Rebekah Coffman is a historian, preservationist, and curator currently serving as curator of religion and community history for the Chicago History Museum. Her interdisciplinary work is at the intersection of religious identity and the built environment and explores themes of tangible and intangible heritages in material and visual culture through place-based, community-centered approaches. She holds an MA in Historical and Sustainable Architecture from NYU London, where her research centered on the adaptive reuse of religious buildings.  ​ 

Mark Elsdon, MBA, M.DIV, lives and works at the intersection of property, money, and meaning as a serial social entrepreneur, strategic executive, and author. He is a national thought leader and speaker on subjects of faith-based property development, impact investing and social enterprise. Mark is the author of We Aren’t Broke: Uncovering Hidden Resources for Mission and Ministry. and editor of the book, Gone for Good? Negotiating the Coming Wave of Church Property Transition. Mark holds degrees from the University of California, Berkeley; Princeton Theological Seminary; and the University of Wisconsin School of Business. He is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church, USA and serves as co-founder of RootedGood and principal at Threshold Sacred Development. Mark lives in Madison, Wisconsin with his family.

Emily Sajdak is the Director of Rural Initiatives at Partners for Sacred Places, where she leads programs focused on supporting congregations in rural communities across the United States. In this role, she manages sub-granting programs spanning diverse geographic regions, while developing innovative strategies for new programs and services tailored to rural congregations. Emily regularly represents Partners at external events and engages with diverse stakeholders to advance the mission of supporting sacred places as community assets in rural America. She holds a Master of Theological Studies and a Master of Theology from Calvin Theological Seminary, as well as an MA in Public History: Historic Preservation from Southeast Missouri State University.