Meet our Design Team
Design Lead
Joey Ager (he, him) is a Scottish transplant to the Pacific Northwest via Washington, DC and San Diego. He has extensive experience in accompanying leaders of all kinds to work collaboratively for peace through his work as a faith-rooted community organizer. Joey studied Theology at Oxford University, was trained as an organizer with Spanish-speaking Catholic communities in San Diego, and now works as Bishop’s Associate with the Southwestern Washington Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA). Joey writes about the relationship between faith and social change. He lives in Tacoma with his wife, Emily and their two boys.
Sojourners | Research + Academia | Book | Street Psalms | Southwest Washington Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA)
Accompaniment Lead
The Rev. Shalom Agtarap (she, her) is Pastor of First United Methodist Church in Tacoma. Her roots are in the church but they are watered by many streams as she intentionally cultivates connection across racial and ethnic lines, religious traditions, and socioeconomic backgrounds for the common good. She is a graduate of Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC and her formation as a follower of Christ was shaped by the Upper Room’s Two-Year Academy for Spiritual Formation. Shalom has offered pastoral leadership to several churches in both central and western Washington and enjoys facilitating retreats. Shalom intentionally partners with community healers and peace/place-makers to transform the church building into a community-responsive space. She assembled neighbors and church members to form Common Good Tacoma in 2023.
Common Good Tacoma | First United Methodist Church, Tacoma | Pacific Northwest Conference, United Methodist Church
Ecumenical Community Organizer
Vicar Anna Czarnik-Neimeyer (she,her) came to love the Church by way of outdoor ministry in her home state of Wisconsin. Daughter of a camp director, Anna grew up living and working at camps for 22 years before becoming the national programs coordinator at Holden Village, until 2013. Anna holds a B.A. in Communications and an M.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies synthesizing religion and social justice. Her first career was in higher education, helping to found an academic diversity center at a Catholic college. She is the founder of Bridgebuilder Consulting, for DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging), and has published with Sojourners, Religion News Service, Teaching Tolerance, Ms. Magazine, and Parker Palmer’s Center for Courage & Renewal. Anna is in her final year at Luther Seminary, in formation towards ordination as a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Anna is a proud member of Proclaim, a collective of over 400 LGBTQ+ Lutheran ministers & seminarians, through Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries.
Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries | Holden Audio Archive |
Communications Lead
Zoe Forbes (she, her) has proudly called the South Sound home since she was eight, with Tacoma as her current home base. Zoe earned her B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Social Work in 2021.
With three years of experience working in K-12 classrooms, Zoe is passionate about creative pedagogy that meets people where they are. Her work also extends to supporting unhoused neighbors in Pierce County and collaborating with faith leaders to increase funding for affordable housing in the region.
A proud local with connections internationally, Zoe is particularly interested in people’s relationships with the places and communities they call home. These days, she finds home among people of all faiths who are committed to facing the world’s pressures head-on.
