Meet the Team

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Lauren Speeth, PhD

Founder & Director

Educational media expert Lauren Speeth holds PhD and DMin degrees from Bakke Graduate University, and completed her Clinical Pastoral Education at Stanford University Hospitals and Clinics. She brings knowledge gained from a lifetime of work in the Silicon Valley, from the startup to the Fortune 50 levels, to the curation of the resources on this website. An award-winning filmmaker and writer whose documentaries primarily center around hope, Speeth has authored a primer on eMinistry, books and articles on poverty and social entrepreneurship, and a novel. Committed to a vision of peace with justice, Speeth lives out her ecumenism, having served as a member of a healing prayer team at a Methodist church, an elder at a Baptist church, and a Regent at a Catholic college. She is also an External Advisor for The Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality, a Lifetime Member of The Carter Center's Board of Councilors, and a former Trustee of Mills College. A more complete biography is available on www.elfenworksproductions.com.

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Michael Dalling

Graphic Designer

Mike Dalling is a master of 8-bit video games and anything on two wheels. With twenty years of working in commercial arts and design, Mike is always ready to help us shape our vision into reality. This means much more than our beautiful logo and overall look-and-feel; it also means creating apparently simple graphics that convey a great deal of information, seemingly effortlessly. We especially love our S.H.I.P. graphic for our Spiritual-Holistic Inquiry Process, developed in 2011 and brought to life with the new graphic in the Summer of 2013. Most recently, he completely overhauled the look-and-feel of the website when we changed our name from The Center for Nonharming Ministries to NHM Ministrants. We promise never to do that to you again, Mike!

Council of Advisors

Our Council of Advisors is an advisory (non-voting, non-fiduciary) body comprised of distinguished theologians, ministers, and professional and academic leaders. Members share wisdom and provide counsel and recommendations to our Director. Members are invited to serve for a period of three years. In addition to advising the Director on issues relative to tour work, members function as ambassadors to the outside community.

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Dr. Gwendolyn J. Dewey

Director of DTL Programs; VP of International Partnerships; Professor of Theology of Work, Bakke Graduate University

Dr.Gwendolyn Dewey holds a doctorate from the University of Washington in educational policy, governance, and administration, and a Doctor of Ministry from Eastern Baptist theological Seminary in transformational leadership for the global church. She has held the position of Academic Dean at Bakke Graduate University over both the School of Theology and the School of Business, as well as the Director of Doctoral Dissertations, and Administrator of the Theology of Work grant program. She was past President of Bakke Graduate University and teaches in the U.S. and globally. She has experience both in the corporate world and in education (pre-kindergarten through university levels), holding key administrative positions at each level. She served as professor in the graduate educational administration program at Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Washington.

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Gabriel Ehri

Executive Director Friends Journal (Quaker)

Gabriel Ehri is executive director at Friends Publishing Corporation, which publishes the magazine Friends Journal, QuakerSpeak.com, Quaker.org, and the Quakers Today podcast. A member of Green Street Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, he is an active volunteer, reader, home cook, birder, and dad. He serves as chair of the Friends Life Care Partners board and clerk of Green Street Meeting, and as a board member of the Anna T. Jeanes Foundation, Greene Street Friends School, and the Corporation of Haverford College. He lives in Philadelphia.

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Rev. Dr. James (Jim) Keck

Senior Minister First Plymouth Congregational Church

Rev. Dr. Jim Keck was born in Des Moines, Iowa, and started heading west for undergraduate study at the University of Colorado, Boulder and graduate study in Berkeley. He received his Doctorate of Ministry from Andover Newton Seminary and was ordained in the United Church of Christ in 1990. In 1993, after serving churches in Berkeley and Corona Del Mar, California, he became the Sr. Minister of the West Concord Union Church, in MassachusettsIn 1999 he became the Sr. Minister at the Congregational Church of San Mateo, California. He also served as an adjunct faculty member at Pacific School of Religion; as president of the Peninsula Clergy Network which links 400 clergy with other area civic leaders; and as a board member of the Mission Hospice of San Mateo County. He has also served as a guest lecturer at Tufts University, Andover Newton Theological School, American Baptist School and Pacific School of Religion, as well as a keynote speaker for numerous denominational events. Rev. Keck and his wife Karen Taylor have two young children. When not at church he loves to play golf, basketball, handball, tennis, or just about any sport.




Past Advisors

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Brother Camillus Chavez, F.S.C., Ph.D.

June 14, 1929 - May 31, 2023

Professor Saint Mary's College of California Brother Camillus Chavez held a B.A. in philosophy, an M.S. in Spanish and Latin-American literature, a second M.A., in theology, and a Ph.D. in clinical and social psychology. A member of the faculty at St. Mary's College of California from 1975, he was the recipient of the Alumni Association's highest honor – the St. John Baptiste de la Salle award – in 2000. Br. Camillus approached psychological material from a spiritual perspective because, "I've found that psychological problems often indicate a need to move forward in one's spiritual development. The key to that development is the interior life."

Contemplative practice reminds us we are in the presence of a God who loves us with an overwhelming love. This is a Lasallian heritage; in the Rule of the Brothers, the most important exercise of the day is interior prayer.

We're always looking for fellow Ministrants!

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