Bishop Rivera has served, as pastor, preacher, denominational executive, organization founder, and community builder. In the late-1960s through the 1970s, Rev. Dr. Raymond Rivera was Co-Founder and Chairperson of the Sunset Park Re-development Housing Initiatives in Brooklyn. He was Community Coordinator of the Lutheran Medical Center and developed community outreach programs for clergy and community-based organizations. From 1975 to 1984, he was National Executive for the Hispanic Council of the Reformed Church in America. In 1992, he founded the Latino Pastoral Action Center (LPAC), which started as a division of the Manhattan-based NYC Mission Society, the NYC’s oldest and largest social service agency. His vision was to develop an organization that dealt with social justice issues from a holistic perspective. In the mid-1980s through the early 1990s, he worked as an educational advocate and trainer in School Districts No.1 and No. 4 in Manhattan, empowering parents to become partners in the educational process. As a result, parents were elected to school boards, school-based management teams, and other policy committees within educational systems. In 1999, after years as a public education reformer, Rev. Dr. Rivera led a team of community and education leaders to establish the Family Life Academy Charter School.

Rev. Rivera is a spiritual father to many including many on the team of Passion2Plant. He is also the author of the book Liberty to the Captives: Our Call to Minister in a Captive World.

Robert Guerrero works toward catalyzing networks of existing churches in the city for City to City North America as Vice President Catalyst, NYC & North America.

Born to Dominican parents in New York City, Robert has spent much of his life in both the U.S. and Dominican Republic. He earned a degree in theology from Moody Bible Institute and during his studies was active in the ministry of Lawndale Community Church, Chicago, as well as planting La Villita Community Church. In 1995, Robert and his wife moved into the Colonial City of Santo Domingo where they planted Iglesia Comunitaria Cristiana (ICC) with a focus on justice and compassion for the most under-resourced in the community.

Robert is also the co-founder of the Coordinating Community of Del Camino Network for Integral Mission in Latin America with networks in Costa Rica, Argentina, Chile, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Brazil and the Dominican Republic.

Dr. Peter Rios is the Founder of Peter Rios Consulting and the author of Untold Stories: The Latinx Leadership Experience in Higher Education. He has served diverse organizations including businesses, religious institutions/churches, government, higher education and non-profits in the areas of organizational diversity, equity and inclusion; leadership development and innovation.

His extensive experience and doctoral education in strategic leadership and intercultural studies has made him a sought-out keynote and conference speaker. Rios has been invited to speak and train leaders, nationally and internationally. In the United States Marines Corps he gained global leadership experience while stationed in Okinawa Japan and South Korea, and most recently has lived in Barbados and St. Maarten.

Peter currently serves as a lecturer of leadership studies at Penn State and has been an adjunct professor at Colorado State University-Global Campus and Indiana Wesleyan University, teaching undergraduate and graduate students in organizational leadership, religious and cultural studies, and business management. Rios has also been a vice president at two universities. Prior to academia, Peter was involved in pastoral ministry for over ten years and has over twenty years of leadership development experience.

Rios holds a PhD in Intercultural Studies from Fuller Graduate Schools, a Doctorate in Strategic Leadership (DSL) from Regent University School of Business and Leadership, completed doctoral work at the University of Southern California-Rossier School of Education, and an MA from Northeastern Seminary. He is married to Dr. Ruby Gonzalez-Rios, a cancer and infectious disease researcher.

Daniel Yang has helped and influenced church networks and movements across North America as a conference speaker, convener, and mission strategy consultant. He has planted churches and trained church planters in global cities in North America including Detroit, Dallas, Toronto, and Chicago.

Yang now serves as the National Director of Churches of Welcome for World Relief. Prior to that he was the director of the Church Multiplication Institute at the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center. Daniel has been a pastor, church planter, engineer and technology consultant. He earned a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Michigan, an M.Div. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and is now pursuing a Ph.D. in Intercultural Studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is also the co-author of Inalienable: How Marginalized Kingdom Voices Can Help Save the American Church (InterVarsity, May 2022) and Becoming a Future-Ready Church: 8 Shifts To Encourage and Empower the Next Generation of Leaders (Zondervan, October 2024).

