Careers Colson Center | Colson Center

Shannon Cagnina

Board Member

Shannon Cagnina serves as General Counsel for a family real estate business overseeing operating companies, innovative social ventures, and philanthropy.

For ten years Ms. Cagnina served as the Chief Operating Officer of Mary Crowley Cancer Research, an independent 501(c)3 conducting clinical trial testing of novel molecular therapies for cancer patients. Her work advanced the mission to expand treatment options for cancer patients, harnessing leading genomic science to benefit patients in need. She has also volunteered with multiple values-aligned nonprofits in board leadership roles, including Council for Life, Human Coalition, and Amazing Grace Life.

Ms. Cagnina’s past experience includes Deputy General Counsel to the Secretary of Finance and Administrative Law Judge for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In addition, she served an appointment to a municipal finance committee managing capital and operating budgets. She earned a B.A. in Economics at Wellesley College, a J.D. from Boston University, and began her career at an economic consulting firm in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which provided business strategy to an array of Fortune 100 business clients.

G. Shane Morris

Breakpoint Assistant Editor and Columnist

Shane Morris is a senior writer at the Colson Center, where he has been the resident Calvinist and millennial, home-school grad since 2010 as an intern under Chuck Colson. He writes BreakPoint commentaries and columns. Shane has also written for The Federalist, The Christian Post, and Summit Ministries, and he blogs regularly for Patheos Evangelical as Troubler of Israel. He has appeared on broadcasts like Equipped with Chris Brooks and Issues, Etc., exploring topics like popular theology, marriage and family, and movies. He also co-hosts BreakPoint This Week and the BreakPoint podcast. Shane is fascinated by the natural world, which he explores whenever possible in SCUBA gear. He lives to make the doctrines of Christianity accessible and exciting. He invites others to appreciate the relationship between God’s Word and His world. For Shane, storytelling is also key to worldview teaching, with works like C. S. Lewis’ Cosmic Trilogy and Milton’s Paradise Lost giving theology a voice with which to sing. Shane graduated from Thomas Edison State College with a degree in humanities. He lives with his wife, Gabriela, and their three children, Astrid, Elijah, and Peter in Tampa, Florida.

Timothy D. Padgett

Managing Editor, Breakpoing

Timothy D. Padgett (PhD) is the Managing Editor of BreakPoint.org with the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. His focus is on cultural engagement, living out the Christian worldview, and the way Christians argue for diverse viewpoints while sharing a common biblical foundation―particularly regarding the relationship between church and state, Christ and culture, and war and peace.

Lynn Damewood, CPA, CGMA

Controller

As Controller, Lynn Damewood oversees all aspects of finance operations and human resources for the ministry. She spent 10 years performing audits and preparing taxes at a public accounting firm and 13 years as the Controller for the Pikes Peak Association of Realtors. Lynn has been married to Walt since 1979. They have three children and six granddaughters. She graduated from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs with a degree in Accounting. She is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA).

Brian Brown

Director of Marketing and Advancement

Brian Brown is Director of Marketing and Advancement at the Colson Center, where he handles strategy, infrastructure, and brand management. He oversees a talented team of creative professionals whose goal is to power the movement that is our organization’s goal—millions of interconnected people who are bringing a Christian vision to every area of life.

Since receiving his B.A. in political theory from Princeton, Brian has worked at the Heritage Foundation, at El Pomar Foundation, in local government in Colorado, and as a nonprofit marketing and fundraising consultant. He is a frequent speaker and the author of numerous articles and essays on the Christian imagination, community building, and nonprofit marketing.

In his spare time, since 2013 Brian Brown has served as the founder and director of the Anselm Society, whose mission is a renaissance of the Christian imagination. Brian lives with his wife Christina and their two young children in Colorado, where they mix cocktails, hunt for historic architecture, and see how many people they can squeeze into their house for lively conversation.

Bill Brown

Senior Fellow for Culture & Worldview and Dean, Colson Fellows Program

Dr. William E. (Bill) Brown is Senior Fellow of Worldview and Culture and directs the Colson Fellows Program (formerly, the Centurions Program). Prior to joining the Colson Center, Bill was President of Cedarville University and Bryan College.

He also serves as the Senior Executive of WorldAPP, an international technology firm with offices in Kiev, London and Boston. As President of Radical Leadership (and his popular web log, Radical Life www.williamebrown.org) he carries a heavy schedule speaking for conferences, universities, churches, and schools. He mentors and consults with leaders in ministry and business and assists colleges, schools and organizations in being more effective and employee-centered.

As a nationally recognized speaker and expert in culture and worldview, Dr. Brown has authored several books and more than a hundred articles for journals, magazines, encyclopedias, and newspapers. He is the author of Making Sense of Your Faith, Where Have All the Dreamers Gone? Observations from a Biblical Worldview, and Making Sense of Your World (with Gary Phillips and John Stonestreet), a book used by many colleges and universities as an introductory text to worldview/philosophical thinking. His writings have been quoted in various national newspapers and magazines, including Reader’s Digest and Christianity Today. He is the Executive Producer and teacher of the multiple award-winning DVD series, re:View.

