Paul is a Baptist Pastor from England, who was a part of the team under Mike Breen that helped to develop the missional ‘Lifeshapes’ tools that are used in Uptick and many other missional initiatives.

He was the lead Pastor of Network Church Sheffield, UK which developed innovative models of mission and discipleship, and then went on to found 3DM Europe before coming to the USA in 2014 to lead 3DM North America.

Paul has been a speaker with Uptick for the last decade and has been a member of the Uptick Board for the last five years. He has now joined the Uptick team as a program Convener. Paul is married to Elly and they have two adult daughters, Grace and Hannah.

Sonya is an ordained minister gifted for equipping the saints, proclaiming God’s Word, and enabling God’s people to embrace the “Aha” moment that enlightens lives.

Alongside her gospel calling, Sonya is also a retired Fortune 500 executive with numerous years of senior leadership and business expertise. Sonya’s beloved is Gerard and their daughter, Takisha.

John has led Uptick since 2007 and offers participants more than 35 years of ministry experience as a pastor, conference speaker, church consultant, and mentor to leaders. He holds degrees from the University of North Carolina, Princeton Theological Seminary, and Fuller Theological Seminary, and is the author of six widely-used books on spiritual leadership. His latest book is Uptick: A Blueprint for Finding and Forming the Next Generation of Pioneering Kingdom Leaders, released in November 2019. A husband, father, and grandfather, John lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

The Reverend Dr. Laura McDaniel is an ordained minister, attorney, entrepreneur, mentor, wife,
and mother who is passionate about identifying and investing in young leaders, particularly
those who are women.

In 2005 Laura walked away from her vocation as a corporate attorney in
Washington DC and followed God’s call to help women discover and use their voice for greater Kingdom influence and impact. In 2018 Laura wrote and received $1.5 million grant from the Lilly Endowment to create Uptick Catalyst which helps pastors flourish as they build bridges with civility in their communities.

Beginning in January 2024, Laura will become the Director of Uptick Global to launch a movement of women as Jesus-Shaped
leaders from around the world. 
 
Laura and her husband, Henry, live on Síth Farm (Gaelic for ‘person of peace’), located in
Amherst, Virginia, where they enjoy beekeeping and growing hot peppers to make their
signature hot honey barbecue sauce. Laura is also the mother of Patrick, who lives in Vienna,
Austria, ministering to Farsi speaking refugees from Afghanistan and Iran.

Archie is a minister and missionary at heart. She holds a BA from the University of Maryland and a Masters in Christian Leadership from the John Leland Center for Theological Studies. Before Uptick, she served as an Associate and later Senior Pastor of a multi-cultural church in Arlington, Virginia.

She has led volunteer groups to serve locally and in different parts of the world training them to work across cultural differences while loving the people in the name of Jesus. Her greatest desire is that pastoral leaders would trust God in their calling and become experts of their communities in order to proficiently bridge the inequities that hinder them from thriving and experiencing His great love for all people.

Minda has served as the administrative assistant for Uptick since 2019. Having grown up in a pastor’s family, she understands the importance of Uptick’s mission to strengthen ministry leaders for the long haul. She brings to Uptick her experience as an English teacher and church administrative assistant, her love of learning new things, and her enjoyment of helping others. Minda and her husband, Jack, are the parents of Emilee. One of Minda’s greatest joys and challenges is home schooling Emilee through her high school years.