Daniel and his wife, Linda, have five children and live in Aurora, Ill., where they are mentoring missional church leaders across the western suburbs of Chicagoland.

Dr. Drew G. I. Hart is an author, activist, and professor in theology in the Bible and Religion department at Messiah University with ten years of pastoral experience. Hart majored in Biblical Studies at Messiah College as an undergrad, he attained his MDiv with an urban concentration from Biblical Theological Seminary, and he received his PhD in theology and ethics from Lutheran Theological Seminary-Philadelphia.

Trouble I’ve Seen: Changing the Way the Church Views Racism by Drew Hart, was chosen as a 2016 book of the month by Englewood Review of Books. Reviewing the book, Shane Claiborne said, “This book is a gift from the heart of one of the sharpest young theologians in the United States. Hold it carefully, and allow it to transform you–and our blood-stained streets.” As a text, Trouble I’ve Seen utilizes personal and everyday stories, Jesus-shaped theological ethics, and anti-racism frameworks to transform the church’s understanding and witness. His most recent book, Who Will Be A Witness, Igniting Activism for God's Justice, Love, Deliverance offers a vision for communities of faith to organize for deliverance and justice in their neighborhoods, states, and nation as an essential part of living out the call of Jesus.

His guiding question, "Churches have begun awakening to social and political injustices, often carried out in the name of Christianity. But once awakened, how will we respond?"

Orlando Crespo was actively involved in InterVarsity as an undergraduate and graduated from Colgate University in 1986 with a BA in Sociology and Anthropology. One month later he participated in a short-term missions trip to Honduras where his heart for missions and Latinos grew immensely.

In 1987, he moved to New York City, married his wife Maritza and began serving as an InterVarsity Campus Minister at City University of New York (CUNY). Six years later, he was promoted to Area Director for CUNY and served in that capacity until 1999 when he was again promoted to National Director of InterVarsity Latino Fellowship. In 2003, Orlando authored Being Latino in Christ: Finding Wholeness in Your Ethnic Identity, which has sold over 17,000 copies and has helped thousands of Latinos become more confident in their service to Christ as leaders.

As National Director of LaFe, Orlando travels extensively developing Latino student leaders, training campus ministers and speaking on college campuses and at churches on multiethnic diversity, cross-cultural ministry, ethnic identity and leadership. He earned his Doctor of Ministry degree at New York Theological Seminary in Manhattan in 2013.

In addition to his ministry with InterVarsity, Orlando helped plant and serve as one of the founding pastors for New Life in The Bronx Church, the first English speaking CM&A church in the Bronx (1998). He was also a founding board member of The Family Empowerment Centers of Chicago, a Christian Community Development of the Mid-West District of CM&A in Chicago. Presently, he serves as a Board Member for the National Latino Evangelical Coalition and is an Executive Member of the Latino Leadership Circle. Orlando is also a proud father to his two adult sons, Daniel and David. Orlando's hobbies involves the drums and the bass guitar, tennis & biking.

The Reverend José Humphreys is a facilitator and co-founder/pastor of Metro Hope Covenant Church, a multiethnic and multicultural church in East Harlem, New York City. Humphreys is involved in shalom-making in New York City through facilitating conversation, contemplation, and action across social, economic, cultural, and theological boundaries.

He is also the author of the award-winning book, Seeing Jesus in East Harlem: What Happens When Churches Show Up and Stay Put.

David comes to Passion2Plant after serving City to City NY as Assistant Director of the Residency program where he directed the Residency Program. He provided coaching to residents, and collaborated with local pastors and other strategic partners who desire staff support for their existing and emerging church plants. David is the Pastor of Third Christian Church in the Hamilton Heights section of New York, served as a Hospice Chaplain for the Visiting Nurse Service of New York, and was formerly the Director of Programs for the American Bible Society. He also served as the Director of the Urban Youth Fellows Program at the Latino Pastoral Action Center and is the Founder of the Latino Leadership Circle.

