Rachel Bancroft created the concept for Leaving the Fold and serves as its project coordinator. She is an artist, calligrapher, graphic designer, and writer who has lived in Portland for 30 years. Rachel earned a B.A. in Design and worked in graphic design before focusing on calligraphy and painting. Rachel grew up in the Mormon church and was a full believer for most of her life. Around 2015, she began an excruciating spiritual upheaval that would last ten years. That period of her life was full of questioning, grief, anger, confusion, divorce, loss of identity and a longing for more expansive spirituality. Eventually, that journey led Rachel to leave the Mormon Church, and now she moves forward - honoring her spiritual foundation while letting go of harmful religious beliefs and trusting her own intuition. Her experience became the central inspiration for her current artwork and the launching of Leaving the Fold. Rachel has extensive experience in volunteering, event planning, grant writing, project management, and nonprofit leadership. Rachel currently works for a nonprofit arts organization and was a grant writer for several years for Bridging Voices, Portland’s queer youth choir. Rachel is the mother of two young-adult children who inspire her with their strong integrity, empathy for marginalized people, creativity and neurodiversity. See more about Rachel’s work at rachelbancroftstudio.com and her Substack writing at https://rachbancroft.substack.com/

Chloe Benson (they/them) is an auDHD artist, musician, and spreadsheet wizard with a B.A. in Interior Design and an insatiable desire to learn. They have years of experience in music composition, production, and performance, having written and produced 5 albums under the moniker Hello Mind. After spending 7 years in a secular high demand group and escaping the abuse, Chloe rebuilt their life from the ground up and went back to school, earning an M.Sc. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. With a passion for intersectional advocacy, they have been a guest lecturer at the University of Phoenix and given multiple presentations on topics such as counseling considerations for survivors of cultic abuse, autism and trauma, and the intersection of autism and gender. As a volunteer project administrator for Leaving the Fold, Chloe seeks to combine their artistry, technical prowess, and counseling knowledge to support and uplift survivors of high demand groups.

Amanda was born and raised in the Seventh-day Adventist church, and would describe her upbringing as "severe." She became a born-again pagan in 2016 and finally ended the charade of attending church in 2018. She has since dedicated much of her life to feeding her eternal spiritual flame and reparenting her inner child. She recieved her MFA in Intermedia in 2024.