Managing Director for CTCNA

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Felipe Assis was born in Brazil, but was raised between his native country and the United States. He has earned a TH. B from Seminario Presbiteriano do Norte and and M.Div from Reformed Theological Seminary. Felipe has previously founded and pastored two other churches in Recife, Brazil. 

In 2008, at the invitation of Redeemer City to City, Felipe with his wife Beth and their two young daughters moved to Miami to plant Crossbridge Church to serve as a catalyst to a gospel movement in Miami. Beth holds a masters in mental health psychology and international education and deeply compliments Felipe in ministry. Together, they enjoy life in Miami with their four daughters, Ana, Zoe, Camila, and Francesca.

Sr. Movement Strategist and Co-Chair of the MAT for RCTC

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Dennae Pierre is Sr. Movement Strategist and Co-Chair of the MAT for Redeemer City to City. She also serves as the co-Director for Surge Network, CTCNA, and The Crete Collective and lives in downtown Phoenix, AZ.

Dennae has been involved in church planting, community development, immigration reform, and founded Arizona Foster Care Initiatives.  Dennae has her MA from Covenant Theological Seminary and DMin from Western Theological Seminary (Holland, MI) and is the author of Healing Prayers & Meditations to Resist a Violent World. Dennae is married to Vermon, the lead pastor of Roosevelt Community Church and together they have five children.

VP of Thought Leadership

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Abe Cho is the Senior Director of Training with City to City NYC and North America. Cho has more than 20 years of pastoral ministry experience, including 14 years as a pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NY and six years as the Senior Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church East Side. Cho’s leadership also within the Asian American community create opportunities for CTCNA to theologically strengthen the leadership of practitioners in the cities we work. Cho holds an MDiv from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a DMin from Fuller Theological Seminary.

Abe’s gifts as a preacher, teacher, and church leader have shown a proven ability to have deep biblical frameworks that integrate a vision for justice and reconciliation into Christian leadership. His reputation, relational network, character, and theological depth hold significance for us as CTCNA seeks to build multi-ethnic tables with a vision to advance the mission of the church in North America. Abe and his wife Jordyn live with their four children in Manhattan.

North American Senior Director for Thought Leadership and Innovation

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John Onwuchekwa is the North American Senior Director for Thought Leadership and Innovation at Redeemer City to City. He holds a Doctorate of Ministry in Church Leadership and Community Witness from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology with a focus on grief, storytelling, and cultivating virtues. John’s abiding belief is that tragedy doesn’t ruin anyone: hopelessness does.

A former church planter and pastor with sixteen years of practical ministry experience, John brings a wealth of hard-won wisdom to everything he does. As an entrepreneur, speaker, author, and storyteller, he’s committed to bringing beauty into the world by building the best teams on the planet. John lives, works and worships in the Historic West End of Atlanta with his wife Shawndra and daughter Ava.

Admin for North American Thought Leadership

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Imani Swoope works as the admin for North American Thought Leadership. She has worked as an admin in various capacities for two decades, enjoying the role of assisting people and teams in achieving their goals, dreams, and projects. Outside of work, Imani is passionate about social-emotional growth and awareness, helping people recognize they are unique creations of God. She is a loving wife and mother of four, currently residing in Atlanta, GA, but originally from Akron, OH.

Affiliate Relationship Manager (ARM)

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Rachel Ojo, the daughter of Nigerian immigrants, brings over a decade of experience in building collaborative relationships in the nonprofit, government, and philanthropic sectors. After college, she moved to Guadalajara, Mexico where she served as a missionary and co-led campus ministry and outreach across the city. Now Rachel works to strengthen and steward City to City's ecosystem of global leaders by cultivating strong relationships, facilitating dialogue between different perspectives, and synthesizing strategies. 

Rachel’s curiosity for people and their journeys also fuels her passion for stories in film, literature, and the people in her community. In response to 2016’s racial unrest, she founded The Whole Story, a platform that cultivates and celebrates Black narratives. Rachel holds a degree in English Literature from the University of Arizona and resides in Brooklyn, New York with her husband.

Hub Cities Director

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Aaron Dailey is the founder and pastor of Redemption Church Alhambra, part of the multi-congregational fellowship, Redemption Church Arizona. Aaron has been ministering for over two decades in the inner-city Phoenix area, reaching and building a congregation of ethnic and economic diversity with his wife Dana and their five children serving alongside him.

