The Franciscan Action Network is a Washington, D.C.-based grassroots network of Franciscan clergy and “Franciscan-hearted” laypeople who focus on peacemaking, climate care, social justice and poverty, among other issues. Patrick Carolan is executive director.

Thomas Peters started and runs the American Papist blog and works with Catholic Vote. He speaks about Catholicism and politics, pro-life issues and pro-family activism, the future of social media and youth activism.

Lisa A. Keister is a professor of sociology at Duke University in Durham, N.C. She has written several books examining the link between religion and poverty as well as prosperity.

Karma Lekshe Tsomo is a lecturer in the department of religion and ancient civilizations at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Her research interests include women in Buddhism, death and identity, Buddhist feminist ethics, Buddhism and bioethics, Buddhist social ethics and Buddhist transnationalism.

Mucahit Bilici is an assistant professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He is the author of Finding Mecca in America and a columnist for Taraf, a daily publication in Turkish.

Douglas Kysar is a professor of law at Yale Law School. His areas of scholarship and research include torts, environmental law, and risk regulation. He recently took part in a panel discussion hosted by the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies entitled, “Pope Francis and the Environment: Why His New Climate Encyclical Matters.”

Dekila Chungyalpa is a McCluskey Visiting Fellow at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. She recently took part in a panel discussion hosted by the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies entitled, “Pope Francis and the Environment: Why His New Climate Encyclical Matters.”

Mary Evelyn Tucker is a senior lecturer and research scholar at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Divinity School and department of religious studies. She also directs the Forum on Religion and Ecology with her husband, John Grim.