John Mark Comer is the director and teacher of Practicing the Way, founding pastor of Bridgetown Church and the New York Times bestselling author of Live No Lies.

His growing passion is the intersection of spiritual formation and post-Christian culture. The gnawing questions that get him out of bed in the morning are, How do we experience life with God? And how do we change to become more like Jesus? To that end, he is regularly found reading the desert fathers and mothers, ancient saints and obscure contemplatives, modern psychologists and social scientists, philosophers like Dallas Willard, and op-eds from the New York Times. 

When he’s not reading, he can be found around a table with his family and friends, attempting to learn how to cook, drinking Heart coffee, and walking the family dog in the forest. Most important, he is husband to T and father to Jude, Moses, and Sunday.

Andrew is a singer-songwriter, an author, and the founder of the Rabbit Room, a ministry dedicated to fostering spiritual formation and Christ-centered community through story, art, and music. He lives in Nashville with his wife and about 80,000 honey bees.

Deborah Haarsma is President of BioLogos. She is a frequent speaker on science and Christian faith at universities, churches, and public venues like the National Press Club. Her work appears in several recent books, including Four Views on Creation, Evolution, and Design and Christ and the Created Order. Her book Origins presents the agreements and disagreements among Christians regarding the history of life and the universe. She also co-edited the anthology Delight in Creation: Scientists Share Their Work with the Church. Previously, Deborah served as professor and chair of Physics and Astronomy at Calvin College. She is a research scientist, with several publications on galaxies and the universe. She holds a bachelor's degree from Bethel University and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Katharine Hayhoe is an accomplished atmospheric scientist who studies climate change and why it matters to us here and now. She is also a remarkable communicator who has received the American Geophysical Union’s climate communication prize, the Stephen Schneider Climate Communication award, the United Nations Champion of the Earth award, and been named to a number of lists including Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People, Foreign Policy’s 100 Leading Thinkers, and FORTUNE magazine’s World’s Greatest Leaders. Her TED talk, “The most important thing you can do to fight climate change: talk about it” has nearly 4 million views and her most recent book is, “Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World” (Simon & Schuster) 

Katharine serves as Chief Scientist for The Nature Conservancy and she is also a Paul W. Horn Distinguished Professor and the Political Science Endowed Professor in Public Policy and Public Law at Texas Tech University. She has a B.Sc. in Physics from the University of Toronto and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from the University of Illinois and has been awarded honorary doctorates from Colgate University and Victoria University at the University of Toronto.

Lauren is the Executive Director of Faith and Law, where she has led the ministry in Washington for four years. Previously, she worked as Director of House Relations and Director of Special Projects for the Heritage Foundation. She started her career on Capitol Hill working for Congressman John Shadegg (R-AZ) and later became legislative director for Congressman Joe Pitts (R-PA). During her time on the Hill, she participated in Faith and Law, which has made her position as Executive Director especially meaningful for her and impactful to the organization. Lauren graduated magna cum laude from Wake Forest University with a B.A. in English Literature. She lives in Arlington, Va., with her husband, Brad, and their four children.

Josh Good directs the Aspen Institute's Religion & Society Program, an initiative founded in 2009 to help journalists, clerics, policy experts, and civic leaders advance the full promise of religious pluralism. Through two-day forums and a podcast, its Faith Angle Forum supports a network of journalists who strengthen reporting and commentary on how religious believers, religious convictions, and moral arguments affect American politics and public life. A Philanthropy & Religion program helps funders connect with leading religion scholars and public intellectuals, and a Religion Fellows program empowers leaders to tackle abiding challenges--including around racial justice. Josh previously directed the Kern Family Foundation’s Faith, Work, and Economics Program and, prior to that, managed the American Enterprise Institute’s outreach program to faculty and student leaders at Christian colleges. He holds a B.A. in history from Covenant College and a master’s degree in Christianity and Culture from Harvard University, and his work has been published by Routledge Press and in The Hill, National Review, The Weekly Standard, World Magazine, The Federalist, and The American.

Donald Miller is the CEO of Business Made Simple. He is the host of the Business Made Simple podcast and is the author of several books including the bestsellers Blue Like Jazz, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, and Building a StoryBrand. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee with his wife, Elizabeth and their daughter, Emmeline.

Website - businessmadesimple.com

Twitter - twitter.com/donaldmiller

Instagram - instagram.com/donaldmiller

Facebook - facebook.com/donaldmillerwords

Lisa Fields is one of the world’s most sought-after Christian apologists. She is the Founder and CEO of the Jude 3 Project, a Christian apologetics organization focused on equipping and engaging the African American context. Lisa is a graduate of the University of North Florida with a Bachelor of Science in communications and religious studies, and Liberty University with a Master of Divinity with a focus in theology. She is also a contributing author to “Cultural Engagement: A Crash Course in Contemporary Issues.”

