Nicole Barnes

Nicole Barnes has served as the Executive Director of Jericho Road Episcopal Housing Initiative since March 2012. As Executive Director she leads operations and the organization’s major program areas. Ms. Barnes has over twenty-two years of experience as a leader in development, specifically, working to address the needs of public and affordable urban housing. Before joining Jericho Road, Ms. Barnes served as Local Area Director of the Builders of Hope (BOH) New Orleans office where she oversaw organizational operations. Prior to BOH, she served at the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) for seventeen years. During her tenure HANO, she held various leadership roles, including: Vice President of Homeownership Programs, Executive Director of the HANO Resident Loan Corporation, Director for Resident Economic Development Initiatives and HOPE VI Community Supportive Services Program (CSS) Director.

Ms. Barnes serves as Vice Chair for the Board of Governors for the Greater New Orleans Housing Alliance (GNOHA). She is graduate of Xavier University of Louisiana, and holds a Master’s of Public Administration from Southern University of Baton Rouge. Ms. Barnes’ passion for this work comes from her deep love and commitment to the disadvantaged and underrepresented community in New Orleans.

Maria Bautista

Maria Bautista Vargas is the Missioner Associate for Houston Canterbury, where her focus is developing an Episcopal presence at Texas Southern University and San Jacinto Central. Prior to working with Houston Canterbury, Maria was working as a Community Organizer with The Metropolitan Organization (TMO), as well as the Youth Group Coordinator for Epiphany Episcopal Church. Maria was also a teacher assistant at Bethany Methodist Weekday School and a Camp Counselor for City Camp in Philadelphia.

The Rev. Canon Debra Andrew Maconaughey

The Reverend Canon Maconaughey works in the community with children, nonprofits including Independence Cay, and KAIR, and her support of Trinity Cathedral as it undertook a seven-year restoration following damage sustained during Hurricane Wilma.

Reverend Canon Maconaughey chairs the boards of Independence Cay and KAIR and her work with children includes The Hammock House, a recent addition to the St. Columba Campus. The Hammock House offers a variety of activities for children and youth including free after-school programs and summer camps. The Hammock House benefits from the Florida Keys Celtic Festival, founded by St. Columba. The Festival brings the best of Celtic culture, entertainment, food and drink to the Florida Keys and proceeds benefit The Hammock House.

The Rev. Samira Izadi Page

The Rev. Samira Izadi Page is the founder and executive director of Gateway of Grace.

Gateway of Grace is a ministry that mobilizes Episcopal and other churches to bridge sociocultural gaps, and remove the fears, anxieties and spiritual apathy that stand in the way of Christians connecting with refugees. Gateway partners with more than 50 congregations to adopt refugee families upon arrival, and provides job readiness, language and other trainings.

On Wednesday nights, Gateway of Grace hosts Grace Community, providing a space for fellowship, prayer, worship, a meal and Bible study for Christian refugees who fled persecution in their home countries, and Muslim refugees who are interested in learning about Christianity. The community includes refugees from 16 countries — including Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Cameroon, Syria — and six religious backgrounds.

The Rev. Peggy Scott

The Rev. Peggy Scott, Diocesan Program Coordinator for Prison Ministry, helps coordinates and runs theChurch of the Transfiguration, a community of Episcopalians connected in ministry at the Louisiana State Penitentiary (otherwise known as “Angola�). The ministry is sustained by both lay and ordained volunteers, who visit the prison to conduct worship services, teach classes, and most importantly, to make manifest the love of Christ by reaching out to build relationships and show concern for “the least of these� (Matt 25:40).

Cameron Vivanco

Cameron Graham Vivanco is the Co-Founder of Education=Hope, a micro-scholarship program which exists to provide for the education of those in desperate and difficult places (www.educationequalshope.org). Originally from NC, she has been in full time lay ministry for 23 years focusing on the voids that come with poverty, especially in the areas of education and leadership development. E=H started in Quito, Ecuador, where Cameron and her husband and three children serve as SAMS missionaries and has grown from helping one 15 year old girl finish third grade to serve over 2000 students in five countries (Ecuador, Costa Rica, Haiti, Rwanda and Kenya). She also runs Hope on the Ground, a short-term teams program which supports the E=H students and their families. She started ministry in 1995 as the youth coordinator at the Episcopal Church of the Advent, in Spartanburg, SC and has been full time on the mission field for 18 years. She is a graduate of The University of the South, Sewanee, TN and holds a certificate in youth ministry from the Institute for Professional Youth Ministry. Cameron's passion for her work comes from a desire to live out her faith so that students know that Jesus makes life better and makes us better at life.