Presenters: May
Isaiah “Shaneequa” Brokenleg is an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Sicangu Nation). She is the Staff Officer for Racial Reconciliation for the Episcopal Church. She is a priest in the Diocese of South Dakota, where she grew up, and the place she calls home. From an academic perspective, Shaneequa has a Masters of Divinity from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific and a Masters of Public Health from the University of Minnesota. Prior to priesthood, she worked as an Epidemiologist and served Indian Country in the Great Lakes region for over a decade. From a cultural/spiritual perspective Shaneequa believes that we are all related (“mitakuye oyasin”), and that the Gospel calls us to be “good relatives” to one another. Having grown up on the Rosebud reservation she has experienced and witnessed the devastating effects of historical/generational trauma, colonization, and racism. As a winktè (Lakota two-spirit), she is called to be a healer and move our communities in the direction of positive change, in the direction of reconciliation, toward living in right-relationship with one another. She strives to live out her calling through her work, our church, her art, and in her life. Damaris De Jesus Carrasquillo, Ph.D is a member of the San Juan Bautista Episcopal Cathedral, Diocese of Puerto Rico; collaborator of several local and national initiatives in The Episcopal Church. Professionally, works as a Clinical and Organizational Psychologist, harmonizing clinical practice with private consulting and teaching at the University of Puerto Rico in Carolina. Her topics of interest are: Leadership, Organizational Development, Planning, Quality of Life, Crisis Management, Health Psychology, Gender and Spirituality. Collaborates as volunteer in community based organizations. Mother of Ricardo and Andrea; animal lover. Describes her life mission as “Serve, Love, Inspire, Transcend.” The Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry is Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church. He is the Chief Pastor and serves as President and Chief Executive Officer, and as Chair of the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church. Presiding Bishop Curry was installed as the 27th Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church on November 1, 2015. He was elected to a nine-year term and confirmed at the 78th General Convention of The Episcopal Church in Salt Lake City, UT, on June 27, 2015. Throughout his ministry, Presiding Bishop Curry has been active in issues of social justice, reconciliation, speaking out on immigration policy and marriage equality. Father Albert Cutié (known in the Latino world as “Padre Alberto”) has had the privilege of entering millions of homes throughout the world through a variety of television and radio programs, as well as, his books and advice columns. He became the first member of the clergy to conduct a daily non-religious “Talk Show” broadcast to an international audience. His years of multi-media experience led him to produce thousands of television and radio episodes, offering no-nonsense and compassionate advice to very diverse audiences. He has been referred to as “Father Oprah” by various publications including The New York Times and Newsweek, due to his non-preachy and practical addressing everyday problems. Originally ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1995, Father Albert was received as a priest in the Episcopal Church in 2009. He serves as Rector/Parish Priest of St. Benedict’s in Plantation in the Diocese of Southeast Florida. He is the author of Real Life, Real Love (Ama de Verdad, Vive de Verdad), Dilemma, a memoir, and his latest book is “Talking God: Preaching in the Digital World”. Father Albert is married to Ruhama, and they are the proud parents of three children – they also have adopted a cat and a dog. Speaker certified by John Maxwell I am passionate about helping people become the best version of themselves to live an abundant life through goal-setting, personal growth and behavior modification. I am a leader, who believes in multiplying leaders and their skills. Born in the province of Bocas del Toro, Republic of Panama, her Panamanian father and her Costa Rican mother. Living near the border during childhood, the family moved between the two countries to spend time with family and friends.
Glenda is a graduate of the Santa María La Antigua University in Panama City with academic degrees in Sociology and Education. In addition, he holds a Master of Divinity from Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia.
Work and Ministry:
She coordinated the first Anglican Latin American Congress in 1988 that brought together clergy and laity from the Anglican / Episcopal Churches in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, Northern South America, Brazil, and South America.
She worked as a Planning and Development Officer for the Episcopal Church of Panama and served as part of the Panama Ecumenical Committee. With them, she helped articulate the response of the Churches during the years of the crisis and what followed the invasion of the United States into Panama. This included humanitarian assistance and advocacy. She established and directed PROMESA, the Program of Ministry and Social Education that became the arm of social aid and human rights of the Episcopal Church of Panama.
She carried out consulting and training for NGOs in Asia, Africa and Latin America. She was a designer and facilitator of training for adults in diverse communities and organizations, promoting performance, development of skills and competencies.
She was ordained to the Priesthood in the Diocese of Panama and has exercised her ministry in congregations in rural and urban areas. Today she enjoys opportunities to teach, preach, and celebrate the Eucharist when she returns home for a weekend.
