"Jeanne DeFazio is a renaissance woman interested in everything. She and her multicultural team have gathered together many thoughtful voices recounting their own true-life experiences in this thoughtful, well-written, and very wise reflection. Comparing the destructive spread of the coronavirus, the devastating conflagration of the California fires, and the destructive racism that smolders beneath culture and too often these days breaks into flames, this hard-hitting yet uplifting book, as brief as it is, makes an important human statement everyone should take the time to read and consider carefully."
--William David Spencer, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
"The COVID-19 pandemic forced many to wrestle with their experiences in isolation. The Commission gives a lens into others' perspectives, and, along the way, reminds us that God is continually teaching and forming us for the glory that is to come."
--Jeffrey Hadachek, PhD student at the University of California, Davis
"In The Commission, Jeanne DeFazio gives voice to a wide range of individuals who reflect on the impact the pandemic has had on them, how they found strength in God, and how they have reached out to others. If a continual barrage of news articles and images can lead to compassion fatigue, hearing people's individual stories is the antidote. Commission is a call for empathy and a call to action. May we all shine light in the darkness."
--J. Creamer, faculty, University of the Nations
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.
