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Timothy Keller | Pastor, Redeemer Presbyterian Church
Dr. Keller is the Senior Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, New York, “one of Manhattan’s most vital congregations,” according to Christianity Today. Tim has led the PCA denominations church planting initiatives and remains committed to promoting and nurturing the growth of new churches in New York City and around the world. The Influentials issue of New York Magazine recently featured Dr. Keller as “the most successful Christian evangelist in the city by recognizing that young professionals and artists are ‘disproportionately influential’ in creating the country’s culture and that you have to meet this coveted demographic on its own terms.”
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Charles Jenkins | Pastor, Fellowship Missionary Baptist Chicago
Trailblazer, Connector, Community Leader, Advisor, Songwriter, Poet, and Dynamic Communicator are just some of the words that describe Charles Jenkins. He is respected and revered around the world for his innovative thinking, contemporary leadership, and holistic approach to ministry. Jenkins serves on a number of corporate, educational, governmental and religious boards. A man of balance, Jenkins is married to Dr. Tara Rawls-Jenkins and has two young daughters, Princess and Paris, and one son, Charles Jenkins III.
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Alister McGrath | Theologian and Author
Dr. Alister McGrath was a research scientist at Oxford University before he became a theologian. He holds doctorate degrees in the fields of molecular biophysics and theology. He is presently Professor of Theology, Ministry and Education, and Head of the Centre for Theology, Religion and Culture, at King's College, London and is involved in theological research and the professional development of clergy from a range of Christian denominations. As a former atheist, he regularly engages in debate and dialogue with leading atheists, and is presently researching the iconic role played by Charles Darwin in atheist apologetics.
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Laura Waters Hinson | Filmmaker, As We Forgive
Laura Waters Hinson is the founder of Image Bearer Pictures. Her documentary, As We Forgive, about Rwanda’s reconciliation movement, won the 2008 Student Academy Award for best documentary. Laura recently launched Living Bricks, a multi-media viewer action campaign to support reconciliation efforts in Rwanda. She was awarded a grant to build the As We Forgive Rwanda Initiative, a Rwandan educational program aimed at harnessing the power of film to promote healing after genocide. Laura is currently engaged in a nationwide screening tour, presenting As We Forgive in such places as the U.S. Congress, the State Department, Library of Congress, the World Bank and at numerous universities and institutions across the country.
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Roland Warren | President, National Fatherhood Initiative
Roland leads National Fatherhood Initiative in its mission to improve the well-being of children by increasing the proportion of children growing up with involved, responsible, and committed fathers. Under his direction, NFI works to accomplish its mission through a variety of activities, ranging from its award-winning public education campaign to its cutting-edge resources and programming for fathers. Roland, an alumnus of Princeton University, brings to NFI almost two decades of experience in the business world and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is married to Dr. Yvette Lopez-Warren and has two sons, Jamin and Justin.
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Scot McKnight | New Testament Scholar and Author, The Jesus Creed
Scot McKnight is a widely-recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. He is the Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies at North Park University (Chicago, Illinois). A popular and witty speaker, Dr. McKnight has given interviews on radios across the nation, has appeared on television, and is regularly asked to speak in local churches and educational events throughout the USA and in Denmark and South Africa. Dr. McKnight obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Nottingham. Dr. McKnight is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the Society for New Testament Studies and the author of more than twenty books, including the award-winning The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others.
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Todd Hunter | The Anglican Mission in the Americas
Todd Hunter, Bishop for The Anglican Mission in the Americas, is the founding pastor of Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Costa Mesa, CA and author of Christianity Beyond Belief , Giving Church A Second Chance and The Outsider Interviews. He is also the founding director of Churches for the Sake of Others, the West Coast church planting initiative for The Anglican Mission in the Americas. Todd collaborates with organizations that desire to shape their ministries around Kingdom-based, missional encounters with contemporary culture. He began his ministry 30 years ago as a church planter and church planting consultant. Those strengths have found new life in his work with The Anglican Mission in the Americas. Todd also founded the small group movement, Three is Enough, and contributes as an adjunct professor of evangelism and postmodern ministry at George Fox University, Fuller Seminary, Western Seminary and Wheaton College.
