Drew and Ellie Holcomb are a husband and wife Americana duo from Nashville. Shortly after their marriage in 2006, the couple began touring together with Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors. The band has supported many national touring acts including The Avett Brothers, Don Henley, and Willie Nelson.

Ellie is no longer a touring member of "The Neighbors," and has found success in a solo career as a Christian singer/songwriter. Her albums As Sure As The Sun and Red Sea Road have both topped the iTunes Christian chart.

Dr. John Townsend is a nationally-known leadership consultant, author and psychologist. He has written over 30 books selling 10 million copies, including the New York Times bestselling Boundaries series.

John founded and operates the Townsend Institute for Leadership and Counseling, and the Townsend Leadership Program.

Dr. Townsend travels extensively for corporate consulting, speaking events, and to help develop leaders, their teams and their families.

He has a weekly video call-in program, Dr. Townsend Live.

John is a long term Gathering presence, and has served as a coach for many Gathering families over the years.

He and his family live in Southern California and Texas. One of his passions is playing in his and his sons’ band, The Bandits, at local venues and parties!

Visit DrTownsend.com.

Rich is the Lead Pastor at New Life Fellowship Church in Queens, New York. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he graduated from Nyack College and earned a Masters of Divinity degree at Alliance Theological Seminary and later, in 2013, he succeeded Pete Scazzero as lead pastor at New Life, whose multi-ethnic congregation includes people from more than 70 countries. Rich is also part of the writing team for Missio Alliance, exploring issues such as contemplative spirituality, race, emotional health, preaching and the cultural issues that impact the Church. When Rich is not reading, he is cheering on his beloved Mets, Knicks, NY Rangers and Jets teams. Rich is married to Rosie and they have two children. He has a book due for release in Fall of 2020 entitled, The Deeply Formed Life: Five Transformative Values to Root Us in the Way of Jesus.

Follow Rich on Twitter @richvillodas and Instagram richvillodas and his church’s website

Jon is the Lead Pastor of Church of the City New York. Originally from Adelaide, Australia, Jon moved to the United States twenty years ago with a passion to seek and cultivate renewal in the Western Church. He is the author of Rumors of God, Sacred Roots, A Creative Minority, and The Burden is Light. His newest book is Beautiful Resistance. For the last 15 years Jon has lived in Manhattan with his family as a church planter.

Andrew is a singer-songwriter, an author, and the founder of the Rabbit Room, a ministry dedicated to fostering spiritual formation and Christ-centered community through story, art, and music. He lives in Nashville with his wife and about 80,000 honey bees.

David M. Bailey is a public theologian and culture-maker focused on building reconciling communities. David is the founder and CEO of Arrabon an organization that cultivates reconciling communities by supporting and guiding Christian leaders and communities as they pursue reconciliation in a diverse and divided world. He is also the co-author of the Race, Class, and the Kingdom of God Study Series; the executive producer of the documentary 11am: Hope for America’s Most Segregated Hour and the Urban Doxology Project; And is rooted at East End Fellowship serving on the preaching team. David's greatest honor in life is to be married to his wonderful wife, Joy.

David founded Axis in 2007 and is the CEO. Axis supports and is the "culture translator" for 400,000 parents and caring adults who disciple 800,000 teens in their home and another 2,300,000 teens in classrooms, churches, and on sport teams. Check out the weekly Culture Translator email at axis.org/culture-translator.

Esther is a Founding Partner of IDinsight, an international nonprofit that is transforming how governments and top nonprofits in countries in Africa and Asia use data and evidence to improve lives. IDinsight seeks to bring the best timely information to bear on optimizing critical programs and strategies seeking to address poverty-related issues.

Esther leads external partnerships for IDinsight. Prior to this role, she was the first Chief Operating Officer from 2014-2019, leading operational growth from 30 to 150 colleagues around the world in over a dozen countries. Prior, Esther was a management consultant with Bain & Company, a co-founder of a social enterprise in the Tibetan Plateau, and co-led several nonprofit organizations. Esther earned joint bachelor’s degrees from the University of Pennsylvania’s Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business. She also holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School. Esther was a Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship and an Echoing Green Fellow. Esther spent the last 8 years in Zambia, after opening IDinsight’s first office there. She and her husband, Paul, and their two children have just relocated to the Washington D.C. area.

