Rev. Cristin Cooper is a pastor, chef, entrepreneur, and founder of Coop’s Soups, a social enterprise that grew from her experiments gathering neighbors around soup and bread as an unconventional form of ministry. Her work uses food, hospitality, and everyday encounters to build relationships, combat loneliness, and create a deeper sense of belonging and community.

Coop's Soups is a community-focused social enterprise and ministry founded by pastor Cristin Cooper in Olney, Maryland. It uses locally sourced, vegan, and gluten-free soups packaged in reusable mason jars to fight loneliness, build local connections, and support a participatory dinner church gathering known as Soup Church.

Amy Kaherl is a Detroit-based community organizer who helped build and lead Detroit SOUP, the celebrated microgranting dinner that brought people together over a shared meal to hear ideas for improving their city and collectively decide which ones to fund. Building on a participatory dinner model that originated in Chicago, Amy and her collaborators helped turn Detroit SOUP into a powerful local institution—and an approach that would itself inspire similar gatherings around the world—demonstrating how food, small amounts of money, and a simple act of gathering can create meaningful opportunities for civic participation and connection.