Rev. Patricia de Jong, an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, has served as Senior Minister at the First Congregational Church of Berkeley and the Urbandale United Church of Christ in Des Moines, Iowa. She also served as the Minister of Education for Christian Discipleship at The Riverside Church in New York City. Patricia’s roots in social justice began as a campus minister, serving on university campuses in Michigan, Oregon and California. Pat lives in Sonoma, CA. Pat serves as Chair on the CWS Board.
Rev. Dr. David Vásquez-Levy serves as President of Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley. A committed pastor, a nationally recognized higher education and immigration leader and a sought after speaker, Rev. Dr. Vásquez-Levy leads at the intersection of faith, higher education and social change.
Rev. Dr. Vásquez-Levy serves as convener for the GTU Consortial Council, is co-founder and convener for the Latinx Presidents and Deans of ATS schools, and is a member of the executive leaders group of AshokaU campus network and the Asociación para La Educación Teológica Hispana. He also serves on the Advisory Council for Encore.org.
Rev. Dr. Vásquez-Levy regularly contributes a faith perspective to the national conversation on immigration. He has consulted on a number of documentaries on immigration, labor and human rights and is the author of publications that explore migration stories in sacred texts and in people's lives.
Paul Chan is an M.D. (Internal Medicine, Pediatrics and Cardiology) living in Kansas City. He has raised significant funds for CWS through fundraising walks in the Grand Canyon. He has served on the board of a Guatemalan development organization, and is the founder and has been director of Community Impact, an umbrella organization at Johns Hopkins Medical School for initiatives in inner city Baltimore. Dr. Chan was named one of "50 Missourians You Should Know 2018" by Ingram's. He is the Treasurer of the CWS Board.
Dr. Elizabeth Ferris is a Research Professor at Georgetown University in the Institute for the Study of International Migration (ISIM). She served for nine years as a Senior Fellow and Co-Director of the Brookings Project on Internal Displacement. She has extensive professional background in the areas of refugees and migration specifically, and justice and peace more generally. Dr. Ferris notes that she believes “in ecumenism and in the power of churches to bring about change in our troubled world.” Dr. Ferris spent 20 years working in the field of international humanitarian response, most recently in Geneva, Switzerland at the World Council of Churches. She was an earlier Director of the Church World Service Immigration and Refugee Program in New York. Dr. Ferris is a Quaker (Friends General Conference) and has attended a United Church of Christ congregation for the last ten years.
Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson is the Associate General Minister for Wider Church Ministries and Co-Executive of Global Ministries, the common overseas ministry of the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). She is one of the three elected officers of the United Church of Christ. Rev. Thompson has been working in the national setting for fourteen years, first as Minister of Racial Justice before assuming the role of Minister for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations. She believes both of these positions have provided her a foundation and skill sets necessary in the role as AGM for Wider Church Ministries.
Her current portfolio includes programmatic oversight for refugee and migration ministries, volunteer ministries, sustainable development, disaster ministries, global partner relations, ecumenical and interfaith relations, hospitality ministries and event management, United Nations Relations, and the One Great Hour of Sharing offering.
Thompson has shared her skills and gifts in a variety of settings nationally and internationally. Her ministry is informed by her passion for racial justice and human rights. A strong proponent of human rights, she currently provides leadership for the joint United Church of Canada and United Church of Christ committee working on the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent and has been instrumental in reestablishing a United Church of Christ presence at the United Nations.
Before joining the National Staff, Thompson served in the Florida Conference United Church of Christ as a pastor, and on the Conference staff. She has extensive experience in nonprofit management, having served in leadership in nonprofit organizations and in academia.
She is a poet and author who has contributed to books and publications globally. Her book of poetry Drums in Our Veins was published in 2022.
Thompson earned a Bachelor of Arts from Brooklyn College in New York, a Master of Public Administration from North Carolina Central University in Durham, and a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in New York. She earned her Doctorate of Ministry at Seattle University.