Paul is a Founding Partner at IDinsight, an international nonprofit that is transforming how governments and top nonprofits in countries in Africa and Asia use data and evidence to improve lives. IDinsight seeks to bring the best timely information to bear on optimizing critical programs and strategies seeking to address poverty-related issues.

Paul is a strategic advisor with more than a decade of Africa-based experience, including seven years as IDinsight's Africa lead. He has led projects in 15 African countries, India, and Southeast Asia. Clients span governments, foundations, NGOs, and social businesses in many sectors including agriculture, health, education, livelihoods, and financial inclusion. Paul previously worked at McKinsey & Company, the World Bank, TechnoServe, TAMTAM - Together Against Malaria, and MIT's Jameel Poverty Action Lab. Paul holds an MPAID, MBA and BA (economics) from Harvard University. He and his wife, Esther, and their two kids lived in Zambia for the past 8 years and are now based near Washington, D.C.

Greg is the author of Never Settle, The Genius of One, co-creator of Advent Conspiracy and a contributing writer for The Voice Bible. He serves as lead pastor at The Crossing, reaching nearly 10,000 people in person and online, calling people from an unlikely mix of spiritual backgrounds to consider what it means to follow Jesus in today's world.

Jon Fortt co-hosts CNBC's TechCheck (formerly Squawk Alley) weekdays, 11 ET/8 PT. In 2020 he created a weekly segment on Squawk Box called On the Other Hand, in which he argues two sides of a contentious business issue to illuminate the facts. He created a weekly segment on Power Lunch in 2021 called Working Lunch, in which he uses Fortt Knox interviews to introduce viewers to the personality and outlook of a founder or CEO.

Since 2016 he has been publishing content with the Fortt Knox brand, first as a podcast, now as a livestream, video series and newsletter. The themes are innovation, entrepreneurship and culture.

In 2020 he launched The Black Experience in America: The Course. Learn more about it at forttmedia.com.

Josh Good directs the Aspen Institute's Religion & Society Program, an initiative founded in 2009 to help journalists, clerics, policy experts, and civic leaders advance the full promise of religious pluralism. Through two-day forums and a podcast, its Faith Angle Forum supports a network of journalists who strengthen reporting and commentary on how religious believers, religious convictions, and moral arguments affect American politics and public life. A Philanthropy & Religion program helps funders connect with leading religion scholars and public intellectuals, and a Religion Fellows program empowers leaders to tackle abiding challenges--including around racial justice. Josh previously directed the Kern Family Foundation’s Faith, Work, and Economics Program and, prior to that, managed the American Enterprise Institute’s outreach program to faculty and student leaders at Christian colleges. He holds a B.A. in history from Covenant College and a master’s degree in Christianity and Culture from Harvard University, and his work has been published by Routledge Press and in The Hill, National Review, The Weekly Standard, World Magazine, The Federalist, and The American.

Steven is the most awarded artist in Christian music history with 59 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards, five GRAMMYs, an American Music Award, 49 No. 1 singles, selling more than eleven million albums and with ten RIAA-certified gold or platinum albums to his credit. Steven also became a best-selling author in 2017 with his memoir Between Heaven and the Real World: My Story.

Steven’s newest record “Deeper Roots: Where the Bluegrass Grows” debuted at No. 1 on the iTunes Country Albums chart, spent months as the No. 1 Billboard Bluegrass Album, and earned him his 49th No. 1 single with the bluegrass version of his song “Dive” featuring Ricky Skaggs.

A vocal supporter of adoption, Steven, along with his wife Mary Beth, founded Show Hope in 2003, a nonprofit organization that helps restore the hope of a family to orphans.