​David earned his Masters of Divinity Princeton Theological Seminary and a Master of Social Work from Rutgers School of Social Work. Born and raised in Brooklyn, David and his wife presently live in the Bronx. David loves the arts, culture, diversity, and creative energy of New York. David enjoys adventure related activities such as hiking, camping, trail running, biking, as well as concerts, and reading.

Dr. Rios has a number of passions but one thing is certain, she has always been an advocate for the local church and a supporter of the people who lead in it. Since April 2008, Dr. Liz has served as Consulting Editor for Outreach Magazine, a national magazine for church leaders, pastors and planters. Dr. Rios serves as a board member of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition which is a national network of Hispanic evangelical congregations, leaders, and not-for-profits committed to Gospel-centered transformation in the work of justice and mercy. In addition, she is a senior consultant Freedom Road, LLC which coaches, consults, trains and designs experiences to help groups in multiple sectors do justice in just ways. Dr. Rios also serves on the Send Institute's Missiologists Council which is a think tank for evangelism and church planting. The council is composed of thought-leaders and practitioners committed to expand evangelism and church planting in North America. One recent product of the council's work was the Church Planting Manifesto. Dr. Rios is also an Adjunct Instructor at Fuller Theological Seminary.

To contribute to Latinx Pentecostal history, she researched and wrote a chapter for Latino Religions and Civic Activism called "The Women are Warriors" highlighting the many achievements of Latina Pentecostal women in the NYC social activist world. The chapter was reprinted in Azusa Street and Beyond 100 Years of Commentary on the Global/Pentecostal Charismatic Movement which was highlighted at the Azusa Street Centennial. Dr. Rios has also been a contributor for CALLED, a magazine for women in leadership. From 2005-2013 she informed and inspired women nationally as a regular columnist and Contributing Editor for PRISM magazine .

Dr. Rios has been in ministry for over 29 years including serving as a pastor for a total 15 years (11 as an Executive Pastor and 4 as a co-lead Pastor with her husband). She founded a non-traditional faith community and missional training center focused on biblical justice called The Passion Center. As a covocational minister, she's worked most of her life in nonprofits and in higher education. Her educational background consists of a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts, a Master of Arts in Management with an emphasis in Nonprofit Management from the Regent University School of Business, an earned Doctorate in Education in Organizational Leadership/Adult Education from Nova Southeastern University and an earned Doctor of Ministry degree from Southeastern University where she focused her doctoral project on starting just churches right from the start through a civic advocacy and social justice church planter training. She's done post- graduate work at Fordham University School of Religion, Indiana University Center of Philanthropy and the Blanton Peale Graduate Institute for Pastoral Counseling.

A born and bred New Yorker, Dr. Rios has two children, Samuel now in college and Daniel, her special needs angel. She's been married to Rev. Hiram Rios for 31 years and now lives in Miramar, Fl. Dr. Rios is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Bishop Rivera has served, as pastor, preacher, denominational executive, organization founder, and community builder. In the late-1960s through the 1970s, Rev. Dr. Raymond Rivera was Co-Founder and Chairperson of the Sunset Park Re-development Housing Initiatives in Brooklyn. He was Community Coordinator of the Lutheran Medical Center and developed community outreach programs for clergy and community-based organizations. From 1975 to 1984, he was National Executive for the Hispanic Council of the Reformed Church in America. In 1992, he founded the Latino Pastoral Action Center (LPAC), which started as a division of the Manhattan-based NYC Mission Society, the NYC’s oldest and largest social service agency. His vision was to develop an organization that dealt with social justice issues from a holistic perspective. In the mid-1980s through the early 1990s, he worked as an educational advocate and trainer in School Districts No.1 and No. 4 in Manhattan, empowering parents to become partners in the educational process. As a result, parents were elected to school boards, school-based management teams, and other policy committees within educational systems. In 1999, after years as a public education reformer, Rev. Dr. Rivera led a team of community and education leaders to establish the Family Life Academy Charter School.

Rev. Rivera is a spiritual father to many including many on the team of Passion2Plant. He is also the author of the book Liberty to the Captives: Our Call to Minister in a Captive World.

