Colleen completed a Master's degree in Divinity at Claremont School of Theology and shaped a doctoral degree in Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, around interdisciplinary connections among Christian thought, practical engagement, and critical reflection. A Deacon in the United Methodist Church, Colleen's experience includes university teaching, ministries with youth, children, and adults, and curriculum development for religious studies at an elementary school in Santa Barbara, California.