Melak Hailu is a lawyer currently working as a Government Relation and Legal Coordinator at World Vision International in Addis Ababa. He seeks to practice public theology by being a voice of peace, reconciliation, humility, and hope on social media platforms. In his coaching work, he helps youth wrestle with questions of who God is, who we are as fellow humans, what it means to love God and our neighbors as ourselves, how to attain a flourishing life, and what the Kingdom of God is here and now. He aspires to be part of a church community where the authentic Christ is at the center and people experience rehumanization.

Robel C. Disasa is the former national director of the Evangelical Students Union of Ethiopia where he oversaw programming on 176 campuses with 50,000 students. Robel seeks to practice public theology in his speaking ministry, by coaching people with a desire for prophetic ministry, and researching and engaging communities experiencing marginalization and injustice in Ethiopia. 

Tizita Seifu works for Aids Healthcare Foundation in Addis Ababa. She is an emerging writer with a passion for human dignity. She seeks to practice public theology by speaking and writing boldly about injustice, critiquing oppressive church-state relationships, and advocating for the rights of women in the face of violence. 

Beky (Biruktawit) Girma is a student of peace and sustainable development at the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology. She is also a program coordinator with the Institute for Community Transformation. She is discerning her practice of public theology with a deep commitment to active listening, clear communication and attention to nonverbal communication, empathy, and the healing of the heart. 

Amen Temesgen is an entrepreneur who founded BeNu Foods and trains other emerging entrepreneurs based in Addis Ababa and Kigali. He is an optimist for the future of Ethiopian youth. He seeks to practice public theology by asking questions with humility, embracing complexity and uncertainty, and building new community through telling alternative stories of the poor and oppressed. He is passionate about exalting the the disparaged, nonviolent, nonnationalist, and radical disciple-making Jesus in Ethiopia.

Pomy Hailu Legesse is a writer and recent graduate from the Media, Communication, and Development masters program at the London School of Economics in London, England. She is passionate about women’s rights. She seeks to practice public theology by choosing empathy over certainty, creating spaces where people feel safe to bring their whole selves and questions matter just as much as answers, and staying in conversations where it’d be easier to walk away. She sees public theology less as something to preach and more as a way to stay engaged with the world’s pain and beauty, asking how we can move toward justice, compassion, and hope even across differences.   

Fasika Amdeslasie Gebrekirkos is a physician at Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital in Mekelle, Tigray. He writes, “We’re left with a devastated and divided country and region. It seems everyone needs to be involved to help restore everything.” He seeks to practice public theology through his medical work, discerning God’s will, and speaking courageously in the face of injustice. 

Hasset Hailu is a recent graduate in theology and peace from the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Indiana. She seeks to practice public theology by living out Jesus’ love, standing with the marginalized, and speaking up for women and the oppressed in her social media platforms, writing, and research. She is passionate about living her faith to challenge injustice, build peace, and promote love and dignity for all.  

Yared Donis  is a lawyer who is passionate about theology. He seeks to practice public theology through prayer’s cultivation of strength, discernment, and creativity for responding to injustice and participating in creative resistance to evil. He enjoyrs reading and writing about public theology and is looking for ways incorporate it in the local church context.

Emnetab Ayele is a passionate theology teacher based in Addis Ababa. He writes, “Interest in theology is almost an inborn reality in me. My every major life step is connected with theology, in one or other ways.” He seeks to practice public theology through his teaching, speaking, writing, and relationships characterized by curiosity, listening, and emotional intelligence. 

Naol Befkadu is a medical doctor based in Kenya. He wrote an open letter published in The Africa Report where he critiqued Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s leadership, describing him as morally unfit to govern Ethiopia; he also contributes regularly to theological platforms such as Hintset, HornTheology, and the “As You Go” journal. He seeks to do his work with empathy, courage, and nuanced clarity. 

Nahom A. Jemberu is an IT professional and lecturer in New Testament and Theology at Shiloh Theological Seminary in Ethiopia. He writes, “I dream of a country where we no longer stomach the sight of children begging in the streets; where war does not erupt overnight, leaving destruction in its wake. I envision a society where faith communities lead courageously and offer counter-cultural alternatives.” He seeks to practice public theology by faithfully communicating the historical, theological, and exegetical dimensions of the New Testament with focused attention to its societal implications and moral vision.    

Yeabsera Adinew is a staff worker at the Evangelical Student Union of Ethiopia. She writes, “Justice, equality and human dignity are issues that run through my mind a lot. While thinking these things in Ethiopian context it gives me heartache.” In her work with Ethiopian university students, she seeks to practice public theology with a posture of authenticity, active listening, and respect for differences of opinion. 

Feven Moges is a medical doctor based in Addis Ababa. She writes, “I want to learn the married life of faith and social responsibility revealed in justice and human dignity.” She seeks to practice public theology by noticing more, asking more, and doing less. She aspires for her action to emanate from love and who she is as a human being as she learns and meditates on the life of Jesus.  

Obse Mekonnen is a radiologist and volunteer staff in the Evangelical Student Union of Ethiopia’s Center for Social Transformation. She writes, “I envision an Ethiopia whose church services, government policies, and political and theological ideologies are truly human centered, where humans are not mere footnotes in the larger schema of things, a habitat where its citizens can truly flourish.” She seeks to practice public theology by looking at the faces of the people society often ignores and asking hard questions; researching and writing about human equality, justice, and feminist theology; and cultivating relationships with like-minded people in which honesty, grief, and passion for gender justice are welcome.  

Sara A. Kedir is a PhD student in theology at Ultrecht University in Ultrecht, Netherlands. She formerly worked at the Center for Social Transformation with the Evangelical Student Union of Ethiopia. She seeks to practice public theology by cultivating a community of encouragement and practice, researching and writing, exploring multimedia production, and organizing intentional action. 

Geleta Tesfaye Berisso is a PhD student in theology and peace at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. He previously headed the youth division of the Ethiopian Hiwot Berhan Church, taught theology, and coordinated national dialogue facilitation projects in the wake of Ethiopia’s 2020-2022 Civil War. He seeks to practice public theology by being a persistent interrogator of power in religious institutions and the wider society, actively cultivating spaces of radical hospitality and dissenting dialogue with those whose voices are marginalized or silenced, and embracing the inherent ambiguity and risk of public engagement while refusing the temptation of easy answers or definitive solutions.