Emanuel Padilla is president of World Outspoken, a ministry preparing the mestizo church for cultural change. After years of university teaching and course design, he now offers accessible resources and training to bi-cultural Christians facing questions of identity, culture, and theology. He is completing a PhD in Theological and Ethical studies at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, and he also serves at The Brook, a church on the northwest side of Chicago, along with his wife Kelly. Connect with him on Twitter and Facebook for more on his research into theology and culture.

In the past 10 years, Agustin, has served as an organizer with community-based organizations and faith-based communities, including mobilizing grassroots and grasstops in the State of Florida and across the nation. Some of his work included, advocating for educational equity, immigration reform, criminal justice reform, ending poverty and mobilizing for global compassion work. He previously served in several leadership roles including, Director of Mobilization for the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, Florida Representative for the Evangelical Immigration Table / National Immigration Forum, National Director for Hispanic Relations & Partnerships at Wycliffe USA and has partnered or served as a consultant for organizations like Faith In Action, FRACEEV, Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, Urban Strategies, Cru, InterVarsity, World Out Spoken, Live Free, City Seminary of New York, Lilly Endowment Latino Initiatives, AETH, Leadership Education at Duke University and many faith-based organizations.

In 2016, Agustin founded Mission Talk, a network of young Latin@ leaders that gathers every year for a conference in the State of Florida, to discuss community transformation and justice work. Since, hundreds of leaders have been trained and exposed to resources and organizations through their educational program that focuses on justice and advocacy work. The conference has become a place where likeminded young leaders come together to build life-long friendships and partnerships to lead community transformation.

Agustin, graduated from the Interameican University of Puerto Rico, with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. He and his wife Cristina, have been happily married since 2011 and they have a beautiful baby boy, Tiago Gael.

The Rev. Dr. Gabriel Salguero—is pastor of The Gathering Place, a Latino-led multi-ethnic Assemblies of God congregation in Orlando, Florida. Salguero is also the president and founder of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition (NALEC), a national coalition of several thousand evangelical congregations in the United States. He was the former Director of the Hispanic Leadership Program (HLP), and the Institute for Faith and Public Life at Princeton Theological Seminary. Salguero is also a powerful voice on issues that affect the close to 9 million Latino evangelicals in the United States. Salguero’s leadership through NaLEC, offers an important voice for the growing diversity and changing demographics in our country. He has written extensively on Latino evangelicalism, immigration, racism, and multicultural congregations. Salguero has been named as one of the nation’s most prominent Latino evangelical leaders by the New York Times, Huffington Post, the New York Observer, the Center for American Progress, El Diario, CNN Español, NBC Universal, Univisión, and Jorge Ramos’s Al Punto. In addition, his leadership on issues of young male education and criminal justice reform has been featured by the Discovery Channel and the Oprah Winfrey Network. Rev. Salguero has served on the White House Faith-Based Advisory Council, the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), and the National Advisory Council of the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance. He is also on the board of La Asociación Evangélica Latina (AEL) the coalition of Latin American evangelicals which is the representative body for all evangelical associations in Latin America. Salguero holds a BA in Spanish and History from Rutgers University, and M.Div (magna cum laude) from New Brunswick Theological Seminary, and holds a Doctorate in Divinity (honoris causa) from Eastern Nazarene College. Rev. Salguero lives together with his wife, the Rev. Jeanette Salguero and their two sons in Orlando, Florida.

Dr. Efrem Smith is a pastor, consultant, motivational speaker, and author. He is passionate about life transformation, racial righteousness, thriving churches, and community development.

Efrem Smith was the founding pastor of The Sanctuary Covenant Church, a multi-ethnic church in Minneapolis, MN, He also co-founded and was President of The Sanctuary Community Development Corporation. Efrem served as the Superintendent of the Pacific Southwest Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church, providing leadership to 160 churches within California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, and Utah. He also served as the President and CEO of World Impact, an urban missions organization committed to empowering urban leaders and planting churches in under-resourced communities. Currently, he is the Co-lead Pastor of Bayside Church Midtown, a thriving and multi-ethnic community in Sacramento, California.

