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The Rev. Dr. James Gertmenian was raised in Southern California and received degrees from Oberlin College (Ohio) and Union Theological Seminary (New York City). Ordained by the United Church of Christ, he served a rural parish in upstate New York (where he was a co-pastor with his wife), founded a new church development in Danbury, Connecticut, and led an historic parish in Weston, Connecticut before becoming Senior Minister of Plymouth Congregational Church in downtown Minneapolis, MN. In that role from 1996 until 2015, Gertmenian was heavily involved in combatting homelessness, and he was a co-founder of Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative which, by 2022 had built over $150 million in housing for low-income, disabled, and formerly homeless individuals and families. He co-chaired, with Minneapolis’ mayor, an 80-person commission to devise a 10-year plan for ending homelessness in Hennepin County, MN. Gertmenian also led his congregation to take an active role in efforts that contributed to the acceptance by Minnesota’s voters of marriage equality for LGBTQ people. He devoted himself to support of young, progressive clergy around the country, establishing an annual Emerging Leaders Institute held in Minnesota. He received the Lawrence Gibson Social Justice Award from the from Minnesota’s Joint Religious Legislative Coalition and the Interfaith Leadership Award from Temple Israel in Minneapolis.

Rev. Gertmenian has received honorary doctorates from United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities and Piedmont College in Georgia. He is a hymn writer whose works appear in various denominational and independent hymnals and composed a choral anthem published by Mark Foster press.

In addition to his work with the FPL Board, Rev. Gertmenian serves on the Board of The BTS Center (successor organization to Bangor Theological Seminary), the Board of the Cranberry Isles Realty Trust (providing affordable housing on the Maine islands), and is President of the Gertmenian Family Foundation (serving Armenians in the Middle East). He has worked on several projects providing support for young, progressive faith leaders of several traditions.

He is married to Susan Deborah King, a poet, teacher, and retreat leader. The two are parents to twin daughters, Emily, an elementary school teacher, wife, and mother in San Francisco, and Enid, a psychotherapist in New York City. The family are summer residents of Great Cranberry Island, Maine.

Julia Rosen is a leading progressive digital and fundraising strategist and currently works as the Digital Strategy and Analytics Director at GPS Strategy with GPS Impact. An experienced leader in marketing at the intersection of political change and technology, Julia has worked to grow, engage and organize multi-channel audiences towards activism in both the issue and electoral realms for over a decade. Prior to GPS, Julia served as the Director of Marketing for the progressive digital fundraising giant ActBlue where she oversaw all outgoing mass communication and managed a team of designers, content creators and analysts. Her leadership contributed to a dramatic increase in ActBlue’s email fundraising program, which doubled cycle over cycle.

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Prior to that, Julia served as a Campaign Director for MoveOn.org where she managed a wide variety of issue campaigns, directed email communications to MoveOn.org’s seven million members, and worked with partner organizations to mobilize volunteers during the 2012 election cycle.

Earlier in her career, she held digital leadership positions at the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and several California-based advocacy and nonprofit organizations including the Courage Campaign, California’s largest online progressive organization.

Julia is a board member at the Equality Federation and has conducted trainings for the New Organizing Institute, training organizers in digital organizing best practices.

She believes deeply in building and nurturing diverse talent, and brings a strong network of colleagues, allies, organizers, and friends to all of her endeavors.

Acacia Bamberg Salatti is a leading voice on the issues of health equity, public health engagement, and community stakeholder outreach.

Acacia is a highly connected strategist working at the intersection of public policy, politics, advocacy, and healthcare. Her extensive network, her ability to convene crucial conversations among some of the country’s most powerful leaders, and her knowledge of public policy has made her a highly trusted policy advisor. Acacia’s diplomacy and work ethic have earned her reputation as a strategic manager.

She served as Director of the Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships in the Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). As Director, she was responsible for furthering the priorities, mission, and goals of HHS and the White House concerning public health engagement. While at HHS, Acacia served as a highly visible face of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) external outreach. As one of HHS’ most requested surrogates on President Obama’s healthcare legislation, she delivered hundreds of presentations and media interviews across the country educating stakeholders on the law and its benefits.

Before HHS, Acacia served six years in the office of South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn, eventually assuming the position of Staff Director on the House Democratic Faith Working Group which Rep. Clyburn chairs. In addition to advising on policy, she most notably helped to increase Clyburn’s and the Democratic Caucus’ footprint and relationships among faith leaders. Her expertise helped to shift the conversations on what constitutes a faith issue, broadening the understanding to include food insecurity, healthcare, and immigration beyond the traditional issues of abortion and gay marriage.

She also served as the Chief of Staff for Congressman Jahana Hayes (CT-05), a Freshmen member of Congress.

Cristina Uribe is a veteran political strategist and organizer, with over two decades of experience working at the intersection of advocacy and politics.

She has held senior management roles at several organizations, serving as the California Director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (BISC), Senior Advisor for Strategic Initiatives at the National Education Association (NEA), the Western Regional Director of EMILY’s List, and Political Director for the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council.

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Throughout her career Cristina has worked to drive policy and political change at the local, state, and national level, working with some of the most successful organizations and political campaigns in dozens of states across the country. She is recognized for her ability to build and manage large, diverse coalitions and organize communities in support of successful statewide and local ballot, policy, and legislative campaigns. She has also trained thousands of candidates, staff, and organizers through partnerships with Wellstone Action, EMILY’s List, and EMERGE.
 

As a consultant, Cristina specializes in providing strategic counsel and project management to a wide range of clients. In that role she delivers political guidance to major institutions and foundations on civic engagement strategies and investments. She also works with labor unions, non-profits, and advocacy organizations to develop plans and implement strategies that include coalition building, communications, research, facilitation, and training.
 
Cristina is a proud Bay Area native and lives in Oakland, CA. When not working, she can be found running Lake Merritt or at the Coliseum rooting on her beloved A’s. She currently serves as Vice-Chair of the CA League of Conservation Voters, as a board member of the Health Access Foundation. She previously served as a board member of EMILY’s List, the Latino Engagement Fund, ProgressNow, Planned Parenthood Mar-Monte, and on the Advisory Committee of the Ascend Fund.