Dr. Brown has a passion for discussing worldviews, and an incredible heart for students. These two passions have aligned to create the re:View worldview study, focused on teaching students how to discern and engage culture by first knowing truth.

Dr. Brown and his wife, Lynne, have been married since 1976. They have two children – April and Alex, and four grandchildren.

Steve Verleye

Chief Operating Officer

As Chief Operating Officer, Steve handles strategy implementation, business and operations for the ministry. Prior to the Colson Center, Steve spent 34 years in the technology industry working for Intel Corporation (INTC), Sequent Computer Systems (SQNT), RadiSys Corporation (RSYS) and then as President and CEO of Applied Microsystems (APMC) and Chief Administrative Officer of Coinstar/redbox (CSTR). He studied under Chuck Colson as a member of the Colson Fellows program.

Steve and Marianne have been married since 1977 and have two children and three grandchildren. They live in Austin and are members of Austin Christian Fellowship. He graduated from Notre Dame with a degree in Electrical Engineering.

John Stonestreet

President, The Colson Center and breakpoint radio co-host

John Stonestreet serves as president of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. He’s a sought-after author and speaker on areas of faith and culture, theology, worldview, education and apologetics. John is the daily voice of BreakPoint, the nationally syndicated commentary on the culture founded by the late Chuck Colson. He is also the voice of the Point, a daily one-minute feature on worldview, apologetics and cultural issues.

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S. Michael Craven

Director, Colson Fellows Program

Michael is an accomplished executive, worldview expert, cultural apologist, and author. Ever since leaving his career as a corporate CEO in 2001, Michael has been working to equip the Church in America with a robust Christian life and worldview.

In 2007, Michael founded the Center for Christ & Culture where his popular weekly commentaries grew to reach more than two million readers through Crosswalk.com, Christianity.com, The Christian Post and numerous other web-based outlets. In 2009, Michael authored his critically-acclaimed book, Uncompromised Faith: Overcoming Our Culturalized Christianity (NavPress). He also contributed to the 2014 book, Same-Sex Marriage: A Thoughtful Approach to God’s Design for Marriage by John Stonestreet and Sean McDowell.

Michael has been a featured speaker at many venues including, the University of California at Berkeley, the National Conference on Christian Apologetics, and numerous churches across the country. He served as an adjunct professor at Western Seminary where he was invited to teach on Cultural Apologetics. He has appeared on Fox News, CNN, ABC, NBC, and many other national television and radio programs.

Prior to joining The Colson Center, Michael served for five years as the president of BridgeBuilders, an inner-city ministry in South Dallas, where he pioneered a missional strategy for transforming the “culture of poverty” into a culture of flourishing, breaking the cycle of poverty that dominates America’s inner-city communities. Michael lives in the Dallas area with his wife and three children.

Douglas Napier

Board Chair

Douglas H. Napier, Esq., serves as President of The Cavan Companies, a Scottsdale, Arizona based real estate development company. Prior to joining the Cavan Companies, Napier spent 16 years as a trial attorney in private practice and then served for 11 years in various leadership positions at Alliance Defending Freedom, the world’s largest Christian legal organization. Napier earned his J.D. in 1990 from the University of Iowa College of Law, where he graduated with distinction. He received a B.A. in finance at the University of Iowa in 1985 and graduated with a M.A. in biblical studies from Dallas Theological Seminary in 1988.

He is admitted to the bar before the U. S. Supreme Court, the Arizona Supreme Court, the Iowa Supreme Court. He is also a fellow of the Iowa Academy of Trial Lawyers.

David Dockery

Board Member

David S. Dockery served as the 15th president of Trinity International University for five years and is now serving as the university chancellor. Prior to his time at Trinity, Dockery served as president of Union University for nearly two decades. During his presidency the enrollment more than doubled, the net assets of the institution more than tripled, the campus was transformed, and Union vaulted to a place of national leadership in Christian higher education.Dockery has served as the chair of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, the Consortium for Global Education, as well as the Christian College Consortium. He is the past president of the Evangelical Theological Society. He has also served on the governing board at Christianity Today International, Prison Fellowship (where he held the Carl Henry Chair of Theology), King’s College, the International Association of Baptist Colleges and Universities, and the Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association. Having authored or edited more than 30 volumes, and contributed to more than 60 other books, he is best known for his works in the area of Christian higher education, Baptist studies, and biblical interpretation. His authored books include Renewing Minds, Southern Baptist Consensus and Renewal, Biblical Interpretation Then and Now, Theologians of the Baptist Tradition, and the Holman Bible Handbook. His articles have been published in Touchstone, Books & Culture, and Christianity Today. A native of Alabama, Dockery holds degrees from the University of Alabama-Birmingham (B.S), Grace Theological Seminary (M.Div.), Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Div.), Texas Christian University (M.A.), and the University of Texas system (Ph.D.), as well as additional studies at Drew University. He has been married to Lanese for 43 years. They have three married sons (Jon and Sarah, Ben and Julie, Tim and Andrea) and eight grandchildren. Their travels have taken them to the various regions of the United States and Canada, as well as to Europe, Latin America, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Middle East.

