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Faith and Society

Fellows

Dr. Amy Sherman

Senior Fellow, Sagamore Institute

Director, Sagamore Center on Faith in Communities

Dr. Amy Sherman serves as senior fellow and Director of the Center on Faith in Communities at the Sagamore Institute. 

  • Amy has written dozens of books, reports, and articles as well as delivered dozens of speeches on the role of Christians in advancing justice and mercy in the world.
  • After earning her PhD at the University of Virginia, Amy moved into a historically disadvantaged neighborhood in Charlottesville and founded an urban ministry through her church.
  • Amy served as a member of International Justice Mission founder Gary Haugen’s personal board of advisors for many years.

Dr. Byron Johnson is a senior fellow at Sagamore Institute and Founding Director of Baylor University’s Institute for the Studies of Religion. 

  • He is widely recognized as one of America’s leading criminologists specializing in the “faith factor” in successful prisoner reentry.
  • Byron was honored at the 50-yard line before a Baylor football game for receiving the largest grant in the university’s history—$43.4 million.
  • Byron was selected as the 2013 Texas Big Brother of the Year.

Dr. Byron Johnson

Senior Fellow, Sagamore Institute

Founding Director, Baylor University’s Institute for the Studies of Religion

Jay Hein

CEO, Sagamore Institute

Sagamore CEO Jay Hein served as Director, White House Faith-Based and Community Initiatives under President George W. Bush from 2006-08.

Sagamore CEO Jay Hein served as Director, White House Faith-Based and Community Initiatives under President George W. Bush from 2006-08.

  • Jerry is one of the two founding scholars behind the Museum of the Bible, and he remains a senior advisor to Steve Green.
  • Jerry has authored or edited dozens of books, and he served as the interim president of the Religion News Service.
  • Jerry is the co-owner of a golf course, and his course-view house is actively used for campus ministry.

MUSEUM OF THE BIBLE

Tyndale House:

Global Publishing Partners

IVP Higher Education Series (three of these were Lilly Book Award Finalists)

Baylor University Press

Trilogy

Harper Collins

FILMS NOT ABOVE (sample of interviews as well)

FRONT MATTER

Moody

T&T Clark

  • 2027 — Scripture in Its Material and Literary Context: Historical, Archaeological, and Cultural Correlations (A festschrift for Dr. Edwin Yamauchi, my mentor), (foreword, attached)

Dr. Jerry Pattengale

Senior Fellow, Sagamore Institute

Dr. Lydia Dugdale

Founder, Heal the Nation

Lydia Dugdale is helping lead a renewed cultural conversation about mortality, meaning, and human dignity—bringing her work in medical ethics, faith, and public life to initiatives like Heal the Nation. As a practicing physician and ethicist, she focuses on recovering the moral, spiritual, and communal resources needed to care for one another well at the end of life, arguing that learning to “die well” reshapes how individuals, families, and societies live. Through her scholarship, teaching, and public engagement, she contributes to Sagamore-connected efforts aimed at healing social fragmentation and strengthening a culture of responsibility, hope, and human flourishing.

  • Lydia serves as a Professor of Medicine at Columbia University and Director of the Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, while practicing as an internal medicine physician and hospital ethicist.
  • She is the author of The Lost Art of Dying, which draws on historical and ethical traditions to rethink end-of-life care and challenge the over-medicalization of death in modern society.
  • Lyrida previously held leadership roles at Yale, including Associate Director of the Program for Biomedical Ethics and co-director of the Program for Medicine, Spirituality, and Religion, shaping interdisciplinary conversations on faith, medicine, and human flourishing.

Gene Habecker is a nationally recognized leadership expert who has spent decades shaping leaders across higher education, nonprofits, and global institutions—advancing a vision of leadership rooted in character, humility, and service that strengthens organizations from the inside out.

  • Gene served more than 35 years in executive leadership, including as president of Taylor University, the American Bible Society, and Huntington University, bringing a rare breadth of experience across education and global nonprofit leadership.
  • A prolific author and thought leader on leadership, his work—including Rediscovering the Soul of Leadership and The Softer Side of Leadership—has influenced leaders around the world and been translated into multiple languages.
  • Gene continues to invest in the next generation of leaders as an executive coach, board development consultant, and educator, teaching and leading seminars across the U.S. and internationally.

Gene Habecker

President Emeritus, Taylor University

The Honorable Daniel R. Coats

Co-Founder, Sagamore

Former U.S. Senator, U.S. Ambassador to Germany, and Director of National Intelligence.

