STEPHAN BAUMAN is the President and CEO of World Relief, an international relief and development organization partnering with the global Church to serve more than five million vulnerable people each year. World Relief is also the founder and convener of The Justice Conference. Stephan's pursuit of justice led him to transition from a successful career in the Fortune 100 sector to Africa where he directed relief and development programs for nearly a decade before returning to the United States to lead World Relief's global operations. He holds degrees from Johns Hopkins University, Wheaton College, and the University of Wisconsin. He is a poet, an author, an ordained minister and a strategist. He considers his African friends his most important teachers, and his wife, Belinda, his most important mentor. Stephan, Belinda, and their two sons, Joshua and Caleb, live near Washington, D.C.

MATTHEW SOERENS serves as the Vice President of Advocacy & Policy for World Relief. He is the coauthor of Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion & Truth in the Immigration Debate and Inalienable: How Marginalized Kingdom Voices Can Help Save the American Church. He is a graduate of Wheaton College, where he also serves as a guest faculty member for the Humanitarian & Disaster Institute, and of DePaul University. Matt lives in Aurora, Illinois with his wife Diana and their four children.

ISSAM SMEIR is a clinician, author, and advocate committed to serving refugees and trauma-affected communities worldwide. He holds a doctorate in Clinical Supervision and Educational Counseling from Northern Illinois University, a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Wheaton College, and completed post-doctoral training at Harvard University in Global Mental Health. Issam bridges research, clinical practice, and humanitarian work, applying his expertise to create meaningful, trauma-informed interventions.

He is the author of the Amal series, a collection of therapeutic children’s books, and the Amal for Children animation series, both used globally to help children navigate and heal from trauma. An expert in the Narrative Exposure Therapy approach, Issam blends storytelling with evidence-based guidance to support caregivers and professionals in their work with vulnerable populations.

Through his work, Issam centers the voices and experiences of those he serves, believing that every story carries the power to restore dignity and hope. He and his wife, Stephanie, are raising four boys who remind them every day of the importance of faith, resilience, hope, and the enduring strength of the human spirit.