Dr. Gabby Cudjoe Wilkes is the Director of The Technology Innovation & Digital Engagement Lab (TIDEL) Fellowship, housed at Union Theological Seminary. Dr. Gabby is a pastor, leader, innovation strategist and author. Her work has been featured in Forbes, Essence & The New York Times. She holds a doctorate from Duke University, a Masters of Divinity from Yale University, a Masters of Arts from NYU and a Bachelors of Arts from Hampton University. She is the Vice President of the Yale Divinity School Alumni Board and a member of the Morehouse College MLK Board of Preachers. Dr. Gabby is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated and is committed to the work of love and justice. She is the author of the best-selling text, Psalms for Black Lives.

Heidi A Campbell is Professor of Communication, affiliate faculty in Religious Studies and a Presidential Impact Fellow at Texas A&M University. She is also director of the Network for New Media, Religion and Digital Culture Studies, and a founder of Digital Religion studies.

Her research focuses on technology, religion and digital culture, with emphasis on Jewish, Muslim & Christian media negotiations. She is co-editor of Routledge’s Religion and Digital Culture book series and the Journal of Religion, Media & Digital Culture. She is author of over 100 articles and books including When Religion Meets New Media (2010), Digital Religion (2013, 2ⁿᵈ edition 2021) and Digital Creatives and the Rethinking Religious Authority (2021). She has been quoted in such outlets as the Houston Chronicle, USA Today, The Guardian, Wall Street Journal, and on the BBC World Service. She also received the RCA Scholar of the Year Award and TAMU’s Transformational Teaching Award.

Reverend Dr. Lisa D. Rhodes is the founder and executive director of RISE Together, a multicultural women centered mentorship network that creates safe, sacred, and courageous spaces for seminary students, mid-career and seasoned pastors, community activists and scholars to engage in community support and leadership development. Dr. Rhodes’ research highlights that there is a strong and steady call for female mentorship as well as the creation of local and national networks of support that connect sister sojourners of color for the purpose of enhancing well-being and thriving in ministry. Dr. Rhodes came to Union Theological Seminary after 16 years as Dean of the Chapel at Spelman College and founding director of the Sisters Center for WISDOM (Women in Spiritual Discernment of Ministry). Prior to Spelman and RISE, Dr. Rhodes served as the Assistant Pastor at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA.

She received her BA in psychology from Wheeling College in Wheeling, West Virginia, a Masters of Social Work from the University of Maryland in Baltimore, Maryland, M.Div. from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University, and D.Min. from Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Virginia. She has completed all coursework toward the ThD at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia.

David Gastwirth is Union Theological Seminary’s Vice President of Online Education and Learning Innovation. He is responsible for crafting the vision for online learning, and leading and facilitating the creation, design and delivery of new online and hybrid educational programs. He also provides leadership and ongoing support in the use of learning technology. Gastwirth holds an M.P.A. from the University of Southern California, an Ed.M. in Higher Education from Harvard University, and a B.A. from Duke University.

Rev. Dr. Jessica C. Williams serves as Director of Ministry Education with the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice at Union Theological Seminary, working primarily with Freedom Church of the Poor and programs of theological education. Previously, she pastored churches in New York, Iowa, and Kansas and served as staff and adjunct faculty at Central Seminary in Shawnee, Kansas. Dr. Williams earned a Bachelor of Arts from Alderson-Broaddus College (Philippi, WV), Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary (New York, NY), Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University (New York, NY), and Ph.D. in Adult Learning and Leadership from Kansas State University.

Riley Jones, IV is a social entrepreneur in the field of education. He is currently studying for the Doctor of Education Leadership degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He was a Co-Founder of Sector Software, an organization using technology to create and facilitate opportunity pathways for the new economy. This work garnered him recognition as a Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneur. He spent time as a lawyer in the Education Practice at Duane Morris LLP. In 2021, he was appointed as Professor of Practice and Robin Richards Donohoe Social Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill. He received a B.A. from Columbia University in Political Science, a Masters of Science in Education Entrepreneurship from the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from New York University School of Law.