S. D. Smith is the author of The Green Ember Series, a bestselling middle-grade adventure saga. The Green Ember has reached hundreds of thousands of readers and spent time as the number one bestselling audiobook in the world on Audible. Smith’s stories are captivating readers across the globe who are hungry for “new stories with an old soul.” Enthusiastic families can’t get enough of these tales.

Vintage adventure. Moral imagination. Classic virtue. Finally, stories we all love. Just one more chapter, please!

When he’s not writing adventurous tales of #RabbitsWithSwords in his writing shed, dubbed The Forge, Smith loves to speak to audiences about storytelling, imagination, and seeing yourself as a character in the Story.

Rick has been the CEO of MedSend for the last 13 years. Under his leadership the organization has grown in impact and influence. He spent the first half of his career in the software and professional services industry building and growing organizations. In addition he spent 8 years as a pastor at a non-denominational church in Stamford CT.  His passion is to share the love of Jesus to a hurting and broken world.  He and his wife Linda have been married for 42 years and have four daughters and two grandchildren.

The Rev. Dr. Gabriel Salguero—is pastor of The Gathering Place, a Latino-led multi-ethnic Assemblies of God congregation in Orlando, Florida. Salguero is also the president and founder of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition (NALEC), a national coalition of several thousand evangelical congregations in the United States. He was the former Director of the Hispanic Leadership Program (HLP), and the Institute for Faith and Public Life at Princeton Theological Seminary. Salguero is also a powerful voice on issues that affect the close to 9 million Latino evangelicals in the United States. Salguero’s leadership through NaLEC, offers an important voice for the growing diversity and changing demographics in our country. He has written extensively on Latino evangelicalism, immigration, racism, and multicultural congregations. Salguero has been named as one of the nation’s most prominent Latino evangelical leaders by the New York Times, Huffington Post, the New York Observer, the Center for American Progress, El Diario, CNN Español, NBC Universal, Univisión, and Jorge Ramos’s Al Punto. In addition, his leadership on issues of young male education and criminal justice reform has been featured by the Discovery Channel and the Oprah Winfrey Network. Rev. Salguero has served on the White House Faith-Based Advisory Council, the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), and the National Advisory Council of the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance. He is also on the board of La Asociación Evangélica Latina (AEL) the coalition of Latin American evangelicals which is the representative body for all evangelical associations in Latin America. Salguero holds a BA in Spanish and History from Rutgers University, and M.Div (magna cum laude) from New Brunswick Theological Seminary, and holds a Doctorate in Divinity (honoris causa) from Eastern Nazarene College. Rev. Salguero lives together with his wife, the Rev. Jeanette Salguero and their two sons in Orlando, Florida.

Philip Yancey is the author of twenty-five books, including The Jesus I Never Knew, What’s So Amazing About Grace?, and Soul Survivor: How Thirteen Unlikely Mentors Helped My Faith Survive the Church. Yancey’s books have garnered thirteen Gold Medallion Book Awards from Christian publishers and booksellers. He currently has more than seventeen million books in print and has been published in some fifty languages worldwide. Philip’s most recent books include his long-awaited memoir: Where the Light Fell, (released in 2021); Undone: A Modern Rendering of John Donne’s Devotions (2023); and What Went Wrong?: Russia’s Lost Opportunity and the Path to Ukraine, (2024). Yancey worked as a journalist in Chicago for around twenty years, editing the youth magazine Campus Life while also writing for a wide variety of publications including The New York Times, The Atlantic, and Christianity Today. He and his wife currently live in the foothills of Colorado.

Growing up in a poor, single parent household in North Charleston, South Carolina, a young Tim Scott grew accustomed to moving every few years, as well as the long hours his mom worked to keep a roof over their heads. After failing four classes his freshman year of high school, Tim’s path forward was murky at best.

But thankfully, he had a mom who stuck with him, and met a mentor that showed him the wisdom of conservative principles. Through their belief and his own determination, Tim got his grades back on track, graduated from Charleston Southern University, and eventually built his own successful small business.

Through the lessons taught by his mentor, Tim developed his mission statement: to positively affect the lives of a billion people. That led him to public service, where he was elected to Charleston County Council, the South Carolina House of Representatives, the United States House of Representatives, and the United States Senate.

Since joining the Senate in 2013, Senator Scott has been a national leader on efforts to bring opportunity to every American family. His signature legislation creating Opportunity Zones was passed as part of the 2017 tax reform package, and has the potential to bring billions of dollars of private investment into distressed communities across the country.

As he continues to lead on the implementation of the Opportunity Zones initiative, Senator Scott also plays a critical role in issues regarding workforce development, education and diversity. Whether it’s tackling the skills gap, making sure children have access to the educational environment best suited for them, or working to bring everyone to the table to find solutions, Senator Scott will keep fighting for South Carolinians every single day he serves in the U.S. Senate.

