Speakers
Keynote presenters
Gian Gamboa
Gian Gamboa is a Youth Conference MC, Speaker, and Worship Leader with one mission: to help young people develop a personal relationship with Jesus so they can become everything God created them to be. Having delivered over 1,000 talks nationwide, he brings high energy and a whole lot of heart to every stage. Gian’s dream is for every young person to fall in love with Christ. He loves giant burgers, 90’s movies, and lives in Austin with his wife and three kids. Gian is the (self-proclaimed) #1 fan of Taco Bell.
Alli Hoffman
Ali Hoffman has a passion for Jesus, the Catholic Church, her family, and investing deeply in community. She served with NET Ministries for two years then after graduating from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota with a degree in Catholic Studies and Family Studies, she moved back home to the great state of Texas where she was co-youth coordinator at St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Carrollton for six years. She now travels the globe full time, preaching the Gospel and making disciples.
Father Rufino Corona
Father Rufino Corona, TOR, is a campus minister at Franciscan University of Steubenville, where he studied as an undergraduate. Shortly after his graduation from FUS, he entered the Third Order Regular of St. Francis and was ordained in 2020. Since his time in formation, he has taken any and every opportunity to proclaim the good news of Christ's loving mercy and his desire to draw us closer to his Most Sacred Heart through the ministries of preaching and spiritual accompaniment. Basically, he considers himself to be a campus minister who wants to share Christ's heart with whoever will let him.
Oscar Rivera
Oscar Rivera was raised in the inner city of Waterbury, Connecticut, and was taught at an early age how to be a survivor. His method of avoiding the streets and its promises became the art of Hip Hop. Oscar's energy and passion for the faith makes his approach: inspirational and real-to-life.
Oscar is a Franciscan University Alumni (2010), and earned his Master of Arts in Theology from St. Leo University (2015). He takes his knowledge of the faith and inspires the youth, and young adults of today's culture through his music, talks, retreats, and personal testimony. He brings a message of hope in times of despair, love during times of hate, and encourages all to faithfully follow God, no matter the obstacles. His life has been devoted to the New Evangelization of the Gospel. His upbeat contemporary approach to the good news has made the message easy to understand, follow, and relate to. Christianity is not boring, and Oscar does not intend to be either.
Sister Elfie Del Rosario
Sister Elfie Del Rosario, FMA, affectionately known as “The Happy Nun,” is a Daughter of Mary Help of Christians (Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco). Born in Nigeria and raised in the Philippines, she later moved to New Jersey, using her psychology degree to teach children with special needs. Sister Elfie joined the Salesian Sisters in 2009 and now serves as the vocations director for the eastern U.S. province. Passionate about engaging with youth, she shares encouragement and brings them closer to Jesus and Mary — often with the help of her bubble machine, filled with her signature-scented solution. Learn more at www.happynun.com.
Rev. James Misko
Bishop Joe S. Vásquez appointed Father James Misko as Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia of the Diocese of Austin on January 21, 2019.
After earning a Master of Arts in Theological Studies, a Master of Divinity, and a Bachelor of Sacred Theology at the University of St. Thomas and St. Mary’s Seminary in Houston, Father Misko was ordained a priest by Bishop Gregory Aymond on June 9, 2007. He has served as pastor of St. Louis King of France in Austin and Christ the King in Belton and as parochial vicar of St. Elizabeth in Pflugerville. Father Misko is a member of the College of Consultors, Presbyteral Council, Diocese of Austin Finance Council, Austin Pension Plan and Trust Committee, Diocese of Austin School Advisory Board, Priestly Life and Formation Committee, Priests Personnel Board, and the Diocesan Building Commission.
Father Misko serves as the Chaplain of the Austin Chapter of Legatus, a membership organization of Catholic business leaders. He is a fourth-degree Knight of Columbus and a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem. He enjoys cycling, golf, travel, cooking, and gardening.
Bishop Daniel Garcia
Bishop Daniel E. Garcia was born on August 30, 1960, and grew up in Waco and Cameron, Texas. He is bilingual in English and Spanish and has three younger sisters.
He earned an Associate of Arts degree from Tyler Junior College in 1982, followed by a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts from the University of St. Thomas in Houston in 1984, while attending St. Mary Seminary. He went on to receive a Master of Divinity in 1988. Bishop Garcia was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Austin on May 28, 1988, by Bishop John E. McCarthy. In 2007, he earned a Master of Arts in Liturgical Studies from St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota.
