Conference Speakers

Chad Brennan grew up in a mostly white, suburban community. As he ministered to college students in the Middle East, Queens, and Columbus from 1992 to 2005 he discovered how little he knew about sharing life and ministry with Christians outside of his ethnic group. He also observed how ethnic divisions between Christians dishonor Christ and hinder our ability to impact our communities with Christ's love. In 2005 he and his wife Laurie launched ReNew Partnerships, a ministry which provides biblical multi-ethnic training resources for Christian leaders. Since that time, their team has helped thousands of Christian leaders across the U.S. and the world through speaking, workshops, online training programs, and their website (renewpartnerships.org).

They currently live in Columbus where they try to keep up with their three energetic daughters and enjoy helping with a multi-ethnic church plant in one of the most diverse neighborhoods.

Pastor Corey Brooks Sr. founded New Beginnings Church of Chicago, an urban, non-denominational inner city church on Chicago’s south side with 250 members in November of 2000; the congregations has grown to over 3,000 members to date.

Pastor Brooks is prolific in expository life-application preaching, a church planter, and studier of social trends while maintaining ministry relevancy. Worshiping in a facility that houses a private Christian school (K-8), state of the art music/dance studio, and a fitness center, Pastor Brooks is a 21^st century catalyst offering hope to the hopeless.

Pursuing a vision to eradicate violence one block at a time, Pastor Brooks is the founder of Project HOOD, a not-for profit community initiative Helping Others Obtain Destiny by seeking to eliminate violence and provide a model for other inner city communities to thrive.

A graduate of Ball State University and Grace Theological Seminary, Pastor Brooks is married to Delilah Brooks and they are the proud parents of four children.

Paul De Neui is Professor of Missiology and Intercultural Studies and Director of the Center for World Christian Studies. He and his wife, Gretchen, served as Evangelical Covenant Church missionaries to Thailand from 1987 to 2005, working with national leaders in a variety of contextualized holistic ministries. His doctoral dissertation, String Tying Ritual as Christian Communication in Northeast Thailand, explored the missiological implications of contextualized forms from within a Buddhist culture. Paul has served as contributor and editor of several volumes with SEANET, a group of practitioners in mission in the Buddhist world.

Ronald Sentwali Bakari, known by many as Sentwali, is the Dean of Students (Senior Student Affairs Officer) at Drake University and provides leadership and management for the Division of Student Life. Sentwali has instructed a three-credit course at Drake University on leadership development for first-year students from 2005-2010. Sentwali is the Past President of the Iowa Student Personnel Association, a graduate and current member of the Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute, a steering committee member for the Brother-to-Brother minority male leadership and retention initiative at Drake University and Des Moines Public Schools, and serves as a Lead Facilitator for the national LeaderShape Institute.

Rebekah Carrizales is the vice president of the multicultural student organization — Fellowship of Reconciling Cultures Everywhere (FORCE) — at Northwestern College, St. Paul, Minn., where she has also served as the co-chair of the annual multicultural festival. She is a member of the varsity soccer team and this year is the resident assistant of Antioch House, a multicultural, multiracial living-learning community seeking to live out the gospel of reconciliation. Rebekah is a junior majoring in biology and psychology.

Dr. David Fenrick is the director of the Center for Global Reconciliation and Cultural Education (C-GRACE), and adjunct professor of intercultural studies and communication at Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minn. He has a PhD in Intercultural Studies.

Dr. Fenrick has lived and studied in Zimbabwe, Palestine, and Israel, and has led numerous educational travel seminars around the world. He also served as a United Methodist minister in Virginia, receiving Excellence in Ministry Awards from both the Commission on Race and Religion and the Board of Global Ministry. He has 20 years’ experience in hospitality management and consulting with nationally recognized/awarded hotels and restaurants.

Dr. Daymond Glenn is the vice president for community life and chief diversity officer at Warner Pacific College in Portland, Ore. Dr. Glenn has held administrative and faculty posts at various colleges where he has taught multiple courses in education, including graduate courses on multicultural education, educational theory, and race and education.

Dr. Glenn is the author of Critical Condition: Black Males and Multiculturalism in Higher Education.  In his book, Dr. Glenn discusses the challenges, complexities, and possibilities of Black males and multiculturalism in predominantly White institutions of higher education. Dr. Glenn is hard at work on a second edition of his book that examines hip hop’s role in understanding the plight and predicament of Black males in schools and society.

Dr. Glenn holds a bachelor’s degree in social science, a master’s degree in educational administration, and a doctoral degree in educational leadership.

