Rev. Dr. Yvette Pressley is a former pastor of cross-cultural congregations in the United Methodist Church and executive director of The Bridge, an outreach ministry for marginalized communities in Lancaster County, S.C. Currently, she serves as a spiritual formation instructor for the Doctor of Ministry program at Duke Divinity, an instructor in conflict transformation, and the owner of Yvette Pressley Consulting, LLC, an initiative that specializes in facilitating cultural humility teachings toward transformation and reconciliation. 

Pressley’s teaching and practical ministry focus on interracial and intergenerational reconciliation in the body of Christ. As such, she is invited into ecumenical, academic, and community spaces to foster transformational dialogue and action. She is also a certified Family Group Conference facilitator, a South Carolina Supreme Court trained mediator, and sought after conference speaker and preacher. 

Pressley has a B.A. in journalism from the University of South Carolina, an M.A. in theological studies from Erskine Theological Seminary, and a D. Min. from Duke Divinity School. She resides in Fort Mill, S.C. with her husband of 35 years.

Roberta Romano is a migration policy expert and senior researcher with nearly two decades of experience in humanitarian response, displacement policy, and diaspora engagement. She has worked with the International Organization for Migration in Washington, D.C., Albania, and Sudan, and with academic and nonprofit partners in Zimbabwe and Uganda, where she supported communities affected by civil conflict and natural disasters in reconciliation and reconstruction efforts.

She holds a Master of Theological Studies from Duke Divinity School. Her research, writing, and consulting explore the integration of theology, ethics, and politics, with a focus on how mysticism in Christianity and other spiritual traditions can help overcome the divisive thinking of our time and inspire political solutions that foster the flourishing of all creatures. She is particularly interested in nonviolence and in migrants’ welcoming as an ontological necessity, applying spiritual frameworks to migration governance, conflict transformation, and partnership building. She has authored high-impact reports and guidelines on migration crises, diaspora engagement, and humanitarian protection.

An Italian by birth who feels at home as a global citizen, Romano also holds a master's degree in Human Rights and Conflict Management from the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Pisa and a degree in political science from the University of Rome “La Sapienza.” She now lives in North Carolina with her husband and two daughters, where she continues to cultivate spaces and opportunities to co-create peaceful and just communities.

Dr. Wojciech Szczerba is rector of the Evangelical School of Theology in Wrocław, Poland and a scholar of philosophy of religion, patristics, and ecumenism. His research explores universal salvation, human dignity, and interreligious dialogue, bridging historical and contemporary theological discourse. He earned doctorates in patristics (2000) and ancient philosophy (2009) from the University of Wrocław and has studied in Warsaw, Amsterdam, and Leuven.

Szczerba has authored several books and numerous articles on soteriology, ancient philosophy, and Protestant theology. His recent monograph, In Search of Dignity (2025), examines human identity through formative metaphors. He has served as a visiting scholar at Duke University, Union Presbyterian Seminary, and “Aurel Vlaicu” University in Arad, and collaborates with Yale Divinity School and the Von Hügel Institute, Cambridge.

An advocate for ecumenical and interreligious engagement, he chairs the Foundation of Mutual Respect in Wrocław. In 2018, he received Poland’s Silver Cross of Merit. His current research addresses human equity, migration, climate, and technology through the lens of philosophical theology.

Watch a panel discussion with Szczerba, “Christianity in the Age of Anxiety.”