Rev. Fr. Francisco Javiel de la Rosa is a Catholic priest from the Dominican Republic incardinated in the Diocese of San Juan de la Maguana (SJM), where he is pastor of the Parroquia San Pedro Apóstol in El Cercado, SJM. He studied philosophy at the Santo Tomás de Aquino senior seminary in 2003. He became a teacher at the Buen Pastor junior seminary and the college of the same name before receiving a degree in philosophy from the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCAMAIMA) in 2008. He studied theology at the Colegio Mayor of the Universidad Pontificia de Comillas, Madrid for a year and completed his theological studies in the Dominican Republic. In his pastoral experience as a temporary deacon, he worked in the Santa Teresa de Jesús parish of Elías Piña in the province of Comendador. In 2014, he presented his thesis in theology, entitled “El Modelo de la Iglesia del Concilio Vaticano II y su Aplicación en la Diócesis de San Juan de la Maguana [The Model of the Church of the Vatican Council II and its Application in the Diocese of San Juan de la Maguana]" and earned a degree in Religious Science from the Seminario Santo Tomás of Aquino.

Dr. Santiago Slabodsky holds the Kaufman Chair in Jewish Studies at Hofstra University-New York. He is co-director of the trilingual journal Horizontes Decoloniales/ Decolonial Horizons and convener of the Liberation Theology and Decolonial Thought program at the Center for Global Dialogue. He served as convener of the PhD program in Religion, Ethics and Society at Claremont School of Theology and as associate director of the Center for Race, Culture and Social Justice at Hofstra University. Dr. Slabodsky holds a BA from Universidad de Buenos Aires, an MA from Duke University, and a PhD from University of Toronto. His book Decolonial Judaism: Triumphal Failures of Barbaric Thinking (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014) received the 2017 Frantz Fanon Outstanding book award by the Caribbean Philosophical Association.

Victoria Pérez Rivera is a PhD student at the University of Southern California and an adjunct Bible professor at Latin American Bible Institute College (LABI) College. She obtained her Associates degree from LABI College, Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Vanguard University, and her Master's Degree in Theological Studies from Duke University. Her areas of academic interest include reception history of Pauline literature, ancient Greco-Roman culture, race, ethnicity and gender. She teaches classes such as New Testament, Biblical Exegesis, and Gender Issues in the Church.

Dr. Matthew Pettway is Assistant Professor of Spanish at the University of South Alabama, where he teaches Afro-Latin American, Caribbean, and Spanish literatures, and is associated with the Africana Studies Program. A native of Detroit, MI, Dr. Pettway holds a PhD in Hispanic Cultural Studies and an MA in Spanish and Latin American Literatures from Michigan State University. His research examines race, slavery, and African ideas of spirit and cosmos in nineteenth-century black Cuban literature. Dr. Pettway has a keen interest in how Afro-Latin Americans who endured extreme trauma in the colonial era took hold of the aesthetic and spiritual tools available to them to conceive a poetics of emancipation. His research is part of a broader project of literary and historical recovery, akin to what Toni Morrison has termed “a kind of literary archaeology.” Dr. Pettway’s work has appeared in American Studies Journal, PALARA, The Zora Neale Hurston Forum, The Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro-Latin American Biography, the Cuban journal Del Caribe, and his article “The Altar, The Oath and the Body of Christ: Ritual Poetics and Cuban Racial Politics of 1844” is the inaugural chapter in Black Writing, Culture and the State in Latin America, edited by Jerome Branche (Vanderbilt University Press, 2015). Dr. Pettway’s first book, Cuban Literature in the Age of Black Insurrection: Manzano, Plácido and Afro-Latino Religion (2019), is part of the Caribbean Studies Series of the University Press of Mississippi.

Dr. Juan Hernández, Jr. is Professor of Biblical Studies at Bethel University. He holds an MDiv and a ThM from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and a PhD from Emory University. His research centers on New Testament and early Christianity, with a special interest in New Testament Textual Criticism, especially the text of the Apocalypse and its reception history. Dr. Hernández's dissertation—Scribal Habits and Theological Influences in the Apocalypse: The Singular Readings of Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus, and Ephraemi (Mohr Siebe, 2006)—was published by a major German publisher and won international awards. He also co-authored the first English translation of Josef Schmid’s Studies in the History of the Greek Text of the Apocalypse: The Ancient Stems (SBL Press, 2018), which until now has only been available in German.