Edwin Simcox

Chair of the Executive Committee

Ed is President Emeritus of the Indiana Energy Association. He holds an A.B. degree in Government and Economics from Indiana University and obtained a J.D. degree from Indiana University Law School.

In December 1986, Ed Simcox was named President of the Indiana Electric Association, a trade association representing Indiana’s investor-owned electric utilities. On March 1, 2004, the Electric Association merged with the Indiana Gas Association to form the Indiana Energy Association. Ed was elected President of the new association.

Ed’s experience in government service includes employment in the Corporations Division of the Indiana Secretary of State’s office, Secretary of the State Highway Commission, Secretary of the Indiana Public Service Commission, legal deputy of the office of the Reporter of the Indiana Supreme Court and eight years as Indiana’s Secretary of State.

Ed is also a member of the Indianapolis and Indiana State Bar Associations Member, Indiana Law Survey Study Commission; member and past President, Indiana Legal Foundation; former Executive Committee; Member and Ethics Committee Chair, Government Affairs Society of Indiana; member, Governor Pence’s Faith-based Corrections Advisory Committee; past Chairman, Indiana State Chamber of Commerce Legislative Affairs Committee; member, Board of Directors of State Auto Mutual Insurance; member, Board of Directors of Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site.

Eric Pillmore

Treasurer and Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee

Eric served as the Senior Advisor to the Deloitte Center for Corporate Governance from 2008 to 2014 and now serves as a general partner and board member of several companies and non-profits.

Prior to Deloitte, Eric served as Senior Vice President – Corporate Governance for Tyco International Ltd. from 2002 to 2007. In addition, he served in a variety of senior finance roles for General Electric from 1979 to 1996, and as Senior Vice President and CFO for General Instrument Corporation (GI) from December 1997 to January 2000, leading up to the sale of GI to Motorola in 2000. He also served as a US Navy officer from 1975 to 1979, aboard the USS Robison in the western pacific, and as an auditor with the Naval Audit Service in Washington, DC.

Eric has been married to Pam for 36 years and they have five children (Brian, Sarah, Justin, Mari and Nathan) and five grandchildren (Elijah, Malachi, Sophia, Esli, and Gideon). He has a master’s of business administration from Villanova School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the Anderson School of Business at the University of New Mexico. In addition to the Colson Center, he currently serves on the boards of Vectrus Corporation, Focus on the Family, and Friends of Tenwek. In addition, he serves as the CEO of the Pillmore Family Foundation and as a General Partner for The Amore Companies.

Jennifer Marshall Patterson

Senior Visiting Fellow, Institute for Family, Community, and Oppurtunity

As a former vice president of The Heritage Foundation, Jennifer A. Marshall ran the think tank’s Institute for Family, Community, and Opportunity. In that capacity, she oversaw research into a variety of issues that determine the strength and character of American society. Issues explored by Institute researchers range from marriage, life, and religious liberty to health, education, and welfare to the application of America’s founding principles to today’s challenges.

Marshall collaborated with Heritage colleagues to explore how moral values and civil society relate to issues such as limited government, a strong national economy and foreign policy. She also edited Heritage’s annual Index of Culture and Opportunity, which tracks key social and economic trends to determine whether important indicators of opportunity in America are on the right track.

In 2010, National Journal named Marshall one of Washington’s 20 “power players” in recognition of her work on school choice and other education reforms.

Before joining Heritage in 2003, Marshall worked on cultural policy issues at Empower America, a free-market think tank. Before that, she was senior director of family studies at the Family Research Council and taught at an American school in Lyon, France.

She has spoken at national and international forums, testified before Congress and appeared on numerous radio and television shows, including C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” and PBS’ “To the Contrary.”

She is the author of “Now and Not Yet: Making Sense of Single Life in the Twenty-First Century” (Multnomah Publishers, 2007). The book evaluates the cultural, practical and spiritual issues that marriage-minded young women confront as the age of first marriage continues to rise in America.

Marshall holds a master of arts in religion from Reformed Theological Seminary, a master’s degree in statecraft and world politics from the Washington-based Institute of World Politics, and a bachelor’s degree in French from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill., where she also earned teacher’s certification. She currently resides in Arlington, Va.

Emily Colson

Board Member

The only daughter of Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship, she is an author and a speaker, traveling to churches and organizations nationwide. She has appeared on numerous media outlets including Focus on the Family and the Huckabee Show.

In her book Dancing with Max, Emily and her father, Chuck Colson, shared the struggle and beauty of life with Max, Emily’s son with autism. The book was awarded “Book of the Year” by the Autism Society. Through her message, Emily has inspired many to persevere through their own challenges, and see the gifts.

Emily has been a single mother for most of Max’s life, with hard fought lessons in life, love and a whole lot of laughter. Emily and Max live on the coast of New England where they can often be found dancing.

Roberto Rivera

Senior Fellow and Columnist

Roberto Rivera is a Fellow and Senior Writer at the Colson Center. Since joining Breakpoint and the predecessor to the Colson Center in 1995, he has written nearly 2000 commentaries, hundreds of columns and several book introductions.
He has written for Sojourners, Christianity Today, Books & Culture, Touchstone, and First Things, among other publications.

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