Episcopal Divinity School (EDS) has experienced significant interest in its educational offerings over the last two years. More than 6,000 people from more than 30 countries across six continents have learned with EDS in virtual classrooms, public webinars, and in-person experiences, and many have expressed an eagerness for more.
To support this level of engagement and build the internal architecture required for long-term growth, EDS is expanding the department under the leadership of Director of Theological Education, the Rev. Brandon Thomas Crowley, Ph.D. These new team members bring diverse professional expertise that will provide the coordination, communication, and instructional support needed for EDS to grow and strengthen its offerings.
Donnell A. Williamson, Jr., Ph.D. — Assistant Director of Theological Education
The Assistant Director role provides strategic and programmatic leadership within the department, guiding curriculum development, supporting faculty relationships, and ensuring our theological vision is consistently reflected across all offerings.
Dr. Williamson has spent his career building programs, partnerships, and systems that place theological education in conversation with communities and the questions that matter most to them. He previously served as Assistant Director of Community Learning and Partnerships for The Candler Foundry at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology. His scholarship wrestles with perennial questions surrounding suffering, faith, and moral responsibility, creating space for curious minds to engage animating questions around faithful living and neighborly responsibility.
-
"Theological education is at an inflection point, and people are searching for new ways to engage with one another and some of life's most pressing questions around faith, suffering, and neighborly love. In this role, I'm privileged to have the opportunity to develop systems and programs that can better support our siblings in their faithful journeys as they wrestle with difficult questions regarding matters of the heart and mind."
-
Donnell A. Williamson, Jr., Ph.D.
Juan Martínez Benavides — Program Associate for Theological Education
Focused on execution, the Program Associate manages course logistics, coordinates communications, and supports the day-to-day operations that keep programming running smoothly.
Juan will provide operational, technical, and logistical support for EDS's courses, webinars, and public programming. He brings over five years of experience administering digital learning pathways within seminary settings, participating in strategic planning to create collaborative global learning cohorts, managing Learning Management Systems, and directing virtual event production. He is also a Ph.D. student in Religion and Society at Drew University, where his research explores collective trauma, social ethics, and liberation theologies.
-
“I'm thrilled to join EDS's bold and innovative work in theological education. I'm honored to be part of an initiative that bridges rigorous theological reflection with the pressing issues of our world, and explores how Christians can help build alternative ways of living rooted in justice and peace.”
-
Juan Martínez Benavides
Yarilynne Esther Regalado — Lead Teaching Assistant
EDS is also implementing a new instructional infrastructure featuring a Lead Teaching Assistant (TA) model and a broader TA cohort system. This approach is intended to better support faculty and help ensure a cohesive learning environment across offerings—a vital foundation given EDS's reliance on a diverse array of faculty.
Yarilynne holds a Master’s Degree from Union Theological Seminary with an interdisciplinary focus on Global Liberation Theologies and Spiritual Care. As an artist, cultural worker, and community organizer based in New York City, she seeks to build authentic community wherever she finds herself.
-
"I am passionate about creating accessible and safe communities rooted in practices of care, curiosity, and vulnerability. Our bodies hold unique experiences, privileges, and wells of knowledge, and each online learning space is a unique portal where people have their worldviews and theologies challenged, uplifted, and integrated. I look forward to engaging with students' final projects as a chance for them to practice liberation from their contexts, create programs for their local churches, and draft exciting collaborative projects for the future. My desire is for learners to engage with theology in material ways in order to better understand how each other's liberation is bound up with one another."
-
Yarilynne Esther Regalado
Of the growth of this team, Dr. Crowley said,
"Theological education remains one of the few ways we can help reshape the moral, spiritual, and prophetic imagination of our nation and world during these perilous times. Our department will lean into our shared calling of cultivating spaces where scholarship, formation, justice, and public witness meet in ways that - God willing - transform the lives of those who learn with EDS and help the communities they serve thrive. Together, these roles mark an important shift toward a more sustainable and systems-based model of theological education for this new era of EDS."