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Sean Womack | Founder, TBD Agency
Sean Womack's work assignments have included (in chronological order): mowing,
warehouse work, bank teller, editorial cartoonist, pasta chef, house
cleaning, greeting cards, publishing, entertainment marketing,
advertising creative director, marketing VP and brand consultant. He
went to undergrad at John Brown University and graduated from film
school at USC. He's married to an amazing woman named Shelley and they are raising their three children – Zoe, Ian and Camden.
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Rosalind Picard | Professor, MIT Media Laboratory
Rosalind Picard, Sc.D., is professor at the MIT Media Laboratory, founder and director of the Affective Computing research group, director of the new and growing Autism Communication Technology Initiative at MIT, and co-founder and chief scientist of Affectiva, Inc. She is known internationally for her book Affective Computing, for giving technology (and robots) emotional abilities, and for inventing technologies that help people better communicate emotion. She describes her favorite challenge as raising three sons.
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Charles Lee | Ideation Strategist, Networker and Compassionary
Charles is the founder of Ideation, a consultancy that specializes in branding, marketing, social media, and event development. He is also a founding member of JustOne, a NPO committed to addressing issues of poverty, orphans, and slavery. In addition, Charles leads New Hope, a faith community in the Los Angeles area, and is the creator of grassroots efforts including the Idea Camp and the Freeze Project. Charles regularly speaks around the country on topics such as creativity, innovation, leadership, social media, community development and compassionate justice.
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Sajan George | Managing Director, Alvarez & Marsal
Sajan P. George, a turnaround specialist, has uniquely applied his turnaround skills to our nation's struggling public education system. Sajan's particular focus and passion has involved restructuring some of the largest urban K-12 and higher education institutions in the country, including, Maricopa Community College District (the largest community college in the nation), New York Public Schools (the largest public school system in the nation), New Orleans Parish Schools in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and the State Departments of Education in Indiana, New Mexico and Arkansas.
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Matthew Sleeth | Executive Director, Blessed Earth
J. Matthew Sleeth, MD, author of Serve God and Save the Planet, writes, speaks, and teaches about how his family cut their energy use by two-thirds and became radical followers of Jesus. His latest releases include The Gospel According to the Earth: Why the Good Book is a Green Book and the new 12-part Blessed Earth film series, Hope for Creation and Hope for Humanity. Dr. Sleeth is the executive director of Blessed Earth (www.blessedearth.org).
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Dave Blanchard | Business Designer, IDEO
At IDEO, a global design and innovation consultancy, Dave works with some of the world’s largest corporations and organizations to create new products, services and experiences. Prior to his role at IDEO, he was an entrepreneur in the music industry. Dave has a BS in Entrepreneurship from Babson College, as well as an MBA and a Masters in Design Management from Northwestern University, where he now teaches a course on the application of design tools in business contexts.
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Brian McLaren | Author and Activist
Brian D. McLaren is an author, speaker, activist, and networker among innovative Christian leaders. In 1986 he founded Cedar Ridge Community Church, an innovative, transdenominational church in the Baltimore-Washington region. He recently left the pastorate to devote full time to writing and speaking. Time Magazine listed him as one of the twenty-five most influential Evangelicals in America. He has appeared on Larry King Live, Nightline, CNN, FOX, PBS, and many other national media. Brian’s books include, The Secret Message of Jesus, Everything Must Change, Finding or Way Again, and A New Kind of Christian among many others. A New Kind of Christianity will release in 2010.
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Jeremy Cowart | Photographer
Jeremy Cowart is a professional photographer from Nashville, Tennessee. Beginning his photography career in 2005, Jeremy quickly became a respected artistic voice in the industry. Having shot numerous musicians, entertainers and celebrities, Jeremy is also the founder of Help Portrait, a worldwide movement of photographers giving free portraits to those less fortunate. As his list of clients continues to grow, so does Jeremy’s desire to improve, share, teach, and give back to those around him.
