RECONCILIATION - Key Persons
Joy Drake is a designer, developer, digital marketer, author, and speaker. She is also our Marketing Directer. Over her 18 year career Joy has worked with TGIFridays, Texas Roadhouse, dozens of John Maxwell coaches, and hundreds of churches and businesses across the US. Joy spent eight years as a Communications Director for a local church. She is currently the Digital Strategist for Noonday Association, helping leverage digital for the Kingdom. In her free time, Joy loves hanging with her family, little league baseball, and coffee dates with friends.
Katie is an aspiring Peacemaker, who believes the gospel without justice is incomplete. Inspired by the words of Osheta Moore, Austin Channing Brown, and Sarah Bessey, she believes the best way to call the Church to a higher standard in its antiracism journey is from within.
Her deep love of the global Church comes from over 20 years of ministry that includes leading women's ministries and creating multi-generational mentoring programs. Katie desires to speak with the imagination of a prophet and envisions the Church the way it could truly be - messy, but present. Willing, humble, and filled with radical empathy.
Katie has a Masters of Arts in Ministry with an emphasis in Racial Trauma, Intervention, and Justice from Richmont Graduate University. Katie and her amazing husband of sixteen years have three wonderfully weird and messy kids, a dog named Rosie, and a bearded dragon named Frank.
After receiving a master's in journalism at Florida A&M University, Laura Janelle Downey landed in NYC as a reporter for PEOPLE. Since then, she's been a fashion/entertainment editor, a magazine journalism professor, managing editor of 944 Las Vegas and Vegas/Rated magazines, as well as Atlanta Best Media's eight publications, and ForbesTravelGuide.com. Laura J. is currently the executive editor of WebMD's magazine and its point-of-care products. The 43-year-old is currently working on a Master of Arts in Ministry.
Melissa Gonzalez is currently a Retail Associate Relations Specialist for Publix Supermarkets. Before her position in Human Resources, she facilitated leadership and diversity classes for retail management for four years and held retail customer service positions for six years prior. Melissahas a double degree in Criminology and International Affairs with minors in Spanish, Social Work, Sociology, Psychology, and Hospitality from Florida State University. Relatively new to Georgia, Melissa loves to try out new restaurants and go on adventures. In her free time, Melissa enjoys breaking out of escape rooms, dog sitting, and spending time with her friends.
Patience Regular is a wife and mother to three beautiful daughters and one amazing son. She has worked passionately as a teacher for many years in private school education. She has a desire for speaking and blogging, where she presents her views and beliefs in a creative way for her audience.
Todd Graham is a writer, speaker, and Family Pastor. He oversees preschool, kids, married people, and groups. His one career goal is to help encourage strong marriages & to help parents build strong families. Todd is married to a California girl, Trina & they have 3 hilarious children. One in college, one in high school, & one in middle school. They are a very tight-knit family that spends most evenings together & they all serve in some area at the church. Todd is an ultra-distance runner, traveler, day hiker, & lover of books & movies.