A pioneering mujerista voice.
ABOUT
Rev. Dr. Elizabeth 'Liz' Ríos — an educator, strategist, and advocate from Manhattan's Lower East Side whose work is deeply informed by womanist thought. She has devoted her life to helping people become better humans, developing bolder leaders, and cultivating braver churches.
The story
Dr. Ríos is the founder of Passion2Plant, the nation's only church-planting and leadership-development network founded and led by a woman of color. It equips emerging and established leaders to build healthy, justice-oriented, and contextually relevant ministries.
She leads The Passion Center, a phygital faith community, and created the Lilly Endowment-funded Púlpito Fellows Program, which equips Latina/o and global-majority religious leaders to share justice-oriented messages with digital audiences.
An ordained minister, senior nonprofit leader, and educator, Dr. Ríos has served on several national boards, including Sojourners. She is an engaging speaker, teacher, preacher, and writer whose expertise includes women in ministry, church planting, leadership development, civic engagement, disability and belonging, digital ministry, and organizational culture.
SCHOLARSHIP
Her chapter "The Women Are Warriors," examining the civic activism of Latina Pentecostal women in New York City, was published in Latino Religions and Civic Activism by Oxford University Press and later reprinted in Azusa Street and Beyond.
Her life and accomplishments are recognized in The Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America and Latinas in the United States: A Historical Encyclopedia. Her current research focuses on disability, the politics of prayer, and belonging within the Latino Pentecostal church — honoring the life and legacy of her younger son, Daniel Jeremiah, who passed away in September 2022.
Latine Pentecostalism & beyond
EDUCATION
Dr. Ríos holds a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts, a Master of Arts in Management, a Master of Arts in Social Justice from Union Theological Seminary, a Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership and Adult Education from Nova Southeastern University, and a Doctor of Ministry from Southeastern University. Dr. Ríos and her husband of 36 years, Rev. Hiram Ríos, share their lives with their oldest son, Samuel, and their fur baby, Milo. They divide their time between Central Florida and Santurce, Puerto Rico.
