Interfaith Theology from Sacred Journey Interfaith Seminary in 2024. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Soulful Touch Services, where he offers ceremonial and spiritual services, including counseling, meditation, weddings, memorials, and life-cycle rituals. Reverend Yunus is a licensed New York State Wedding Officiant, an independently certified Reiki Master Teacher, and a Chaplain with the New York State Chaplain Task Force. In 2026, he successfully completed Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Level 1A, further strengthening his ministry of spiritual care, pastoral presence, and compassionate accompaniment. Reverend Yunus is an accomplished speaker, facilitator, and workshop leader who shares his unique faith journey while exploring the intersections of race, gender identity, spirituality, and social justice. His leadership has included service with the National LGBTQ Task Force and LGBT Faith Leaders of African Descent. He serves as an Honorary Board Member of Harlem Pride, Inc., has co-facilitated the TransLatinx Network's transmasculine support group, and was appointed to the Executive Board of the Open and Affirming Coalition of the United Church of Christ in 2025. Following the completion of CPE Level 1A, Reverend Yunus serves as a Chaplain with SAGE, providing spiritual care, pastoral counseling, grief support, and healing-centered programming for LGBTQ+ older adults. As Associate Pastor of Rivers of Living Water United Church of Christ, Reverend Yunus serves as Director of The Circle healing ministry and Co-Director of Fluid Lovers of Worship (F.L.O.W.), a ministry created by and for transgender, gender non-conforming, and nonbinary people. He also serves as Co-Facilitator and Northeast Regional Coordinator of Trans Saints within The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries.

Prophet Twanna Jones, MDiv

Prophet Twanna Jones, MDiv affectionately known as “PT,” is an ordained, consecrated, and affirmed Prophet. Married to Apostle W. La’Shaun Jones. Prophet Twanna is the founder of “The Prophet Speaks” podcast, “Navi’ School of the Prophets: Prophetic Academy” and the Co-Director of “When Nathan Speaks” conference. She is the CEO of “Deez Handz 4 You, LLC. She serves as The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries (TFAM) International/National Minister of Non-Parish Clergy, and Music and Arts Council Co-Director. In 2017, She was ordained into the United Church of Christ Central Atlantic Conference. August 22, 2026 she will be consecrated to the office of Apostle.

Rev. Ursula McClure, MDiv

Rev. Ursula McClure, MDiv is the founder of Miracle of Love Ministries and an ordained Christian minister committed to leadership, healing, and stewardship. She is also a nonprofit development professional with over 15 years of experience in fund development and donor engagement. Currently serving as a fundraiser with the East Bay Agency for Children, Rev. Ursula leads individual giving strategies and relationship-based fundraising. Her vision is to support faith-based organizations in developing sustainable, values-aligned fund development strategies that honor generosity as sacred partnership. She holds a Master of Divinity from the Pacific School of Religion and is passionate about equipping faith-based organizations to integrate spiritual values with sustainable fundraising practices. She is the proud mother of two young adult children and a devoted Nana to her granddaughter. Rev. Ursula finds joy in living out her purpose through song ministry, caring for family, and sharing the good news through both word and work.

Rev. Dr. Dominique “Dr. Domi” Denman

Rev. Dr. Dominique “Dr. Domi” Denman is a pastor, theologian, artist, and community leader whose work centers on healing, justice, and creative expression. She serves as Designated Pastor of First Reformed Church, UCC, in Lancaster, PA, and holds leadership roles in worship, arts, and education. As Executive Director of Erie Theater Company and Co-Founder of Denman Turner Entertainment Group, she bridges faith and the arts to empower communities. A graduate of Lancaster Theological Seminary (MDiv) and New York Theological Seminary (DMin), Dr. Domi is a dynamic preacher, educator, and cultural architect committed to reconciliation, transformation, and collective liberation.

