2014 Contributor

Wild Goose is glad to welcome Alexia Salvatierra back to the festival this year as one of our featured speakers.

Salvatierra is currently the Special Assistant to the Bishop for Welcoming Congregations for the Southwest California Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. She also serves as a consultant (training, facilitating, organizing and leading strategic planning) for a variety of national/international organizations, including World Vision USA/World Vision International/Women of Vision, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, the Christian Community Development Association the Womens’ Donor Network, Auburn Theological Seminary, Interfaith Worker Justice, PICO and Sojourner’s. She is adjunct faculty at the New York Theological Seminary and Biola University, and has lectured at Fuller Seminary, University of Southern California and UCLA. Her first book, Faith-Rooted Organizing, which was written with theologian Peter Heltzel, came out earlier this year on Intervarsity Press.

Salvatierra has developed a model of social action that is rooted in the values and convictions born of faith. This model of faith-rooted organizing offers a path to meaningful social change that takes seriously the command to love God and to love our neighbor as ourself.

Wild Goose is so pleased that Romal Tune will be joining us as a featured speaker this June, sharing his valuable insights and vision. Below is a brief bio, we encourage you to also visit his website, romaltune.com.

Romal Tune has spent his life in service to local, national and international issues-based advocacy organizations working to improve the lives of those in need. He is a sought after speaker, consultant and personal worth coach with a unique gift for empowering people to move from trauma to triumph and create a reimagined life. He is author of the award winning book God’s Graffiti: Inspiring Stories for Teens.

With education at the forefront of his mission, Tune is empowered by lessons learned from his own at-risk youth, advancing the notion that impoverished childhoods can be transformed into brighter futures by steadfastly preparing children for learning. “We all have a stake in bettering the lives of kids when their circumstances are against them,” says Tune. Whether it’s fostering broader community and educational alliances, or enlisting churches to serve the entire community they inhabit, Tune is always in search of the most effective app to develop stronger ties.

Tune is the Founder and Executive administrator of two touchstone entities that exemplify this mission; The national non-profit Faith For Change, which solicits community involvement with high-needs schools to keep kids in school and promote lasting academic achievement, and FFC Consulting, which engages and connects principals, companies, and organizations with the faith-based community at large. By creating complementary infrastructures, Tune continues to successfully navigate the converging tide of difference-makers key to transforming young lives.

“As a person of faith,” says Tune, “I am compelled to help people wherever I find them. God wants everyone to identify their purpose in life.”

The Wild Goose welcomes Stephen Lewis to our 2014 speaker line-up. Lewis is the President of the Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE), which focuses on cultivating a new generation of Christian leaders. He has more than fifteen years of experience in corporate and nonprofit leadership, strategic planning, program development and group facilitation. Stephen’s interest lies at the intersection between leadership development, vocation and leading change, and he is passionate about inspiring the next generation of leaders to make a difference in the world through Christian communities.

The title of Lewis’s talk will be “Called to Be Designers of Freedom.” As he explains, “We all long for a world where we can pursue happiness, liberty and life abundantly. Unfortunately, unfettered oppression and disenfranchisement continue to threaten the promise and hope for such a world. The world as “it is” or as “it could be” is by design. Why not design a better world? Jesus taught us that creating a world where everyone can thrive and live liberation is not without a cost or sense of options. Stephen will explore these ideas and more regarding how Christians are called to conspire with God’s Spirit to design a world where we all can live free.”