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David Aikman | Journalist & Foreign Affiairs Commentator
David Aikman is an award-winning print and broadcast journalist, a best-selling author, and a foreign affairs commentator based in the Washington, D.C.-area. His wide-ranging professional achievements include a 23-year career at TIME Magazine with reporting spanning the globe of nearly all the major historical events of the time. Since leaving TIME, he has authored ten books on a wide variety of subjects, including atheism, the church in China and biographies of Billy Graham and President George W. Bush. He is also the founder of an international fellowship for Christians in journalism.
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Jo Saxton | Leadership Coach and Consultant
As the college pastor at St. Thomas Church, Sheffield, Jo planted missional congregations amongst college students and young adults. Now as Director of Pioneer Communities with 3dministries, Jo works alongside church leadership teams seeking to build missional churches in today’s culture. She’s married to Chris, a Lutheran pastor and they have two amazing daughters, Tia and Zoe. They lead a church in inner city Phoenix. Jo’s also an author - Real God, Real Life, is scheduled to release April 2010.
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Richard Florida | Author, Who's Your City? and Director, Martin Prosperity Institute, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Founder Creative Class Group
Richard Florida is one of the world's leading public intellectuals. Esquire Magazine recently named him one of the ‘Best and Brightest’. He is author of the best-selling book, The Rise of the Creative Class, which was cited as a major breakthrough idea by the Harvard Business Review. His ideas have been featured in major ad campaigns, such as BMW, and are being used globally to change the way regions, nations, and companies compete. He is founder of the Creative Class Group and has also been recently named European Ambassador for Creativity and Innovation. He is Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute and Professor of Business and Creativity at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.
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Mike Foster | Founder, Ethur
Mike Foster serves as the Creative Principal at Plain Joe Studios. The design firm specializes in strategic ideation, interactive media, and environmental design. In addition to his role on Plain Joe’s executive team, Mike leads an innovative non-profit organization called Ethur. Most recently, Mike helped launch People of the Second Chance, which is a scandalous movement of radical grace in life and leadership. He and his wife Jennifer live in Southern California with their two children.
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Jonathan Golden | Founder, Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee Company
Jonathan D. Golden founded Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee Company, a socially-minded sustainable business allowing him to integrate his faith and work. The inkling for a coffee company came in 2004 after a 15 year career in industrial psychology where Golden empowered business leaders to live their Lifeswork and produce more effective companies. As an ordained Anglican priest, Golden believes God calls us to be relevant in our professional and personal lives.
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Phyllis Tickle | Author and Editor, The Ancient Practices Series
Phyllis Tickle is founding editor of the Religion Department of Publishers Weekly, the international journal of the book industry, and is an authority on religion in America. In addition to lectures and numerous essays, articles, and interviews, Tickle is the author of over two dozen books in religion and spirituality, most recently The Great Emergence, How Christianity is Changing and Why and The Words of Jesus, A Gospel of the Sayings of Our Lord. She is also the author of the notable and popular The Divine Hours series of manuals for observing fixed-hour prayer and general editor of The Seven Ancient Practices Series. In September 1996 she received the Mays Award, one of the book industry's most prestigious awards for lifetime achievement in writing and publishing, and specifically in recognition of her work in gaining mainstream media coverage of religion publishing. She has received honorary degrees of Doctor of Humane Letters from the Berkeley School of Divinity at Yale University and North Park University.
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Roger Sandberg | National Director, Medair
Roger has a B.A. from Wheaton College in Business/Economics and Bible/Theology and an MBA from Rollins College with a focus in International Business. He is currently pursuing his PhD at Eastern University, studying Organizational Leadership. For the past 10 years, Roger has worked throughout East and Central Africa. While in Africa, Roger was the Country Director for projects in Sudan and DR Congo and traveled extensively within these countries to assess humanitarian relief needs. Roger is currently the National Director for Medair, a Swiss based emergency relief and rehabilitation humanitarian aid organization.
