Rev. Dr. Cedrick Bridgeforth is an Elder in the California-Pacific Conference of The United Methodist Church, where he serves as director of innovation and communication. Cedrick was born and raised in Alabama and served four years in the United States Air Force. At the age of twenty-four, Cedrick enrolled at Samford University (Birmingham, Alabama) and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Religion degree. He moved to California to attend Claremont School of Theology (Claremont, CA), where he received a Master of Divinity degree and later a Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership degree from Pepperdine University (Malibu, CA). He founded 20/20 Leadership Lessons, a consulting firm committed to journeying leaders and organizations who seek to do good in the world. For many years Cedrick has also served as director of academic programs and outreach for the Ecumenical Center for Black Church Studies at the University of La Verne. He is the author of Alabama Grandson: A Black, Gay Minister’s Passage Out of Hiding (Precocity Press) and 20/20 Leadership Lessons.