Forte Pass

Lisa Brown

“For this is our world… we’re made from stories.” -Oliver Jeffers

AREAS OF EXPERTISE: Digital Storytelling, Website Design, Communications

Lisa Brown is passionate about creatively enriching the spiritual lives of people of all ages through digital storytelling, experiential and immersive learning opportunities, and collaborative art installations. As the Membership Vision Project Lead, she facilitates digital engagement by helping churches tell their stories through beautiful, narrative websites.

With degrees from Carnegie Mellon University and George Washington University, Lisa has continued to grow in faith and understanding through her participation in Education for Ministry (EfM) and earned a Certification in Leadership in Lifelong Faith Formation from Virginia Theological Seminary and Forma. As a lifelong Episcopalian, Lisa has served on the vestry of St. Paul’s, the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, and as a Lay Deputy to the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in 2018 and 2022. As a member of Forma, eFormation, and the Episcopal Parish Network, Lisa has often served as an engaging instructor, translating decades of parish communications experience into conference workshops and continuing education courses at Virginia Theological Seminary.

Lisa has written extensively for web and print publications, including Building Faith. Her book “The Best VBS Workbook Ever!” was published in 2017. She also contributed to John Roberto’s “Faith Formation with a New Generation,” the 2020 InsideOut camp curriculum, the 2018 Lenten Kyrie Project, and the Facilitator’s Guide for The Anglican Communion’s "Thy Kingdom Come" global prayer initiative.

In her capacity as the Director of Children's Ministry for St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Mt. Lebanon, PA, and as a Girl Scout and Boy Scout leader, Lisa encouraged children and youth to live into their fullest potential. She relishes camping in the rain, Epiphany parades with sparklers, high adventure activities, and pageants with live donkeys.

As an artist, Lisa has co-designed multiple collaborative installations including Color Me Pittsburgh, a project that invited locals to engage in conversations about race and geography, It was shared at the 2014 Three Rivers Arts Festival, First Night Pittsburgh, Carnegie Library, and Assemble Arts & Technology maker-space.

Lisa lives in Pittsburgh with her husband Kevin. They share a love of food, hospitality, travel, and parenting their two adult children.

Jamie Burnette

Hannah Graham

"Creating space for people to know God."

AREAS OF EXPERTISE: Program Design & Facilitation, Instruction, Digital Tools, Project Management

For nearly 15 years, Hannah has served Episcopal parish communities in a variety of Christian Formation roles. A gifted Godly Play storyteller and youth mentor, Hannah utilizes her knowledge of child and adolescent faith development in the classroom and in executing strategic planning to enhance the shaping of Christian community. She regularly contributes to Diocesan events and camps. Hannah has led the Education for Ministry Program as a mentor and trains other mentors to lead the program as well. She is recognized for her innovative use of technology to integrate liturgical seasons, parish programs, music, faith-at-home activities, and outreach.

In 2021, Hannah joined the LF! team as the Congregational Learning Lead. She journeys with parish and program leadership as they design aligned formational offerings. Hannah believes that clear, thoughtful, and honest communication is the key to a successful project. As a result of recognizing her gift for digital learning tools, Hannah was named Head of the LF! Hub in 2022. She is charged with overseeing the administration of this platform and the continual development of a variety of learning content for the Forte Pass.

When the weather is warm in Baltimore, you can find Hannah in the garden or working on a DIY Project with her husband, James, and their three young boys. During the colder months, Hannah enjoys curling up with a good book about gardening and eating way too many snacks.

Greg Klimovitz

“Throughout the universe, the ongoing reality is change….since change is the one inescapable truth, change is the basic clay of our lives. In order to live constructive lives, we must learn to shape change when we can and yield to it when we must. Either way, we must learn and teach, adapt and grow.” -Octavia E. Butler

AREAS OF EXPERTISE: Leadership Coaching, Creative Writing, Content Development, Communications Strategy

As a strategic thinker, program developer, communicator, and empathy-based leadership coach, Greg Klimovitz is committed to equipping individuals and organizations to leverage digital media platforms to promote the well-being of all people. He is an ordained Presbyterian (PCUSA) minister with over 20 years of vocational work in the areas of executive-level judicatory leadership, congregational ministry, and ministry partnerships.

Greg's passion for storytelling motivates his creative and intentional approach to blogging, podcasting, and networking. Greg has collaborated with ecumenical movements, interfaith organizations, not-for-profits, community partners, and diverse thought leaders in efforts in order to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, educational justice, leadership development, and anti-racism efforts through the reimagining of systems to sustain new and existing mission-driven organizations.

Greg graduated from Eastern University in 2006 with a BA in Biblical Studies and Youth Ministry and earned his Masters of Divinity (with a concentration on leadership) from Missio Seminary in Philadelphia.

Carly Lane

"Critical thinking is possible only where the standpoints of all others are open to inspection [...] by the force of imagination it makes the others present and thus moves in a space that is potentially public, open to all sides. [...] To think with an enlarged mentality means that one trains one’s imagination to go visiting." - Hannah Arendt, Lectures on Kant's Political Philosophy

AREAS OF EXPERTISE: Higher Education, Christian Education, Spiritual Formation, Communications, Systems Analysis

As a practiced educator, Carly Lane is passionate about supporting communities of learners through clear communication and effective instructional design. Her education & research is in Philosophy, Religion, and Literature, and she has over ten years of experience teaching in the classroom, online, and in hybrid formats. In her lay ministry, she has designed curriculum for and led Christian formation programs for children, youth, families, and adults in diverse congregational settings. She has special expertise in writing, editing, and helping faculty, administrators, and clergy design successful learning experiences.

