Staff and Board
Staff
Nick Warnes
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Nicholas Warnes (Masters of Divinity, Fuller Theological Seminary, Emphasis in Worship Theology and Art) is the Founder and Executive Director of Cyclical. He enjoys the regular pattern and rhythm of being both the Executive Director of Cyclical Inc. and Director of Cyclical LA, a ministry of the San Fernando Presbytery in Los Angeles. Nick is also a recognized speaker on church planting, coach for New Worshiping Communities with the Presbyterian Church USA, and is the chair of the board of the Church Planting Program at Fuller Theological Seminary where he is also an adjunct professor (church planting certificate). Nick finished his first book in 2014 with Dr. Mark Lau Branson called Starting Missional Churches: Life With God in the Neighborhood. Nick was featured in the 2019 IVP release Sent to Flourish: A Guide to Planting and Multiplying Churches, co-edited the 2020 book Faithful Innovation: Beginning a Conversation for a Post-Covid Church, and is anticipating the release of his 2021 book release, Starting Well: The First Four Seasons of a New Church. Nick lives with his wife, Whitney, and son, Lee, in Los Angeles, CA.
Justin Beck
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
Justin has a Masters of Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary. During his time at Fuller, Justin assisted in starting Northland Village Church (NVC) in Northeast Los Angeles. The NVC church plant helped Justin discover a passion for coaching people as they begin their ministries. Over the last 10 years, Justin has offered coaching to adults and college students in a variety of settings as they discovered God’s calling in their lives. He also works with under-resourced community college students around the greater Los Angeles area. Justin lives in Pasadena with his wife, Dawn, and two kids, Declan and Avery. The Beck family enjoys exploring all the beautiful things Southern California has to offer.
Lindsay Peralta
ASSISTANT TO THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Lindsay Peralta is the Assistant to the Director for Cyclical INC. Lindsay is a former Spanish immersion teacher and continues to work with addalingua, an education organization that supports dual language immersion programs around the country. She enjoys assisting Nick in the daily ongoings of Cyclical INC and helps bring order and calm to the organization. There is nothing more important to Lindsay than her family. She lives with her two daughters, Lucy and Matilda, and their Goldendoodle, Oakley, in Holland, Michigan. They love to sing, dance, read, bake, and spend time by the water, especially at their cottage up north.
Daniel So
DIRECTOR OF CULTURE
As Director of Culture, Daniel (MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary) is helping Cyclical Inc grow as the leading faithful innovation organization by fostering diversity throughout all of our ecosystems. Daniel finds great joy in helping others embrace the fullness of their identity in Christ and their call to join God in redemptive, hope-filled work. Daniel is the general editor of Building a Garden of Churches, and contributed to Faithful Innovation and Deconstructing Church Planting. Whether helping to start Anchor & Hope Church in San Diego, developing online Cyclical ecosystems, or guiding cohorts of leaders, Daniel loves to engage all kinds of innovation.
Brendan McClenahan
DIRECTOR OF CONTENT
Brendan helps Cyclical INC grow as a healthy international non-profit through developing sustainability partners, building structures for connection between ecosystems, and creating content to equip leaders for faithful innovation. In 2020, Brendan started Cyclical Publishing, our own publishing house for faithfully innovative authors. Brendan is a Cyclical Full Circle guide, and he directs Cyclical X West Michigan. Brendan holds a Masters of Music from CSUN and a Masters of Divinity from Western Theological Seminary. He hikes, cooks, cycles, and gardens at his home in Michigan, where he helps lead a new worshiping community with his wife, Rachel, and three daughters.
Board
Henry Artime
President
Henry Artime, father to three children, is the founder of Artime Group, a full service B2B advertising agency located in Pasadena, California. He is an Elder in the PCUSA and has been a member at Glendale Presbyterian Church since 1997. Henry has served on the Committee on Ministry (COM) of the San Fernando Presbytery and was a Youth Director at Grandview Presbyterian Church from 1988-1990. Prior to that, Henry was a Young Life volunteer leader for six years. Whenever time allows he will try to get away and do some fly-fishing. Henry lives in Glendale, CA.
