Authors of color bring important perspectives to their work, with insights and wisdom for every reader on the most important conversations happening today. On this page, you'll learn more about our authors of color and their books. You'll also find articles, videos, and podcasts where you can hear directly from these diverse voices as they share more about their books and the impact that they are having in the church and the world.
Take a look below at authors of color who have published books with IVP in the past three years. You can also meet our Black authors, AAPI authors, Latino authors, Indigenous authors, or browse all of IVP's authors. Hear from a wide variety of diverse voices on IVP's Every Voice Now podcast.
Paul Tokunaga (Master of Christian Studies, New College, Berkeley) is vice president and director of strategic ministries for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA. He started with InterVarsity as a student at the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo and has also worked with 2100 Productions and as Southeast Regional Director.
Nikki A. Toyama-Szeto is senior director of biblical justice integration and mobilization at International Justice Mission (IJM) in Washington, DC. She provides strategic leadership to the IJM Institute for Biblical Justice and IJM's Global Prayer team to ignite passion for biblical justice among the global church. Prior to joining IJM, Nikki worked with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship for twelve years, including serving as program director for InterVarsity's Urbana Student Missions Convention. She is the coauthor of Partnering with the Global Church and More Than Serving Tea.
Gideon Yee Shun Tsang is an artist, writer, photographer, and spiritual leader. He was the founding pastor at Vox Veniae in Austin, Texas, where he's been living for the past twenty years. He originally hails from Canada. He can be found meandering the country in his van, bike camping in national forests, or cliff jumping into cenotes.
Shao Kai Tseng (DPhil, University of Oxford) is assistant professor of systematic theology at China Evangelical Seminary in Taipei, Taiwan. Previously he served as a pastor at Faith Chinese North American Baptist Church in his hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia.
J. D. Tseng (pseudonym) is a prolific writer and editor who has worked in Chinese Christian journals and publications for many years.
Kathy Tuan-MacLean (PhD, Northwestern) is the national faculty ministry director for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, where she invites and resources faculty to follow Jesus together. Since joining InterVarsity in 1990, she has led numerous students and faculty in Bible study, spiritual formation, and leadership development. She is also a spiritual director who has led marriage ministry and women's retreats. Kathy is married to Scott, and they have three young adult children and an overanxious mini labradoodle.
Richard Twiss (1954–2013) was the founder and president of Wiconi International, a nonprofit that works for the betterment of Native people and communities by advancing culture, education, spirituality and social justice in the spirit of Jesus. A member of the Sicangu Lakota Oyate from the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, his native name was Taoyate Ob Najin, or "He Stands with His People." He is the author of One Church, Many Tribes.
A widely traveled speaker, activist, educator, author and networker within the Native North American community, Twiss led Native American performing arts teams and addressed issues of spirituality and justice in hundreds of venues worldwide. He served as a local pastor for thirteen years, worked as national director of Native ministries for the International Bible Society and was the U.S. representative for the World Christian Gathering of Indigenous People Movement. A board member of CCDA (Christian Community Development Association), he was a cofounder of NAIITS (North American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies) and Evangelicals for Justice.
Twiss was committed to serving the local Native community in Portland, Oregon, as a respected spiritual leader with his wife Katherine, who continues his vision today. He was a member of the Portland Indian Leadership Roundtable and was a board member of the city's Native American Youth and Family Center. He also taught at Portland State University, Warner Pacific College and Sioux Falls and George Fox Seminaries.
As a writer, Twiss contributed to The Justice Project, Holy Bible: Mosaic, Jamestown Remembered, Coming Together in the 21st Century and Common Prayer by Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and Enuma Okoro. He was a contributing editor for Cultural Encounters and wrote a bi-monthly column in Charisma Magazine called Smoke Signals. He earned a doctorate of missiology in inter-cultural studies from Asbury Theological Seminary.
Sandra Maria Van Opstal is a second-generation Latina pastor, an activist, an author, and a powerful leading voice on the intersection of faith and justice. She is executive director of Chasing Justice, a movement that mobilizes Christians to live justly. Sandra’s distinctiveness comes from working in both local and global contexts as a practitioner and an academic. She has reached audiences around the world on topics of reconciliation, global justice, and worship.
Van Riesen is an area director with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship serving students at Stanford University, Santa Clara University, UC Santa Cruz and California State Monteray Bay University. Her parents emigrated from Korea when she was five years old. She is a graduate of Occidental College in Los Angeles, California.
Veola Vazquez, PhD, is a licensed psychologist and a tenured professor of psychology in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences at California Baptist University.
Prasanta Verma (MBA, MPH) was born under an Asian sun, raised in the Appalachian foothills in the South, and now resides in the Upper Midwest. Her essays and poetry have been published in Sojourners, Propel Women, (in)courage, Inheritance Magazine, the Indianapolis Review, Barren Magazine, and the Mudroom blog. She served as a speech and debate coach for over ten years. When she's not writing, speaking, or working, she's drinking chai, walking, or reading. Prasanta lives with her family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Wafik W. Wahba is professor of Global Christianity at Tyndale University in Toronto, Canada. He has taught and lectured on global Christianity and Christian-Muslim relations in twenty-five countries, including in the United States, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and South America. He has contributed to several publications, including Edinburgh Companion to Global Christianity, The Rowman and Littlefield Handbook of Christianity in the Middle East, and Cascade's series The Global Story of Christianity. He served on the editorial advisory board and contributed several entries to the Encyclopedia of Christianity in the Global South.
Allen M. Wakabayashi has served on various campuses with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Currently, he serves at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and he previously served at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He is the author of Kingdom Come.
Jonathan P. Walton is an area ministry director for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship's New York/New Jersey region. He previously served for ten years as director of the New York City Urban Project. He writes regularly for Huffington Post, medium.com, and is the author of three books of poetry and short stories. Jonathan's work fighting human trafficking has been featured in the Christian Post, New York Daily News, and King Kulture. He has been named one of Christianity Today's 33 Under 33, won a Young Christian Leaders World Changer award, and was honored as one of New York's New Abolitionists. He is a member of New Life Fellowship and lives with his wife, daughter, and dog in New York City.
Roland C. Warren is the CEO of Care Net, one of the largest networks of crisis pregnancy centers in North America. A graduate of Princeton University and the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, Roland spent eleven years as president of the National Fatherhood Initiative. His national media appearances include The Oprah Winfrey Show, The TODAY Show, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Ebony, Christianity Today, and Essence. He is the author of Bad Dads of the Bible, and he and his wife have two adult sons.
Terry M. Wildman (Ojibwe and Yaqui) is the lead translator, general editor, and project manager of the First Nations Version. He serves as the director of spiritual growth and leadership development for Native InterVarsity. He is also the founder of Rain Ministries and has previously served as a pastor and worship leader. Terry lives with his wife, Darlene, in Arizona.
Jarvis J. Williams (PhD, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is associate professor of New Testament interpretation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author of numerous books, including Redemptive Kingdom Diversity: A Biblical Theology of the People of God, Christ Redeemed ‘Us’ from the Curse of the Law: A Jewish Martyrological Reading of Galatians 3:13, and a commentary on Galatians in the New Covenant Commentary Series.
Jamaal E. Williams (DEdMin) serves as lead pastor of Sojourn Church Midtown in Louisville, Kentucky, and as president of the Harbor Network. In addition, he regularly consults churches on leadership matters and issues related to building healthy multi-ethnic churches.
Harry Louis Williams II (MDiv, Palmer Theological Seminary) is an ordained minister and the author of several books, including No Easy Walk and Street Cred. He serves the poor, addicted, homeless, and formerly incarcerated in Oakland, California.
Dorena Williamson has a passion for all children to hear the message of God's diverse kingdom. She writes children's books that adults also enjoy and is the author of ColorFull, ThoughtFull, and GraceFull. Prior to becoming an author, Dorena enjoyed a career as a social counselor, a worship leader, and a stylist. In 1995, Dorena and her husband, Chris, cofounded Strong Tower Bible Church in Franklin, Tennessee, a multicultural fellowship passionate about biblical justice and God's diverse kingdom.
Kenman L. Wong (Ph.D., University of Southern California) is professor of business ethics at Seattle Pacific University. He is the author of Medicine and the Marketplace: The Moral Dimensions of Managed Care.
Randy Woodley (PhD, Asbury Seminary) is Distinguished Professor of Faith and Culture and the director of intercultural and indigenous studies at George Fox Evangelical Seminary.
Woodley is a Keetoowah Cherokee Indian who has been in ministry among First Nations people since 1984. He is a teacher, poet, activist, former pastor, missiologist and historian. He and his wife, Edith (Eastern Shoshone/Choctaw), are cofounders of Eagle's Wings Ministry and are considered early innovators in the Native American Contextual Movement. He is a founding board member of NAIITS, the North American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies, and he administers the Fox/ NAIITS cooperative Master of Arts Intercultural Studies degree.
Woodley is active in the ongoing discussions concerning new church movements, racial and ethnic diversity, peace, social justice, interreligious dialogue and mission. He regularly blogs in these areas and is the author of Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision and Living in Color: Embracing God?s Passion for Ethnic Diversity.
George Yancey (PhD, University of Texas) is a professor at the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University, specializing in race/ethnicity and religion. He works to promote collaborative communication as a solution to racial unrest. His books include Compromising Scholarship, One Faith No Longer, Hostile Environment, Beyond Racial Gridlock, and Transcending Racial Barriers.
Hear More from Our Authors of Color
How can Christians engage with Juneteenth? Take this opportunity to educate yourself, your family, and your church on Black history in America and get practical ideas to become a part of the continuing story of justice and reconciliation in your community.
Dominick S. Hernández is a Latino scholar within evangelical academia. Read about his career journey in Christian higher education, including his tips for how fellow academics can care for each other well and lift each other up.