As an internationally recognized preacher, he has spoken for organizations and events such as Athletes in Action, Campus Crusade for Christ, Youth Specialties, Compassion International, the Urban Youth Workers Institute, and Thrive. He is the author of Raising Up Young Heroes, The Hip Hop Church, Jump, The Post-Black and Post-White Church, and Killing Us Softly.

Efrem is a graduate of Saint John's University and Luther Theological Seminary. He received an honorary doctor of ministry degree from Ashland Theological Seminary. He is currently working to complete a doctor of ministry degree from Fuller Seminary. Efrem is married to Donecia and has two daughters, Jaeda and Mireya. Efrem has received many awards such as the Role Model Award from the Hennepin County Community Coalition and the Distinguished Alumni Award from Saint John's University. He is also a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated.

Pastor. Professor. Cultivator of Movements. Author @AbingdonPress @Seedbed @InviteResources

Contact me at reverendwild1@gmail.com

About Rev. Dr. Michael Beck

Michael is currently the Director of the Fresh Expressions House of Studies at United Theological Seminary. Director of Re-Missioning for Fresh Expressions US, and Cultivator of Fresh Expressions for the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. He serves as the co-pastor of Wildwood UMC and St Marks UMC with his wife Jill, where they direct addiction recovery programs, a jail ministry, a food pantry, an interracial unity movement, and house a faith-based inpatient treatment center. Wildwood and St Marks are traditional congregations AND a network of thirteen fresh expressions that gather in tattoo parlors, dog parks, salons, running tracks, community centers, burrito joints, and digital spaces.

Michael cultivates missional innovators in an individual, regional, statewide, and national capacity. He also teaches as an adjunct professor at several educational institutions. He coaches entrepreneurs across the theological spectrum and has consulted with hundreds of churches, districts, denominations, networks, and dioceses. As a practitioner of missional leadership, he has started and developed businesses and planted missional communities most of his life. Michael has done this for over a decade while pastoring in the local church. His coaching and consulting work are not theoretical only, but experiential. He believes in maintaining a practitioner’s ethos: “I eat my own cooking and share experimental recipes.”

Beck earned a Master of Divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary and a Doctorate in Semiotics and Future Studies at Portland Seminary. He’s the author of seven books, including Deep Roots, Wild Branches: Revitalizing the Church in the Blended Ecology; Deep & Wild: Remissioning Your Church from the Outside In, A Field Guide to Methodist Fresh Expressions; , and co-author of Contextual Intelligence: Unlocking the Ancient Secret to Mission on the Front Lines with Leonard Sweet, Fresh Expressions in a Digital Age: How the Church Can Prepare for a Post-Pandemic World with Rosario Picardo, as well as The 21st Century Christian: Following Jesus Where Life Happens with Michael Moynagh. His newest book, Painting With Ashes is now available for pre-sale.

Michael Adam Beck LLC is a registered corporation providing consulting, coaching, and training services.

Dominique has served as a keynote speaker at InterVarsity’s Urbana Student Missions Conference, The Justice Conference, and The Christian Community Development Association’s national conference.

Are you interested in having Dominique speak at your event? Contact him here.

PROFESSOR – AUTHOR – SCHOLAR ACTIVIST

2020 AMERICAN ACADEMY OF RELIGION EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING AWARD

2021 AAR MARTIN E. MARTY PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF RELIGION AWARD

Learn more at his website here.

Alan Hirsch is the founder of 100Movements, Forge Mission Training Network, and Future Travelers.

KNOWN FOR HIS INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO MISSION, ALAN IS WIDELY CONSIDERED TO BE A THOUGHT-LEADER AND KEY MISSION STRATEGIST FOR CHURCHES ACROSS THE WESTERN WORLD.

Learn more at his website here.

MICHELLE AMI REYES, PhD, is the vice president of the Asian American Christian Collaborative and scholar in residence at Hope Community Church in Austin, Texas. She regularly speaks at events on faith, culture and justice and is the author of the ECPA award-winning Becoming All Things and co-author of The Race-Wise Family. She has contributed to several book chapters including The Jesus I Wish I Knew in High School and Take Heart: 100 Devotions to Seeing God When Life's Not Okay. Michelle serves on the board for Redbud Writers Guild and is a writing fellow at Missio Alliance. Her writings on faith and culture have appeared in Christianity Today and Patheos and she’s appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, NBC News.com and Religion News Service. Michelle lives in Austin, Texas with her pastor husband, and two amazing kids. Visit MichelleAmiReyes.com and @michelleamireyes for more information.

