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John Allen, Jr. is the prize-winning associate editor of The Boston Globe and the senior Vatican analyst for CNN. He is the author of six best-selling books on the Vatican and Catholic affairs, and writes frequently on the Church for major national and international publications.
The Tablet has called Allen “the most authoritative writer on Vatican affairs in the English language,” and papal biographer George Weigel has called him “the best Anglophone Vatican reporter ever.” Veteran religion writer Kenneth Woodward of Newsweek described Allen as “the journalist other reporters—and not a few cardinals—look to for the inside story on how all the pope’s men direct the world’s largest church.”
Two of Allen’s most recent books are The Catholic Church: What Everyone Needs to Know (2013) and The Global War on Christians: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Anti-Christian Persecution (2013).
Father Raymond J. de Souza was ordained a Catholic priest on 20 July 2002 for the Archdiocese of Kingston, Ontario.
He currently serves as chaplain of Newman House, the Catholic chaplaincy at Queen’s University, and as the pastor of Sacred Heart of Mary Parish on Wolfe Island, where he lives.
In addition to his priestly ministry, Father de Souza teaches at Queen’s in the Faculty of Education and the Department of Economics, is a Senior Fellow of Massey College at the University of Toronto, and leads a week-long summer seminar for young Catholic leaders on Wolfe Island.
He is a Senior Fellow at Cardus, Canada’s leading Christian think tank, and serves on the board of directors of Catholic Christian Outreach and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. In 2014 he was appointed Chair of the Advisory Council to the Office of Religious Freedom in the Canadian foreign affairs department, and from 2011 to 2014 he served as a consultant to the religious liberty committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Father de Souza studied economics and political studies (BA Hons.) and public policy (MPA) at Queen’s University before doing graduate study in development economics (MPhil) at the University of Cambridge in England. His seminary formation was completed at St. Philip’s Seminary in Toronto (Bachelor of Thomistic Thought) and at the Pontifical North American College in Rome (STB, Pontifical Gregorian University; STL, Pontifical University of the Holy Cross).
Dr. Edin is one of the nation’s leading poverty researchers, working in the domains of welfare and low-wage work, family life, and neighborhood contexts, through direct, in-depth observations of the lives of low-income populations. A qualitative and mixed-method researcher, she has taken on key mysteries about the urban poor that have not been fully answered by quantitative work: How do single mothers possibly survive on welfare? Why don’t more go to work? Why do they end up as single mothers in the first place? Where are the fathers and why do they disengage from their children’s lives? How have the lives of the single mothers changed as a result of welfare reform? The hallmark of her research is her direct, in-depth observations of the lives of low-income women, men, and children.
Dr. Edin received a bachelor’s degree in sociology from North Park University and a Ph.D. in sociology from Northwestern University. She has previously taught at Rutgers University, Northwestern University, the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University, and Johns Hopkins University.
Joseph T. Jones, Jr. is founder and CEO of the Center for Urban Families (CFUF), a Baltimore, Maryland nonprofit service organization established to empower low-income families by enhancing both the ability of women and men to contribute to their families as wage earners and of men to fulfill their roles as fathers. Prior to founding CFUF, Mr. Jones developed and directed the Men’s Services program for the federally funded Baltimore Healthy Start initiative and replicated the Baltimore affiliate of the nationally recognized STRIVE employment services program. His ability to engage and provide hands-on services to fathers garnered him the reputation of trailblazer in the field. Mr. Jones is now a national leader in workforce development, fatherhood and family services programming, and through his professional and civic involvement influences policy direction nationwide. Mr. Jones has received numerous awards and honors for his leadership and programming including the Johns Hopkins University Leadership Development Program’s Distinguished Leadership Award, a honorary Doctorate in Public Service from Morgan State University, the Walter Sondheim Public Service Award, the White House Champion of Change and was a 2013 CNN Hero.
Henry Olsen, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, studies and provides commentary on American politics. His work focuses on how America’s political order is being upended by populist challenges, from the left and the right. He also studies populism’s impact in other democracies in the developed world.
He is the author of The Working Class Republican: Ronald Reagan and the Return of Blue-Collar Conservatism and The Four Faces of the Republican Party, co-authored with Dante Scala. Mr. Olsen is also an editor at UnHerd.com, where he writes about populism and politics around the world, and he is a regular contributor to American Greatness, City Journal, and World Magazine.
Mr. Olsen’s work has been featured in many prominent publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, National Review, The Guardian, and The Weekly Standard. His pre-election predictions of the 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014 elections were particularly praised for their remarkable accuracy. In the 2016 campaign, he accurately identified the factors fueling the rise of Donald Trump early in the race, and his election eve predictions were more accurate than those of virtually any other major analyst or commentator.
Alan Cooperman is the Director of Religion Research at the Pew Research Center, where his work focuses on religious change both in America and globally. Alan has co-authored or edited studies of America’s religious landscape, the experiences and attitudes of Jewish Americans, Muslims in the U.S., faith among Black Americans, the rise of religious “nones,” and other topics. Previously, Alan worked as a national reporter and editor for The Washington Post, a foreign editor at U.S. News & World Report, and a foreign correspondent for the Associated Press.
Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik joined Shearith Israel in 2013 as their tenth minister since the American Revolution. From the very start of his tenure, Rabbi Soloveichik’s sermons, public events, and classes have drawn enthusiastic crowds, and his congregation has grown and flourished under his leadership. Passionate about Shearith Israel’s tradition and values, his ambition is to chart a future worthy of its congregation’s extraordinary history. Rabbi Soloveichik simultaneously showcases its unique traditions while also championing the unity of klal yisrael, all Jewish people, a value that Shearith Israel has always embraced. He is staunchly committed to strong outreach, community building, and higher Jewish education for men and women.
