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Reverend Dr. Charlie Dates is Chicago through and through. Raised on the southside of Chicago, he was heavily influenced by the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, W.E.B. Dubois, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, and Mary Mcloud – Bethune. This shaped his approach to preaching and his thoughts about the transformative role the Black church plays in bringing about the flourishing of a people.
Dr. Dates holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Speech Communication & Rhetoric from the University of Illinois – Champaign, Urbana, and he continued his education with a Master of Divinity and a PhD in Historical Theology from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois.
In 2011, Reverend Dates became the youngest Senior Pastor to serve the historic Progressive Baptist Church of Chicago, which saw exponential growth under his leadership. As a highly sought-after speaker, he is widely invited to preach at churches and speak at retreats, conferences, and universities throughout the United States and abroad. Through his passion for learning, living, and teaching the Gospel, Dr. Charlie serves as an Affiliate Professor at Baylor University- George W. Truett Theological Seminary, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and Wheaton College. He is a contributing author to Letters To A Birmingham Jail and Say It: Celebrating Expository Preaching in the African American Tradition, and is currently working on his first single-authored book on Christianity and Social Justice.
In January 2023, Reverend Dates became the Senior Pastor of the Salem Baptist Church of Chicago. He is married to Kirstie Dates and is the proud father of their children, Charlie Edward Dates II & Claire Dates.
Josh Kwan is the President of The Gathering, a learning community of philanthropists motivated by their Christian faith to give humbly and steward wisely their resources. Previously, he was a Co-Founder and Partner at Praxis, a creative engine for redemptive entrepreneurship whose mission is to build ventures, foster community, and create content for equipping Christian innovators, founders, and funders.
Josh also previously served as the Director of International Giving for the David Weekley Family Foundation, where he divided his time between conducting due diligence on innovative social enterprises and helping portfolio organizations scale their impact. He worked as a journalist and was published in The San Jose Mercury News, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, and Stanford Social Innovation Review. He also co-founded and served on the board of directors for Abide, a mobile app for encouraging and enlivening the practice of prayer and meditation. He graduated from Harvard College and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He and his wife Jane are raising their two children near San Francisco.