Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson is president & CEO of the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) and CDF Action Council. CDF envisions a nation where marginalized children flourish, leaders prioritize their well-being, and communities wield the power to ensure they thrive. Wilson is board chair for the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) and the Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE).

The Reverend Eboni Marshall Turman, Ph.D. is the associate professor of theology, African American religion, and African American studies at Yale University Divinity School in New Haven, CT. A first-career concert dancer and ordained National Baptist preacher, her research interests span the varieties of twentieth and twenty-first century US theological liberalisms, most especially Black and womanist theological, social ethical, and theo-aesthetic traditions.

Bishop Thomas has served as the pastor of the New Psalmist Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland since 1975. Under his leadership, the church body has grown to over 8,000 active members. On October 16, 2010, a vision was fulfilled, and a testimony of God's faithfulness when the New Psalmist family moved into their new edifice, a 4000-seat state of the art facility, designed to minister to the needs of individuals in the 21st century.

Called to empower people through transformative preaching, teaching, and organizing, Willie Dwayne Francois III serves as the Senior Pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church of Pleasantville, NJ and President of the Black Church Center for Justice and Equality. He is a 2009 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Morehouse College with a Bachelor of Arts in History and Religion, named the ranking scholar in both departments. While at Morehouse, he was named the 2009 Martin Luther King Jr. Scholar.

The Honorable Reverend Dr. Raphael Gamaliel Warnock serves as the Senior Pastor of the Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, spiritual home of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the junior United States Senator from Georgia. The son of two Pentecostal pastors, Dr. Warnock responded to the call of ministry at a very early age, and at age 35, became the fifth and the youngest person ever called to the senior pastorate of Ebenezer Baptist Church, founded in 1886. Before coming to EBC, “America’s Freedom Church,” Dr.

John R. Faison, Sr. is the Senior Pastor of Watson Grove Baptist Church (The Grove), a growing, multigenerational, multisite church with campuses in Nashville, TN and Franklin, TN. The Grove endeavors to be “A GROWING church for GROWING people whom Christ will use in GROWING His Kingdom.”

Rev. Anika Wilson-Brown, Ph.D., is a highly respected spiritual leader and therapeutic coach who serves as the lead pastor at Union Temple Baptist Church in Washington, DC. Dr. Wilson-Brown has a unique gift for using her training and education in counseling to empower her faith-based approach to wholeness.

The Reverend Eboni Marshall Turman, Ph.D. is the assistant professor of theology and African American religion at Yale University Divinity School in New Haven, CT. A first-career concert dancer and ordained National Baptist preacher, her research interests span the varieties of 20th century US theological liberalisms, most especially Black and womanist theological, social ethical, and theo-aesthetic traditions.

The Reverend Leah D. Daughtry is a nationally recognized organizer-activist, political strategist, author, and Faith leader.  The daughter of a long line of community organizers and activists, Leah represents the fifth consecutive generation of pastors in the Daughtry family.  A consummate servant-leader, Leah describes her ability to create calm out of chaos as a God-given gift; and everything she has accomplished is a reflection of that gifting.

Education and faith are the hallmarks of the ministry of the Reverend Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III, infusing his life, his work and his teachings. As Pastor of the nationally renowned Abyssinian Baptist Church in the City of New York, and President of the State University of New York (SUNY) College at Old Westbury, Dr.