ABOUT THE PANELISTS

Tafeni L. English-Relf is the director of the SPLC’s Alabama State Office in Montgomery, Alabama, which includes overseeing the Civil Rights Memorial Center (CRMC). The CRMC is an interpretive center that provides visitors with a deeper understanding of the civil rights movement. A native Alabamian, she forges partnerships with local communities to advance the SPLC’s mission to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements and advance the human rights of all people.

She first joined the SPLC in 1997 as a research analyst for its Intelligence Project, which monitors hate groups and other far-right extremists. She later served as the first director of the Mix It Up at Lunch Day program. Developed by the SPLC’s Teaching Tolerance program, now Learning for Justice, Mix It Up encourages schoolchildren to identify, question and cross social boundaries by sitting with someone new in the school cafeteria.

English-Relf later worked for another Montgomery-based civil rights organization before returning to the SPLC in 2019. She has a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Troy University, where she also earned a master’s degree in counseling and psychology.

Esther M. Lee is a Bethlehem Native, educated and graduated from Bethlehem High School. She is retired from Bethlehem Mines Corporation, a subsidiary of Bethlehem Steel Corporation, and Administrative Assistant at the Northampton County 911 Center, and for the Bethlehem Council of Churches. Lee is the first African American Woman elected to the Bethlehem Area School Board in 1971. Currently, she serves as President of the Bethlehem NAACP. In this role, due to the climate in surrounding cities and the country, we (the City of Bethlehem) developed a Community Advisory Board in conjunction with the Bethlehem Mayor and city organization members. The board’s objective is to bring to the forefront police issues, racism, white supremacy, homelessness, and education.

Rev. Dr. Gregory James Edwards is Founder and Senior Pastor of the Resurrected Life Community Church, United Church of Christ, and President and CEO of the Resurrected Community Development Corporation. Under his leadership the church and community development corporation have experienced exponential growth, evidenced by membership, financial selfsufficiency, and ongoing employment creation.

As the first person of Black African Heritage to run for federal office in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania, his historic candidacy for Congress in 2018 was covered by MSNBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Guardian Magazine, NOW THIS, and a hosts of other media, and featured in the PBS documentary Battleground. In 2019, he was appointed Chair of the Lehigh County Democratic Black Caucus, and in 2020 he was appointed to the Pennsylvania Democratic State Committee.

A graduate of Geneva College (Bachelor of Science in Urban Ministry Leadership), the University of Delaware’s Graduate School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs (Certification in Community Economic Development), Drew University (Master of Divinity), and the New Brunswick Theological Seminary (Doctor of Ministry in Prisons, Public Policy and Transformative Justice), Dr. Edwards has been awarded the NAACP Man of Vision Award, the Peace Pilgrim of the Year Award, the Community Development Award by the Allentown Human Relations Commission, the William Gray III Leadership Award, and the prize for Multi-Cultural Church Leadership from Drew University, where he simultaneously served as President of the Theological Student Association and the Black Ministerial Caucus.

Holona Ochs is an associate professor of political science at Lehigh University. Her research examines the “welfarist left hand” and the “carceral right hand” of the state, with particular attention on attempts to efficiently wash one hand with the other as a part of strategies pursued by some business interests to increase inequality and subject people to escalating social controls. Prior to becoming a political scientist, Ochs was a therapist specializing in treating trauma. Her experiences as a therapist and the Cherokee model of self-reliance (interconnected responsibilities to care for self, others, and the environment; strong sense of self; and discipline in setting and pursuing goals) guide her research, teaching, and service. The objectives she pursues are aimed at identifying opportunities to build community and enact antiracist policies and practices.

Pastor Phillip Davis serves as Senior Pastor of the Greater Shiloh Church of Easton, a multi-site church, with locations in Stroudsburg, Bethlehem, and Haiti. His focus on practical application of the Bible caused the church to engage in many community projects that helped to transform multiple cities. Under his God-inspired vision, Greater Shiloh Church has become focused on community outreach, evangelism, training and development of ministers, financial classes for the membership, and helping individuals connect to their purpose in Christ. He strongly believes in serving those that society has disdained: prisoners, the poor, the youth, the jobless, senior citizens, and those in recovery.

Pastor Phil’s dynamic teaching style helps people apply the timeless truths of Scripture to their everyday lives. His powerful messages have spread globally challenging believers to produce life-changing results. Pastor Phil holds bachelors’ degrees in Christian Counseling and in Organizational Leadership, and a master’s degree in Theological Studies. He is currently working on his doctorate in Marriage & Family Therapy at Eastern University.

Pastor Phil has been happily married to Pastor Kristina Davis for over 29 years. They are proud parents of daughters, Rachael, Ericka, Shawn, and Marieyah; and grandparents to Chris Jr., Avery Ryland and Dakota Wyatt.