Sarah Lawing

“Behind all created beauty the mystic sees a witness to the source of eternal beauty.” -Annemarie Schimmel

AREAS OF EXPERTISE: Digital Media, Creative Design, Brand Management, Music Ministry

Nia McKenney

“Music is not different from life.” -Herbie Hancock

AREAS OF EXPERTISE: Website Platforms, Audio Production & Editing, Technology & Systems

Nia McKenney is a passionate producer, editor, creator, and lover of media and technology. She works, lives, and serves deeply grounded in the values of respect and empathy, and is particularly driven by those values to improve representation and accessibility for people in communities who are not represented in or provided access to privileges and resources to which they are entitled – using media and technical literacy to do so.

Before joining our team, Nia worked as part of the marketing team at Forward Movement, for which she still reads on the Forward Day by Day podcast. She has also worked and grown within the Cincinnati Public Library system (Cincinnati, Ohio), focusing on tech literacy and tutoring for all ages. Nia holds a bachelor’s degree in Music and Spanish Language from Bowling Green State University and a master's degree in Music Technology from Indiana University Purdue, with voice as her primary instrument.

Music has always been at the core of Nia’s existence. She is always singing, always practicing, and always surprised at the absolute purity of musical joy. Any time outside of (and sometimes during!!) work is filled with sounds and singing.

Kyle Oliver

“Learning [is] a conversation with artifacts. People learn by switching roles from being producers to being critics, from being actors to being audiences, from holding the stage to moving into the background.” -Developmental psychologist Edith Ackermann

AREAS OF EXPERTISE: Educational Media, Church and Nonprofit Communications, Learning Theory; Digital Literacy for Ministry

For more than a decade, Kyle Oliver has been a national leader in digital ministry skill development and related research, as well as the design, implementation, and assessment of media-rich learning experiences in faith settings. Before joining Learning Forte, he managed communications and taught Christian formation at Church Divinity School of the Pacific. Previously he was the inaugural digital missioner in the Center for the Ministry of Teaching (now Lifelong Learning) at Virginia Theological Seminary, where he led the development of the eFormation Learning Community and associated conferences. He has served in a part-time capacity on the staff of congregations in Washington DC, New York City, and San Francisco, and he was the founding producer of the iTunes-charting podcast The Way of Love with Bishop Michael Curry. He is a 2016 fellow of the Episcopal Church Foundation, a past board member of Forma, and creator of the Holy Eucharist Illuminated liturgy teaching cards project.

Kyle holds an EdD in communication from the educational media program at Teachers College Columbia University, where he is currently a visiting scholar in the Digital Futures Institute, and an MS in engineering physics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he wrote simulation software to study the social dimensions of nuclear fuel recycling. His dissertation podcast, Becoming Tapestry, chronicles the journey of two protestant ministers approaching church, mission, and formation differently as they shepherd a team-based, faith-adjacent foster youth mentoring network through growth and disruption. During his time at Teachers College, he was also the founding producer of the Media and Social Change Podcast, a contributor to the inaugural Podfest Media Festival, and lead curator of the college-wide Digital Learning Exhibition. He has published research in Teaching Theology & Religion, Ecclesial Practices, Journal of Media Literacy Education, The Study of Ministry: A Comprehensive Survey of Theory and Best Practice, and Teaching Religion Using Technology in Higher Education, and The Seasons of Adult Faith Formation.

Matt O'Rear

"Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." -Fred Rogers

AREAS OF EXPERTISE: Higher Ed and Church Administration, Hybrid Ministry, Client Care

Before joining Learning Forte, The Rev. Matthew D. O'Rear served as the Dean of the Chapel and Assistant to the President at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa, one of seven Seminaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ELCA. Matt grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. He studied philosophy and religious studies at Georgia State University, Atlanta, and completed additional studies at the University of Georgia, Athens. He received his Master of Divinity from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina, and also studied at The Lutheran Theological Seminary - Philadelphia.

Since entering public ministry in 2008, Matt has been committed to living out his calling to help people discover how they can serve as "public theologians" to a world in need. Matt has served as Associate Dean at Wartburg Theological Seminary, Director of Admissions at The Lutheran Theological Seminary - Philadelphia, liturgist and faculty for Theological Education with Youth (TEY) at The Lutheran Seminary at Gettysburg, and as a faculty member for Lutheran Outdoor Ministry Academy. He has provided leadership, vision, and board service for a variety of other programs and events in the wider church. Matt was also the Theologian in Residence at Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church in New York City.

In addition to his service in the mission of Jesus, Matt enjoys a nice bourbon, liturgical theology, gardening, cooking, and The Office (but not all at the same time). He is the proud uncle to five boys and godfather/baptismal sponsor to nine children. In addition to traveling for his work in the church, he enjoys traveling for pleasure. Still, a weekend of Netflix is always welcomed at his home in Decatur, Georgia, with his husband, Mr. Jay Steffen.

Sylvia Ramos

AREAS OF EXPERTISE: Tech Quick Starts, Project Management

Sylvia Ramos is a proven leader with a history of successfully managing enterprise projects in complex environments. She has been PMP certified for over 16 years and has over 20 years of experience managing programs/projects across multiple industries including, but not limited to healthcare, education, and technology forward companies

Stacy Williams-Duncan

AREAS OF EXPERTISE: Pedagogy, Curriculum Design, Digital Learning

The Rev. Stacy Williams-Duncan integrates teaching and learning, research and practice, theological education, and ministry in and beyond parish, school, seminary, and digital contexts. She is a co-creative priest with over 20 years of experience in ordained ministry.