RESET: Women,
Work, & Calling 2021

Jo Saxton is an author, speaker, podcast host, and leadership coach. She has dedicated her career to growing leadership teams around the world and empowering women to find their purpose in their personal lives and in leadership.   Born in London to parents who immigrated from Nigeria, Jo credits her family’s unrelenting work ethic and the grace of God for the bold, tenacious approach she takes to sharing her wisdom on identity, influence, and living an authentic life. She is characterized by her effervescent honesty and warm approachability, leaving audiences with practical next steps in areas that are usually a bit ambiguous. In her latest book, Ready to Rise: Own Your Voice, Gather Your Community, Step into Your Influence, Jo tackles the real life issues women face — workplace harassment, sexism, low self esteem, financial woes, power battles, and old wounds — to help move women beyond disempowerment and together to grow their grit. While providing meaningful wisdom from her own journey to leadership, Jo also adds stories of empowered women from the Bible. Readers will be empowering to change their landscape and build new communities where diverse female leadership can flourish.   Her previous book, More than Enchanting: Breaking Through Barriers to Influence Your World, discusses the role of women in church and society. While her book, The Dream of You: Let Go of Broken Identities and Live the Life You Were Made For helps readers address their past, accept their identity, and learn how to create a legacy they want. In addition to work as an author, Jo has also spearheaded an initiative aimed to help women grow their leadership skills.    Jo lives in Minneapolis with her husband, Chris, and their two daughters.

Melissa Russell serves as the Regional President, North American Chair, for International Justice Mission, a global organization striving to protect people in poverty from violence. She joined the company in 2008 as the Director of Development and has since served in increasingly senior leadership roles, culminating in her current position. As regional president, Melissa leads the strategy teams responsible for IJM’s constituent, government, and corporate partnerships.

Stephanie Summers is the CEO of the Center for Public Justice, a Christian, independent, non-partisan civic education and public policy organization based in Washington, D.C. She also serves as a Trustee of Eastern University, where she received an M.S. in Nonprofit Management. As a speaker, moderator, and writer, Stephanie’s work has appeared in publications such as Comment and Q Ideas. She is also a co-author of Unleashing Opportunity: Why Escaping Poverty Requires a Shared Vision of Justice (Falls City Press). Stephanie is also a recipient of the inaugural Duke Divinity Reflective Leadership award.

Katie Macc holds degrees in Physics & Economics from the University of Virginia. Early in her career, she served with HOPE International, working in several key roles including three years as the Director of Development in the US and Director of Operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Katie is a co-founder of Juntos Global, a financial technology firm designed to improve communications between banks and consumers in emerging markets. She also serves as the Investment Director for the David Weekley Family Foundation, a faith-based organization supporting and investing in organizations that promote human flourishing.

Charisse Jones holds a Master’s of Divinity in Leadership from Asbury Theological Seminary where she also served as the Co-Director for the Office of Faith, Work, and Economics for five years. In 2019, Charisse founded Grace & Grit Unlimited, LLC, a community offering content, coaching, and strategic relationships to help women live in the freedom they crave while doing something they love--with impact.

Lisa Slayton is Founding Partner and CEO of Tamim Partners, LLC, an advising agency dedicated to guiding leaders and their teams in their mission to serve their communities for the common good. Lisa is a Board Director for Made to Flourish, and Leadership Foundations, serving in an additional capacity as a Senior Innovation Fellow for the CCIC. She is also a certified coach for Designing Your Life, serving others in their exploration of work and calling. Lisa attended Mount Holyoke College and Bakke Graduate University and holds an M.A. in Social and Civic Entrepreneurship.

Denise Daniels is an accomplished scholar and professor currently serving as the Hudson T. Harrison Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship in the Department of Business and Economics at Wheaton College. Her research has focused on the role of faith and ethics in the workplace, organizational behavior, and the theology of work. Her writing has been featured in several prominent, peer-reviewed publications, including Journal of Markets and Morality, Christian Business Review, Journal of Religion and Business Ethics, among others. In addition, Denise is the recipient of a multi-million dollar grant from the Lilly Foundation to study faith and the workplace and published Working in the Presence of God: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Work with Sharon Vandewarker in 2019.

Dr. Megan DeVore holds a Ph.D. in Theology, specializing in Early Christianity from the University of Wales. Dr. DeVore currently serves as Professor of Church History & Early Christian Studies at Colorado Christian University. She has published works in several prominent journals such as the Studia Patristica, and Classical Outlook, and is a member of several professional societies including North American Patristics Society Society and the American Society Church History.

Makisha Boothe is Founder and Head Business Coach of Sistahbiz Global Network, a business accelerator for Black women entrepreneurs. Sistahbiz Global Network helps Black women solopreneurs and microbusinesses build scalable, sellable businesses. As a rapid improvement coach, Makisha helps small businesses rethink their revenue strategies, brands, systems, resource allocation, and human capital strategies.

Sarah Lampard is the Founder and CEO of Avalue Insurance. After working in strategic sales accounts at the Xerox Corporation for 24 years, she became an agent and owner of the Lampard Agency with American Family Insurance. Then, in 2010 Sarah developed and launched a specialized independent agency, Avalue Insurance. Sarah also serves as a committee member and ambassador for the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce. She holds a B.A. in Business from Valparaiso University.

As the former editor for two of 5280 Magazine’s ancillary publications, Hilary split her time between the vibrant design-and- architecture scene in the metro area for the quarterly 5280 Home and the always-changing field of health for the annual 5280 Health. In addition to contributing to 5280, she has written for national and regional publications including Consumer Reports Health, The Chicago Tribune, and Mountain Living. In 2012, Penguin Publishing released her full revision of Loren Pope’s Colleges That Change Lives, which lauds the value of liberal arts education in the 21st century. Oswald holds a BA in English literature and composition, magna cum laude, from Davidson College and a master’s in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School.

She serves as the ministry content coordinator for Women & Work, where she helps to create and promote content that encourages and inspires women to use their gifts for the advancement of the kingdom. Courtney Powell holds a BA in music with an emphasis in Christian studies from Union University and a MA in church ministry from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.She lives with her husband and two daughters in Denver, where her husband serves on staff at Storyline Fellowship.

Merritt Onsa is a writer and the host of The Devoted Dreamers Podcast. With a background in social science and education (B.A. Social Science from UC Irvine and M.A. in Education from Seattle University), Merritt’s mission is to help Christian women pursue the calling God has placed upon their hearts. Every week, she interviews and shares the stories of amazing women who are leaning into fear, fighting insecurity, and saying no to comparison so that they can live out their God-given purpose. As an entrepreneur she helps other thought leaders launch their own podcasts through the Your Purposeful Podcast training program.

Joanna serves as Denver Institute’s Director of Public Engagement, hosts the Faith & Work Podcast, and founded Women, Work, & Calling, a national initiative that disciples women for godly influence in public life. Prior to coming to the Institute, Joanna worked in global telecom, nonprofit consulting, and campus ministry with Cru. She served as associate faculty at Denver Seminary and as a sewing instructor at Fancy Tiger Crafts. A third-generation Coloradan, Joanna appreciates both the state’s innovative culture and its cowboy roots. She has an MA in Social Entrepreneurship from Bakke Graduate University and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She also completed a certificate of Women in Leadership through Cornell University. She is the author of Women, Work, & Calling: Step Into Your Place in God's World (IVP, Fall 2023) and is a contributor to the multi-author book, Women & Work: Bearing God’s Image and Joining in His Mission through our Work (B&H Publishing, Spring 2023).