Mary Beth is the Co-Founder and Board Chair of Show Hope, a leading organization in the movement to care for orphans that she and her husband Steven Curtis Chapman started. She is a speaker and a New York Times best-selling author.

Touched and forever transformed by the miracle of adoption in their own family, Mary Beth and Steven Curtis began the nonprofit ministry of Show Hope in 2003 with a mission to care for orphans by engaging the Church and reducing the barriers to adoption. To date, Show Hope has helped welcome home children through “Adoption Aid” grants for more than 6,700 orphans from more than 60 countries, including the U.S. In addition, more than 2,700 waiting children with acute medical and special needs have received care through Show Hope’s Care Centers in China.

Steven and Mary Beth Chapman, college sweethearts, will be celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary this coming fall and have six children -- three biological: Emily married to Tanner, Caleb married to Julia, Will Franklin married to Jillian, and three adopted daughters, Shaohannah Hope, Stevey Joy, and Maria Sue, who is now with Jesus. Their most treasured title is being called “Grammy” and “PopPops” to their six beautiful grandbabies, whom they love spoiling.

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Karen is the Director of the Edmiston Center for the Study of the Bible and Ethnicity at Reformed Theological Seminary in Atlanta. She is also the Robert Cannada Fellow for World Christianity. Karen is passionate about theology, human rights, and global religious freedom. Because of her background in the arts, Karen has been seen in classrooms and at conferences, on television, on film and onstage. She has headlined at the Kennedy Center and the Fabulous Fox Theatre in St. Louis. For eight years, she hosted a morning radio program in the Pacific Northwest. Since 2006, Karen has collaborated with the Swiss-based organization International Christian Response meeting around the concerns of the persecuted Church. She holds a Master of Arts in Religion from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and a Master of Fine Arts from Yale University. She is a PhD candidate in Virtue Ethics at the Oxford Center for Mission Studies in Oxford, England.

Lisa is the President and Founder of Urban Strategies, an organization with a mission to tool, connect, and resource community and faith-based organizations focused on helping their neighbors flourish. Together with more than 200 teammates and countless partners across the United States, Puerto Rico, and Central America, Urban Strategies has implemented collective impact initiatives in multiple areas including family strengthening, health and well-being, maternal health and the first 1000 days of child’s life, youth development, and residential services for homeless children and youth. Prior to founding Urban Strategies, Lisa served in leadership roles with Bank of America as well as in the White House Office for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives under President George W. Bush.

Matthew has led Oasis International for over two decades and works to empower authentic discipleship by African voices. Trained in economics and biblical studies at Wheaton College, he went on to earn a PhD in New Testament from the University of Aberdeen studying emotion in the Bible. He is the publisher of the ground-breaking Africa Study Bible and author of Faithful Feelings: Rethinking Emotion in the New Testament and Feel: The Power of Listening to Your Heart. Matthew, his wife, and their three children reside in the Chicago area.

Ramesh is a senior editor for National Review, a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion, a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a senior fellow at the National Review Institute, and a contributor to CBS News. He has written about public policy and national politics for 25 years. His work has appeared in TheNew York Times and Washington Post.

Bulus recently served as Dean of the Cook School of Intercultural Studies at Biola University. He is a contributor to the Africa Study Bible, a collective effort organized by Oasis International to publish a book written from African perspectives. He has been involved in Christian higher education for over 20 years. He has taught undergraduate and graduate studies in Nigeria and the U.S. and served in various higher education leadership roles in Nigeria. He has also served as a pastor in Nigeria and the U.S. In 2003, Bulus co-founded More Than a Mile Deep, an indigenous African theological education program committed to training Christian leaders in Africa.

From 2013–2015, Bulus was Vice Chairman for the Association of Christian Theological Education in Africa, where he is currently on the advisory board. He also serves on the doctoral committee of the International Council of Evangelical Theological Education. He is an ordained minister with Evangelical Church Winning All. Bulus has two M.A.s, from Wheaton College Graduate School and Northeastern Illinois University, and a Ph.D. from Trinity International University. He is married to Rose and they are passionate about mentoring young Christian leaders. In 1994, they started Almanah Rescue Mission, a ministry to widows and orphans. They are blessed with four children, and three grandchildren.