DR. MARC RIVERA

MINISTRY & COMMUNITY URBANOLOGIST

Dr. Rivera is a lifelong urban practitioner who is in his fifth decade of service to the church and broader community. Leveraging his years of boots on the ground experience coupled with earning seminary master and doctoral degrees in urban studies, Dr. Rivera is a valued and sought after leadership development resource to the church, corporate, and civic worlds.

Learn more at his website here.

Lisa Trevino Cummins founded Urban Strategies in 2003. She leads the company’s efforts to formulate strategic partnerships and design relevant and effective programs to strengthen and expand the capacity of grass roots organizations. She brings to her role experience in both the private and public sector.

Lisa’s career began in the corporate sector where she completed a 12 year career with Bank of America. As one of the Bank’s early community development pioneers, Lisa’s work that started in San Antonio expanded to include state, regional, and eventually, nationwide efforts. In 1998, Lisa expanded Bank of America’s community development initiative to become one of the first national corporations to partner with faith-based organizations in under-served neighborhoods.

From Bank of America, Lisa was called to help launch the White House Community and Faith Based Initiative to leverage the strengths of community and faith-based organizations to serve children and families in need. Her work included the design of federal funding programs, advocating for increased accountability of federal resources, and encouraging the removal of barriers that prevent new entrants into the federal funding stream.

Since founding Urban Strategies, Lisa has been a catalyst of several initiatives that has resulted in almost $40 million of new programming focused in low-income communities. A national expert, Lisa has been instrumental in the formation of Chicago’s Family Bridges, FuturoNow Family Strengthening Initiative, the National Alliance for Hispanic Families, Center for New Communities, and the Reclamando Nuestro Futuro project for adjudicated youth initiative, Lisa recently co-authored “INHERITANCE: Discovering the Richness of Latino Culture and Family.”

Lisa earned her B.S. in Accounting from Trinity University San Antonio followed by an MBA from University of Texas in San Antonio. She currently serves on the boards of the Christian Community Development Association, the Seed Company and World Vision.

Dr. Soong-Chan Rah serves as Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism at North Park Seminary in Chicago.

For Dr. Rah, engaging in urban ministry is a passion. “The urban environment is complex, constantly changing, and always challenging.” At North Park he enables students to identify the skills necessary for practicing sociology-cultural analysis, expanding their understanding of the relationship between the church and the urban setting. “Anytime we can deepen the theology, it’s a good thing. Also important are spiritual formation and discipleship. All of these serve to strengthen our work,” says Dr. Rah.

As an ordained minister in the Evangelical Covenant Church, Dr. Rah has seen firsthand the denomination’s significant growth in urban areas, and an increasing need for intercultural ministry. He was founding senior pastor of Cambridge Community Fellowship Church, Cambridge, Mass., a multi-ethnic, urban ministry-focused church committed to living out the values of racial reconciliation and social justice in the urban context.

Dr. Rah is the author of the following books:

Rah, Soong-Chan. Many Colors: Cultural Intelligence for a Changing Church. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2010.

Rah, Soong-Chan. The Next Evangelicalism: Releasing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2009.

Rah, Soong-Chan. “Mercy and Justice.” Growing Healthy Asian-American Churches, ed. Peter Cha, Steven Kang, and Helen Lee. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004.

Eli Valentin a former pastor now currently serves as adjunct lecturer at Union Theological Seminary in New York City.

​He has also 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 and Politics. Eli writes regular columns for Gotham Gazette, largely focused on Latino politics in New York City, and is a frequent guest political analyst at Univision NY and New York 1 News.

