The Lake Institute 2018 Distinguished Visitor Panel included:
Dr. Brad Braxton, Director of the Center for the Study of African American Religious Life at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
Aimée Laramore, Philanthropic Strategist for the first PhD program in African American Preaching and Sacred Rhetoric at Christian Theological Seminary
Rev. Starsky Wilson, President and CEO of Deaconess Foundation and Chair of the National Committee of Responsive Philanthropy
and moderator, Dr. Leah Gunning Francis, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty, and Associate Professor of Christian Education and Practical Theology at Christian Theological Seminary