Jason is the lead Pastor of The Way Church in Vancouver British Columbia and the Director of The Pastorate (formerly The Canadian Church Leader Network). He is one of the Hosts of the Alpha Youth Series and The Pastorate Podcast.  He is Married to Rachael and they have three kids: Hudson (11), Mary (9) and Millie (7). You can find out more about him on Instragram @jasonaballard

From camp speaker to local youth pastor to youth ministry professor, Sid draws from over 25 years of youth ministry experience. Sid Koop is the Executive Director of the Youth Worker Community where he and his team are dedicated to equipping, empowering, and relationally supporting youth workers to help the next generation follow Jesus. YWC is shaping ministry to adolescents in Canada through Digital Resources, The Coalition, Youth Worker Training Events, and Youth Ministry Coaching, and Consulting, equipping and encouraging thousands of youth workers each year.  Currently, his "most important" contract is working for his wife at Green Bay Bible Camp as the Director of Leadership Development and Discipleship).

Cheryl Nembhard is an international speaker, author, podcaster, TV host, and social justice advocate. She uses her talents in film and theatre to address critical societal issues and is dedicated to community service, supporting at-risk youth, sexual assault survivors, and teenage mothers. As the founder of EMG Education, her educational theatre company has reached over 85,000+ students across 190 Ontario schools. Recognized by CBC as one of the top 150 Women making Canada better, she received the 2017 Harry Jerome Award for Social Advocacy. Cheryl co-hosts See, Hear, Love on YES TV and hosts On The Path and Soulfood to Go podcasts. She serves on the board of Brave Canada, advocates for marginalized women globally, and is the author of Brave: This Is Us. Currently, Cheryl is the Director of the Women Speakers Collective, empowering women’s voices worldwide.

Hakeem has served in pastoral ministry at various churches in Portland, OR before transitioning to full-time biblical scholarship in 2021. He has the privilege of helping other people learn about the Scriptures, so that they will experience God’s invitation to know him. Being a Bible nerd is the name of my game. As a result, Hakeem received a Master of Arts in Biblical and Theological Studies and is currently working on a Ph.D. in New Testament Studies.

Kaitlin Brennan currently lives in Moose Jaw with her husband Matt. She works as the Director of Youth Quake at Briercrest College and Seminary, where her main goal is to guide youth in their relationship with Jesus. During the summer, she visits and speaks at various Bible camps around Saskatchewan. Kait is deeply committed to helping young people grow in their faith and wants to see the next generation dedicated to following Jesus with their whole lives.

Kait graduated from Briercrest in 2018 with a degree in Psychology, and is currently working towards a Masters in Leadership. In her free time, Kait enjoys a good cup of coffee, playing board games with friends, camping, and spending time with her family at their farm.

Josh lives in Fredericton, New Brunswick, with his wife, Melissa, daughter, Claire, and their golden retriever, Banjo. With a background in camp, youth, and digital ministry, he completed his Master’s in Theological Studies with a focus on Youth Ministry from the University of Waterloo. Now, as the Director of the FaithSpark app for One Hope Canada, Josh channels his experience and passion into reaching the next generation of digital natives.

Marv is a veteran youth worker who has given his life to serving the next generation and to caring for those who love them. An author, professor, trainer, mentor, consultant, advocate and thought leader, Marv has travelled the world to invest in students, leaders, parents, and decision makers at every level. As a registered clinical counselor, he continues to work each week with hurting teens and their families. Marv is the Founder of The Coalition for Youth Ministry Leadership, a unique apprenticeship based vocational ministry training program based in Kelowna, BC. Marv and his wife, Lois, live in Lake Country, British Columbia. They have three adult children and five energetic grandkids.

Aliza Latta is a writer, artist, and pastor who is a huge fan of telling stories. She creates content for Canada’s largest youth conference, Change Conference, and is a church planter and pastor in Ontario.

After ten years as a youth pastor and speaker, Ben joined Alpha Canada to create and host the Alpha Youth Series. He currently devotes his time to coaching youth workers, speaking, and creating content to help make faith come alive for youth, kids, and adults. Ben has a joy and enthusiasm for life that is infectious. He and his wife, Melissa live in Vancouver with their daughter, Livia. Find him on Instagram at @benwoodman.

Jeremy has been a youth pastor in a large church with 100s of teenagers, in a small church where things grew from a couple volunteers and 6 teenagers, and in a multi-site church with six different youth groups. He is now the Director of Operations at the Youth Worker Community, Professor of NextGen Ministry at Kingswood University, and the Teaching Pastor at Moncton Wesleyan.

Steve’s passion is to be an encourager and catalyst for emerging leaders. His ministry adventure has spanned over a couple decades and has taken him around the globe, supporting leaders in camp and youth ministry on four continents. The teams he’s served with have pioneered dynamic ministries that reach hundreds of thousands every week. He deeply loves connecting with Jesus, people and good pizza.

Rick Hiemstra is Director of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada's Centre for Research on Church and Faith (CRCF). Prior to coming to the EFC, he served as a Wesleyan pastor and as a high school mathematics and computer science teacher. Rick speaks on Canadian church and cultural trends, including the recent Parenting Faith, Significant Church and Renegotiating Faith studies. He holds a BMath from the University of Waterloo, a BEd from Ottawa University and an MTS from Tyndale Seminary.

Bill McCaskell has been serving as the National Director of One Hope Canada since 2012, leading a team of over 150 missionaries to share the Gospel with more than 30,000 children and youth annually. Prior to joining the mission, Bill was a pastor and entrepreneur, and together with his wife Bev, they are proud parents of two sons and grandparents to four grandsons.

With over 30 years of youth ministry experience, Calvin is deeply committed to ‘making disciples as Jesus did’ and helping youth attain their full life potential. He loves to spend time equipping youth leaders with the necessary tools to create healthy and vibrant youth ministries both locally and nationally. He is a Youth Unlimited missionary in Toronto and he also oversees Sonlife Canada.