Rev. Dr. Danielle J. Buhuro is passionate about issues of race, gender and sexuality. Dr. Buhuro serves as Executive Director and Lead CPE Supervisor of Sankofa CPE Center, LLC — which offers innovative online Clinical Pastoral Education programming along with unique social justice-oriented clinical work settings and prepares clergy chaplains for board certification. She is also the Director of Movement Chaplaincy for Faith Matters Network. Dr. Buhuro is author of “Spiritual Care In An Age of #BlackLivesMatter:Examining the Spiritual and Prophetic Needs of African Americans Living In A Violent America.” Rev. Dr. Danielle J. Buhuro has also served as a CPE Supervisor at Advocate Aurora South Suburban, Trinity and Christ Hospitals in Chicago, Illinois.

An ordained clergy person of the United Church of Christ, Dr. Buhuro attended Chicago Theological Seminary, where she earned the Master of Divinity, Doctor of Ministry, PhD degrees respectively. Her Ph.D work was in the area of social media identity, violence and pastoral theology.

Dr. Buhuro has also served on the national board of directors of ACPE: The Standard for Spiritual Care & Education. She facilitates numerous workshops nation-wide on African American Pastoral Care and African-centered psychology.

Dr. Buhuro joins Passion2Plant as lead faculty and curriculum developer for our Trauma Informed Leaders Cohort.

Rev. Dr. Michael Carrion serves as the Senior Pastor and General Overseer of the Promised Land Covenant Churches located in the North and South Bronx. He also serves as the founding Chairman and Superintendent of the Bronx Academy of Promise K-8 Charter School in the Mott Haven section of the South Bronx and the Regional Coach for Church Planting and Development for the East Coast Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church, assisting with community and regional mapping, the discernment and assessment process of identifying and training new church planters in the NY/NJ areas.

Dr. Carrion currently serves as the VP of Church Planting and Leadership Development at City to City, where he oversees the NYC team prayerfully and discerningly recruiting, training and resourcing church planters called to plant healthy missional churches in the five boroughs of NYC. Michael has successfully planted several churches and charter schools across the South Bronx. He is a social justice activist, community organizer who has been nationally recognized for his work among the poor across the city. Prior to working with CTC, Michael held appointments with the city of New York HRA/CAS and the Fedcap Group as the Senior Director of Workforce Development. As well as a prior role as the Deputy Director of Vocational Rehabilitation Services (VRS).

​Rev. Carrion has been married to his wife Elizabeth for over 30 years. Pastor Mike and his wife love spending time together with their 5 adult children Michael, Matthew, Tirza, Joshua and Tiffany, 2 granddaughters, 1 grandson, son-in-law Demar, and 3 pitbull dogs.

Learn more at her website here.

Soong-Chan Rah joined Fuller’s faculty in 2021 as the Robert Boyd Munger Professor of Evangelism. Prior to his appointment at Fuller, Dr. Rah served as the Milton B. Engebretson Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism at North Park Theological Seminary.

He holds a ThD from Duke Divinity School, with a primary field of study in theology and ethics and a secondary field of study in American evangelical history. He also holds an MDiv and a DMin, with a concentration in urban ministry leadership, from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, as well as a ThM from Harvard University, with a thesis on the immigrant church.

Rah has authored or coauthored over a half dozen, and many award-winning, books including The Next Evangelicalism: Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity, Many Colors: Cultural Intelligence for a Changing Church, Prophetic Lament: A Call for Justice in Troubled Times, Return to Justice: Six Movements that Reignited Our Contemporary Evangelical Conscience, Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing, Dehumanizing Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery, and Forgive Us: Confessions of a Compromised Faith.

He is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Covenant Church, and a member of the Academy for Evangelism in Theological Education, American Academy of Religion, and American Society of Missiology. He has spoken widely on the topics of the witness of the church, cross-cultural ministry, and social justice at academic conferences, seminaries, Christian colleges, local churches, denominational gatherings, and ministry conferences on both the domestic and global level.

Learn more at his website here.

Elizabeth Rios, is an Afro-Boricua, native of Manhattan, NY. She is the pioneering Founder of Passion2Plant, one of the only national church planting networks in the U.S. founded by a woman that trains Black and Brown planters to start holistically minded, justice-oriented churches. As well as the Passion Center, an online, justice-oriented, liberation-driven training center based in South Florida.