Rose is an educator and spiritual life counselor with experience in Christian ministry, nonprofit organizations and educational institutions. She is a contributor to the Africa Study Bible, a collective effort organized by Oasis International to publish a book written from African perspectives. She specializes in trauma counseling in cross-cultural settings and has worked in the U.S. and countries around Africa. Rose has over 15 years of experience as a seminary professor and 10 years of missionary experience. She co-founded Almanah Rescue Mission, a ministry to widows and orphans in Northern Nigeria. Over the last 25 years, Rose has served as a member of four organizational boards. She is a trained chaplain and often serves in hospital settings. She is married to Bulus and they are blessed with four children and three grandchildren.

Sarah runs The Washington Post's religion vertical. She covers how faith intersects with everything, including politics, culture, education, abortion and immigration. Before joining The Post, she was a national correspondent for Religion News Service. She was also online editor of Christianity Today magazine.

Shadi is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, contributing writer at The Atlantic, and co-host of the Wisdom of Crowds podcast. He is the author of Islamic Exceptionalism: How the Struggle Over Islam is Reshaping the World, which was shortlisted for the 2017 Lionel Gelber Prize for best book on foreign affairs, and co-editor of Rethinking Political Islam. His first book Temptations of Power: Islamists and Illiberal Democracy in a New Middle East was named a Foreign Affairs Best Book of 2014. Shadi was named one of the world’s top 50 thinkers by Prospect magazine in 2019. He received his B.S. and M.A. from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and his Ph.D. in political science from Oxford University.

Tim is the CEO/President of Christianity Today and has been serving in this role since 2019. He was raised in nondenominational evangelical churches in California. A national champion gymnast, he went to Stanford University where he suffered a broken neck his sophomore year. 

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After graduating from Stanford with a double major in philosophy and religious studies, Tim earned an MDiv at Princeton Theological Seminary and a PhD in modern western religious thought at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Along the way he also served in youth ministry, prison chaplaincy, and graduate and faculty ministry with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. He made suffering a key theme of his research and teaching in modern western religious thought. 

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Tim helped to launch Patheos.com. First he was managing editor of Patheos’s evangelical channel, then director of content and vice-president of business development. In 2013 he founded Polymath, a creative agency that helps clients with branding, design, web, video, marketing and communications, and content development.

Walter is the president of the National Association of Evangelicals and also serves as Pastor for Leadership at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, Virginia. He has spent nearly three decades preaching, engaging in collaborative leadership, and seeking to connect the Bible to the significant intellectual, cultural, and social issues of the day. Walter has previously served as lead minister at the historic Park Street Church in Boston. His ministry also included a chaplaincy with Cru at Yale University and a pastorate at a Korean-Canadian church in Vancouver, Canada. He has a B.A. from Northwestern University in history and philosophy. After receiving his M.Div. from Regent College (Vancouver), he earned a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations from Harvard University.

Urban Doxology is a ministry of Arrabon that exists to cultivate a heart and imagination for Jesus, justice, and reconciliation. Based in the racially and economically diverse neighborhood of Church Hill, Richmond, VA, the band evolved out of the Urban Doxology Songwriting Internship. It is UD's prayer that the songs they sing and write will empower Jesus followers to continue in the journey of becoming a faithful presence seeking God’s joy and justice for their communities.

Jemar is the author of the New York Times bestselling book The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism. His writings have been featured on CNN, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and The New York Times. He is a PhD candidate in history at the University of Mississippi and the founder and president of The Witness: a Black Christian Collective.

Follow Jemar on Twitter @JemarTisby.

Justin is the Co-Founder and President of the AND Campaign, which is a coalition of urban Christians who are determined to address the sociopolitical arena with the compassion and conviction of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Justin is an attorney and political strategist in Atlanta who has managed successful campaigns for elected officials in Georgia and referendums relating to the city’s transportation and water infrastructure.