Will Acuff has spent the last 15 years of his life learning what it means to have a "theology of neighbor" while living in an underestimated community. As the Co-Founder of the nonprofit Corner to Corner, he has developed creative and proven programs that foster economic flourishing with neighbors in Nashville, TN. He loves to share his passion and experience with others and to invite Christians into the deep joy that comes from loving our neighbor as we love ourselves.

Will received his BA from North Carolina State University and his master's degree in Biblical Studies from the Reformed Theological Seminary. He has been married to his wife and Co-Founder, Tiffany, for 17 years, and they live with their two children in Nashville, TN.
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To learn more about how Corner to Corner co-creates economic participation and growth with underestimated Nashvillians, visit cornertocorner.org.

Warren has been the president of Ministry Watch since 2019. Prior to taking on this role, he was vice president of mission advancement for the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Warren also hosts the weekly podcast “Listening In,” a long-form interview program heard by tens of thousands of subscribers each week. He previously served as vice president and associate publisher of WORLD News Group, publisher of WORLD Magazine.

Before transitioning to a career in ministry, Warren spent more than 20 years in the corporate world, including seven years as marketing director for a major division of PricewaterhouseCoopers, a global accounting and consulting firm.

Warren has written more than 3,000 articles, including investigative pieces on major Christian ministries. He has written, co-written, or edited more than 10 books, including Restoring All Things: God’s Audacious Plan to Change the World Through Everyday People (with John Stonestreet, 2015). His most recent is Faith-Based Fraud: Learning From The Great Religious Scandals of our Time, published in 2021. During the 1990s and early 2000s, he published the North Carolina newspaper The Charlotte World, which was twice named newspaper of the year by the Evangelical Press Association under his editorship.

His education includes a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in English, both from the University of Georgia. Warren and his wife, Missy, have been married for more than 39 years and have four grown children. They live in Charlotte, North Carolina.

As an entrepreneur turned nonprofit Executive Director, Shana understands how to cultivate the joy of creation into economic flourishing. She’s spent the past 3 years helping underestimated Nashvillians develop knowledge, tools, and networks – to build the neighborhood economy. She’ll share her energy and experience to motivate your teams to uncover their hidden creative talents and support others in their journey.

Shana attended Vanderbilt University, where she earned a BA in English and sociology with a minor in African American Studies. Shana then received a Juris Doctorate in 2014 as a member of the first graduating class from Belmont University’s School of Law.

In 2017, Shana began volunteering with Corner to Corner, a non-profit that helps underestimated entrepreneurs plan, start and scale their small businesses. She left her legal career behind to become the program director of The Academy, Corner to Corner’s 10-week entrepreneurship program. To date, this program has graduated over 600 black entrepreneurs and, in 2021 alone, put $13 million back into the neighborhood economy.  

Shana, an entrepreneur herself, owns a small business called The Fashion Chase which helps corporately creative women find and redefine their personal style. She serves on the boards of University Community Health Service and The 37208 Fund, a privately funded, participatory grant funding program in North Nashville.

Dr. John Townsend is a nationally-known leadership consultant, author and psychologist. He has written over 30 books selling 10 million copies, including the New York Times bestselling Boundaries series.

John founded and operates the Townsend Institute for Leadership and Counseling, and the Townsend Leadership Program.

Dr. Townsend travels extensively for corporate consulting, speaking events, and to help develop leaders, their teams and their families.

He has a weekly video call-in program, Dr. Townsend Live.

John is a long term Gathering presence, and has served as a coach for many Gathering families over the years.

He and his family live in Southern California and Texas. One of his passions is playing in his and his sons’ band, The Bandits, at local venues and parties!

Visit DrTownsend.com.

Skye Jethani is an award-winning author and speaker, and co-host of the popular Holy Post Podcast, a weekly show that blends astute cultural and theological insights with comical conversation. Skye is the president of Measure the Clouds, a non-profit organization helping a post-Christian generation discover a ravishing vision of life with God. He has authored ten books including the "What If Jesus Was Serious?" series and served for over a decade in numerous editorial and executive roles at Christianity Today. He also writes WITH GOD DAILY, a digital daily devotional for people who hate daily devotionals. Skye lives in Wheaton, Illinois, with his wife Amanda and their three children.

Phil Vischer is an author, speaker, filmmaker, voice actor and podcast host, best known for the Christian children’s series VeggieTales and more recently the Holy Post Podcast.  Collectively, Phil’s creations, which include the educational series What’s in the Bible? and the autobiographical book Me, Myself & Bob, have sold more than 50 million copies around the world.

Phil lives with his wife Lisa (aka Junior Asparagus) in West Chicago, IL.  They have three adult children.

Geoff Moore is a multi Grammy nominated and Dove award winning recording artist and songwriter. For almost forty years Geoff has recorded over twenty albums and toured extensively around the world.

He is also the founder and President of Fellowship Adventures. A non profit ministry that serves pastors, non profit leaders and people in serving based vocations by curating outdoor adventure experiences.