Dr. Rios serves and has served on several national boards and has been a consulting editor and writer for a few national magazines. Her articles have appeared in print or online at Sojourners, Influence, Called, Christianity Today, and Pentecostals and Charismatics for Peace and Justice. Due to her lived experiences, she has been featured or quoted in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Religion News Service, Outreach Magazine, and more.

She is the author of Don’t Buy The Lie: Eradicating False Belief Systems That Keep You From Your Destiny (Ghetto Rose Publications, 2012). She has also contributed to many books, including most recently, Rhythms of Rest: 40 Devotions for Women on the Move published by Our Daily Bread Publishing.

Dr. Liz has been mentoring emerging women leaders and ministers since founding the Center for Emerging Female Leadership in NYC (1996-2001) and currently serves as a Senior mentor in the R.E.A.L. Black Women in Ministry THRIVE initiative.

Dr. Rios was inducted into the Morehouse College Board of Preachers in April 2023 and is mentioned in the Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America, Volume 1 (2006) and in Latinas in the United States: A Historical Encyclopedia (2006). She has been honored with a number of awards as wll as being named one of twelve Hispanic Women of Distinction for her work in the South Florida community. Dr. Rios has been a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. for 37 years and is a Charter member of the South Broward Alumnae Chapter in South Florida.

She has a BA in Liberal Arts, an MA Management and has an earned EdD in Organizational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University and a DMin from Southeastern University and is currently pursuing an MA in Social Justice at Union Theological Seminary as a fully funded Social Justice Leadership Award Scholarship Recipient.

She has been married to Rev. Hiram Rios for 34 years and is the proud mother of two boys, Samuel (25) and Daniel Jeremiah (DJ), her special needs angel now in heaven who transitioned on his 23rd birthday, 9/22/22. They reside in Miramar, FL with their two boxers, Milo and Max.

Rev. Edna is originally from NYC's Lower East Side and now lives in Miami Lakes, FL. She works as a Hospice Chaplain and facilitates groups for Vitas and the Passion Center.

She has an M.Div. from NY Theological Seminary and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry degree at Assembly of God Theological Seminary in ministerial self-care. Rev. Edna has certification as a Spiritual Director and Pastoral Counselor.

Rev. Edna serves as a Spiritual Director for our planters.

Erica Shepler Romero is a Spiritual Director for justice-minded Christians. Having engaged in community development, advocacy, and student ministry for nearly 30 years, she understands the complexity and challenges of servant leadership. Acknowledging that she is a white woman who has been on a lifelong journey with Jesus to learn about justice and race, she first served in after school church-based youth centers in Lynwood, Compton and South LA for 15 years. After marrying Robert Chao Romero, professor and author of Brown Church, they started a ministry for activists at UCLA (and beyond) called Jesus for Revolutionaries. This pastoral ministry and church planting grew naturally into immigration advocacy through the Matthew 25/Mateo 25 Movement. Seeing the profound need for deeper spiritual practices to hold this important work, Erica went back to school to study the Art of Spiritual Direction. Flowing from her own ministry background, she specializes in Spiritual Direction for those processing the intersection of justice, race, culture and Christianity, as well as discernment and emotionally healthy faith practices. She and Robert live in the LA area continuing this adventure with their two awesome teenagers. Together, they enjoy fun, authentic community and conspiring with others working for a more just world.

She would be honored to create safe, contemplative space for your own processing, questions, and discernment of the Spirit’s work in your life and community.

Reverend Hiram Rios is a born and bred New Yorker who now lives in Miramar, FL with his wife, Dr. Rios and their two sons. After 34 years in the Prosthetic/Orthotic field, he left the field to take care of his special needs son DJ until his passing on September 22, 2022.

He has been in co-vocational ministry with his wife for over 30 years, 15 of those in pastoral ministry. He produced and hosted the Passion Center's community-wide Comedy show known as the West Pines Comedy Room every third Thursday of the month.

Hiram will serve P2P as Cohort Liaison, supporting in cohort facilitation, checking in on participants to ensure they are learning and can apply what they learn to their contexts.