Krish O’Mara Vignarajah

Krish O’Mara Vignarajah [Krish | OH-MARE-AH | VIG-NUH-RAH-JUH] is the President and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS). She previously served in the Obama White House as Policy Director for First Lady Michelle Obama, leading the signature Let Girls Learn initiative, and at the State Department as Senior Advisor under Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry. At the State Department, Krish coordinated development and implementation of multiple programs including those concerning refugees and migration, engagement with religious communities, the legal dimensions of U.S. foreign policy, and regional issues relating to Africa and the Middle East. Before joining the White House, Krish practiced law at Jenner & Block in Washington, DC, clerked for Chief Judge Michael Boudin on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and taught at Georgetown University as an adjunct. She holds a B.S. in Molecular Biology and an M.A. in Political Science from Yale College, a J.D. from Yale Law School, and an M.Phil in International Relations from Oxford University (Marshall Scholarship). Krish has been recognized as one of The Daily Record’s Top 50 Influential Marylanders, Top 100 Women, and Most Admired CEOs, as well as a Woman to Watch by the Baltimore Sun.

Bishop Deborah K. Hutterer

The Rev. Deborah K. Hutterer is a life-long Lutheran brought to the denomination by default who stayed by choice. Prior to her 2004 ordination, Hutterer created and launched two businesses, worked in the insurance industry, and held many positions at then Augsburg College (now Augsburg University) in Minneapolis, Minn. She served as chief development officer for Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest in Phoenix from 2012 until her election as bishop of the Grand Canyon Synod of the ELCA in 2018. Previously, she was executive director of Faith in the City in Minneapolis from 2008 to 2012 and served as pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Pontiac, Ill., from 2004 to 2007. Bishop Hutterer holds a Master of Divinity degree from Luther Seminary and a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication from Augsburg University.

The Rev. Angela T. !Khabeb is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Raised in Omaha, Nebraska, she received her Master of Divinity degree from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago where she was a Bridges Scholar and received the James Kenneth Echols Prize for Excellence in Preaching. Since her ordination, she has received the seminary’s designation of Distinguished Alumna and the 2018 Emerging Voice Award.

Pastor Angie’s ministry experiences are varied. She has served as pastor in three congregations. She is a frequent contributor to Women of the ELCA’s Gather magazine and Bold Café e-zine. She has also written the Grounded in Grace column in the Living Lutheran for three years. Pastor Angie has also enjoyed appearing on ABC’s GMA3 nearly a dozen times.

Pastor Angie also served as a missionary in Namibia for more than 2 years where she met her husband Benhi. They have three beautiful children and live in Minneapolis.