Jonathan Russell is a chaplain working for urban justice at the Union Rescue Mission on skid row in Downtown Los Angeles, a contributing fellow at the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, and an adjunct professor of philosophy and religion at Chaffey College. He hold a Masters degree in theology and philosophy of religion from Fuller Theological Seminary, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Religion and Philosophy at Claremont Graduate University. He was formerly a young adult and college minister and prior to that he spent nearly a decade as a professional musician in the music industry as a founding member of the band Cold War Kids, in which he was a songwriter and the lead guitarist.