Rev. Dr. Mae Elise Cannon Adult Ed at Fourth Presbyterian Church (Chicago)

Rev. Dr. Mae Elise Cannon is the executive director of Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP). She is an author, speaker, advocate, and academic historian who has played a significant role in mobilizing global religious leaders to engage in critical matters related to Middle East peace. Cannon received her first doctorate in American History with a minor in Middle Eastern studies at the University of California (Davis), focusing on the history of the American Protestant church in Israel and Palestine, and her second doctorate in Ministry in Spiritual Formation from Northern Theological Seminary. Cannon has written extensively about global poverty, racial justice, and the Middle East. She is the editor of A Land Full of God: Christian Perspectives of the Holy Land and the author of Beyond Hashtag Activism: Comprehensive Justice in a Complicated Age, the award-winning Social Justice Handbook: Small Steps for a Better World, and several other books.

Her work has been highlighted in many international media including the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, Haaretz, and many other outlets. Cannon is an ordained pastor in the Reformed Church in America. She has served as the Senior Director of Advocacy and Outreach for World Vision-US, as a consultant to the Middle East for child advocacy issues for Compassion International while living in Jerusalem, and as the executive pastor of Hillside Covenant Church.