A graduate of Taylor University where he met Jan,  his wife of 39 years.  They have two grown  biological sons,  two Chinese adopted college age daughters and one granddaughter.

Geoff and his family live in Franklin, Tennessee.

Dan is the frontman of the bands Jars of Clay and The Hawk In Paris, and he is a three-time Grammy Award-winning songwriter, producer, and writer. In 2004, Dan co-founded Blood:Water Mission, a nonprofit organization that partners with grassroots African organizations for enduring health and dignity, focusing on the HIV/AIDS and water crises.

Dan composed the music for the hit television series about the life of Jesus, The Chosen. He also authored two children’s books: The One, The Only Magnificent Me and Lulu and the Long Walk. Dan lives near Nashville with his wife and two boys.

Matthew S. Nelson is a composer, a cellist, and a guitarist who has worked professionally in a wide variety of musical roles since 1999. He is best known for his touring work as bandleader for country artist RaeLynn, his touring and session work with award-winning band Jars of Clay, and his score (co-composed with Dan Haseltine) for the hit original series The Chosen, the #1 crowdfunded media project in history. Regardless of a particular discipline, his creative voice strives to connect the humble thread of artistic expression to the rich tapestry of collective human consciousness.

Nelson holds a Bachelor of Music from Middle Tennessee State University, where he studied cello with Xiao-Fan Zhang and jazz guitar with Paul Abrams, and an Associate of Arts from Pensacola Junior College, where he studied cello with Dr. Brad Knobel.

In addition to album credits as diverse as JD Souther, Anderson East, Michael W. Smith, and Hooray for the Riff Raff, Nelson has performed live with Amy Grant, Sleeping at Last, Steven Curtis Chapman, and Cheap Trick, among a long list of others. He has appeared on NBC’s Today, Late Night with Seth Meyers, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Grand Ole Opry, NPR’s Mountain Stage, and the TV drama series Nashville.

In addition to The Chosen, Nelson is working on new music with his neoclassical duo kïngpinguïn. He is slated to join co-composer Dan Haseltine to score Brock Heasely's spiritual sci-fi feature The Shift. Matthew S. Nelson lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Mekdes Haddis is the founder and executive coach of Just Missions, an online community for missionaries, mission professionals, and ministry leaders seeking to find a more just approach to global mission. She is the author of “A Just Mission: Laying Down Power and Embracing Mutuality.'' Mekdes holds a B.S in Communication from Liberty University and a Masters' in Organizational Leadership from Columbia International University. As an Ethiopian American she is passionate about reframing missions for the next generation of Christian leaders so the movement becomes inclusive of the diaspora voices that have been left out. She is currently the Project Director of Racial Justice and Reconciliation at the National Association of Evangelicals and lives with her husband and two kids in the Charlotte metropolitan area.

Peter is CEO of HOPE International, a global Christ-centered microenterprise development organization serving throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Prior to joining HOPE, Peter worked internationally in Cambodia, Zimbabwe and Rwanda. He has co-authored 12 books, including Mission Drift and Rooting for Rivals. More important than his occupation is the joy of being married to Laurel and dad to Keith, Liliana, Myles, and London.

Andrew Scott serves as President/CEO of Operation Mobilization in the USA and has a contagious passion for innovation and reframing Christian missions for this generation. As part of Andrew's vision to inspire everyday believers to share the love of Jesus in least-reached places, he wrote his book Scatter: Go Therefore and Take Your Job With You and with his team launched Scatter Global (www.scatterglobal.com), which was awarded the eXcelerate Award by Missio Nexus in 2017 for innovation in training models and missionary preparation. He and his wife Sharon live outside Atlanta, Georgia, near their two grown children Ana & Daniel.

Melinda serves as managing director of Fund for Shared Insight, a national funder collaborative working to improve philanthropy by promoting and supporting ways foundations and nonprofits listen and respond to the people and communities most harmed by the systems and structures we’re seeking to change. In her role as an independent consultant to senior leadership at philanthropic organizations around the country, Melinda promotes, crafts, and implements strategies for effective philanthropy. Previously, Melinda co-founded and ran REDF, a social-venture capital fund; and helped start-up several social-mission driven companies including Dayspring Partners, Evergreen Lodge, and Rush Creek Lodge. She enthusiastically brings her unique combination of business, leadership, evaluation, and management skills to helping mission-oriented organizations meet their goals, care for people, and better the world in which we live.

Al Andrews is the founder and executive director of Porter’s Call, a non-profit in Franklin, TN that has offered free counsel, support, and encouragement to recording artists since 2001.   A 1976 graduate of the University of North Carolina, he is a life-long Tar Heel fan.  He is the co-author of The Silence of Adam, author of an illustrated children’s book, The Boy, the Kite and the Wind and a Christmas book, A Walk One Winter Night.

