Jesuit Father Gregory Boyle is the founder of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, the largest gang-intervention, rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Father Boyle served as pastor of Dolores Mission Church in Boyle Heights from 1986 to 1992. Dolores Mission was the poorest parish in Los Angeles that also had the highest concentration of gang activity in the city.

Father Boyle witnessed the devastating impact of gang violence on his community during the so-called “decade of death” that began in the late 1980s and peaked at 1,000 gang-related killings in 1992. He and parish and community members adopted what was a radical approach at the time: treat gang members as human beings.

In 1988, they started what would eventually become Homeboy Industries, which employs and trains former gang members in a range of social enterprises, and provides critical services to thousands of men and women seeking better lives

Father Boyle is the author of the 2010 New York Times-bestseller, “Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion.” His second book, “Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship,” was published in 2017. And his new and third book is “The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness.”

He received the California Peace Prize and was inducted into the California Hall of Fame. In 2014, President Obama named Father Boyle a Champion of Change. He received the University of Notre Dame’s 2017 Laetare medal, the oldest honor given to American Catholics. In 2020, he served as a committee member of California Governor Gavin Newsom’s Economic and Job Recovery Task Force as a response to COVID-19 crisis. In the same year, Homeboy Industries was the recipient of the Hilton Humanitarian Prize validating 32 years of Father Boyle’s vision and work.

Donna Cori Gipson is a singer and songwriter of contemporary Catholic music. After years of working in New York as a professional, singer, songwriter and studio musician, Gipson now lives in the Midwest, far from the secular scene. A lay Carmelite since 1999, her music is focused on prayer and explaining the truths of the Catholic Church with Scripture. Songs include word for word prayers from the Bible (as singing makes for easy memorization) and well-known prayers of the church and saints. Setting prayers to music is Gipson’s way of helping brothers and sisters in the Lord to “Pray without ceasing.”

Dr. Scott Hahn has said of her, “I find Donna’s music to be prayerfully deep and inspiring. Simply and uncomplicatedly Catholic, her message is soaked in Scripture. When I listen to her music, I hear the same thing that I have discovered and try to share in my teaching: the beauty and power of the Catholic Faith. God has really gifted Donna with a powerful voice and a pure heart.”

Deacon Steve Swope was ordained to the permanent diaconate in 2008 and is assigned to St. Mary Magdalene Church in Newnan, Georgia.

Deacon Swope serves the Archdiocese of Atlanta as the chair of the Diaconate Scrutinies and Evaluation Committee, as a member of the Deacon Personnel Board and as lead master of ceremonies at the Eucharistic Congress.

Deacon Swope formerly served as the associate director of formation for the permanent diaconate for the Archdiocese of Atlanta.

A Catholic Relief Services global fellow ambassador educator, he has traveled with CRS to overseas to witness the work being done by the American Catholic Church on behalf of the poorest in the world.

Deacon Swope is also a member of the National Association of Diaconate Directors, serves on the Newnan-Coweta County Airport Authority and is a board member of the Samaritan Clinic, which serves the poor and uninsured in Coweta County. He and his wife, Marie, support Elevate Coweta Students and serve as mentors/tutors each week at a Title I elementary school.

Before joining the archdiocese, the deacon’s business career was in the travel industry. He was one of the founders of The Rubicon Group, a company that provided critical business intelligence and pricing guidance to the travel and hospitality industries.

Deacon Swope and his wife live on a small farm outside of Newnan, where they raise chickens, grow vegetables and try to find time to relax. They have two adult children and two grandchildren.