Throughout his ministry, Bishop Garcia served in numerous parishes and leadership roles. His first assignments were as associate pastor at St. Catherine of Siena Parish, Cristo Rey Parish, and St. Louis King of France Parish, all in Austin. From 1992 to 1995, he served in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston at St. Mary Magdalene Parish in Humble, Texas. In 1995, he was named the founding pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Austin, where he guided the community through its formation and multiple building projects, including the construction of a permanent church and sanctuary.
Beyond parish ministry, Bishop Garcia held several diocesan roles, including service in the Vocation Office, Priests’ Personnel Board, College of Consultors, and the Presbyteral Council, where he also served as chair. He was Dean of the Austin North Deanery and contributed to the Liturgical Commission, Diaconal Advisory Committee, and served as Master of Ceremonies for the Bishop’s Office.
In 2014, he was appointed Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia for the Diocese of Austin by Archbishop Joe S. Vásquez. The following year, Pope Francis appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of Austin.
In 2018, Pope Francis named Bishop Garcia the Bishop of the Diocese of Monterey, California.
Bishop Garcia has served on the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on Communications and the Committee on Divine Worship. He also chaired the Subcommittee on Divine Worship in Spanish and currently continues to serve on that subcommittee. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for Catholic Relief Services. (Biografía)
Workshop presenters
Rev. Joseph Daheim
Fr. Joseph Daheim was ordained a Catholic priest for the Diocese of Austin by Bishop Joe Vasquez on June 3, 2017. In 2019 he was appointed as the priest moderator for the diocesan Courage and EnCourage apostolates. The Courage apostolate accompanies men and women who experience same-sex attractions in living chaste lives through prayer, fellowship, and mutual support. The EnCourage apostolate supports family members and friends who have someone in their life that experiences same-sex attractions or gender discordance by accompanying them as Jesus does, with truth and compassion. As a priest, Fr. Joseph enjoys “sharing the beauty of God’s fatherhood, especially during the sacrament of reconciliation and the offering of the holy Mass.” Fr. Joseph tries to live by the counsel of St. John Paul II: “Be not afraid,” follow God with a generous heart, trusting that he loves us and has our true good in mind.
Matthew Scruggs
Mathew Scruggs is an assistant teaching professor of Theology and Religious Studies at St. Edward's University in Austin. He earned his doctorate in Systematic Theology at Duquesne University in 2021. He has been involved in ministry for 15 years and is passionate about sharing the faith in authentic ways. His favorite class to teach at St. Edward's is Anime and Religion.
Sr. Sylvia Tarafa
Sister Silvia Maria Tarafa, SCTJM is a perpetually professed sister of the religious institute of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary founded by Mother Adela Galindo in the Archdiocese of Miami. The institute is one branch of a bilingual religious and spiritual family that also includes religious brothers, priests, and lay faithful. The religious women are called to be a living image and presence of the heart, person, and mission of Our Lady in the heart of the Church. They are also called to be ardent witnesses of the power and fecundity of love and the splendor of the Magisterium and Treasures of the Church so as to build a new civilization of love, truth, life, and solidarity in the heart of the Church and in the heart of the world. Recognizing the need to form the hearts of the youth to build this new civilization, many of their ministries serve youth and young adults, including parish, school, and college campus ministry, diocesan youth offices, as well as in ministries born from their religious community.
Sister Silvia was born and raised in Miami, and she studied for her undergraduate degree at Catholic University of America. She finished her graduate studies at the University of Miami, and, after years in various professions, experienced a profound conversion following an encounter with the Lord. After this encounter, she went back to study for a master’s degree in theology to better understand and communicate the beauty and truth of our Catholic faith. Sister Silvia first encountered the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary in 1995 and began participating regularly in their events, being drawn by their Marian charism and their joy. During this time, she became more convicted of the call the Lord had placed in her heart to be totally his and to give her life in service of others. She entered religious life in 2004, and after her first profession in 2007, served in the Office of Diaconal Formation in the Archdiocese of Miami and as director of a Newman Center (campus ministry). She currently serves as the director of the Office of Consecrated and Apostolic Life, also assisting the Office of Vocations, in the Diocese of Austin.