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Bryan Coley | Screenwriter and Producer
Bryan Coley is the founder and artistic director of Art Within. Under Coley’s guidance, Art Within launched a resident theater company, a creative team to partner with writers, a script development process, a producer’s symposium and showcase and an annual screenwriter’s lab. During the ten years he has served as Art Within’s artistic director, Art Within has commissioned and developed over 30 projects from ground up. Likewise, he has established a distribution network of theatrical producers, Hollywood producers, and studios as outlets for Art Within’s content. Coley is currently writing and executive producing Art Within’s first feature film- Crackerjack.
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Mark Regnerus | Sociology, University of Texas
Mark Regnerus is an associate professor of sociology at the
University of Texas at Austin and author of Premarital Sex in America, due out this Fall from Oxford University
Press.
Before that, he wrote Forbidden Fruit: Sex and Religion in the
Lives
of American Teenagers, which tells the
story of how religion shapes teen sexual decision-making. A scholar who
can
raise hackles both in the academy and the Church, Regnerus took up the
mantle
of marriage in early adulthood in 2009, with articles appearing in both
the Washington
Post and Christianity Today. He lives in Austin with his wife Deeann
and their
three children.
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Buddy Hoffman | Pastor, Grace Fellowship Atlanta
Buddy Hoffman is the Lead Pastor of Grace Fellowship, a Bible-centered church community he and his wife founded more than twenty five years ago with campuses both in the heart of Atlanta and in its suburbs. During the aftermath of 9/11--literally standing in the ashes of the Twin Towers--a harrowing question pierced his heart: "Is the Muslim world the enemy or the prize?" Since that time, Buddy has traveled through the mountains of Pakistan, the war zones of Afghanistan, the deserts of Iraq (where he was put on trial and nearly beheaded), and the universities of Iran, and he saw firsthand the scarce fruit of more than 1400 years of Christian effort in the Muslim world. He also learned that Islamic resistance to the Gospel has far more to do with "Christianity" than Christ. But what if 1.57 billion Muslims are much closer to the Kingdom than we think? And what if the key to unlocking this entire global issue begins in the pages of the Qur'an?
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Antonio Carlos Costa | Social Activist, Rio de Janeiro
Antonio Carlos Costa is a social activist, author, church planter, and theologian living in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Rio is known as one of the most dangerous cities in the world, famous for street wars between police, drug traffickers, and organized crime. Antonio, after planting several churches, founding a denomination and a seminary, decided someone must speak out. Leading hundreds to the streets to cry out on behalf of the afflicted, a movement resulted called Rio de Paz (River of Peace), now one of the most prominent human rights organizations (NGO) in Brazil’s history.
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Father Dempsey Rosales-Acosta | Biblical Scholar and Pastor, St. Agnes
Dr. Rosales-Acosta is an associate pastor at St. Agnes Catholic Church in Midtown Manhattan, NYC. He holds a degree of Science of Exegesis in Scripture by the Pontifical Biblicum Institute (Rome) and a doctorate degree in Biblical Theology by the Pontifical Gregorian University (Rome). Combining the pastoral and scholarly research in his 15 years period of ministry in Rome, Italy, had been regularly asked to speak and dictate biblical courses in Venezuela, Spain and Italy. At the present moment he also helps as a consultant of the American Bible Society at the Presidential Liaison and Roman Catholic Ministry’s Department, and he is the author of the book The path to see like Jesus.
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Andrew Marin | The Marin Foundation
Andrew Marin is the President and Founder of The Marin Foundation (www.themarinfoundation.org) a non-profit that seeks to build bridges between the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and religious communities. Andrew has appeared on various national radio and TV programs, and his sermon Homophobia and Bridging from within the Evangelical Church—given on Capitol Hill the night before the Inauguration of President Barack Obama—is archived in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC. He is the author of the award winning book Love is an Orientation: Elevating the Conversation with the Gay Community, blogs daily at www.loveisanorientation.com and lives in the Boystown neighborhood of Chicago with his wife.
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