Lina is the Pastor and Teaching Elder of Lake Burien Presbyterian Church where she has served since 2012. Prior to coming to Lake Burien Presbyterian Church, Lina spent 15 years with World Vision directing both local and national initiatives focused on training and building the capacity of urban youth workers, organizations, churches and communities. Lina’s Samoan heritage taught her the values of community – particularly rising together, service, concern for others and sacrifice. Her parent’s unwavering message, to all of their children, about the priority of education is the foundation of Lina’s work in the Pacific Islander community as an organizer and advocate for equity in education. Lina’s ministry as pastor, teacher, trainer, mentor, advocate and community organizer is rooted in a holistic vision of reconciliation, hope and justice that can be best described in this way: “This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each of them with cane in hand because of their age. The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there.” Zechariah 8:4-5

Chris is a certified counselor and is the founder of Conversations on the Fringe, an organization seeking creative and innovative ways to bridge the gap between the mental health community and those entities (particularly schools and churches) that serve marginalized people in contemporary society. He’s been working with vulnerable and marginalized children, teens, and adults for over 25 years. Chris is a sought-after conference speaker and writer, and has published in journals/magazines and writes curriculum aimed at helping hurting youth and adults. Through CotF, he hopes to equip others so they can also navigate those dark spaces to walk alongside the vulnerable among us.

Mayra grew up in East Los Angeles, and currently lives in Pasadena, CA. Most recently she served on the pastoral staff of Lake Avenue Church, a large congregation that has been at the same location for over 120 years. She has spent the past 19 years leading in her local community and casting vision for Kingdom-neighbor-loving. Her love for the local and global church fuels her speaking and teaching focus on issues related to leadership, race/ethnicity, gender, faith, justice, and the Church. Mayra spends lots of time mentoring and learning from younger leaders in her church and community. She serves on various local and national boards, including the Clergy Community Coalition (CCC), and is Chair of the Board of Directors of the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA). She is married to Chris and they have raised their four children in Pasadena. Besides Jesus, Mayra loves her community and the challenging and sacred call of pursuing justice.

Jeremy co-founded and leads Thrive Collective, a nonprofit that creates hope and opportunity through arts and mentoring in and around public schools. He also teaches youth and community development at Alliance and Fuller seminaries; and connects, trains, and mentors youth workers nationally. He has consulted businesses and nonprofits on leadership and strategy since 2000; and co-founded and directed Generation Xcel, a holistic youth center in Manhattan, from 1996-2006. Jeremy was the founding youth pastor at Abounding Grace Ministries (1994-2004), and also worked as a corporate attorney at Dewey Ballantine in New York before resigning after 9/11 to lead relief work at Ground Zero. He has contributed to six books, including Deep Justice in a Broken World (Zondervan/YS 2008) and The Justice Project (Baker Books 2009), and his articles have appeared in dozens of publications. His two sons are proud NYC public school students and graduates.