Cheryl Romanowski has passionately devoted her life to inspiring and uplifting those around her. With a profound journey through diverse spiritual traditions, including Catholicism, Christianity, Nichiren Buddhism, and mystical teachings, she ultimately found her spiritual home in the Baha’i Faith.

A former Division I Volleyball player, Cheryl transitioned into a fulfilling coaching career that spanned over two decades internationally. Since 2019, she has been actively co-facilitating Ruhi study circles and leading an Interfaith curriculum for high school students in collaboration with Humanity Rising, a student-led movement to create a more compassionate and better world through service, showcasing her unwavering commitment to service, education, and spiritual beliefs.

Speaker: Take Heart Now Series

Brandon Vasquez is married to Michelle and they are the parents of four world-changing children. Michelle works in education and is an Assistant Principal for an online charter school. Brandon and his family currently live in North County, San Diego, where he serves as pastor at a local church there, as well as a chaplain for the Sheriff’s Department.

Brandon worked with young people for 17 years before stepping into his current role. He has a deep desire to connect spiritually with those he comes in contact with. He cares deeply for people and seeks to love them exactly as they are.   

Speaker: Take Heart Now Series

Dr. Amir Hussain is Professor of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where he teaches courses on religion. His own particular specialty is the study of Islam, focusing on contemporary Muslim societies in North America. His academic degrees (BSc, MA, PhD) are all from the University of Toronto, where he received a number of awards, including the university’s highest award for alumni service. He served as President of the American Academy of Religion in 2023.

He has a deep commitment to students and holds the distinction of being the only male to serve as Dean of Women at University College, University of Toronto. He was an advisor for the television series The Story of God with Morgan Freeman, and appears regularly on Ancient Aliens, History’s Greatest Mysteries with Laurence Fishburne, Holy Marvels with Dennis Quaid, and The UnXplained with William Shatner. In 2008, he was appointed a fellow of the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities.

The author or editor of seven books and over 60 articles about religion, his latest book, One God and Two Religions, comes out in February 2025 from Fortress Press.

Speaker: Take Heart Now Series
Presenter: Muslims and the Making of America

Jaimie D. Crumley, PhD is an assistant professor of Gender Studies and Ethnic Studies at the University of Utah. She is a Black feminist public historian and intellectual historian who is currently pursuing two research projects. Her public history project examines the social and historical construction of race and religious identity in colonial Boston, Massachusetts. Her monograph-in-progress, We Will Live, is about the theological underpinnings of proto-Black feminist political organizing in eighteenth and nineteenth-century New England. 

Before pursuing her career as an academic, Jaimie served in ordained ministry in the American Baptist tradition. Jaimie holds a Bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College, a Master of Divinity and a Master of Sacred Theology degree from Yale Divinity School, and a PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Speaker: Take Heart Now Online Series