Len Tiso
Secretary
Len Tiso has spent the majority of his career advising executives of major corporations on strategic and financial initiatives. In 2014, as a continuation of this work, he founded an independent consultancy. He also coaches entrepreneurs and start-ups. Len holds an MDiv from Fuller Theological Seminary, an MBA from UCLA, and is a CFA charterholder (Chartered Financial Analyst). As an elder in the PC (USA), Len served as Treasurer of Bel Air Presbyterian Church and was involved in the leadership team of a church plant in Downtown LA. In 2016, he completed an internship with Northland Village Church in Northeast Los Angeles and also participated in the PC (USA) 1001 New Worshiping Communities summer cohort. He is currently exploring ways in which the church can engage in the practice of ethics and reconciliation at the intersection of faith, economics, and vocation. Len, his wife, Bobbi, and their son live in the Los Angeles area.
Ruth Schmidt
Ruth Schmidt (she/her) is a marketer turned pastor. She has been in ministry for 25 years serving on staff at SBC, PC(USA), UCC, and nondenominational churches and church plants. She is the Interim Associate Pastor at Claremont Presbyterian Church in Southern California. She also preaches occasionally at Altadena Community Church, a United Church of Christ congregation. Before seminary, Ruth worked in advertising agencies as a copywriter and content strategist—while also doing bi-vocational church planting in Kansas City. She loves merging the business savvy from her corporate career with her heart for nontraditional spiritual communities. Ruth earned her BA in journalism from the University of Missouri—Kansas City, and her MDiv from Fuller Theological Seminary. If you stop by her house on a Saturday she will most likely have dirt, flour, or paint on her hands and she'll invite you to share a beer on the front porch.
Steve Cantrell
Steve Cantrell is the founding principal at Middle, LLC, a research and evaluation firm that provides measurement, analysis, and feedback to organizations primarily within the sectors of education, government, and philanthropy. He is a former Chief Impact Officer at NewGlobe Schools, a social enterprise educating over 2,500,000 low-income students globally. He helped build greater public understanding of NewGlobe Schools’ impacts on students, their communities, and the greater society. He previously led the organization’s measurement and evaluation and quality assurance units. He is a former head of evaluation and research at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation where he co-directed the Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) project and led the foundation’s internal measurement, learning, and analytics. He previously served as Executive Director of the REL–Midwest, a federally funded research laboratory, and as Chief Research Scientist for the Los Angeles Unified School District. Additionally, he taught research methods at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs. Steve has provided Congressional testimony and delivered keynote addresses and presentations to governors, chief state school officers, and a host of national, state, and local organizations. His writings have been published worldwide in both academic and practitioner-oriented publications. He is the co-author of Better Feedback for Better Teaching (Jossey-Bass, 2016). Cantrell’s career began as a middle school teacher. He holds degrees from Brown University (AB, Economics) and University of Southern California (Ph.D., Public Administration).
Shelton Oakley Hersey
Shelton Oakley Hersey has sought out, participated and facilitated spaces working toward reconciliation over the past decade. Her Bachelor degrees are from Rhodes College (Memphis, TN) in Religious Studies and Sociology. From Los Angeles and Fuller Theological Seminary, where she obtained a Masters in Intercultural and Urban Studies, to South Africa, she has worked cross-culturally as community development specialist, social entrepreneur, and pastor. Shelton is a certified spiritual director with the Evangelical Spiritual Direction Association, leading and designing retreats for contemplative reflection. She also serves as a consultant to nonprofits and churches experiencing decline, disunity, division, or a need for renewed vision and soul care. Currently, Shelton serves in multiple roles, such as a Spiritual Director, the Program Director for Boston's Dignity Project Fellowship, and a facilitator with the Race & Christian Community Initiative, all of which helps individuals understand their significant role in unlearning and relearning that which divides and unites us to God, others, and self. She has worked strategically over the past two years to adapt a successful structured dialogue model for churches and Christians seeking to better understand each other. She lives with her husband and two young children in Boston, Massachusetts where they share a passion for building community where everyone is included and valued as one made in the image of God.
