Program

Alejandra Ortiz strives to help students live out their faith in every aspect of life and use their studies to serve their communities. She and her family are active in a church that serves as a shelter for migrants and refugees in Tijuana, Mexico. Alejandra is part of the Engaging the University Global Team for International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) and serves as IFES Co-Coordinator of the Logos and Cosmos Initiative in Latin America. 

Alexia Salvatierra’s life experiences—including urban community development and multicultural pastoral leadership—have put her in a place to learn from what she calls the vibrant resilience of marginalized Christian communities. For the past 20 years, she has been training ministries around the world in how to contribute their unique gifts and resources to God’s broader mission. She is the Academic Dean of Centro Latino and an Associate Professor of Integral Mission and Global Transformation at Fuller Theological Seminary, in addition to being a pastor and author. 

Michele Lee’s expertise in understanding the impacts of trauma on the individual and the collective was shaped by her personal experience with 9/11, as it was the first day of her Ph.D. psychology internship at New York University. Michele has a long history of providing services for those who are vulnerable and have experienced trauma, first as a provider of mental health services and now through her service with International Justice Mission (IJM), a global organization partnering with local justice systems to end violence against people living in poverty.  She also is a board member for Compassion International.

Prashan De Visser is the Founder and President of Sri Lanka Unites, a youth movement for hope and reconciliation, in his home country of Sri Lanka. He is also the Founder and President of Global Unites, an international youth movement for transforming conflict, with established and emerging movements in 13 countries across the world, including the U.S. These movements collectively engage nearly half a million youth across the world each year.

As Founder and President of Pastors Discipleship Network (PDN), Dr. Richmond Wandera is on a mission: seeing pastors equipped and shepherded in missions across Africa. Having grown up in one of Uganda’s worst slums, Richmond sees his life as a testimony to the power of justice, believing that if Compassion International hadn’t intervened, he would’ve lost his life as a boy. Richmond is also the Senior Pastor of New Life Church planted in the heart of the toughest East Kampala community, Kireka. His heart for his community led him to found Twezimbe Africa — a ministry for school dropouts, teenage mothers, and at-risk youth.

Rev. Dr. James Choung serves as Vice President of Strategy & Innovation — overseeing evangelism, discipleship, planting, growth, missions, multiethnic initiatives, and the Creative Labs — at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA. He is also ordained with Vineyard USA and has written three books, the latest being “Longing for Revival.” James recently taught a doctoral course on evangelism at Fuller Theological Seminary. He’s led worship at various national conferences, including Urbana, and serves on boards for higher education and overseas for-profit and nonprofit startups.

Ruth Hubbard serves as Urbana’s Vice President for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/ USA — the first woman to serve in this role. Inspired by Urbana 2000, Ruth transitioned from being a high school teacher into serving through missions. She started as a graphic designer with Wycliffe Bible Translators and eventually served as their Director of Integrated Marketing and Vice President of Communications before becoming a Senior Vice President in 2006 and then Chief Brand Officer in 2012.

Serving as InterVarsity’s Vice President of Spiritual Foundations, Jason Jensen loves helping others develop in the areas of theology, Scripture engagement, spiritual formation, and prayer. He has previously served InterVarsity through campus ministry at Berkeley, various management roles in the San Francisco Bay Area, oversight of ministries across the Western U.S., and five years directing InterVarsity’s national initiative on discipleship. He and his wife hope to return to Spain soon to finish their one missing section of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage.

Dr. Michael Young-Suk Oh is the Executive Director/CEO of the Lausanne Movement. Lausanne, founded in 1974 by Dr. Billy Graham and Rev. John Stott, has played a unique role in helping convene the leaders of the global Church and guide strategy for global missions.  Michael is of Korean descent, born in America. He received his B.A., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Pennsylvania. He also completed an M.Div. at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School as well as an M.A. in Regional Studies, East Asia, at Harvard University. Michael, his wife, and their five children served as missionaries in Japan for over 10 years.