Rev. Father Jason Carson
Wilson, M. Div

Rev. Jason Carson Wilson is a Black gay United Church of Christ minister, TFAM minister, and North American Old Catholic priest whose work fuses prophetic journalism with public theology. He is founding executive director of the Bayard Rustin Liberation Initiative, principal of Liberating Strategies LLC, and author of Makeshift Messiahs: Why The American Right Keeps Creating Political Saviors. A Doctor of Ministry candidate at Pacific School of Religion, Wilson holds an M.Div. from Chicago Theological Seminary and a journalism degree from the University of Illinois, where he studied under Pulitzer Prize winner Leon Dash. His Politically Pastoral Substack and The Daily Unholy podcast interrogate faith, politics, race, and queer life unflinchingly.

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Bishop William J. Barber II, DMin

Bishop William J. Barber II, DMin, is President and Senior Lecturer of Repairers of the Breach; a Professor in the Practice of Public Theology and Public Policy and Founding Director of the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at Yale Divinity School; Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call For Moral Revival and Bishop with The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries. Bishop Barber is the author of five books: We Are Called To Be A Movement; Revive Us Again: Vision and Action in Moral Organizing; The Third Reconstruction: Moral Mondays, Fusion Politics, and The Rise of a New Justice Movement; Forward Together: A Moral Message For The Nation, and White Poverty: How Exposing Myths About Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy. Bishop Barber served as senior pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church, Disciples of Christ for thirty years and as president of the North Carolina NAACP from 2006-2017, and on the National NAACP Board of Directors from 2008-2020. He is the architect of the Forward Together Moral Movement that gained national acclaim in 2013 with its Moral Monday protests at the North Carolina General Assembly. In 2015, he established Repairers of the Breach to train communities in moral movement building through the Moral Political Organizing Leadership Institute and Summit Trainings (MPOLIS). In 2018, he co-anchored the relaunch of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival— reviving the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign organized by SCLS, under the leadership of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., worker’s rights movement, women’s rights movement, religious leaders, and people of all races to fight poverty in the U.S. Bishop William Barber II has been arrested more than 15 times in various states standing up with those who have been marginalized by systematic racism. A highly sought-after speaker, Bishop Barber has given keynote addresses at hundreds of national and state conferences, including the 2016 Democratic National Convention, the homily at the 59th Inaugural Prayer Service for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Vatican at Pope Francis’s encyclical “Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home” and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. In June 2018, he addressed the 5th Uni Global Union World Congress to more than 25 countries. Bishop Barber is regularly featured in media outlets such as MSNBC, CNN, the New York Times, Washington Post, and The Nation magazine. He was named one of 2020’s BET 100 Entertainers and Innovators and one of the 2019 recipients of the North Carolina Award, the state’s highest civilian honor. He is a 2018 MacArthur Foundation Genius Award recipient and a 2015 recipient of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Award and the Puffin Award. Bishop Barber has had twelve honorary doctorate degrees conferred upon him. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree from North Carolina Central University, a Master of Divinity from Duke University, and a Doctorate from Drew University with a concentration in Public Policy and Pastoral Care.

Rev. Terence L. Mayo

Terence L. Mayo (he/they) is a Black queer feminist practical theologian, critical educator, and LGBTQIA+ youth advocate who strives to co-create change through contextual theological education, community-based change strategies, and racial equity. As a sought-after speaker, Rev. Mayo has shared his expertise on various topics, including Black LGBTQIA+ youth, DEI, education-community partnerships, public theology & social change, and trauma-informed strategies.

Rev. Dr. Osagyefo Sekou

Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou is an activist, author, documentary filmmaker, theologian, and musician. Born in St. Louis and raised in the rural Arkansas Delta, Rev. Sekou is the author of two collections of essays: urbansouls, a meditation on poor black youth in St. Louis, hip hop, and religion, and Gods, Gays, and Guns: Essays on Religion and the Future of Democracy. His debut album is In Times Like These, featuring Luther and Cody Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars.

