HEATHER HOLLEMAN (YOUR HOST)
Heather Holleman and her husband, Ashley, serve with Faculty Commons (Cru) with Ashley in the role of National Director, Cru's Graduate Student Ministry. She is a speaker, teacher, and author who loves helping people connect with Jesus, especially through scripture. People have called her a "walking exclamation point," and she's known as a lover of vivid verbs and semicolons. Heather currently directs the Advanced Writing in the Humanities courses at Penn State, and she devotes herself to building authentic writing communities and helping students gain confidence and joy in writing. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia and earned her PhD in English Literature from the University of Michigan. She has received numerous teaching awards in the past 25 years and has written eight books, her most recent being Sent: Living a Life that Invites Others to Jesus (Moody Publishers). Heather and Ashley have two teen daughters and three cats. Her podcast is "The Verb with Heather Holleman," and she blogs daily at HeatherHolleman.com
Eric Rivera
Eric Rivera is the Lead Pastor at The Brook, a multiethnic church in Chicago, that he and his team planted with in 2013. Eric is passionate for mobilizing the church to be on mission in an urban context. He earned his PhD from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School where he also serves as an Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology. He is the author of Christ is Yours (Lexham Press 2019) and Unexpected Jesus: How the resurrected Christ finds us, meets us and heals us (Lexham Press 2022). Eric has been married to his best friend Erikah since 2003 and together they speak for FamilyLife’s Weekend to Remember marriage getaways. They are grateful parents to their three amazing children Keziah, Lukas and Levi.
Jennie Allen
Jennie Allen, Bible teacher, author, and the visionary behind IF:Gathering, leads a new chapter as the Founder & Visionary of Gather25, a 25-hour global prayer gathering. Driven by a deep love for God and an unyielding belief in the potential of this generation, Jennie's mission is to disciple a generation of Jesus followers to live what they believe.
Through her writing and teaching, Jennie seeks to convey a simple yet profound truth: God sees you, loves you, and invites you to play your part in His unfolding story. She has witnessed firsthand the miraculous work of Jesus when people fully surrender to Him.
Jennie is a passionate leader following God's call on her life to catalyze a generation to live what they believe. Jennie is the New York Times' best-selling author of Untangle Your Emotions, Find Your People and Get Out of Your Head. Jennie has a masters in Biblical Studies from Dallas Theological Seminary and lives in Dallas, Texas, with her husband, Zac, and their four children.
David Robbins
David Robbins became president of Campus Crusade for Christ International and Cru in July 2024. He previously served as the president of FamilyLife, a ministry of Cru.
David joined the staff of Cru in 2000. He worked with university students at various universities in the United States and in Pisa, Italy. He served as a team leader and later a Regional Director of U.S. Campus Field Ministries, overseeing campus ministries across the Southeast region of the U.S.
He and his wife, Meg, helped launch Cru’s ministry to millennials in the multicultural setting of New York City in 2012. This strategy ministered to 20-somethings and worked with and through partnerships in the body of Christ. It grew to a network and spread nationwide, establishing teams in 15 other cities across the U.S., and was adopted by other nations.
David became president of FamilyLife in December 2017, building on the four-decade foundation of the FamilyLife ministry. He and Meg led the way to reach new generations of families and empower them to win, build and send through movements in the family space.
David received his bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Mississippi. David and Meg married in 2001 and live in Orlando, Florida, with their four children.
SHANNON COMPERE
Shannon joined staff in 1991 and has served in the Campus Ministry at the University of South Carolina, East Tennessee State as a Team Leader, then as the National Director of Field Missions for the Red River Region based in Austin, Texas. There she met her husband, Marc, who is now an engineering professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. They moved to Orlando in 2007 when Shannon accepted the role of Executive Director of Leadership Development for the Campus Ministry. While working full-time, she earned her Masters in Leadership Development from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Worldwide. Currently, she serves as the Campus Ministry Executive Director.
Shannon and Marc are both passionate about reaching students and faculty around the world with the gospel and are committed to seeing people transformed. They love doing ministry together and especially enjoy participating in summer missions with students both in the US and abroad and have been to 18 countries together.