Chris Heuertz is international executive director of Word Made Flesh, which works with the world’s vulnerable people. He lives in Omaha, Neb.

Rebecca Todd Peters is an associate professor of religious studies at Elon University in North Carolina. She is involved in a globalization project of the World Council of Churches and teaches a course on wealth and poverty.

Emmanuel Katongole is associate professor of theology and world Christianity at Duke (University) Divinity School. He was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in his native country of Uganda. He is co-director of the Center for Reconciliation at the divinity school, and is author of the book The Sacrifice of Africa: A Political Theology for Africa.

Suzanne Toton is an associate professor of theology and religious studies at Villanova (Pa.) University. One of her specialties is development ethics.

Timothy Patrick Moran is a sociologist at Stony Brook (N.Y.) University with expertise in globalization and inequality.

William F. Fisher is director of the Program for International Development, Community and Environment at Clark University in Worcester, Mass. He is an expert in global civil society and transnational advocacy.

The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) is dedicated to advancing women’s rights and gender equality. It works on implementing international commitments at national levels. Media contact is Oisika Chakrabarti.

Opportunity International is a microfinance ministry based in suburban Chicago working on expanding economic opportunities in developing countries. It includes a Women’s Opportunity Network. Mark Lutz, senior vice president, global philanthropy, is author of the 2010 book Unpoverty: Rich Lessons from the Working Poor. Media contact is Robert Meloche.

Kiva is a microfinance network that connects individual lenders to individual entrepreneurs in developing countries. The majority of Kiva borrowers are women. Kiva blends the microfinance, small loan model with Internet technology to create relationships between lenders and those who get loans. Many lenders and teams of lenders are associated with local religious congregations.