NEW YORK — CWS, the global humanitarian agency with programs in development and humanitarian affairs, refugee assistance and social justice advocacy today announced the election of two new members to its board of directors.
The directors were voted in at the CWS Annual Members Meeting, held in Chicago last week.
Dr. Shirley Cason Reed
Dr. Shirley Cason Reed, international president of the Women’s Missionary Society of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, brings to the board decades of experience as a mission executive.
Cason Reed has served her denomination’s missionary society in a number of positions for more than 30 years, including as connectional recording secretary, connectional chair of membership and recruitment, connectional chair of special missions and president of local societies. She also serves as the Second Episcopal District commissioner of the AME Debutantes and Master Program.
Cason Reed, a native of Virginia Beach, Va., is a graduate of Madison University. She holds an honorary doctorate from AME University in Monrovia, Liberia.
Dr. Jessica Fanzo
Dr. Jessica Fanzo brings to the CWS board of directors a deep knowledge of food security and nutrition in developing countries.
Fanzo is an assistant professor of nutrition in the Institute of Human Nutrition and Department of Pediatrics at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City. She also serves as director of nutrition policy at the Center on Globalization and Sustainable Development and is an adjunct associate professor in the School of International Public Affairs. She currently works closely with the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, World Bank, World Food Program and UNICEF on international nutrition projects and programs.
In 2012 Fanzo became the first laureate of the Premio Daniel Carasso, an international prize awarded every two years to a research scientist for oustanding work in the field of sustainable food and diets for long-term health.
Jessica Fanzo holds a doctorate in nutrition from the University of Arizona and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in immunology at Columbia University.
In welcoming the new members, CWS President and CEO the Rev. John McCullough said, “I am excited to be able to draw upon the expertise Dr. Shirley Cason Reed and Dr. Jessica Fanzo bring to the board. Their knowledge and commitment to our programs will be very valuable in advancing the mission of the CWS.”