Jason Ostrander is a veteran youth pastor who lives in Colorado Springs. He’s been to his wife Calu for 10 years and they have two boys, Liam and Jams. As an experienced speaker and filmmaker Jason has traveled all around the world. He’s now the national youth director for Alliance Youth.

Brandon’s been a junior high pastor for over nine years and is currently the pastor of student ministries at First Evangelical Free Church in Rockford, IL.  He’s a graduate of the Moody Bible Institute with a Master of Arts degree in Transformational Leadership at Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, MN.  Brandon is an event and retreat speaker and guest-teaches on using multimedia in ministry for college level youth ministry classes.  From video editing and graphic design to vlogs and viral marketing, Brandon strives to engage youth and grab their attention in ways that are creative and relevant.

Matt served in high school ministry for 12 years before coming to his senses and moving on to other ministries in the church. Since then, he’s wondered if it was possible to lose those senses. Matt has known Doug Fields since he was a freshman in high school, which was about 100 years and 100 pounds ago. Matt is on the SYM podcast—mostly because Matt is enamored with his own thoughts, but he does enjoy long arguments on the beach.

 Ryan Nielsen currently serves as the Youth Director at St. Mark
Presbyterian Church in Boerne, TX. He has worked in youth ministry for 18 years in Colorado, Canada, Denmark, Oklahoma, California, and Texas. Ryan has a M.A. in Youth and Family Ministry, a MDiv, and will graduate in June with his Doctorate from Fuller Seminary. He is also owner and president of  pastor2youth.com. Ryan married in 2005 and has 2 foster-children.

Ginny is a co-director of North Park University’s Center for Youth Ministry Studies in Chicago, Illinois. She is also an assistant professor of Youth Ministry. She has been involved in youth ministry for over 10 years, and is the author of Teenage Girls:Exploring Issues Adolescent Girls Face and Strategies to Help Them, as well as the co-author of Youth Ministry Management Tools, and was an editor and contributing writer for Breaking the Gender Barrier in Youth Ministry.  

Eighteen is the number of years that Maina has been in ministry, and it was also the age that he accepted his call into full time ministry. Maina is the former student director for the Baptist Convention of Maryland Delaware. Currently Maina is traveling and speaking to students and youth leaders. When he is not traveling, you can find Maina at home with his wife, Tiffiney.

“Energetic, fun, passionate, and she’s never had a private thought in her life” are some of the words and phrases used to describe Connie Witt. For more that 25 years Connie has served alongside her husband as a pastor’s wife. She’s the author of That Makes Two of Us: Lifestyle Mentoring for Women, in which she encourages women to invest in younger women through relationship, not a program. Connie has a love for the next generation and for pastors’ wives.

Vince is married to his best friend, Julia, and together they have three amazing girls. He is the Campus Pastor at Vanguard University in Southern California and has been serving in ministry for 22 years. He is in the final stages of his doctoral dissertation at George Fox University. He is the founder of the Youth and Family Ministry Institute and the Youth Ministry degree program at Spring Arbor University.

 With almost two decades of youth ministry experience, Jeff is a veteran youth pastor, national youth speaker, camp director, chocolate-lover, and Dallas Cowboys fan. He is the Pastor of Youth Spiritual Growth of Mohn’s Hill Evangelical Congregational Church near Reading, Pennsylvania. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Secondary Education from Millersville University and his Master of Divinity degree in Christian Education from Evangelical Theological Seminary.

Andy wears a lot of hats at SYM and Group, but no one actually knows what he does. Rumor is the hats just help to hide his massive ears. We know he’s getting something done though, because products are still being created, the web site is running, and the office lights are still on.

Rachel’s called to share the love of God with all people. She is currently living out that call as a wife, a mother of two, and the Director of Youth Ministry at Rocky River United Methodist Church in Rocky River, Ohio. Rachel has a degree in Youth Ministry from Ohio Northern University and has experience working in churches, camps, and para-church settings.

Jeff is the Vice President of Consulting at Youth Ministry Architects, and has been director of youth at Christ United Methodist Church in Venice, Florida since 1998. He had been an active youth volunteer for more than a decade with church and para-church organizations. He currently lives in Venice, Florida, with his wife and two children.

Ned is a writer, thinker, adventurer, husband and father—he’s also a long-time Young Life staffer and worship leader. His first book, Falling Into Love, is an intimate portrait of a true fool in love. He and his wife, Lia, have two young children.

Scott has the “tough” job of writing about music, movies, video games, and youth culture for Group Magazine and youthministry.com. He’s also a husband, father, and volunteer youth worker in his church’s youth ministry. If you have a youth ministry idea you’d like to share, talk to Scott about getting it published in the magazine.