Al loves Southern writers (particularly Wendell Berry and Pat Conroy) and poets (particularly Mary Oliver and Billy Collins), is quite partial to chicken wings, and loves live music and theater. He lives in Nashville, TN with his poet/artist/counselor wife of 32 years, Nita, and has two sons, Brent 25 and Hunter 28

Kori was born and raised in Oxford, Mississippi, she graduated from University of Mississippi, where she studied Public Policy, Sociology, and Religion to earn a BA in Liberal Studies. She has 13 years of experience in campus ministry, ending her service on the campus of Princeton University. She completed her M.A. in Theological Studies with an emphasis in Religion and Society from Princeton Theological Seminary.

She is compelled by her Christian faith to stand and advocate on behalf of those harmed by injustice. Formerly CEO of CSW-USA, she led internationally to protect, defend, and restore religious freedom for all people domestic and abroad. Her work continues with Peacemakers Coalition, where she's President & Founder. Peacemakers Coalition is a global multi-faith youth coalition on mission to bring justice and peace to our world.

Scott Sauls is senior pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church, a multi-site community in Nashville, Tennessee. He is also author of six published books: Jesus Outside the Lines, Befriend,From Weakness to Strength, Irresistible Faith, A Gentle Answer, and his most recent project, Beautiful People Don’t Just Happen. Prior to Nashville, Scott served at New York City's Redeemer Presbyterian Church as a lead and preaching pastor and planted churches in Kansas City and St. Louis. Scott is 27-years married to his wife, Patti, and has two grown daughters, Abby and Ellie. Scott's work has been featured in publications including Christianity Today, Relevant, Qideas, Catalyst, Leadership Magazine, Table Talk, The Gospel Coalition, InTouch, Key Life, as well as other publications. He can be found on Facebook and Twitter/Instagram at @scottsauls, and he blogs weekly at scottsauls.com.

Chris Whitford is the CEO and a Founding Member of Avail NYC, a non-profit which has served NYC and beyond for over 25 years. Chris was a 2021 Praxis Scale Fellow, and a panelist at the 2022 Praxis Summit in Napa, CA. She’s been featured on several podcasts, and speaks frequently at events geared towards nonprofit and ministry leaders, including Lead.NYC’s Movement Day initiative. Chris recently contributed an essay in The City for God, a collection honoring Tim Keller's work. A graduate of Brown University, Chris has held leadership roles within Columbia University's Christian Union and Cru, and currently serves on the President’s Council for the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Chris and her husband are residents of the Upper West Side and members of Redeemer Lincoln Square.

In his 12 years as a United States Senator, Chris Coons has worked hard to find bipartisan solutions to the issues confronting Delaware and the nation.

As a member of the Foreign Relations, Judiciary, Appropriations, and Small Business & Entrepreneurship committees, Senator Coons is uniquely positioned to nurture American innovation and make the United States more competitive in the global market.

A person of deep faith, Chris grew up attending Red Clay Creek Presbyterian Church and was an ordained elder with West Presbyterian Church. He earned a Master's Degree in Ethics from Yale Divinity School and worked with the South African Council of Churches, where he had the opportunity to preach in Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s church.

He has worked with organizations such as the National Coalition for the Homeless and the education-oriented “I Have a Dream” Foundation.

A longtime New Castle County resident, Chris grew up in the Pike Creek and Hockessin areas and lives in Wilmington, Delaware with his wife, Annie, and their three children, Michael, Jack, and Maggie.        

Cindy Morgan is a 13 time Dove Award Winner, including the prestigious Songwriter of the Year award.  The Nashville based singer/songwriter has penned songs for such artists as Robert Redford, India Arie, Rascal Flatts, Vince Gill, Amy Grant, David Archuletta, Kris Allen, Gabe Dixon, Glen Campbell, Natalie Grant, Mandisa and many others.

David is a senior editor at The Dispatch and a columnist for Time. A graduate of Harvard Law School, David is a former senior writer for National Review and a former senior fellow at the National Review Institute. He is a former constitutional litigator and a past president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. David is a New York Times bestselling author, and his most recent book, Divided We Fall: America’s Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation, was released last September. David is a former major in the United States Army Reserve and is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, where he was awarded the Bronze Star.

Kevin Finch leads the team at Big Table (www.big-table.com) – a non-profit based in the Northwest that launched in 2009 to care for those in crisis in the place with the highest concentration of need in our nation – the restaurant and hospitality industry.  Before forming Big Table, Kevin served both as food critic for 10 years and a pastor for 15 years. He holds a degree in English from Seattle Pacific University and a Masters of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary. In a corner of his garage or under the stairs, you’ll find two bikes, skis, rarely used golf clubs, wine, a stack of books on cartooning, enough cookbooks to stock a library and a half-written novel.

