Fall 2020 Cohort Facilitators
The Cohort Experience (our three-year professional development program) is defined by the remarkable contributions of subject area experts who shape our curriculum as content collaborators, facilitators, and mentors. As we head into the Fall Semester of the second year for one of our cohort groups, we wanted to introduce you to some of the amazing facilitators who will be joining us!
| Dr. Pennylyn Dykstra-Pruim serves as the Associate Dean for Diversity & Inclusion at Calvin University. Her current work projects include Intercultural learning, Foreign language pedagogy, Cultural Intelligence Building, and Intergroup Dialogue. Penny has been nationally recognized for Excellence in the Teaching of Culture receiving the ACTFL Nelson Brooks Award in 2013. Her most recent books are Christians and Cultural Difference and Understanding Us & Them: Interpersonal Cultural Intelligence for Community Building. |
| Rev. Troy Denson is the Executive Director of National Collaborative Institute of Leadership and an Executive Minister serving in Conferences and Conventions in the District of Columbia and the Greater D.C. – Baltimore vicinity. He also serves as the Resident Theologian and Associate Minister for Nineteenth Street Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. Rev. Denson is an ordained Baptist Clergy and holds graduate degrees from Howard University, Wesley Theological Seminary, American Public University, and a “Leader of Learners” Certificate from Harvard University. Rev. Dension is a D.Min.-candidate at historic Boston University. Denson’s research and passion centers around leadership in diverse urban communities and in predominantly African American historic churches. |
| Dr. Mark Mulder is the Professor and Department Chair of Sociology at Calvin University. His teaching interests include diversity and inequality in the United States, urban sociology, and qualitative methods. His research Interests urban studies, religion, race, and the concept of “place”. His most recent book is The Glass Church: Robert H. Schuller, the Crystal Cathedral, and the Strain of Megachurch Ministry (Rutgers University Press). |
| Rev. Dr. Mike Park grew up in Seoul, South Korea and moved to the United States in 1985. Dr. Park received an M.Div. and D.Min. at Covenant Seminary. During his time at Covenant Seminary, he founded and pastored The Crossing Church, a multi-ethnic congregation in the suburbs of St. Louis, before moving to Washington, DC, to serve as an associate pastor at Grace DC, Downtown. He also serves as a Guest Lecturer at RTS Washington. He is married to Grace and together they have 4 children and a toy Maltese with identity issues. Mike loves contact sports, riveting books, “good” coffee and, most of all, spending time with his family. |
| Dr. Doris Gomez serves as Dean of the School of Business and Leadership at Regent University. Originally from Austria, she earned her MBA at the University of Economics & Business Administration in Vienna. After several years in the global business world and years of experience in global trade, retail, manufacturing and consulting, she completed her Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership. Her research interests include leadership development in the online environment, online education and student retention, cross-cultural leadership issues, leadership formation, character formation in leaders and the inner life of leaders. |
| Dr. Gerardo Martí is Professor of Sociology at Davidson College. An active scholar, he publishes broadly on race, religion, and social change. His book, The Deconstructed Church: Understanding Emerging Christianity (Oxford University Press), was awarded the 2015 Distinguished Book Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. He is now President-Elect of the Association for the Sociology of Religion, and his most recent book is American Blindspot: Race, Class, Religion, and the Trump Presidency (Rowman & Littlefield).
Dr. Aida Isela Ramos is Associate Professor within the Social Work, Sociology and Criminal Justice Department at The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. Her research focuses on race-ethnicity (identity formation), religion (Latinx religion), education (Latinx and 1st generation student success in Christian higher education). She co-authored the book Latino Protestants in America: Diverse and Growing with Dr. Martí and Dr. Mulder. |