Vinicius Marinho is a constitutional lawyer and a PhD candidate at the University of Chicago Divinity School. His research engages religious, philosophical, and legal ideas about human dignity. His dissertation on human dignity in Brazil unites Latin American liberation theology, Jewish philosophy, and legal theory.

Dr. Gerardo Rodríguez-Galarza holds a PhD in Historical Theology from Saint Louis University. He was born in San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, and migrated to the Midwest as a teenager.

Rev. Dr. Oscar García-Johnson is Associate Professor of Theology and Latinx Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary, where he is also Assistant Provost for the Center for the Study of Hispanic Church and Community (Centro Latino). He holds a BA from University of La Verne, and MA and PhD degrees from the Fuller Theological Seminary. Formerly, he served as a regional minister with the American Baptist Churches of Los Angeles for 11 years and planted four new churches in Southern California. An activist scholar, his research methodology interlaces de/postcolonial studies, indigenous theologies, and US Latino/Latin American studies into a critical hermeneutic he calls “Transoccidentalism”. His writings include Spirit Outside the Gate: Decolonial Pneumatologies of the American Global South (IVP Academic, 2019); Conversaciones Teológicas del Sur Global Americano (coedited, Puertas Abiertas/Wipf & Stock, 2016); Theology without Borders: Introduction to Global Conversations, co-authored with William Dyrness (Baker Academic, 2015); ¡Jesús, Hazme Como tú! 40 Maneras de Imitar a Cristo (Wipf & Stock, 2014); and The Mestizo/a Community of the Spirit: A Latino/a Postmodern Ecclesiology (Pickwick, 2009).

Dr. Annecy Baez, Professor at the Touro College Graduate School of Social Work, teaches clinical practice and human behavior, and was formerly on the faculty of the New York University School of Social Work. Dr. Baez holds a PhD from New York University, an MSW from Hunter School of Social Work, and a BA from Pace University. Her areas of expertise include college mental health, Latinx mental-health issues, depression/anxiety, suicide prevention, trauma, domestic violence, mindfulness, and spirituality in therapy and in the Latinx community.

Dr. Baez has been a clinical social worker for thirty years, providing individual, family, and group psychotherapy at various inpatient and outpatient settings, including the Jewish Board of Family and Children Services, Western Queens Consultation Center, and Columbia Presbyterian. She formerly served as director of a diagnostic residential trauma center in Westchester County and as director of the Counseling Center at Lehman College. She has received Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training and has a certificate in Expressive Arts Therapy. Her experience with trauma-informed contemplative practices in higher education aligns with her educational focus on social justice and cultural diversity, allowing for relevant exploration of social-work issues.

Also a poet and fiction writer, Dr. Baez is the author of My Daughter’s Eyes and Other Stories (Curbstone Books, 2007), winner of the Mármol Prize for Latina/o First Fiction. Her creative writing has appeared in various journals and anthologies, including Callaloo, Caudal, Vinyl Donuts (The National Book Foundation, 2000), Viajeros del rocío: 25 narradores dominicanos de la diáspora (Secretaría de Estado de Cultura, Editora Nacional, 2008), and Riverine: Anthology of Hudson Valley Writers (Codhill Press, 2010).

Dr. Elsie M. Miranda is Director of Accreditation and Institutional Evaluation for The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS). She taught at Barry University Department of Theology and Philosophy, where she served for 22 years, most recently as associate professor of practical theology and as director of ministerial formation. Dr. Miranda earned an MA in pastoral ministry from Boston College and a DMin in practical theology from Barry University. As a Cuban American and practical theologian, she has focused her research interests on the intersection of faith and how socio-culture and socio-political realities impact both human formation and efforts toward peace and justice at local and global levels. Dr. Miranda is the past president of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians in the United States (ACHTUS), for which she coordinated the first bilingual colloquium in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 2016. Currently, she serves on the Formation and Religious Education Committee for the V Encuentro—a national conference on Hispanic Ministry in the United States coordinated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Dr. Miranda is also an active member of the Catholic Theological Society of America and the Association of Practical Theology. Her scholarship includes contributions to the edited volumes Hispanic Ministry in the 21st Century: Urgent Matters (Convivium Press, 2016) and Hispanic Ministry in the 21st Century: Present and Future (Convivium Press, 2010) and as coeditor and contributor to Calling for Justice Throughout the World, Catholic Women Theologians on the HIV AIDS Pandemic (Continuum Press, 2009). In her research and teaching, she continues to explore contemporary theological issues in the church and the world.

