Elías Ortega-Aponte is an Afro-Latino scholar whose areas of expertise are cultural sociology, religious ethics, critical social theory, social movements, and bioethics. He received his Ph.D. in Religious Social Ethics from Princeton Theological Seminary and now serves as Assistant Professor of Afro-Latinos/as Religions and Cultural Studies at Drew University Theological School in Madison, NJ. His primary research interest is the study of how the intersections of race, religion, and experiences of inequalities lead Afro-diasporic communities in the United States and abroad to find ways to engage the challenges of urban poverty, incarceration, access to education, and adequate health care.