Karl and Sarah Worley founded Biscuit Love in 2012, building on a dream to serve Nashville delicious biscuits, baked with love. Locally-owned and family-operated, the fast-casual eatery offers breakfast and lunch favorites with a twist from three locations in Middle Tennessee. Each item on the menu is made from scratch, and the Worleys remain steadfast in a commitment to sourcing from local purveyors and actively giving back to the community. Upon opening, Biscuit Love has far-exceeded industry standards when it comes to staff care, and the Worleys believe that prioritizing sustainable employee care models as well as mentorship opportunities within the industry are a vital piece in fostering growth in people and in business. The brand started as a food truck with a dedicated following before opening its first brick-and-mortar location in the Gulch in 2015. Since then, two additional locations have opened in some of Middle Tennessee’s most bustling neighborhoods (Hillsboro Village and historic downtown Franklin), with Biscuit Love’s first out-of-state expansion planned for a late 2022 opening in Birmingham, AL.

An 8-time Grammy award winning songwriter and producer based in Nashville, TN whose work has also garnered multiple Grammys and at least one OSCAR for the likes of Eric Clapton, Babyface, Bruce Springsteen, BlackSTREET, Bonnie Raitt, CeCe Winans and Israel Houghton to name a few. Sims’ work as writer, producer has also been well-documented by artists as diverse as Michael McDonald, Don Henley, Sheryl Crow, Michael Bolton, Amy Grant, Mary J. Blige, Stevie Nicks, Kelly Clarkson, Wynonna Judd, Alison Krauss, Cher, The Neville Brothers, Jonny Lang, Robert Randolph, T-Pain and Garth Brooks. 

His penchant for creating theme songs helped to drive acclaimed films such as the John Travolta blockbuster- “Phenomenon”, Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington’s ground-breaking hit film on the subject of AIDS- “Philadelphia” and Kevin Costner’s ode to baseball- “For Love Of The Game”. Sims’ music has also featured heavily in television from ABC network’s Emmy award winning “Grey’s Anatomy” to the FOX network’s mega-hit, “American Idol”, and often as Musical Director for award shows such as CMT “Artist of the Year”, BMI “Gospel Trailblazers”, CMT’s Tribute to Charlie Pride and the GMA’s Dove Awards. 

Sims’ breakthrough song, originally written at the age of 16, “Change The World” was first recorded by Wynonna Judd and went on to become the final chart- topper for Eric Clapton as well as “Song Of The Year” at the 1997 Grammy Awards. This song would also take home Record of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 1997 ceremony. 

In 2000 Sims would reluctantly release an album of his own, through his own Positive Movement, Inc label partnership with Universal Records. This project entitled “Peace and Love” would feature his lifelong hero Stevie Wonder and go on to inspire 2 generations of musicians who now affectionately refer to Sims as something akin to an “Uncle” figure. 

In Sims’ own words “This life has been a real ‘Forest Gump’-like experience. No matter what variety of chocolate is in that box, I can only be grateful”

Frontman. Singer-songwriter.  World-renowned upright bassist. Multi-instrumentalist.  Scott Mulvahill is leaving his unique mark on the intersecting worlds of Americana, bluegrass, folk, jazz, rock & roll, and roots music.  Raised in Houston, Mulvahill cut his teeth as a member of Ricky Skaggs’ acclaimed band, Kentucky Thunder. The group toured internationally for five years, backed by the bottom-heavy pulse of Mulvahill's upright bass. Along the way, he also composed music of his own, shining a light on the genre-jumping influences — Paul Simon’s sophisticated pop, James Taylor’s folk, Jaco Pastorius’ innovative jazz, and more — that would eventually inspire the material on his 2018 solo debut, Himalayas. His performances as part of Skaggs’ nightly shows laid the brickwork for Mulvahill’s transition from hotshot sideman to compelling frontman.

Encouraged by musical mentor Bruce Hornsby, Mulvahill developed a unique approach to his songwriting — one that mixed his chops as an upright bassist with hook-heavy melodies and compelling narratives.  A true “musician’s musician,” Mulvahill fills his solo debut with complex fingerwork and innovative progressions. At the same time, Himalayas is a song-driven record that focuses its attention not upon Mulvahill’s virtuosity, but upon the sheer listenability of his material. This is acoustic-leaning roots music of the highest caliber, shot through with elastic vocals, dobro, fiddle, and the honest, biographical lyrics of a songwriter who gave up an enviable position in Skaggs’ band to pursue his own muse.

“I wanna go over where I’ve never been,” he sings during the sparsely-decorated title track, one of several tracks to deal with the universal themes of facing one’s fears, taking leaps, and chasing down new horizons. Those messages are reflected in Mulvahill’s own career, as he pioneers a sound centered upon his voice and upright bass.  “As important as the bass is to the sound of my music, it’s not a crutch,” he says. “To me, the songwriting, the voice, and the message are what really matter.   2020’s "Creative Potential" and 2021’s “Surrounded” EPs have found him taking those leaps while keeping true to the core of his musicianship, songwriting, unique concept of artistry.  For a lifelong musician like Scott Mulvahill, the climb is never over.

