Meet the Staff & Volunteer Team
Karyn is a Co-Executive Director of Creation Justice Ministries. She has served as the policy advisor and project manager as well policy analyst and research analyst at Bread for the World, focusing on the intersections of climate change, food security and racial equity. She is a steering committee member of the American Baptist Churches’ Creation Justice Network. She earned her Master in Divinity from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, where she sat on the Board of Directors, and her undergraduate degree in social relations and policy from Michigan State University. She is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Global Food Security and Nutrition focusing her studies and research on sustainability. She has published numerous articles on topics such as environmental racism and climate change.
Avery is a Co-Executive Director of Creation Justice Ministries. He is an activist, ecologist, and public theologian working at the intersection of Christianity and environmental justice. Avery has a background in both ecological research and faith-based environmental organizing, studying ecology in various ecosystems and organizing faith communities across the country in support of action on environmental justice. Previously he has worked for Sojourners and Interfaith Power & Light. He serves on the board for The Center for Spirituality in Nature and is a Fellow with the Re:Generate Program at Wake Forest Divinity School and the Foundations of Christian Leadership Program at Duke Divinity School.
Currently, Avery is at Duke University pursuing a Master of Environmental Management in Ecosystem Science & Conservation and a Master of Theological Studies, with certificates in Faith, Food & Environmental Justice and Community-Based Environmental Management. His research focuses on the role of religious communities in building climate resilience and adaptation, with emphasis on the virtue of “climate hospitality.”
Currently, Avery is at Duke University pursuing a Master of Environmental Management in Ecosystem Science & Conservation and a Master of Theological Studies, with certificates in Faith, Food & Environmental Justice and Community-Based Environmental Management. His research focuses on the role of religious communities in building climate resilience and adaptation, with emphasis on the virtue of “climate hospitality.”
Helen is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University with a degree in International Relations. She has worked for the National Religious Partnership for the Environment and was the preliminary editor for Journey to Transformation 2020 Lenten Study by Bishop Sharma D. Lewis. Helen has been an international volunteer building churches, schools and clinics. She has been active in the United Methodist Church throughout her life, serving as Chair of Trustees and a member of the Finance and Administrative Council, the Rappahannock River District Board of Connectional Ministries, and the Virginia Conference Communications Board.
Helen grew up exploring nature & learning how to garden, recycle and compost with her parents. She has a deep passion and reverence for God's creation and is elated that she gets to spend her time with Creation Justice Ministries sharing that passion with others and advocating for this incredible earth. Helen enjoys being out in nature, growing her many houseplants, and reading spy novels.
Helen grew up exploring nature & learning how to garden, recycle and compost with her parents. She has a deep passion and reverence for God's creation and is elated that she gets to spend her time with Creation Justice Ministries sharing that passion with others and advocating for this incredible earth. Helen enjoys being out in nature, growing her many houseplants, and reading spy novels.
Silas is a Creation Justice Fellow volunteering for the Church of the Brethren. Originally from Germany his activism is centered in political and environmental topics, especially renewable energy. He has a fundamentally peace desiring mentality and endorses a faith-based solution-oriented work manner. Like in a democracy he is certain that the willingness to compromise is one of the most important tools one can use to enact on actual creation and thus featuring future protection - he thinks it is always better to move at all than to stand still out of stubbornness. Now in D.C. he is glad to be close to the federal decision making even with the little influx he will have on the overall system. He likes to read, learn about history, come in touch with different cultures and stay educated about political and societal news.
Clara is a Creation Justice Fellow, volunteering for the Church of the Brethren and will stay in Washington DC for one year. She is very interested in topics like environmental and animal protection and pursued these already in her time in Germany and even in this short period of time she had been in the States, Clara saw many differences concerning these topics. Clara enjoys spending time outside and to get in touch with new cultures and people and their way of seeing the world in a political and religious orientated way.
Katerina is a Mennonite pastor and educator who lives on Yokuts land in Fresno, California. Her work and ministry are inspired by Jesus' call to Jubilee justice and healing. She organizes for Indigenous solidarity with the Anabaptist Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery Coalition and works with incarcerated people in CA state prisons to grow healing gardens behind bars through the Insight Garden Program. Katerina loves writing poetry, hiking in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and learning the names of birds, plants and animals.
Gabrielle is serving as the Blue Theology Fellow for Creation Justice Ministries. In love with Christ and creation, she focuses on the intersection of ocean conservation and Christianity. Gabrielle graduated from the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine, where she studied marine biology, environmental education, and theology. She is living in Pacific Grove, California while she works with the Blue Theology Mission Station & the Christian Church of Pacific Grove. She can often be found knee-deep in the intertidal or admiring the local sea lion population.
Langston Alexander is a second-year masters student at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment. His studies focus on how communities understand their risk and vulnerability to climate impacts and utilize their strengths to plan for a resilient future. Prior to Duke, Langston worked in Durham, NC to reduce plastic waste from restaurants and in Anchorage, AK supporting a salmon habitat restoration program. This summer he is excited to be working with Creation Justice Ministries to organize workshops for faith communities on building climate resilience and creating an asset guide to map the resilience work being done in NC.
Andrea "Danny" Folds has been volunteering for Creation Justice Ministries since 2016 and is amazed at how much their small but mighty team accomplishes. Originally from Atlanta, Andrea's studies and work have taken her from New York to Nashville, Montreal to Mexico, and now to Washington, D.C., where she lives with her partner. She is proud to serve as legislative counsel for oceans at Earthjustice, and in her spare time, she enjoys staring at trees for as long as is socially acceptable.
