Dr. Gary Chapman is the author of the bestselling The 5 Love Languages (more than 12 million copies sold) and numerous other marriage and family books. He is the director of Marriage and Family Life Consultants, Inc.; an internationally known speaker; and the host of A Love Language Minute, a syndicated radio program heard on more than 200 stations across North America. He and his wife, Karolyn, live in North Carolina.
Kristen LaValley is a writer and storyteller whose words offer a refreshing perspective on faith and spirituality and resonate with those who carry tension in their faith. She offers insights that intersect doubt and belief, hope and suffering, beauty and heartache. With a deep love for the Christian faith and a willingness to explore its complexities, Kristen’s writing offers nuanced conversations that challenge readers to think deeply and wrestle with important questions. Kristen lives in Massachusetts with her husband, Zach, and their five children.
Dr. Derwin L. Gray is the co-founding and lead pastor of Transformation Church (TC), one of the fastest growing churches in America. TC is a multiethnic, multigenerational, mission-shaped community near Charlotte, NC. Pastor Derwin and his wife, Vicki, have been married since 1992 and have two children: daughter, Presley, and son, Jeremiah. He is a bestselling author of several books including The Good Life, Limitless Life, God, Do You Hear Me?, Building a Multiethnic Church, and How to Heal Our Racial Divide.
Nicole Unice is a pastor and leadership coach who facilitates environments of safety and vulnerability so that leaders and teams can courageously identify obstacles keeping them from their maximum potential. As a sought-after speaker, Nicole has a down-to-earth style that allows even the largest gathering to feel conversational. Nicole is the author of several books focused on spiritual transformation and is a featured speaker through RightNow Media and Punchline. She holds degrees from the College of William and Mary and from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Nicole and her husband, Dave, live in Richmond, Virginia, with their three children and two pups. Visit her online at nicoleunice.com.
Ashley Morgan Jackson is an author and speaker who has been ministering online through social media to her own community for over ten years. Formerly a senior social media and communications coordinator for Proverbs 31 Ministries, she continues to contribute by writing devotions and speaking at events, including the She Speaks conference for writers and the Reset conference, a one-day spiritual retreat. Ashley’s ministry focus is communicating the grace and power of the truth of Christ and His Word to those whose faith feels fragile. She spent several years battling mental health issues and questioning why a God she had served her whole life was allowing such pain. Through her own wrestling, she found the blessing in being broken and now desires to share with others the beauty of allowing God to do what He has come to do in our lives.
Ashley resides in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband, Daniel. They have two school-age sons. Her daily prayer is that the joy of the Lord would be their strength. Ashley enjoys hanging out with her family, traveling, graphic design, prayer journaling, and laughing till she can’t breathe.
Follow Ashley on Instagram, TikTok, and her website, ashleymorganjackson.com.
Jennifer Marshall Bleakley is also the author of Joey, the Pawverbs devotional series, Project Solomon, and Finding Grace. Jen has a master’s degree in counseling and worked as a grief counselor for several years before staying home with her children. Somewhere in between countless loads of laundry, library story time, petting zoos, and the blessed hours of nap time, Jen discovered a way to combine her lifelong love of animals and her longing to encourage others with her passion for writing. Jen often says that animals have much to teach us about ourselves, about each other, and about God, but in order to learn from them we must paws and pay attention. (She also really loves a good pun!) Jen lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with her husband, Darrell, their two children, Andrew and Ella, and a menagerie of pets, including a rescue cat, a sloth-like bearded dragon, and a very needy golden retriever. You can connect with Jen online at jenniferbleakley.com or on social media @jenbleakley.
Kevin “KB” Burgess is author of Dangerous Jesus, as well as a Dove Award-winning rapper, speaker, and podcaster. With four full-length albums to his name, the multi-hyphenate artist is an inimitable force on today’s scene. He has become a No. 1 hitmaker and has received critical acclaim for his studio releases with placement on Billboard’s Top 200 Album Chart and top 5 on Billboard’s Top Rap Album Chart.
Kayla is a former journalist who brings deep curiosity and care to her writing. She’s the author of Every Season Sacred and To Light Their Way. With a poetic, prophetic voice, she created the popular Liturgies for Parents Instagram account, which Christianity Today named an “essential parenting resource.” She also hosts the Liturgies for Parents podcast. Kayla’s nuanced and accessible reflections, essays, and prayers are featured in various books, devotionals, and Bible studies. Kayla lives in a 115-year-old former convent in her Iowa hometown, where she hopes to create spaces of welcome alongside her four children, two dogs, and pastor-husband, Jonny.
Tony Dungy is a #1 New York Times bestselling author whose books include Quiet Strength, Uncommon, The Mentor Leader, and Uncommon Marriage. He led the Indianapolis Colts to Super Bowl victory on February 4, 2007, the first such win for an African American head coach. Dungy established another NFL first by becoming the first head coach to lead his teams to the playoffs for ten consecutive years. Dungy joined the Colts in 2002 after serving as the most successful head coach in Tampa Bay Buccaneers history. He has also held assistant coaching positions with the University of Minnesota, Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs, and Minnesota Vikings. Before becoming a coach, he played three seasons in the NFL. Dungy was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016.
Dungy has been involved in a wide variety of charitable organizations, including All Pro Dad, Abe Brown Ministries, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Athletes in Action, Mentors for Life, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and Boys & Girls Clubs. He has also worked with Basket of Hope, Impact for Living, the Black Coaches Association National Convention, Indiana Black Expo, the United Way of Central Indiana, and the American Diabetes Association. He retired from coaching in 2009 and now serves as a studio analyst for NBC’s Football Night in America. He and his wife, Lauren, are the parents of eleven children.
Leslie Means is founder and owner of the popular website Her View From Home, which features heartfelt contributor stories on motherhood, marriage, faith, and grief. She is a former news anchor and a weekly columnist, and she has published several short stories. She is married to a very patient man named Kyle, and together they have three fantastic kids: Ella, Grace, and Keithan. When she’s not sharing too much personal information online or in the newspaper, you’ll find her somewhere in Nebraska spending time with family and friends.
Author and speaker Beth Moore is a dynamic teacher whose conferences take her across the globe. Beth founded Living Proof Ministries in 1994 with the purpose of encouraging women to know and love Jesus through the study of Scripture. She has written numerous bestselling books and Bible studies, including So Long, Insecurity, Breaking Free, Believing God, Entrusted, and The Quest, which have been read by women of all ages, races, and denominations. Another recent addition includes her first work of fiction, The Undoing of Saint Silvanus.
Beth recently celebrated twenty years of Living Proof Live conferences. She can be seen teaching Bible studies on the television program Living Proof with Beth Moore, aired on the Trinity Broadcasting Network.
She and her husband of forty years reside in Houston, Texas. She is a dedicated wife, the mother of two adult daughters, and the grandmother of three delightful grandchildren.
Gretchen Saffles is the founder of Well-Watered Women, an online ministry that reaches women worldwide with the hope of the gospel. She is the author of The Well-Watered Woman, Word before World, and several Well-Watered Women Bible studies. She is passionate about encouraging and equipping women to drink deeply from the well of God’s Word and longs to see them grasp the fullness of the gospel in everyday life. Gretchen loves going on adventures with her husband and three kids, traveling to new places, baking chocolate chip cookies, reading good books, and teaching women to know and love Jesus.
