John Carroll is Professor of New Testament at Union Presbyterian Seminary and author of several books, including The Gospel of Luke: A Commentary for the Westminster John Knox New Testament Library (2012), Jesus and the Gospels: An Introduction (Westminster John Knox, 2016), and The Holy Spirit in the New Testament (Abingdon, 2018).

Terri Erwin is the Organizer for New Leadership Development at the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, with the specific charge of engaging seminaries and other institutions of higher education in discerning productive roles and opportunities for values-based advocacy. She has directed interfaith community organizing coalitions from West Virginia to Hawaii, winning (and losing) campaigns on housing, jobs, healthcare, land use, and immigration. She strayed into organizing from academia, where she was a professor and researcher in ecological psychology at Wheeling Jesuit University.

Kidest grew up in a small city in Ethiopia and moved to D.C. nine years ago. She is a recent graduate of the University of Richmond, majoring in Geography and the Environment, with minors in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Visual Arts. She was introduced to VAIPL (Virginia Interfaith Power and Light) as the Abby Brown Ayers Civic Fellow in the summer of 2018. The Ayers fellowship supports one student a year working at the intersections of environmental justice and education. She now serves as the Organizing Coordinator for VAIPL.

Growing up in Ethiopia as an Orthodox Christian, faith and religion were part of every aspect of social life. However, faith communities often failed to address important issues such as climate change. Since VAIPL stresses environmental education and awareness in faith communities, as a spiritual person, she is interested in being part of a movement to encourage faith communities to act on climate. Kidest is motivated to fight against climate change by uplifting environmental justice for communities of color.

A graduate of Union Presbyterian Seminary, Emily Hodges Nyce has been shepherding the vision for Yaupon Place since its inception. Yaupon Place seeks to build community, deepen ecological partnerships, improve interfaith connections, and promote wholeness and meditation by focusing on community storysharing, outdoor recreation, and eco-spiritual education.

Emily holds a Bachelor of Arts in Religious and Intercultural Studies from Eastern Mennonite University, which included a full semester in the Middle East. Emily graduated from Union Presbyterian Seminary with a Master of Divinity in 2020. She has also since completed a Certificate in Community Storytelling through The Hearth in Ashland, Oregon. Emily has over a decade of professional experience working in ecumenical churches, non-profits, and volunteering to support local peace efforts. 

Leah joined VAIPL (Virginia Interfaith Power and Light) as Faith Community Outreach Coordinator in 2020. Leah grew up under the Baptist tradition but currently considers herself to be a spiritual person. She continues to use her faith as a motivation to proclaim justice. Graduating from William and Mary with a degree in Biology and Environmental Science and Policy in 2019, she is an enthusiastic advocate for environmental and racial activism.

During her college career, she developed a passion for intersectional environmental issues, specifically those pertaining to food security and climate justice. After her experience with Environment Virginia as an intern in 2016, she prioritized being an environmental educator and activist for her community. In 2020, she worked as a Garden Educator for Greater Richmond’s Fit4Kids program during the COVID-19 pandemic, teaching children in low-income communities about agricultural and nutritional empowerment. Leah believes her purpose is to shed light on existing issues of environmental racism and do anything she can to reclaim green space for Black people and other marginalized communities.

Carena Miles (she/he/they) is the Volunteer and Education Coordinator at Northside Farms. She would describe herself as a quiet old soul with a subtle Leo ego. From Fredericksburg, Virginia, her dedication to land stewardship and food sovereignty grew from time spent outdoors roaming her grandparents’ rural farmland. The great granddaughter of a Black sharecropper, Carena lends a valuable knowledge of the historic inequity, survival, and joy amid Black farmers and growers. She has a M.A. in Food Studies from NYU, a B.S. in Biology from Hampton University and a Farm School NYC alum.

Charlene Sinclair is an organizer, thinker, and writer whose work centers on the intersection of race, gender, economy, and democracy. A highly sought after human-centered strategist, designer thinker, and facilitator, she has served as a consultant, trainer, and advisor for leading social change organizations and leaders.

Charlene currently serves as Chief of Staff for Race Forward, one of the nation’s largest racial justice organizations. In her role as Chief of Staff, Charlene works to carry out the organization’s vision and strategic intent of building a just multiracial democracy where all people thrive. Strongly influenced by the pathbreaking thought of the late James Cone, founder of Black Liberation Theology, Dr. Sinclair is committed to fashioning strategies that embrace a liberationist approach to faith and spirituality in the context of popular struggles for racial, economic, and gender justice.

James Taneti serves as the Director of the Global Mission Center of Union Presbyterian Seminary and as Assistant Professor of World Christianity.

An ordained minister in the PC(USA), James has ministered in church, classroom, clinical, and correctional settings. After completing his theological education at the United Theological College, India, James pursued and received a master’s degree at Princeton Theological Seminary and a doctoral degree from Union Presbyterian Seminary. His area of expertise is on Christianity outside the western hemisphere. In addition to numerous essays and book reviews, James has authored two books about Christianity in South Asia.