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Since his 2008 major label debut, Matt Maher has become a staple in the artistic and songwriting community. A 9x GRAMMY® nominee and 5x GMA Dove Award winner, he has garnered multiple radio successes, writing and recording songs such as his Top 5 CCLI song “Lord, I Need You” and the chart-topping radio singles “Your Grace Is Enough”, “Hold Us Together”, “All The People Said Amen”, “Because He Lives (Amen)” and Alive and Breathing. Maher has written / co-written five No. 1 radio singles, including David Crowder’s “Come As You Are” and Third Day’s “Soul On Fire”. Maher plays Steinway Pianos, Gretsch Guitars and Seymor Duncan pickups and accessories. He has performed four times at international Papal events and is embarking on this next headline tour Spring 2023. Matt is a native of Newfoundland Canada and currently resides in Nashville, TN with his wife, Kristin, three children and two pups.

Jor-El Godsey serves as President of Heartbeat International, the largest affiliation network of life affirming pregnancy help outreach efforts in the world, in more than 80 countries. Heartbeat’s core mission is to reach and rescue lives at-risk for abortion through far-reaching programs that include Option Line and Abortion Pill Rescue Network.

I am passionate about purposeful living and the impact it can have. After a long and successful career as an entrepreneur, author, speaker and ally in the entertainment industry, with projects as diverse as brokering deals between Oprah and Starbucks, and consulting on national campaigns for the likes of McDonald’s, Gap, and UPS, I’ve turned my attention to the one thing that I believe matters most for businesses and individuals – a life lived with purpose.

After serving as CEO of The Lifebook Company, a Partner of Executive Development at GiANT Impact, and a national speaker at Lifework Leaders, I’ve seen the immense impact intentional living can have. Those with it prosper at home and at work. Those without it struggle to make sense of the world and achieve at their highest potential.

A graduate of Leadership Nashville in 2004 and Leadership Middle Tennessee in 2006, I bring a keen eye for purposeful leadership with me everywhere I go. I currently serve on the boards of NASBA Center for Public Trust, Friends of Warner Park, and the YMCA of Middle Tennessee and previously served on the boards of the Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, 100 Black Men of Middle Tennessee, Leadership Middle Tennessee, and New Hope Academy in Franklin, TN.

David is the Karen Lake Buttrey Director of the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving as well as Associate Professor of Philanthropic Studies within the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. He has recently returned from the University of Edinburgh where he served as the 2022 Fulbright Scotland Distinguished Scholar. His research has often focused on the religious identity of faith-based nonprofits and how it shapes organizations' motivations, rhetoric, and practice. Having worked in local churches and national faith-based organizations, he is also fueled by facilitating conversations with faith leaders, donors, and fundraisers (of all generations) around the intersections of faith and giving.

Ambassador Richmond is an attorney and diplomat focused on human rights, democracy, and rule of law. The U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed him to serve in the nation’s highest-ranking position dedicated to combatting human trafficking and leading foreign policy in the global fight for freedom. As a Partner at Dentons, Ambassador Richmond helps companies keep their supply chains and workforces free of human trafficking. He was named one of the federal “Prosecutors of the Year,” after a decade of successfully trying complex police misconduct, cross-burning, neo-Nazi hate crimes, forced labor, and sex trafficking cases across the country. Ambassador Richmond is a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, Senior Advisor to Love Does, Fellow at the C.S. Lewis Institute, and a frequent speaker on justice, leadership, faith, and vocation.

Jon Fortt co-hosts CNBC's TechCheck (formerly Squawk Alley) weekdays, 11 ET/8 PT. In 2020 he created a weekly segment on Squawk Box called On the Other Hand, in which he argues two sides of a contentious business issue to illuminate the facts. He created a weekly segment on Power Lunch in 2021 called Working Lunch, in which he uses Fortt Knox interviews to introduce viewers to the personality and outlook of a founder or CEO.

Since 2016 he has been publishing content with the Fortt Knox brand, first as a podcast, now as a livestream, video series and newsletter. The themes are innovation, entrepreneurship and culture.

In 2020 he launched The Black Experience in America: The Course. Learn more about it at forttmedia.com.

Gabe lives in Nashville with his wife, Keely, and daughter Everley. He worked as a touring musician for the last 25 years. In the last 10 years he worked as a record producer and a writer for Tv/Film. In 2020, he opened a fast casual restaurant called Ladybird Taco in Nashville. In his spare time, he thoroughly enjoys playing badminton as well as giving High fives. More on that at the dinner experience, Enjoying an Evening of the Arts.

Andy Gullahorn is a singer/songwriter originally from Austin, TX. He moved to Nashville, TN to attend Belmont University and upon graduating, he got married to a girl who was about to sign a record deal with Word Records. This was Andy's greatest achievement. After years of playing guitar on the road with his wife and writing songs for various other artists, he started recording his own records again and returned to the road for solo shows as his wife wanted to be home more with their beautiful children who resemble their father. These days, Andy spends most of the year on the road performing at conferences, house concerts, clubs, retreats, festivals, churches and stairwells. His eighth and most recent record, Everything As It Should Be, released in 2018 to great fanfare (from his mom).

