The Commission

Jeanne DeFazio is a SAG/AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) actress of Spanish-Italian descent, who played supporting parts in theater, movies, and television series, and then served the marginalized in the drama of real life. She became a teacher of second-language-learner children in the barrios of San Diego. She completed a BA in history at the University of California, Davis, MAR in theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and a Cal State Teach English Language Learners program. From 2009 to the present, she has served as an Athanasian Teaching Scholar at Gordon-Conwell’s multicultural Boston Center for Urban Ministerial Education. She is the co-editor of Creative Ways to Build Christian Community, Redeeming the Screens, Empowering English Language Learners, and An Artistic Tribute to Harriet Tubman. She co-authored, with Teresa Flowers, How to Have an Attitude of Gratitude on the Night Shift and edited Berkeley Street Theatre, Keeping the Dream Alive: A Reflection on the Art of Harriet Lorence Nesbitt, and Specialist Fourth Class John Joseph DeFazio: Advocating for Disabled American Veterans. She is a contributing author to Christian Egalitarian Leadership.