Additionally, Aaron is an Executive Leader for Surge Network, partnering with bi-vocational, inner-city pastors to provide the mentorship and resources they need. He has a heart for reaching the urban unreached, and is gifted in using the creative arts in worship, as well as in communicating the Gospel in ways that connect with people of all walks of life.

Director | Faith & Work

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Kimberly and her family recently moved to Austin from Phoenix, Arizona where Kimberly was a church planter director of operations for Surge Network. Kimberly currently serves as a priest and executive pastor at Church of the Cross Austin. After completing her education in social work at the University of Missouri, Kimberly relocated to Phoenix, where she met her husband Steve.

Before transitioning into full time ministry, Kimberly worked in the field of social work for over a decade serving as therapist, hospice social worker, and working in foster care and adoptions. She completed her MA in Missional Theology through the Missional Training Center and has done work related to faith, work, mercy and justice for Surge Network, Made to Flourish, and other ministries. Kimberly and Steve have a nine year old daughter, Keenan, and they enjoy movies, the outdoors, the arts, and good food.

Senior Catalyst | Latino Initiative

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Robert Guerrero works toward catalyzing church planting networks in key cities of North America and the Hispanic Caribbean.

Born to Dominican parents in New York City, Robert has spent much of his life in both the U.S. and Dominican Republic. He has planted churches in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), Chicago and New York City. Robert was also co-founder of La Red del Camino for Integral Mission in Latin America, committed to inspiring and training churches to live out the gospel holistically with a commitment to justice, compassion and community renewal. He now lives in Miami from where he leads the recently launched Latino Initiative of City to City North America. Robert and his wife Damaris have 4 sons - Joshua, Tomas, Robert Jr and Joel.

Senior Catalyst | African American Initiative

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Efrem Smith is a pastor, consultant, speaker, and author. He is passionate about life transformation, multiethnic development, thriving churches, and community development. As a product of the African American Church, he also serves as a collaborative catalyst for African American Church Planting, Disciple Making, and Urban Empowerment Movements.

Efrem is the Co-lead Pastor of Bayside Church Midtown, a thriving and multi-ethnic community in Sacramento, California. He is also Co-Owner of Influential LLC, a speaking, consulting, and coaching ministry. Efrem is the author of Raising Up Young Heroes, The Hip Hop Church, Jump, The Post-Black and Post-White Church, and Killing Us Softly.

Efrem is a graduate of Saint John's University and Luther Theological Seminary. He completed the Doctor of Ministry degree from Fuller Theological Seminary and received an honorary Doctor of Ministry degree from Ashland Theological Seminary. Efrem is married to Donecia and they have two daughters, Jaeda and Mireya.

Project Director | Compelling Preaching Initiative

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Kristin Parke joined the City to City North America team having unique experience in church planting and in church leadership.

Based in South Florida with her husband and two young children, Kristin enjoys living close to the beach and experiencing the vast amount of beautiful cultures in South Florida.

Kristin is an advocate for authenticity in a modern culture of counterfeit. She enjoys writing and speaking to encourage and equip women to their full God-given potential.

Prior to coming to CTCNA, Kristin has served in marketing for a pregnancy resource center as well as development for a foster care agency serving domestic and international children. She holds an MBA from Florida Atlantic University. Kristin and her husband, Tommy, are parents to Selah and Theo.

Project Manager | Compelling Preaching Initiative

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Isabela Schiavinato is a passionate entrepreneur who loves to serve Jesus by working with her church to see the gospel change the city. She is Brazilian, married to Pedro, and together they are raising their family of 5. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and a MBA from Insper Instituto de Ensino e Pesquisa.

Isabela is constantly investing in her personal development through courses such as “Neuroscience for Business” at MIT and “Positive Psychology” from Stanford. She divides her time between managing her family business, collaborating with The Bridge Movement, and serving at Crossbridge Church in São Paulo.

Operations for CTCNA

Bio Coming Soon

Communications for CTCNA

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Samantha Connour serves as the Communications Lead for CTCNA. She is the owner of Feed the Lake Design, specializing in communications and design work for nonprofits and churches. With a background in church planting and revitalization in Chicago, she recently relocated to Holland, Michigan with her husband and two teens.

Samantha is also a singer-songwriter performing as Lo Sy Lo and Prairie House Hymns, writing about widowhood, love, loss, and apocalyptic hope in a spacey-folksy kind of way.