Jill Phillips is a singer/songwriter originally from Chesapeake, VA. She moved to Nashville, TN to attend Belmont University and upon graduating, she signed a record deal with Word Records and began her career as an artist. Unsatisfied with her time on record labels, she started releasing records independently before most people knew what an independent artist really was. Her 11th and most recent record, Deeper Into Love, released in February 2022. These days, when she is not playing shows or seeing clients as a marriage & family therapist, she spends most of her time as a chauffeur and chef for her three beautiful kids that look like their dad.

Miranda Kennedy is Senior Supervising Editor at NPR's Morning Edition and Up First. She is currently writing and editing a documentary about India for NPR's Rough Translation podcast. Miranda has reported on religion from several countries. Her 2011 book about India tackled religion, caste, and women's lives, based on the five years she lived in New Delhi as a reporter.

Russell Moore, newly appointed Editor in Chief at Christianity Today.

The Wall Street Journal has called Moore “vigorous, cheerful, and fiercely articulate.” He was named in 2017 to Politico Magazine’s list of top fifty influence-makers in Washington and has been profiled by such publications as the Washington Post and the New Yorker.

Russell is an ordained Baptist minister and was President of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention from 2013 to 2021. Prior to that role, Moore served as provost and dean of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, where he also taught theology and ethics.

Dr. Moore is the author of several books, including The Courage to Stand: Facing Your Fear Without Losing Your Soul, Onward: Engaging the Culture without Losing the Gospel and The Storm-Tossed Family: How the Cross Reshapes the Home. A native Mississippian, he and his wife Maria are the parents of five sons. In addition to his role as EIC, Moore directs Christianity Today’s Public Theology Project.

Jon has written about American politics for the last 20 years, covering two presidents as a White House correspondent, documenting three presidential elections, and traveling the country for countless other statewide campaigns. His writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The New Republic, Politico, Vanity Fair, and Christianity Today. His 2019 investigation into voter intimidation in Georgia has been optioned for a TV series by actors Adam Scott and Don Cheadle. He is the author of "Camelot's End" (2019) about the 1980 Democratic presidential primary, and of the upcoming "Testimony" (April 18, 2023) about the clash between his evangelical upbringing and his training as a journalist. He is also host of "The Long Game" podcast, which seeks to diagnose our lost ability to solve problems. He and his family live in Washington D.C.

Bill Haslam is the former governor of the State of Tennessee. He was first elected in 2010 and was re-elected in 2014 with the largest victory in modern Tennessee history.

Under his leadership, Tennessee became recognized as a national leader in education, economic development, efficient and effective government, and fiscal strength.

During his two terms as governor, Tennessee students were the fastest improving in the country in academic achievement, and high school graduation rates reached an all-time high. Tennessee became the first state in the nation to offer high school graduates and adults two years of community or technical college free of mandatory tuition and fees as part of the governor’s Tennessee Promise and Tennessee Reconnect programs.

Approximately 450,000 private sector jobs were created during his time in office, and Tennessee’s unemployment rate reached the lowest level recorded in state history.

Haslam proposed and implemented significant legislative initiatives, including working with the Tennessee General Assembly to simultaneously pass the largest tax cut in Tennessee history and improve the state’s transportation infrastructure. His administration right-sized state government while building a customer-centric approach, cut more than $575 million in recurring spending, balanced the budget every year, more than tripled the state’s savings account, and helped the state earn a triple AAA bond rating.

In 2003, Haslam ran successfully for mayor of Knoxville and was overwhelmingly re-elected in 2007. As mayor, he balanced eight consecutive city budgets, tripled the Rainy Day Fund, focused city government on providing services in an efficient manner, helped found key education initiatives, and recruited and retained thousands of jobs to Knoxville.

Since leaving office, Haslam has returned to the private sector and continues to be engaged on many local and national issues. He is currently the Chair of the Wilson Center and serves on the National Board of Directors for Teach for America and Young Life Board. In addition, he is the Co-Chair of the Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy.

Haslam is also the author of Faithful Presence: The Promise and Peril of Faith in the public Square.

Haslam and his wife, Crissy, have been married for 40 years and are blessed with three children and ten grandchildren. 

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Diana Gruver (MA, Gordon-Conwell) writes about discipleship and spiritual formation in the every day. She previously worked as a writer and communications director for Vere Institute, and her work has been featured in Outreach Magazine, Missio Alliance, and Core Christianity. She is the author of Companions in the Darkness: Seven Saints who Struggled with Depression and Doubt. Diana lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and two children. You can find more of her writing and connect with her online at www.dianagruver.com or on Twitter @dianagruver.