The Rev. Dr. Loida I. Martell is the 18th Vice President of Academic Affairs/ Dean of Lexington Theological Seminary, where she also serves as Professor of Constructive Theology. Dr. Martell is a licensed doctor in veterinary medicine as well as an ordained minister in the American Baptist Churches/ USA. She is a bi-coastal Puerto Rican who has taught in various institutions of higher learning. She pastored in New York City for 15 years, creating bilingual programs for the churches she served. Dr. Martell pioneered the study of evángelica theology. In addition to various articles, she co-edited Teología en Conjunto: A Collaborative Hispanic Protestant Theology (1997), and co-authored Latina Evangélicas: A Theological Survey from the Margins (2013). Focusing on the impact of globalization has led her to write on wide-ranging subjects such as mass incarceration and immigration, climate change and emergent diseases, and racism. In addition to her membership in the American Academy of Religion, the Society of Biblical Literature, and the American Veterinary Medical Association, Dr. Martell represents the American Baptist Churches/USA on the National Council of Churches Convening Table for Theological Studies and Matters of Faith and Reason, serves on the NCC Racial Task Force, and served as President of La Comunidad of Hispanic Scholars of Religion (AAR/ SBL) from 2016–2019.

Elaine Penagos is a first-generation Latina from Cuban and Colombian heritage. She was born and raised in Miami, Florida and is currently completing a PhD in Religion at Emory University in Atlanta. Elaine’s work primarily explores narratives and storytelling, focusing on the patakís, the mythological stories of West African deities known as the Orisha.

A scholar with wide-ranging interests, César "CJ" Baldelomar is a doctoral candidate in Theology and Education at Boston College, where he is currently working on his dissertation and teaching in the International Studies and Theology departments. His research blends critical theory (especially postmodernism and poststructuralism) and decolonial thought, exploring how knowledge production (epistemology, theory, and scholarship) and consumption (teaching and learning) inform the formation of identities (ontologies). His work seeks to find different ways to imagine and talk about the self and about justice in an effort to envision possible sites of resistance. CJ is the author of several academic and popular articles and of the upcoming book, Fragmented Theological Imaginings (Convivium Press).

He holds two law degrees from St. Thomas University School of Law: a Master of Laws (LL.M) in Intercultural Human Rights and a Juris Doctor, with certificates in immigration law and international law. CJ also holds a Master of Theological Studies (MTS) in Religion, Ethics, and Politics from the Harvard Divinity School and a Master of Education (Ed.M) in Learning and Teaching from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He is a former legal intern at the Southern Poverty Law Center and current Associate Member Representative of The Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States (ACHTUS). You can read more of CJ's work here or learn more about him here.

Dr. Neomi De Anda is Executive Director of International Marian Research Institute (IMRI) at the University of Dayton, where she served as a Human Rights Center Research Associate and is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies. She teaches courses in religion, languages and cultures, Latinx studies, race and ethnic studies, and women and gender studies.  Dr. De Anda holds a PhD in Constructive Theology from Loyola University Chicago, and Master’s degrees in Theology (Oblate School of Theology) and Educational Leadership (St. Mary’s University, San Antonio).  Her research interests include LatinoXa Christology; theology and breast milk; chisme; Marianist Catholic Higher Education; the intersection of race and migrations, in conjunction with the Marianist Social Justice Collaborative Immigrant Justice Team; and partnering with the Hope Border Institute on a border theology at the intersections of the environment, migrations, labor, and women. Dr. De Anda is the most recent past president for the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States (ACHTUS). Her honors include: the 2021 University of Dayton University Award for Faculty Teaching; the 2021 University of Dayton College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Service Award for faculty; recognition as a Courageous Woman's Voice at the University of Dayton (2020) and an outstanding faculty member in the State of Ohio by Ohio Magazine (2019). Dr. De Anda has also received various grants from the Hispanic Theological Initiative, the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Religion and Theology, the Association of Marianist Universities, and the Louisville Institute, where she now serves as a member of the board. 

