Re/Generation 2021: South and Mid-Atlantic

Call To Action is thrilled to announce our Re/Generation cohorts for 2021! Over the next few weeks, we will introduce the young adults who are joining our community through this program. Re/Generation gathers, supports, and mobilizes a growing community of young Catholic change-makers as they discern their particular vocations and lead the church toward healing and justice. Moving into our fourth programming year, we are introducing two cohorts under the Re/Generation umbrella. The POC Cohort is a cohort exclusively for people of color, while the Local Cohort provides dedicated support to people looking to build local progressive Catholic communities outside traditional parishes.

Vanessa AlvaradoFlores
POC & Local Cohorts

Vanessa was born and raised in the southernmost region of Texas, aka Rio Grande Valley, aka RGV. Her formal education includes a BS in Sociology from Texas A&M University-College Station and an MLA from St. Edward's University. Following ten years of stage experience in Austin, TX, Vanessa decided to go on a three-year journey to NYC and study at the prestigious Atlantic Acting School. In 2018, her heart demanded that she return to the RGV and serve her community. She joined the team of La Union del Pueblo Entero, an organization that builds grassroots leadership who then organizes to overcome social injustices. Always creatively inspired, Vanessa is currently collaborating with a longtime artistic friend and bringing to life Frontera Dance Project. She is also working on a singing-songwriting project that she plans to release in December 2021.

Audrey Carroll
Local Cohort

Audrey graduated from DePaul University in March 2020 with a BA in Political Science and a minor in History. Before moving to DC, Audrey held internship positions in Senator Tammy Duckworth’s Chicago office and the Irish Parliament, along with campaign field work in Chicago’s recent mayoral race. In college, Audrey became a certified Peace Circle facilitator and is trained in restorative justice mediation. Also during her time at DePaul University, she served as Catholic Campus Ministry’s Catholic Relief Services’ Student Ambassador. Audrey has completed community organizer training in partnership with Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. She served as a 2020-2021 Policy Communications Associate at NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice.

Julia Hubbell
Local Cohort

Julia has been involved in community organizing for labor and racial justice since college. She attended 17 years of Catholic schooling and served a year with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Portland, Maine. She is currently in Washington, DC.

Clare Frances Kemmerer
Local Cohort

Clare Frances is a graduate student at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, where she is pursuing an MAR in Religion & the Visual Arts. She is also pursuing a certificate in Lay Catholic Ministry. She lives in New Orleans with her partner where they are congregants at St. Augustine's Church. She is passionate about actions that center cross-solidarity between marginalized groups, and is particularly motivated around issues of race, class, and LGBTQ+ rights in the Catholic Church. She enjoys the theological writing of Herbert McCabe, Gustavo Guttierez, and St. Augustine.

Cassidy Klein
Local Cohort

Cassidy (she/her/hers) is a writer who grew up in Denver and studied journalism and philosophy at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. After graduating, she moved to Washington, DC to work as an editorial assistant at Sojourners magazine and live in an intentional community with other Sojo fellows. She is a listener and brings a gentle spirit to spaces of activism and social justice. The celebration of the Eucharist and contemplative practices sustain her faith, and she is committed to working for a future church where there is full inclusion, affirmation and liberation for folks of all genders, sexualities, and identities. She plays the Celtic harp and loves to read and hike.

Mike Libunao-Macalintal
POC Cohort

Mike is a writer, theologian, minister, and educator. He attended Fordham University and spent time working in youth ministry before taking the last three years to explore Filipino/a/x theology while getting his MDiv at Yale Divinity School. He now works in Washington, DC as a campus minister. A second generation Filipino American, Mike has focused his work on elevating marginalized and silenced voices in religious and public spaces, particularly for POC Catholics. He considers himself a faithfully rogue Catholic lay minister, deeply shaped by his time in ecumenical communities while remaining rooted in the mission of the Catholic Church. He believes that the Church can be a place that lives up to the challenge of the Gospel, to be a movement that promotes and advocates for justice, that is inclusive of all races, genders, sexual orientations, and abilities, and embodies the most radical kind of love.

Catherine Miller
POC Cohort

Catherine is a wellness professional in the DMV area who strives to make wellness accessible and empowering to all communities. Catherine works for LabCorp as a Client Success Manager where she serves as the Wellness Coordinator for the DC Government, managing wellness programming efforts and solutions for Aetna, its members, and agencies across the local government. She also assists with wellness programming and initiatives for Fairfax County Public Schools.

Catherine received her BA in History from Dartmouth College, and a minor in Anthropology, and received a business certificate through the Bridge Program at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth after graduation. Catherine completed her MS in Nutrition and is a yoga instructor, mindfulness teacher, Certified Crystal Practitioner, and a Certified Health & Wellness Coach. She is also a Reiki Master and provides Reiki and Nutrition services and classes to clients and students nationally.

Anthony Oscar
Local Cohort

Anthony grew up in New Brunswick, Canada and studied theology and art at Boston College. He participated in the School of the Americas protests and Ignatian Family Teach-Ins, which led to a semester in El Salvador as part of Santa Clara University's Casa de la Solidaridad program. His many teachers in many places have enriched and strengthened his faith. He is grateful for the CTA community in New Orleans, where he lives, for their support and inspiration.

Laura Ruth Venable
Local Cohort

Laura Ruth is a health care data scientist and a graduate student at the CUNY School of Labor Studies. She recently converted to Roman Catholicism for the church’s diversity of community, social teaching, and theology of liberation. She lives in New Orleans where she delights in befriending postal workers and knowing her neighbors by name. In support of her faith formation, she’s looked to the writings and witness of Will Davis Campbell, Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman, and Sister Beth Davies.

Arthur Zaloga
POC & Local Cohorts

Arthur grew up in San Diego where he began to cultivate connections with organizations helping the immigrant communities. As a student at William and Mary he continued this outreach by volunteering with the immigrant community in and around Williamsburg. Now a proud resident of Washington, DC, he has continued his passion for community empowerment by managing businesses that have provided opportunities and safe spaces for many immigrants as well as other fellow residents of the District. He loves living in a city where there are constant opportunities to engage with collective actions related to the broad range of social and environmental justice issues crucial for the betterment of our society.