As the prodigal child of youth worker parents, Kami spent her teen years plotting youth ministry destruction. Thanks to God’s sense of humor, she’s now the event director for Group’s Simply Youth Ministry Conference, where her passion is invested in equipping and encouraging youth workers. Since 1995 she’s served in a variety of roles at Group and the Group Workcamp Foundation, and is a board member and international speaker for the non profit ministry, Magazine Training International. Kami and her husband, Tim, live in Colorado with their five children. 

Mike is the Pastor of Youth Ministry at First Church of God in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, a town of 6,500. Mike heard the clear call to youth ministry as a senior in high school and majored in youth ministry. He’s been serving in youth ministry for over eight years in many aspects. Mike is on the State Youth Convention Planning Team for the Church of God in Western Pennsylvania. Mike says he knows all about rural ministry. Where he lives, the nearest Starbucks is 75 minutes away (painful—seriously, who does that?).

Dave is a ninja master of the disciplines of Photoshop, Illustrator, and then some After Effects. Dave knows all when it comes to media, so fire away— he would love to talk geek and practice numchucks with you.

Eddie has a passion to equip leaders, students and adults with the tools they need through the exciting medium of drama. As a creative arts minister, and one of the Skit Guys, Eddie serves students and adults in the Dallas area.

Keith is a veteran youth pastor of 37 years in four local churches and five years with the National Network of Youth Ministries, He is part of the original founding team of NNYM and lives to encourage youth  workers to stay in youth ministry to reach this generation for Christ. Keith loves to speak to students and challenge youth workers. He has been married for 40 years, and his wife and children have been vitally involved in youth ministry and love the local church.

Jim is Senior Writer, Editor and Researcher for Azusa Pacific University’s Center for Youth and Family. Jim has over 25 years of experience as a youth and family ministry specialist, most recently serving as Senior Editor of Publications for HomeWord. He has served over the years as a pastor, author, trainer, instructor and speaker. Jim is a contributing author of culture and parenting articles to Crosswalk.com.

Jake connects with students using media and humor as well as playing video games. Recently he broke a personal best with a 64% on Guitar Hero (easy difficulty, Hit Me With Your Best Shot). He is a partner on the youth ministry team at Saddleback Church.

Thom and Joani have spent their entire adult lives serving the church. Thom is the founder and chairman of Group Publishing, the creator of curriculum and other resources for church ministry, and Group Cares, a non-profit service organization. Together they have written a long list of books for church ministry, including the bestsellers Why Nobody Learns Much of Anything at Church and The Dirt on Learning. Under Thom & Joani’s leadership, Group has been an innovative leader in providing churches with more effective ways to help people grow in their relationship with Jesus.

Jana has been working with junior and senior high students for over 13 years as a public school teacher, coach, youth minister, and counselor. She’s a national presenter for Group Workcamps, co-hosts a weekly teen-oriented radio talk show and podcast called Get-Real, and is currently working on a project called “The Sexy Truth.” She was born and raised in rural Pennsylvania, where she lives with her husband, Joel. She has a heart for encouraging small and rural church youth and leaders.

 Joel is a veteran of youth ministry, having served in the same church for 22 years. He is married to Jana Snyder, a youth director and speaker. While he understands the world of youth ministry, Joel is also learning each day how to better balance that time with his wife’s ministry and schedule. He loves heartfelt conversation and making people laugh. In addition to youth ministry, Joel also coaches junior high football, and owns a ’50s diner in Central Pennsylvania.

A veteran of youth ministry, Jeff serves in the Camps & Tours division at Group Publishing. He oversees the mission trips efforts on behalf of Group Workcamps Foundation. Jeff’s a contributing writer for Group Magazine and helps create interactive program elements that bring thousands of youth and adults closer to God every year. He’s also the craziest Chicago Fire fan in the entire state of Colorado…

Based in Columbus, Ohio, Travis formed and toured internationally for five years with the Christian band Station2, and is now the Associate Pastor at New Albany Church. He received his undergraduate degree in Biblical Studies and Masters in Religious Studies at Liberty University. He’s married to Jen, and they’re expecting their first child in May.

 Tommy’s favorite thing to do in high school was to pretend to be different characters, like Psalty, the Singing Songbook with his best buddy, Eddie James. (Who knew they’d still be doing it 20 years later?) When Tommy isn’t on the road with Eddie doing Skit Guys stuff, he serves as the associate pastor/minister of creative arts at NEWCHURCH in Oklahoma City.

Reza has been the Young Adults Pastor at Timberline Church in Fort Collins, Colorado, since 2003. He was born in Abadan, Iran and raised in a Muslim family. As Reza was attending Colorado State University as a student-athlete, missionaries with Campus Crusade shared the gospel with him and he became a follower of Christ. Reza lives in Fort Collins with his wife, Allyson, and daughter, Olivia.