Andrew Cherry is a storyboard artist and illustrator based in Austin, Texas. He was classically trained in oil painting and won grand prize for his oil painting at the Houston Rodeo in 2004. He studied film at Savannah College of Art and Design where he was awarded a “Scademy” for best screenplay for his short film. Andrew loves spending time with his wife and son. 

http://www.andrewcherryart.com/

Robert D. Woodberry is director of the Project on Religion and Economic Change and a senior research professor at Baylor University. Most of his research uses comparative historical and statistical methods to analyze the long-term social impact of missions and religious change on societies around the world. However, he also studies optimal ways to measure and sample religious groups on surveys. His research appears in the American Sociological Review, Annual Review of Sociology, American Political Science Review and elsewhere, and has won fifteen academic awards – including the Luebbert Award for Best Article in Comparative Politics (2013) from the American Political Science Association, and the Best Article in Global and Transnational Sociology (2014) from the American Sociological Association.

http://www.baylorisr.org/about-isr/professors/robert-woodberry/

Luke Steidl graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2009 where he majored in Political Science and Islamic Studies. He continued his education in the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas, where he graduated with a Master of Arts in 2012, specializing in Turkish civil-military relations.

After graduating, Luke worked as a program specialist in the Sections Department at the State Bar of Texas. While working at the Bar, he began to explore business as a vocation. Taking the advice of a successful Austin businessman, Luke transitioned into a small Austin startup in 2014. In the role(s) of Office Manager/Executive Assistant/Operations/Salesforce Admin/Recruiter, Luke learned many skills, including project management and capturing business processes on the Salesforce platform. In 2015, when the startup had to layoff half the company, Luke leveraged these new skills and transitioned to his current role as Global Sales Operations Specialist at HID Global.https://www.hidglobal.com/

Mark Lai studied electrical engineering at Rice University, graduating in 2004. He then moved to

Austin and did IT programming at Accenture for two years before leaving to teach high school Algebra I at Lanier High School. He went on to get a PhD in Applied Mathematics at the University of Maryland and returned to Austin to do a postdoc in seismic imaging at the
University of Texas.  After a year, he left academia for industry and
is now doing image and data processing at DrillingInfo. 

https://info.drillinginfo.com/

Scott Krieger is a magna cum laude graduate of Duke University, having received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and History. He also earned a Masters of Business Administration degree from The University of Texas at Austin. Scot is involved as a member of the Real Estate Council of Austin, the Real Estate Council of San Antonio, the International Council of Shopping Centers, and The University of Texas System Chancellor’s Council. He has served as a guest lecturer at The University of Texas McCombs School of Business and The University of Texas School of Law on real estate and finance topics. http://www.ironwoodre.com/

Meaghan Samuelsen holds a B.A. in English Literature from Grove City College and an M.S. in Information Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. 

She is a lead teacher at City School, an intentionally-diverse, Charlotte-Mason-inspired school in Austin.  http://www.cityschooltexas.org

Erin Krieger has taught for 20 plus years as a general elementary classroom teacher, a collaborative special education teacher, and is currently the Gifted and Talented Specialist for the EANES elementary school campus. http://eeekrieger.weebly.com/

She build bridges, study ancient cultures, program robotics, create inventions, design zoos and produce movies.  Her official title is Gifted and Talented Specialist, but she prefers project manager. She loves her job because she gets to collaborate with fellow teachers to develop projects that are engaging and challenging for students and then gets to share the journey with her students. She believes the whole learning process from trying new things, persevering through problems, and then reflecting on the successes and failures is key for students and life. 

Erin and her husband Scot are parents of two college age daughters and a son who will be a senior at Westlake High. 

Susan Olasky is a senior writer for World magazine and the author of eight historical novels for children. She is also an assistant professor of public policy at Patrick Henry College.

Marvin Olasky is editor-in-chief of WORLD Magazine, the author of more than 20 books, including Fighting for Liberty and Virtue and The Tragedy of American Compassion, and is a distinguished chair in journalism and public policy at Patrick Henry College. He and Susan have been married since 1976, and they have four sons and three grandchildren.

Hallie Graves is a 30-something lawyer living in Austin, Texas. Hallie started her career in a big law firm and is now a litigator with an Austin boutique firm. She’s also the director of Polished Austin and is passionate about encouraging people to live the fullest, most free lives that Jesus has called them to live. Hallie loves the Austin library, Broadway shows, La Croix fancy waters (all flavors), group fitness classes, and her people, and she can almost always be found somewhere around Town Lake. Hallie’s involved in the Austin Stone Community Church (downtown AM!) and Restore Foster Care, and has degrees in voice, physics, and law. In the fall, Hallie will become a foster parent through Helping Hand Home.

A Licensed Professional Counselor,  Jen graduated from Covenant Seminary with her Master of Arts in Counseling and Master of Arts in Theology.  Her professional experience includes over 15 years of conducting individual, marriage and group therapy with a wide array of populations and presenting issues, both chronic and highly acute.  These settings include a college campus, not for profit counseling practice, community mental health agency, hospital settings, and now private practice in Austin, TX. 

Over a decade of being married to a pastor also affords her the unique privilege of walking alongside people dealing with the same issues that present in the therapist’s office.  Jen lives in central Austin with her husband Jay and their two school-aged children.  The Simmons moved to Austin several years ago to plant their second church, Grace + Peace Austin.  In her free time, Jen can be found reading in a cozy coffee shop, enjoying the outdoors with family, or having fun dancing and practicing yoga. http://www.jensimmonslpc.com/

Steve Collier is a founding partner of Jackson, Galloway and Collier Architects and currently President and CEO of CD Construction Consulting, a moderately sized, multi-city company providing construction risk management for lenders, Steve has been involved in the construction development industry since leaving college. He has also been a student of the Theology of Work for many years and enjoys studying, writing and teaching on the subject. His third book, “Shrewd and Innocent, A Heart for Godliness in Ethics and Business” was published in 2011. 

Publications:  Raising the Rafters, a book discussing the inter-relationships of construction professionals, Overlook Press / Penguin Press publishers 

Contributor to The Austin Business Journal, articles include: "Getting Your Money's Worth From Architects", and "Building a House Requires Homework "

Shrewd and Innocent – A Heart for Godliness in Ethics and Business, www.Mars Hill Publishing.com

Education:

UT Austin School of Architecture

1974 – 1979

Activities and Societies: Football letterman 4 years, starting Free Safety sophomore year, 

Mortar Board Academic Honor Fraternity, 

President Fellowship of Christian Athletes