After graduating from Yeshiva College, Rabbi Soloveichik obtained his Rabbinic ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University. He holds a PhD from Princeton in Religion and currently serves as the Director of the Zahava and Moshael Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva University. His wife, Layaliza, is an Assistant U. S. attorney, and together they are the proud parents of six beautiful children. In addition to meeting the demands of a full-time pastor and dedicated father, Rabbi Soloveichik manages to consume vast quantities of sushi, watch The Simpsons, and continue his elusive search for the perfect homburg.
Sister Norma Pimentel is a Sister with the Missionaries of Jesus. As Executive Director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, she oversees the charitable arm of the Diocese of Brownsville, providing oversight of the different ministries and services in the areas of the Rio Grande Valley through emergency assistance, homelessness prevention, disaster relief, clinical counseling, pregnancy care, food programs, and the Humanitarian Respite Center.
In addition, Sister Norma leads efforts in the community that respond to emergency needs and provide relief in times of disaster and crisis in the Valley. She was instrumental in quickly organizing community resources to respond to the surge of Central Americans seeking asylum in the United States and setting up the Humanitarian Respite Center at the Sacred Heart Church in McAllen, Texas. These efforts captured the world’s attention, drawing news media from around the globe to the Rio Grande Valley to cover the plight of the countless and distressed refugee individuals and families.
In January 2015, Sister Norma received the Martin Luther King, Jr. “Keep the Dream Alive” Award from Catholic Charities USA and awards from the University of Texas–Pan American, the Texas Medical Association, and nomination for “Texan of the Year.” Also, that same month she testified before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights on the “State of Civil Rights in Immigration Detention Facilities.” In March 2015, she spoke on “Women Upholding Human Dignity” at the United Nations. Most recently, Sister Norma was awarded the 2015 Rio Grande Valley’s “Citizen of the Year” for her work with immigrants and refugees.
Previously, Sister Norma was one of the leaders directing Casa Oscar Romero—a shelter for Central Americans fleeing their war-torn countries. The shelter provided emergency relief and temporary housing for a vast amount of refugees.
Sister Norma Pimentel earned her Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from Pan American University, a Master’s degree in Theology from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas, and a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from Loyola University in Chicago, Illinois.
Mark R. Amstutz is a professor of political science at Wheaton College (Ill.) and is among the longest-serving faculty members in Wheaton College history. During his 44 years of service Dr. Amstutz has launched Wheaton’s political science department, developed study abroad programs, and pioneered research in international ethics.
Dr. Amstutz’s major academic interests are in international affairs and, more specifically, the role of ethics in the conduct of foreign relations. His book International Ethics is used widely in American colleges and universities. In 2005 he wrote The Healing of Nations: the Promise and Limits of Political Forgiveness, which addresses the challenges of confronting and overcoming regime human rights abuses through political reconciliation. His book Evangelicals and American Foreign Policy, published in 2014, describes and assesses the role of Evangelicals in global affairs. In recent years he has carried out research on the political ethics of U.S. immigration policy, resulting in the publication of Just Immigration: U.S. Policy in Christian Perspective, published in 2017.
Prof. Amstutz grew up in Latin America and has traveled widely as a teacher and scholar. He has directed programs in Europe and Cuba and led a two-week program in Argentina and Chile in 2011. For more than a decade he served as a reserve naval attaché, retiring as a Commander from the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1993.
He and his wife Donna, a clinical psychologist, have two married daughters and are the proud grandparents of five.
Shadi Hamid is a columnist at The Washington Post and a research professor of Islamic studies at Fuller Seminary. From 2023 to 2024, he was a member of the Post’s Editorial Board. Previously, he was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a contributing writer at The Atlantic. Hamid is the author of several books, including most recently The Problem of Democracy. His previous book Islamic Exceptionalism: How the Struggle Over Islam is Reshaping the World was shortlisted for the 2017 Lionel Gelber Prize for best book on foreign affairs. His forthcoming book The Case for American Power will be published in 2025 by Simon & Schuster. In 2019, Hamid was named one of the world’s top 50 thinkers by Prospect magazine. He is also the co-founder of Wisdom of Crowds, a podcast, newsletter, and debate platform. Hamid received his B.S. and M.A. from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and his Ph.D. in political science from Oxford University, where he was a Marshall Scholar.
Dr. Altaf Husain serves as an Associate Professor and chair of the Community, Administration and Policy Practice concentration in the Howard University School of Social Work, in Washington DC. He also serves as the Chair of the Curriculum Committee, with oversight for the Masters of Social Work (MSW) program. He has primary teaching responsibilities for the Displaced Populations field of practice specialization, which includes social work practice with immigrants and refugees. He recently served as a guest editor of a double issue on “Islam in the 21st century,” for the Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Social Work His professional involvement includes serving as a co-chair of the Islam and Muslims track of the Annual Program Meeting of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), founder and co-chair of the Immigrants and Refugees cluster of the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR), a former co-chair of the Race, Ethnicity and Immigration cluster of the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) and a founding member of the CSWE Religion and Spirituality Working Group. Dr. Husain’s community involvement includes serving as Vice President of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), Vice President of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research (YIIR) and a former two-term national president of the Muslim Students Association of the US and Canada. He also serves as an advisory board member of the Peaceful Families Project (PFP), dedicated to preventing domestic violence.