Becca Althoff Bergmann
Becca Althoff Bergmann is a Ph.D. student studying Clinical Psychology, with a particular focus on pediatric neuropsychology (she’ll be all done with her degree in June 2024!). Her dissertation focused on the identity development and experiences of microaggressions in LGBTQIA+ college students at Evangelical Christian Colleges; this project stemmed out of her commitment to advocacy for LGBTQIA+ students who wish to receive a Christian education despite institutional barriers. She received her Bachelor's degrees in Psychology and Religious Studies at the University of Denver and received her Master's degree in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary. She is super passionate about youth ministry, particularly investing in teenage girls (even though they make fun of her millennial phrases and habits). Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Becca is a big fan of redwood trees and cold beaches. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her partner, Derek, where they enjoy trying new restaurants, seeing live music, and cherishing time with friends.
Dan Cimino
Dan grew up in the Midwest (Illinois and Wisconsin) and has settled in California where he is married to Kessie and together they have three children (Vince, Mary and Sam). Dan’s first career was as an electrical engineer, designing high speed networking products as the internet exploded. He then “retired” and has served on numerous boards. At Westminster Presbyterian Church in Westlake Village, Dan served 6 years as an elder, stewardship chair, nominating committee chair, and Sunday School teacher. He worked as a founder for the Young Life committee in Thousand Oaks. He is currently serving as Vice-President of the Southern California Golf Association Junior Golf Foundation, and served several years on the Board for the Sherwood Cares Charitable Foundation. Dan has benefited from being a member of several different Christian denominations and has learned a lot about different approaches to mission at each.
Tyrone Freeman
Dr. Tyrone Freeman, MBA, DBA ("Dr. Ty") is a motivational speaker, consultant, and certified Executive Leadership Coach who values dedication, service, and excellence. As the owner of Maven Innovative Consultancy for over 20 years, representing provisional athletes, entrepreneurs, and small businesses, Dr. Ty brings unique perspectives gained from his professional work and life experience to organizations, empowering them to unleash the untapped potential of their followers, employees, and community. Using real-world business and community organizational examples, Dr. Freeman sheds light on how the invaluable implementation of innovation and institutional objectives integration can positively impact mission to grow the gospel sustainably. Dr. Ty learned the value of dedication through his academic and business success and life challenges; as a child growing up in the inner city, Dr. Ty's dedication, hard work, and determination to avoid a life of poverty and mediocrity inspired him to earn both a Master's and Doctoral degree in Business from Temple's Fox School of Business. Through academically rigorous and practice-focused business research, Dr. Ty's organizational growth approaches are anchored on the evolutionary nature of leadership's ability and power to transform historical non-profit and for-profit institutions. Having consulted and coached over 27 top-performing executives with Fortune 500 companies to enable some 15 small international non-profit social enterprises to self-sustainability, Dr. Ty helps the organization disrupt 'change as usual' through a practical and repeatable framework, he shows leaders how they can transform their culture from surviving change to growing through change. Dr. Ty is married with two children.
Candice Czubernat
Candice Czubernat has been a therapist for 18 years and is the founder of the LGBTQ + affirming online counseling and coaching practice, The Christian Closet. In her ministry, she and her team meet with people from all over the world for online telehealth sessions as they navigate the many intersections of being LGBTQ+ with a Christian faith. She’s also the founder and executive director of Affirming Therapy, a non-profit whose main goal is to raise money for LGBTQ+ people who can afford mental health services. Candice is a graduate of The Moody Bible Institute and The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. She identifies as a lesbian and a Christian. She lives in a small mountain town in southern California with her wife, the love of her life, Crystal, and their 9-year-old boy/girl twins Deacon and Dylan. If she's not working you can find her at one of her kids' sports games, sneaking a date with her wife, or wrestling with their dog Charlie Bonz.
Whitney Warnes
Whitney Warnes helped the team that created USC Trojan Search, an internal recruiting firm at the University of Southern California. Whitney is currently responsible for leading the buildout and operations management for TrojanSearch. Whitney is also on the board of USC Women in Management, the advisory council for Alive and Well Woman, and is also a coach with 1001 New Worshiping Communities. She’s passionate about professional and life coaching, and is certified with ICF with an ACC - Associate Certified Coach. Whitney is married to Nick and they live in Eagle Rock (Los Angeles) CA with their son, Lee.