Becca Stevens

Becca Stevens is one of the premiere preachers and speakers in the United States proclaiming love as the most powerful force for social change. She is an Episcopal priest and founder of Thistle Farms, a community of women who have survived prostitution, trafficking and addiction. The two-year residential program, called Magdalene, was founded in 1997,and the social enterprise was founded in 2001. Thistle Farms currently 50 residents and graduates, and houses a natural bath and body care line found at over 400 retailers and at thistle farms.org, Thistle Stop Café and a global marketplace, Shared Trade. She demonstrates that love is good business and raises millions of dollars annually for the organizations she runs. She is a prolific writer and has been featured in The New York Times and on ABC World News, NPR, PBS, CNN, and Huffington Post and named by the White House as a Champions of Change for violence against women. She was recently featured in the PBS documentary, "A Path Appears," and was named Humanitarian of the Year by the Small Business Council of America in 2014. Her latest book is "The Way of Tea & Justice: Rescuing the World's Favorite Beverage from its Violent History". "Letters from the Farm: A Simple Path to a Deeper Spiritual Life," releases this month. Stevens lives in Nashville with her husband, Grammy-winning songwriter Marcus Hummon, and their three sons.