One Big Thing: Dan Coats served as U.S. Ambassador to Germany from 2001–05 and represented Indiana in the U.S. Senate, capping a decades-long career in public service that ultimately included serving as Director of National Intelligence under President Trump.

  • His Project for American Renewal promoted charitable tax credits and restorative justice strategies in the Senate — building early bipartisan groundwork for what became the Bush administration’s faith-based initiative.
  • As Ambassador to Germany, Coats managed one of America’s most critical bilateral relationships during the post-9/11 period, including NATO coordination and the lead-up to the Iraq War.
  • He served as DNI from 2017–19, overseeing the entire U.S. intelligence community during a period of significant geopolitical turbulence.
  • Learn about the legacy of Dan and Masha Coats and their call for Americans to answer the call of public service in their book, From Generation to Generation
  • Listen to Dan and Marsha tell their story on Sagamore’s podcast 

One Big Thing: Joseph Loconte is shaping the cultural and intellectual conversation around faith, freedom, and Western civilization by directing The Rivendell Center—bringing history, literature, and public life together to recover the moral and spiritual foundations of a free society. Through bestselling books, documentary films, and national commentary, he is translating the ideas of figures like J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis into timely insights for today’s cultural and political moment.

  • A New York Times bestselling author, his book A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War explores how the friendship and wartime experience of Tolkien and Lewis reshaped modern imagination and moral vision
  • A widely published commentator on religion and public life, his work has appeared in major outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and National Review, and he spent a decade as a commentator for NPR’s All Things Considered
  • Has advised national and international leaders on human rights and faith-based policy, including testimony before Congress and service connected to U.S. policy efforts on religious freedom and global institutions.
Joseph Loconte

Dr. Joseph Loconte

Senior Fellow

Founder and Director, Sagamore's Rivendell Center

David Stroud

Senior Fellow

Co-founder, FORUM

One Big Thing: David Stroud co-founded FORUM, a global cross-sector network of senior leaders designed to translate influence into cultural and societal renewal. What began as a London gathering has grown into an international community spanning the U.K. and U.S., with Sagamore Institute serving as the U.S. partner to expand convenings, working groups, and leadership collaborations. Through teaching, convening, and coaching leaders across sectors, Stroud focuses on building relational networks that move ideas into action for long-term societal impact.

  • David co-founded FORUM with his wife Baroness Philippa Stroud; the initiative has grown into a global network of influential leaders collaborating across sectors to address major societal challenges.
  • He is also the founder of ChristChurch London and has trained leaders worldwide as a speaker and leadership coach.
  • At Sagamore Institute, David works to expand FORUM in the United States through gatherings, retreats, and working groups that convene senior leaders to advance collaborative solutions.

Baroness Philippa Stroud co-founded FORUM, a global cross-sector network of senior leaders designed to translate influence into cultural renewal and societal impact. What began in London has expanded into an international community spanning Europe and the United States, with the U.S. network jointly operated with Sagamore Institute to convene leaders across business, policy, faith, and culture. Alongside her FORUM leadership, Stroud brings decades of experience shaping poverty and opportunity policy—serving in the House of Lords and leading major institutions—helping connect ideas, influence, and action to drive long-term societal change.

  • Baroness Philippa Stroud serves as a Member of the House of Lords and Executive Chair of the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship, and previously led major think tanks including the Legatum Institute and the Centre for Social Justice.
  • Along with her husband David Stroud she co-founded FORUM, building a relational, cross-sector network of influential leaders committed to using their platforms for the common good—now operating internationally with Sagamore as U.S. partner.
  • Philippa played a key role in poverty and welfare reform policy, advising U.K. leadership and helping adapt work-focused welfare models internationally, including collaboration with policy innovators connected to Sagamore.

Baroness Philippa Stroud

Distinguished Senior Fellow

Co-founder, FORUM

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Buford-Drucker Summit

Sagamore hosts the annual Buford-Drucker Summit to honor the legacy of these two original “influencers.”  Their story of friendship and collaboration to strengthen the church, to help nonprofits become better businesses and to deploy capital for a higher purpose is underreported yet dynamically carried forward by a network of senior leaders.

PD

Commonwealth Redemptive Investments

Sagamore’s impact investing vehicle—Commonwealth—has invested approximately $45 million in a dozen faith-driven companies that are improving lives and restoring communities.

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