Dr. Kay Higuera Smith is Professor of Biblical and Religious Studies and Program Director of the Religious Studies Minor program at Azusa Pacific University. She writes about social justice issues as they relate to Critical Gender Theory, Postcoloniality and Evangelicalism. In her most recent publication, she was Editor-in-Chief of Postcolonial Evangelical Conversations: Global Awakenings in Theology and Praxis (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2014). She currently has two books under contract, one on the historical figure of Mary of Nazareth, and another on Latinx Biblical Hermeneutics.

Dr. Daniel Ramírez is an Associate Professor in the Department of Religion, School of Arts and Humanities, Claremont Graduate University. He received his BA in Political Science at Yale College before going on to receive his MA and PhD from Duke University in American Religious History. His research interests lie primarily in American religious history and Latinx American religious history both within and outside the United States. Ramírez has taught a vast range of courses within these broad fields, including American Evangelicalisms and Fundamentalisms; Religion, Migration, and Transnationalism; History of the Hispanic Heterodox: Latina/o Religious History; Religious Pathways of the Borderlands; and Film and Religious History, among others. During Ramírez’s career, he has published numerous book chapters and articles, most often on Latin American religious history, traditions, and challenges. His book, Migrating Faith: Pentecostalism in the United States and Mexico in the Twentieth Century (UNC Press, 2015), begins in Los Angeles in 1906 with the eruption of the Azusa Street Revival and follows the trajectory of the Pentecostal phenomenon in the United States and Mexico throughout the century.

Dr. Lauren Frances Guerra is Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California. She is of Guatemalan-Ecuadorian descent and an active member of the Roman Catholic Church. She earned her doctorate in Systematic and Philosophical Theology from the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley. Her research interests include U.S. Latinx Theology, Theological Aesthetics, and Ethnic Studies. She approaches the theological task with the complexities of race, class, and gender in mind. Popular Religion and community-based art inform her theologizing. Her long-term goal is to serve as an advocate for the U.S. Latinx community through her academic work.

Rev. Eli Valentin serves as pastor of the Bridge Church of God in Allentown, Pennsylvania. In addition to his pastoral ministry, he has been a lecturer at Union Theological Seminary, New York Theological Seminary, and Hunter College (CUNY). Valentín has served as a political advisor to numerous elected officials across the country and is the editor of Sermons from the Latino/a Pulpit and the author of the forthcoming Reinhold Niebuhr: A Political Life.

Dr. Margarita Benítez is Executive Director of Fundación Puertorriqueña de las Humanidades. She holds an undergraduate degree in philosophy, and graduate degrees in Hispanic Studies from Vassar College (BA), Middlebury College (MA), and Columbia University (PhD). Her lifelong involvement with higher education began at the University of Puerto Rico (UPR), where she was born and raised. At UPR, Dr. Benítez was a professor of literature and humanities, as well as chancellor of UPR’s Cayey Campus, and acting chancellor of UPR’s Humacao campus. After moving to Washington, DC in 1997, she held a number of senior positions in higher-education organizations, such as the Office of Postsecondary Education in the US Dept. of Education, the Institute for Higher Education Policy, Excelencia in Education, The Education Trust, and the American Council on Education. Dr. Benítez has presented and published multiple papers on topics related to higher education, accreditation, women's issues, and Hispanic literature and culture in the U.S. In addition, she has taught at Columbia University, Fordham University, SUNY/Albany, and several universities in Spain. In 2018, Dr. Benítez returned to Puerto Rico after being appointed executive director of the Puerto Rico Endowment for the Humanities, the first woman to lead the nonprofit organization.

Rev. Dr. Melinda Contreras-Byrd is a NJ state licensed psychologist who specializes in issues of "race", gender, ethnicity and faith. She is a graduate of the Rutgers Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology and Princeton Theological Seminary, and she presently serves as an adjunct faculty member in the Doctor of Ministry program at New Brunswick Theological Seminary. Rev. Dr. Contreras-Byrd has been a professor of Psychology, Christian and Pastoral Counseling, and Black Studies. For six years, she served as the Special Services Advisor to the Office of the Dean of Students at Princeton University and has served as Chaplain for the Hispanic Theological Initiative. Rev. Dr. Contreras-Byrd is an ordained Elder and assistant pastor in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. She is founder of Solidaridad, a mental-health/clergy wellness partnering initiative between pastors in the U.S. and the Dominican Republic, where she is Dean of the AME Ministerial Institute. A poet and author, Rev. Dr. Contreras-Byrd’s most recent book is entitled Saving the Lives of Black and Latinx Pastors: A Self Care Study (Red Sea Press, 2019).