Writer Bios

Sarah Orner is currently pursuing her MFA in creative non-fiction at Seattle Pacific University and works for the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES/USA) as a grant coordinator and writer. She enjoys good conversations, being near the ocean, and traveling to new places. She writes, works and lives in Tampa, Florida with her husband, Kevin.

Diane Paddison has an MBA from Harvard Business School and is the author of Work, Love, Pray. She has held several executive positions for corporations, including two Fortune 500 companies and is currently the Chief Strategy Officer at the commercial real estate firm Cassidy. Diane gathers professional women for connection and mentoring time whenever she travels for business. This passion for mentoring women inspired her to found 4word™, a national nonprofit designed to connect, lead, and support young professional Christian women to fulfill their God-given potential. Diane and her husband have four children and live in Dallas, Texas, and Portland, Oregon.

Ellane is Associate Professor and Department Chair of chemistry at Rollins College. She graduated from Wellesley College with a BA in Chemistry and from Columbia University with a PhD in Chemistry. Dr. Park has been named a Fulbright US Scholar and was awarded the scholarship in the area of nanotechnology.

Sarah Pechan lives in Columbus, Ohio, where she works to undermine poverty production through education reform. She loves God, fun, obedience, passion, scuba diving, and dried strawberries.

A wife, mother of two adult children, and graduate of Baylor University, Anne Pharr has taught English and First Year Seminar at Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville, Tennessee, since 1998. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Anne served for eight years as program coordinator for the College's First Year Seminar course. She also collaborated with colleagues on the development of a college-wide initiative, Partners for Student Potential (PSP), which worked to deepen and broaden faculty and staff awareness of the challenges and strengths represented by at-risk students. Recently, she completed Renovaré's Institute for Christian Spiritual Formation.  Besides enjoying family and friends, Anne's passions include heartfelt conversations, writing, music, reading, exercise, Henry the dog, and​ a great cup of coffee — preferably first thing each morning. 

Mary Poplin is a professor of education at Claremont Graduate University. She received her PhD from the University of Texas in 1978. After many years of what she calls “searching the spiritual net,” she became a Christian in 1993 and now works to integrate her faith and her work in the university. Her most recent educational research has focused on studying high performing teachers in low performing urban schools. She writes also on the need to merge the imperatives of social justice and accountability in order to decrease the achievement gap between students in different racial and economic groups.