In 2012 and 2016, Georgia’s 5th congressional district elected him as a delegate for the Democratic National Convention and he served as the co-chair of Obama for America’s Gen44-Atlanta initiative. A former Vanderbilt University football player and law student, Justin served on the Urban League of Greater Atlanta Board of Directors. He’s written op-eds for publications such as Christianity Today and The Hill.

Gregory Thompson (PhD, University of Virginia) is a pastor, scholar, writer, and producer whose work focuses on race and equity in the United States. He serves as executive director of Voices Underground, an initiative to build a national memorial to the Underground Railroad outside of Philadelphia; research fellow in African American heritage at Lincoln University (HBCU); and James Lawson Fellow for Faith and Justice at Historic Clayborn Temple in Memphis. He is the co-creator of Union: The Musical, a soul and hip-hop based musical about the 1968 Sanitation Workers’ Strike, and the co-author of the forthcoming Reparations: A Christian Call to Repentance and Repair (Brazos, 2021).

Rosalind Picard is director of the MIT Media Lab’s Affective Computing Research Group, developing AI innovations for health and wellbeing, and co-founder and chief scientist of Empatica, providing an FDA-cleared smartwatch, biomarkers, and health-monitoring platform used by over half of the top-20 pharma companies. She is best-known for authoring the book, Affective Computing, which helped launch the field, for co-founding Affectiva (acquired by Smart Eye AB) and for authoring over 400 peer-reviewed scientific and engineering articles in AI, wearables for digital health, human-computer interaction, and affective computing. She is an inventor on over 100 patents, and a popular speaker, with a TED talk having over 2 million views. Her work has been honored with election to the National Academy of Inventors and National Academy of Engineering, and as a fellow of the IEEE, ACM, AAAC, and APA. She received the 2022 International Lombardy Prize for Computer Science Research, which carries a one-million euros prize and is described as the “Nobel” in Italy (and which she donated to research to improve human health). She holds a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech, and Masters and Doctorate degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT.

Before founding IJM in 1997, Gary was a human rights attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, where he focused on crimes of police misconduct. In 1994, he served as the Director of the United Nations’ investigation in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide. In this role, he led an international team of lawyers, criminal prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and forensics experts to gather evidence that would eventually be used to bring the perpetrators of the genocide to justice. Gary received a B.A. in Social Studies from Harvard University, and a J.D. from the University of Chicago.Gary has been recognized by the U.S. State Department as a Trafficking in Persons “Hero” – the highest honor given by the U.S. government for anti-slavery leadership. His work to protect the poor from violence has been featured by Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, the New Yorker, The Times of India, Forbes, U.S. News and World Report, the Guardian, and National Public Radio, among many other outlets. He is the author of several books, including Good News About Injustice (Intervarsity Press) and, most recently, The Locust Effect: Why the End of Poverty Requires the End of Violence (Oxford University Press).

Donna is the CEO of Builders + Backers, a national initiative to unleash a wave of ideation and experimentation to solve our communities’ challenges. She is also General Partner of 1776 Ventures, a venture capital fund with investments on five continents, and a Venture Partner at Praxis. She was formerly Managing Director of the Startup America Partnership and is currently on the Board of the Global Entrepreneurship Network and the Policy Council of the Economic Innovation Group.

Levina is a transformational leadership practitioner with over 20 years' experience working with women. Levina does this through being a Director in a limited company, Ovaa International, and as a Supervisor, PhD in Leadership Studies at the International Leadership University in Nairobi. She has a Doctorate in Transformational Leadership from Bakke Graduate School, and has a bachelor’s degree in engineering and a master’s degree in education. Levina is inspired daily by her husband and their two sons.

Dave is Co-Founder and CEO of Praxis, a venture-building ecosystem advancing redemptive entrepreneurship, supporting founders, funders, and innovators motivated by their faith to work on the major issues of our time. Since its founding, Praxis has supported over 250 business and nonprofit ventures around the world, while facilitating over $150 million in grants and investments to these early-stage organizations. Previously, Dave was a Principal Designer at IDEO and founded two companies in music and technology. He has a BA from Babson College, an MBA & MEM from Northwestern, and lives in Manhattan with his wife and three sons.

Michael is the Chief Strategist and a member of the executive team for the AND Campaign. He is a leading strategist, speaker and practitioner at the intersection of faith, politics and public life. Michael is also founder of Public Square Strategies, a consulting firm that helps Christian leaders and organizations navigate public life and advance their mission. He writes regularly for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic and other major outlets.

Peter is CEO of HOPE International, a global Christ-centered microenterprise development organization serving throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Prior to joining HOPE, Peter worked internationally in Cambodia, Zimbabwe and Rwanda. He has co-authored 12 books, including Mission Drift and Rooting for Rivals. More important than his occupation is the joy of being married to Laurel and dad to Keith, Liliana, Myles, and London.

Rich is the former President and CEO of UniGroup, the parent company of United Van Lines, Mayflower Transit and other specialized logistics companies. Rich co-chaired the Ferguson Commission, appointed by the governor of Missouri in November 2014 to study and recommend actions to address the underlying causes of the social unrest in the St. Louis region following the shooting death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, by a police officer. The Commission issued their report “Forward through Ferguson: A Path to Racial Equity” in September 2015.

Early in his career, Rich held public policy positions as chief of staff for then-Governor of Missouri John Ashcroft and in the administration of Governor Jim Thompson of Illinois. He serves as lead director on the board of World Wide Technology, a $11.5 billion privately-held leading provider of technology services, and is on the boards of several other privately-held, founder-led companies. He also serves on the St. Louis boards for Teach for America, Boy Scouts of America, and the United Way. Rich and his wife Sharon have two married children and four grandchildren. In 2011, they were the first husband-and-wife on the CBS show, Undercover Boss, featuring United Van Lines.

Darren and his wife Brandy are co-founders of Church of the City. In 2013, they had a vision to plant a family of churches that live in the way of Jesus for the renewal of global cities. Every weekend more than 7000 people attend one of six church congregations across Nashville and New York City. Originally from Australia, Darren has lived in the United States for over 20 years. He holds both Masters and Doctorate degrees in Ministry, with his dissertation focus on millennials and the future of the Western church. He recently released his second book, Holy Roar: 7 Words That Will Change The Way You Worship, co-authored with worship leader Chris Tomlin. Darren and Brandy have three daughters and live in Nashville.

Dan is the frontman of the bands Jars of Clay and The Hawk In Paris, and he is a three-time Grammy Award-winning songwriter, producer, and writer. In 2004, Dan co-founded Blood:Water Mission, a nonprofit organization that partners with grassroots African organizations for enduring health and dignity, focusing on the HIV/AIDS and water crises.

Dan composed the music for the hit television series about the life of Jesus, The Chosen. He also authored two children’s books: The One, The Only Magnificent Me and Lulu and the Long Walk. Dan lives near Nashville with his wife and two boys.

Mako is a leading contemporary artist, writer, and speaker who is recognized worldwide as a cultural shaper. He was appointed by President George W. Bush to the National Council on the Arts from 2003-2009, serving as an advocate on the arts and advising governmental policies. In 2014, the American Academy of Religion named Mako as its "Religion and the Arts" award recipient. Mako founded the International Arts Movement in 1992 and the Fujimura Institute in 2011. He just published Art + Faith: A Theology of Making. His books Refractions: A Journey of Faith, Art, and Culture and Culture Care: Reconnecting with Beauty for Our Common Life have won numerous awards. In celebration of the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, Crossway Publishing commissioned and published Four Holy Gospels, featuring Mako’s illuminations of the sacred texts which was featured at the inaugural exhibit at the Museum of the Bible in Washington DC. Mako’s art has been featured widely in galleries and museums around the world, from The Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo to the Tikotin Museum in Israel to the Belvedere Museum in Vienna.