The people
behind the work.
The Nehemiah Institute is built on practitioners — people who have done the inner work themselves and now walk others through it.
Adrian Crawford
Adrian Crawford is the CEO of Authentica, Founding Pastor of Engage Church Tallahassee and the visionary behind The Nehemiah Institute. A graduate of Florida State University and a Tallahassee native, Adrian planted Engage Church in 2013 with a conviction that the church should be a place of radical transformation — not just attendance. The Nehemiah Institute is the fullest expression of that conviction.
Dr. Mike Zoda
Dr. Mike Zoda is an Elder at Engage Church and the architect of the Self-Awareness curriculum — one of the most impactful sequences in the entire Nehemiah program. With two PhDs in Chemistry and Marriage & Family Therapy, Dr. Zoda brings a rare combination of clinical insight and spiritual depth to his teaching. His classes have become the most frequently cited by Nehemiah graduates as life-changing.
Michelle Warner
Michelle Warner is a Movements Architect and the creator of Empathy is Free — a curriculum that has quietly become one of the most transformative elements of The Nehemiah Institute. Her work sits at the intersection of emotional intelligence, relational health, and spiritual formation. She teaches what she lives, and participants consistently describe her classes as the moment something broke open in them.
Derrick Hayes
Derrick serves as Lead Pastor of Engage Church Apalachicola and Elder at Engage Church Tallahassee. He carries a deep focus on healthy spiritual growth and community development. He has been part of Engage since 2016 and currently leads Nehemiah programming at Franklin County Jail — bringing the curriculum directly into correctional settings. He is married to Elizabeth and they have two children, Micah and Bellamie.
JT Escobar
JT Escobar serves as Staff Architect at Engage Church, overseeing key operational and programmatic systems that keep Engage running with excellence. He teaches New Reality I — the class that opens Nehemiah 201 and invites participants into a new framework for understanding identity, story, and possibility. JT brings both strategic clarity and pastoral presence to everything he leads.
Aaron Tillman
Aaron Tillman serves as Pastoral Care Director at Engage Church and is the heartbeat of The Nehemiah Institute's Guide program — training and overseeing the Nehemiah Graduates who walk alongside each cohort weekly. He teaches Intro to Prayer and brings a pastoral depth to the program that ensures no one walks the Nehemiah journey alone. A Nehemiah graduate himself, Aaron's testimony is a living example of the program's impact.
Brianna Clark
Brianna Clark began operating and scaling organizations at twenty years old, quickly establishing herself as both visionary and integrator — able to originate bold initiatives and construct the discipline required to bring them to reality. By twenty-five, she had launched and scaled three profitable ventures and led multi-entity organizations generating more than $3 million in revenue. Her work spans business, faith, athletics, and higher education. She serves on the board of two nonprofit organizations and advises senior leaders and executive teams on how to translate stated values into an experienced culture. Brianna builds what others imagine.
Cody Smith
Cody Smith co-facilitates the Story of God classes alongside Pastor Seth Trimmer — the two-week opening sequence of Nehemiah 101 that sets the entire theological foundation for the program. He also co-facilitates Purpose / Process / Product in Nehemiah 301 — the Architecture of Calling class. His teaching brings the grand narrative of Scripture to life in a way that is accessible, compelling, and deeply personal.
You don't
walk alone.
Every cohort is accompanied by Guides — Nehemiah Graduates who have been trained by Engage staff and our Pastoral Care Director. They sit with you in Guide Groups every week, not as therapists, but as people who have walked this road and deeply love God.
The Guide program is one of the most distinctive elements of The Nehemiah Institute. It ensures that no one goes through this journey alone — and that the transformation that happens in class has a place to land in real relationship.