Since 2009 she has served on the staff of the Primate Bishop as Officer for Latin America and the Caribbean. This has meant being companions, partners in a wonderful and challenging ministry of the Church in Latin America and the Caribbean. Share in a diversity of places and situations where the Spirit has moved and called the People of God. Sandy Milien is a young and driven Afrolatina, passionate about social justice and the calling of The Episcopal Church to empower youth and young adults to be leaders in their communities. She is currently the Co-host of The Way of Love podcast with Presiding Bishop Michael Curry as well as project lead for the Episcopal Church Beloved Community StorySharing Campaign. This evangelism initiative that seeks to help and equip faith communities and individuals to share and receive stories of faith, race and difference to become agents of healing and reconciliation in their churches and their communities. Sandy lives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania where she works as the Diocesan Missioner for Community Engagement and Assistant to the Bishop. In her free time, you can find Sandy reading, dancing or spending time with family and friends. Hugo Olaiz is associate editor for Latino/Hispanic resources at Forward Movement. He grew up in Argentina. After completing a degree in literature and classics, he moved to the U.S. to do graduate studies in Spanish, linguistics, and translation. Hugo lives in Oxford, Ohio, with his husband and a terrier named Percy. He has attended Nuevo Amanecer since 2008. Nayra Alexandra Richardson Rodríguez was born on December 17 in the Dominican Republic. She is a lawyer, Public Notary, and prosecutor of the Santo Domingo National District from 2004 to date. She holds a master’s in criminal proceedings, and other graduate studies and diplomas in gender and domestic violence. Alexandra is currently the Registrar and Manager of the diocese of the Dominican Republic, ex officio member of the Diocesan Executive Council and member of various diocesan committees, as well as the coordinator of the Ministry “Women Chosen by God” of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. The Reverend Ema Rosero-Nordalm, since her retirement in 2007 after 22 years serving as a Spanish language coordinator, instructor, and trainer in foreign language methodologies at Boston University, has dedicated body and soul to work for the Latino Ministries of the Episcopal Church, doing what she loves most: to invite, train, and mentor underrepresented communities to empower each other, lift their voices and offer their gifts and talents, joining groups and committees at their congregations, dioceses, and municipalities. As it is inscribed in the ECM Bishop Barbara Harris Social Justice´s award she received on June 2019, she is “unstoppable by borders” in how she responds to her vocation to serve others in the way of Christ´s love. Ema is the creator of Abuelas, Madres y Más and Rut y Noemí, women´s programs. She is a member of the design and training team, and in charge of the mentorship of Academia Ecuménica de Liderazgo, a Christian Formation program created in Spanish, led by lay Latino/a leaders. Presently she is working in the design of Education for Ministry for Latinos/as (EfML). She has experience nationally and abroad organizing women´s groups, offering trainings in lay leadership, spiritual retreats and has created and facilitated workshops that invite Latino communities to explore the truth about their nations’ histories, and as God´s beloved sons and daughters to embark on a personal and communal journey to heal, reconcile and become heralds of racial justice. The Rev. Nelson Serrano, is a transitional Deacon, and the Latino/Hispanic Missioner in the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin, based on Fresno, California. Nelson is from Chia, an small city close to Bogotá, the Capitol City of Colombia. He is really passionate about evangelism, social justice, education, communitarian development and the social media. He studied Philosophy and Theology at the Seminario Arquidiocesano, in Bogotá Colombia, is Psychologist from the National University of Colombia, and Master of Arts in Religion, from Trinity School for Ministry. You could contact him, through facebook, or by Email to nelson@diosanjoaquin.org, he will be always available to talk, or open an space to hang out, maybe sharing a good cup of coffee. The Rev. Canon Dr. Winfred (Fred) Vergara lived, studied and ministered in Philippines, Singapore and the United States. He has served as church planter, missionary and revivalist in the Iglesia Filipina Independiente; the Anglican Church of Singapore and the Diocese of El Camino Real; the Diocese of Nevada; and the Diocese of Long Island. He teaches Healing via Facebook Live (Fred Vergara3) and has written several books, including a best-seller booklet, “Being Episcopalian.” He keeps two blogsites: http://travelinasian.blogspot.com and http://vergarabooks.blogspot.com. Based in New York he can be contacted via email at wvergara@episcopalchurch.org and website www.episcopalchurch.org/asiamerica-ministries .Rev. Shaneequa Brokenleg
Damaris De Jesus Carrasquillo, Ph.D
The Most Rev. Michael Curry
Albert Cutié
Estela Lopez
Living Compass Community Wellness Advocate
Co-Author of the book "I Have What It Takes" Stories and Principles that will Ignite your Natural Leadership Today. Rev. Glenda McQueen
Sandy Milien
Hugo Olaiz
Alexandra Richardson
Deacon Ema Rosero-Nordalm
Nelson Serrano
Fred Vergara