Charles (CJ) Harkness serves as the director of campus diversity affairs at Baldwin Wallace University. As the chief diversity officer and Title IX coordinator stationed in the Office of the President, CJ provides senior leadership as a member of the president's cabinet. Currently, he is charged with oversight of the university’s diversity initiatives as set forth in the diversity plan, an integral part of strategic planning at Baldwin Wallace. CJ also promotes dialogue and gauges the pulse of the campus community as they relate to issues of diversity through his work as chair of the university's Diversity Inclusion and Integration Committee.

Mr. Harkness earned a bachelor of arts degree from Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio. He also holds a master of arts in practical theology from Ashland Theological Seminary, a graduate division of Ashland University. In addition to his experience working with minority and other underrepresented students at Ashland and Baldwin Wallace, CJ has served young people through his work as a consultant and diversity program manager for the Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges (a statewide consortium representing thirty-four member institutions), in the greater Cleveland community as a member of the pastoral staff at Mt. Zion Church of Oakwood Village, and as a program developer and presenter for the Bridges Program (college readiness program in Northeast Ohio).

Candice Howell serves as the assistant to the provost for student success and diversity at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Neb. Candice serves as the director of Wesleyan’s Office of Multicultural Programs and Services and collaborates with various departments across campus to promote inclusivity and diversity education. Candice currently is the advisor and program coordinator of Wesleyan activities under the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) grant.  Under this grant, Mrs. Howell continues to assist with the direct recruiting of high school and community college students interested in STEM fields, and with the logistics of supporting LSAMP students through peer mentoring and other means once they are enrolled at Nebraska Wesleyan University.

Richard Johnson is a dynamic, multi-ethnic training facilitator with ReNew Partnerships. His life has been filled with ethnic diversity. His father was the pastor of a predominantly black church while their family lived in a diverse neighborhood in Alexandria, Virginia. He earned an education degree at Morehouse, one of our nation's Historically Black College, and then his master's in education from William and Mary, a predominantly white college.  He spent seven years serving on the staff of large, mostly-white suburban church before planting Sanctuary Columbus, a multi-ethnic church plant with the Evangelical Covenant Church denomination. He is a man of many talents and has been known to burst into song in the middle of a sermon or workshop presentation. He lives with his wife and four children in one of the most diverse neighborhoods in Columbus.

Dr. Tracey Pakstis-Claiborne is the director of campus activities & student leadership development at Becker College in Worcester, Mass. She holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., a master's degree in student personnel services from the University of South Carolina, Columbia, and a doctoral degree in educational leadership from Johnson and Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island.

Tracey has worked extensively in higher education for over 15 years in various departments within student affairs. Her research interests include social issues affecting college student adjustment, such as alcohol and other drug use of college students, and minority student development at predominantly white institutions. Tracey is a certified BASICS practitioner and Mentors in Violence Prevention facilitator, and is an adjunct faculty member at both Assumption College and Quinsigamond Community College. She lives in Worcester, Mass., with her husband and two children.

Brent Reeves is the director of multicultural affairs and international student services at McKendree University in Lebanon, Ill. He received his undergraduate degree at Washington University, St. Louis, Mo., and is currently working on his master's in professional counseling at McKendree University. Additionally, he has presented at several conferences throughout the United States including the White Privilege Conference, Annual Black Student Leadership Conference, National African-American Student Leadership Conference, National Conference on Leadership Diversity, and the Association of Black Culture Centers (ABCC) Conference

Dr. Eric Rosenthal is currently director of academic advising and counseling at Harper College. He has spent his 17 year career in student affairs, providing and directing student counseling and advising services. 

Dr. Rosenthal earned his doctorate in counseling psychology at the University of Florida.  His work on date rape prevention was published in the Journal of Counseling Psychology and he has presented at local, regional, and national conferences on various topics. He enjoys presenting workshops for students and colleagues on the strengths-based approach and has also presented on issues such as overcoming procrastination, date rape prevention, stress management, relationship enhancement, self-esteem, and math confidence.

Brenda D. Stevens is currently the director of multicultural services at Malone University where she has served students for the past 16 years. She received a bachelor of science degree in journalism from Kent State University, and a master of arts degree in higher education administration from the University of Akron. Most recently she has served the Stark County area through her volunteer efforts as a board member for Jobs for Ohio’s Graduates (JOGS), Leadership Stark County, the American Heart Association, and Pathways Caring for Children. She also serves as a committee member for the Hall of Fame Queen’s Pageant, Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast Committee, and is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Inc., the Kent Area Links Inc., and Canton Rotary.

Dr. Trina Vallone holds an Ed.D in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis on cultural studies from Aurora University in Aurora, Illinois. She is a certified reading specialist and holds an ESL credential. She has spent several years researching multicultural education and language acquisition and has worked in the field of education for 14 years. Dr. Vallone has presented at several conferences where she has examined such topics as culturally sensitive pedagogy, cultural perceptions of school, and media literacy.  Dr. Vallone co-authored a book with Corwin Press, Constructivist Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners.