Project Staff
Rev. Sarah Ann Bixler, PhD
Program Director and Co-Principal Investigator
Rev. Almeda Wright, PhD
Co-Principal Investigator
Almeda M. Wright (PhD Emory University, MDiv Harvard Divinity School, MAT Simmons College, BS Massachusetts Institute of Technology) is the tenured Associate Professor of Religious Education at Yale Divinity School. Her research focuses on African American religion, Womanist practical theology, adolescent spiritual development, and the intersections of religion, education, and public life. Almeda recently launched Communitas, a young adult ministry innovation hub at Yale.
Almeda’s most recent book Teaching to Live: Black Religion, Activist-Educators and Radical Social Change (Oxford, 2024) explores religion, education, and radial social change among African Americans through the stories of eight educators across the twentieth century. She is also the author of The Spiritual Lives of Young African Americans (Oxford, 2017) and the editor, with Mary Elizabeth Moore, of Children, Youth, and Spirituality in a Troubling World. Almeda contributed to the exciting student bible, the Common English (CEB) Student Bible.
Almeda is an ordained minister of the American Baptist Churches and has worked with
young people for over 25 years, including as a 5th and 6th grade teacher, as a youth minister, and the Assistant Director of the Youth Theological
Initiative at Emory University.
Gregory Czyszczon, PhD, LPC
Restoring Connections Lab Professor
Gregory Czyszczon (PhD, EDS, MA, MED and BA, James Madison University) is Associate
Professor of Counseling at Eastern Mennonite University and a Licensed Professional Counselor.
Greg has worked with children, adolescents, individuals, couples, and families in the fields
of education, social
work and counseling for over 30 years. His research explores how parent/child attachment
informs human experience using the framework of attachment theory in the Bowlby/Ainsworth
tradition. Greg is founder and director of the Restoring Connections Research and Practice Lab at Eastern
Mennonite University, and is involved in investigating the effectiveness of Transformative Couples
Therapy.® Greg is an Executive Board member of the Global Association for Interpersonal
Neurobiology Studies.
Michael Droege
Postdoc in Practical Theology
Michael William Droege (PhD University of Pretoria, MAR Drew University) is a Postdoctoral
Associate at Yale Divinity School and a researcher with Conectere. Michael’s work
has been focused on the practical theology of adolescents and he has presented his
work at the International Association of Youth Ministries Conference, the Intergenerate
Conference, through seminary courses at Drew Theological School, as a congregational
coach, as well as various journals and the edited volumes The Generational Church and Engage All Generations.
Michael is an ordained minister with the International Council of Community Churches
and has served in both youth ministry and pastoral ministry.
Tamika Jackson
Assistant Professor of Counseling
Debra Pardini
Administrative Assistant
Kathy Smith
Finance Administrator
Amanda Gilbert
Graduate Research Assistant
Amanda Gilbert (she/her) is a Masters in Counseling student at Eastern Mennonite University and is eager to be a research assistant in the Restoring Connections Lab. Amanda graduated from Eastern Mennonite University with a bachelor’s in psychology and a minor in neuroscience.
Amanda grew up in DC and Maryland, but is currently interning at Adagio House in Harrisonburg
during her graduate studies. Amanda is excited to work alongside families as they
strengthen their bond and attachment and work towards healing together. In her free
time, she loves to read, spend quality time with friends, and dance.
Katie Liskey
Graduate Research Assistant
Sarah Layman
Graduate Research Assistant
Sarah Layman is in her third year at Eastern Mennonite University and is soon starting her internship at Wildly Rooted Counseling in Harrisonburg. In the past, she worked with kids ranging from the age of infant to 5th grade. She has a passion to work with individuals and families to help them discover the best versions of themselves. Sarah enjoys reading, knitting, and being in the mountains in her spare time.
Tony Robertson
Graduate Research Assistant
