KEYNOTE SPEAKER SERIES

Shannon Sedgwick Davis is the CEO of Bridgeway Foundation (http://www.bridgewayfoundation.org/leadership/) a philanthropic organization dedicated to ending and preventing mass atrocities around the world. As an attorney, activist, and passionate advocate for social justice, Ms. Sedgwick Davis has guided Bridgeway Foundation in pioneering solutions to these seemingly intractable issues. More recently, Ms. Sedgwick Davis and the Bridgeway Foundation have been credited for their pivotal role in mobilizing awareness, civilian protection, and recovery efforts against the Lord’s Resistance Army and its leader, Joseph Kony, the first-ever indictee of the International Criminal Court.

In 2015, she received the Global Human Rights Hero award from Saving Innocence.  In 2019, Sedgwick Davis received the distinguished Navy SEAL “Fire in the Gut” Award, and in the same year she was honored at the UNITAS gala. In 2020, Sedgwick Davis delivered the keynote at the Global Girls Summit, where she received their Globally Awesome Girl award

Prior to joining Bridgeway Foundation in 2007, Ms. Sedgwick Davis served as Vice President of Geneva Global, and was the Director of Public Affairs at the International Justice Mission (IJM).

Bob was born and raised in central Massachusetts, just east of our Hume New England campus. After high school, he left for the United States Air Force where he served a 25-year career spanning many states and career opportunities. After retiring from military life, Bob sensed a calling into full-time ministry. This calling brought him and his family to Hume Lake where he joined the team in the summer of 2003. Over the span of his Hume Lake career, Bob held such positions as Grant Writer, Development Manager, Marketing Director, and finally Human Resources Director where he served since 2008. He joined the Joshua Wilderness Institute team in 2016. He understands and respects the roots of the program and loves to walk alongside students who are willing to serve Jesus.

Dave Alford Is Pastor of Leadership Development at Saddleback Church where his team oversees small groups, next steps, interns, and ministries to men, women, and singles. Dave’s background includes experience in business, pastoral ministry, and higher education. He worked as an investment consultant for Mercer Consulting assisting large corporations, public entities, and foundations with their investment strategies.  He served for 10 years as executive pastor and lead pastor at churches in the San Fernando Valley in Southern California helping them transition out of financial challenges and into a renewed vision for mission. He served for 12 years at Vanguard University first as Vice President for Business and Finance, and later as Dean of the School of Business and Management. Dave also writes, coaches, and speaks about leadership. Dave has a Bachelor’s degree from UC Davis, an MBA from USC, and a doctorate from Pepperdine University. Dave and his wife, Molly, live in Irvine. They have three adult children.

Joshua is a self-driven entrepreneur and self-starter who is enthusiastic about building people and helping organizations grow. His networking skills have enabled him to open doors to opportunities from various industries. Josh is a creative person who can adapt to any situation that he encounters.. He gave his time to work with young people as a role model to show them what can result from hard work and character.

Before graduating from college Craig co-founded an adventure camp called Rock-N-Water. He developed and directed this for-profit corporation that served over 100,000 guests with the help of more than 300 employees between 1989 and its sale in 2018. There were no known models similar to this camp at start-up and there are very few in the country today. Rock-N-Water led the camping industry for customer reviews averaging 4.9 of 5 stars, had no fatalities, liability claims or debt. Integral to these accomplishments was the consistency of the camp’s highly reputed staff.   

As this organization grew from a small business into a significant organization, Craig also grew, developing skills in program development, business administration, leadership, management, training, communications, human resources, marketing, and long-term vision.

Melissa Holland serves as the Founder and Director of Awaken. She holds a Master’s degree in Marriage Family Therapy from the University of Nevada, Reno. Melissa started as a counselor offering pro bono services to women affected by commercial sexual exploitation. In 2011 she and Jen Robinson co-founded Awaken, a nonprofit whose mission is to increase awareness and education surrounding the issue of commercial sexual exploitation and to provide housing and restoration for its victims. Melissa believes strongly in responding to God’s call to seek justice for the oppressed and is passionate about uniting local churches and the NV community in the fight to end the sexual exploitation of women and children.

Dr. Andrew DeCort is the founder of the Neighbor-Love Movement. Andrew holds a PhD in Religious and Political Ethics from the University of Chicago. He has served as a lecturer in Ethics at Wheaton College (USA), the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology (Ethiopia), and the University of Bonn (Germany). Andrew is passionate about sacred presence, rigorous learning, and practical service. He is married to Lily Atlaw DeCort and the author of Bonhoeffer’s New Beginning: Ethics after Devastation (Fortress Academic, 2018).

Lisa Birle grew up in Lake Forest, California and has served on multiple teams at Saddleback Church for over 15 years including college ministry and small groups. Currently, Lisa is the Intern Program Minister, overseeing Saddleback’s internship program across nineteen campuses. She is grateful to be able to pour into college students as she was poured into as a new believer in her 20s and has been serving students for 20 years. Her passion is to equip students for the ministry and leadership God has called them to, and to help churches develop effective internship and residency programs. Lisa has a BFA in art history from the University of California–Irvine and a Master of Theological Studies from Gateway Baptist Theological Seminary.