Rev. Dr. Mashaun D. Simon

The Rev. Dr. Mashaun D. Simon (he/him/they) is a preacher, public speaker, award-winning journalist and scholar, author, and thought leader. A survivor of neuroendocrine carcinoma, a rare cancer that accounts for roughly 0.5% of all cancer diagnoses, and a native of Atlanta, Georgia, Mashaun’s work is rooted in a passion for community curation and bridge building. His commitment is shaped by both personal and ministerial experience and his work as a scholar in Black church history and culture, church hurt, and Black LGBTQ+ grief. Mashaun is also the author of Faith Deconstruction For Dummies (Wiley Publishing). Faith Deconstruction For Dummies gives readers from all walks of life permission to think critically about their faith and what they’ve been taught to believe. It serves as a tool to help readers develop a stronger and more authentic relationship to their faith. Deeply rooted in the Black church, Mashaun was raised in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) tradition. In 2012, he was licensed to preach in the AME’s Atlanta North Georgia Conference. A year later, he met the late Rev. Pierre D. Cox, founder of House of Mercy Everlasting (HOME) Church, a non-denominational church with Pentecostal leanings in College Park, Georgia, where he was eventually ordained an Elder at HOME. Subsequently, he was named assistant pastor and then senior pastor of HOME following Pierre’s passing in the summer of 2020. In 2022, he stepped away from full-time pulpit ministry, and turned his focus to public ministry as a public theologian, writer, and scholar. In 2025, he was publicly affirmed and accepted into The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries as a Privilege of Call inductee. A product of the Black press, Mashaun began his professional career as a journalist. He started his full-time journalism career at the Atlanta Daily World, where he earned four Excellence in Newspaper Reporting awards from the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists (AABJ) between 1999 and 2004. He has since written for NBC News, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Black Enterprise, Bloomberg News, Ebony, and ESSENCE. He has also written for the Counter Narrative Project’s The Reckoning and GLAAD, and served as co-associate editor of Geez Magazine, a seasonal, nonprofit print publication focused on social justice, art, and activism for people on the fringes of faith in the U.S. and Canada. In 2025, he was among the recipients of the NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists’ Excellence in Online Journalism Award for his work with Q.Digital’s LGBTQ Nation. Alongside his writing and ministry, Mashaun has led cultural competency and affirming-practice initiatives, directed regional and national media relations campaigns, and developed strategic communications and recruitment messaging for nonprofit organizations and institutions of higher education in metro Atlanta and beyond. He has participated in several national leadership and fellowship programs, including the DO GOOD X Startup Accelerator (2022), the Collegeville Institute Emerging Writers Fellowship (2022–2023), the Sojourners Rising Leaders Fellowship (2021–2022), and the Counter Narrative Project Narrative Justice Fellowship (2021–2022). He has also served on the Counter Narrative Project Leadership Council, the AID Atlanta Advisory Board, and the inaugural PRISM board of Teach For America Metro Atlanta. Mashaun is a co-founder of the LGBTQ Task Force of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and, in 2005, became the first openly LGBTQ student representative on the organization’s national board of directors. He is also believed to be the first out, Black and gay male president of the Candler Coordinating Council (C3) at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology. His other honors include the Peter Gomes Award for Transformational Leadership and Service in Church, Community, and Academy from the Black Church Studies program at the Candler School of Theology. He is also the recipient of the Community Service Award and the John W. Rustin Award in Preaching from the Candler School of Theology, and was named to Who’s Who in American Universities and Colleges in 2013. In addition, in 2026 he was inducted into the Morehouse College’s College of Ministers and Laity Board of Preachers and is also the recipient of the George and Sally Telford Award given by Columbia Theological Seminary to the student who shows exceptional ability for congregational leadership with an emphasis on social justice issues and vision for the church. Mashaun holds a professional writing degree from Georgia Perimeter College, a Bachelor of Science in Communications from Kennesaw State University, a Master of Divinity from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, and a Doctor of Ministry in grief and pastoral theology from Columbia Theological Seminary.