Phil Atkins-Pattenson is a retired counsel from the international law firm Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP, one of the country’s top law firms. Prior to his retirement, he was a Partner in the Business Trials Practice Group, where he tried complex business cases and argued several precedent-setting cases on appeal. He was recognized annually by his peers as a “Super Lawyer” in Business Litigation, was a recipient of a California Attorney of the Year award and a Sheppard Mullin Pro Bono Attorney of the Year award. He is the former Co-Managing Partner of the firm’s 100-lawyer San Francisco office.
Mr. Atkins-Pattenson joined the CWS Board in January 2020 and serves as Chair of the Audit Committee and as a member of the Strategic Planning Committee. He is also a member of the Board of Corus International, Inc., where he serves as Vice Chair of the Board and a member of the Audit and Risk Committee. He serves also on the Board of the Glenbrook Water Cooperative in Glenbrook, Nevada (Lake Tahoe) where he now resides.
Mr. Atkins-Pattenson holds an A.B. from Stanford University, a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School, where he was a Rockefeller Fellow, and a J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law, where was the Articles Editor for the Law Review.
Rev. Chris Dorsey currently serves as President of Disciples Home Missions of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), based in Indianapolis, IN. An ordained Disciples minister, Dorsey received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Texas at Austin and earned a Master of Divinity from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. He is a Ph.D. candidate at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago.
Rev. Dorsey has taught at a variety of academic and theological institutions and previously served as a local church pastor, university chaplain at Clark Atlanta University, and as the vice president of development and marketing at Chicago Theological Seminary. Previously, he served as assistant professor of theology and preaching at Western Theological Seminary, where he taught classes on Preaching Foundations; Race, Culture, and Reconciliation; Theologizing Violence; and the Theologies of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Rev. Dorsey currently leads a ministry that works with higher education and leadership development programs. Part of his work with young adults includes helping young people connect with opportunities to give and to serve the common good. He is particularly interested in how to better connect young people with the mission and work of CWS. Rev. Dorsey believes that CWS helps to gather resources from across the ecumenical church and distribute them to communities where it is most needed.
Martin Ferenczi has successfully served as CEO and CFO in various private sector companies, focused on combatting fraud through technology. Currently, he serves as Principal of Martin Ferenczi LLC, advising start-ups and established companies in the payments, authentication, and identity spaces. Martin Ferenczi LLC is also an independent contractor to Oliver Wyman, a leading global management consulting firm.
Mr. Ferenczi graduated from Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management and earned a PMD from Harvard Business School. He has appeared on Bloomberg and on CNBC, among media outlets. Mr. Ferenczi holds both British and American passports. He speaks English, French, Italian and German. He is based in Washington, DC.
Nobi Kaneko is the Founder and President of Kaneko and Associates, an executive search/leadership consulting firm since 1988, with locations in Tokyo and Newport Beach, CA. The firm specializes in executive search and leadership consulting in the areas of professional services, insurance/banking, consumer goods and high technology sectors. Previously, he served as Senior Minister at First Christian Church, Tucson, AZ and Foothill Christian Church, La Crenscenta, CA. Mr. Kaneko earned a Master of Divinity from Texas Christian University and did additional studies at San Francisco Theological Seminary and University of Cambridge. Since transitioning to the corporate world, he has become an advocate for inclusivity and diversity. He holds an expansive and ecumenical view of the Church and represents a bridge between the faith-based community and the business world. He is currently a Global Board Member and Asia Chair of the Association of Executive Search Consultants and Leadership Consulting (AESC). He is also a member of 30% Club/Japan, a global campaign to increase gender diversity at board and senior management levels.
Ms. Susan Krehbiel is the Associate for Migration Accompaniment Ministries for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance in the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. where she is responsible for directing PDA’s support to regional bodies, local congregations, national and international partners in refugee and asylum-related ministries. Susan has 30 years’ experience working with refugees and immigrants, as an advocate for refugee rights. Prior to coming to PCUSA, Susan worked for Lutheran Immigration & Refugee Service (2003-2011), Church World Service (Director of the Miami Office from 1994-1999) and as a consultant with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). As Vice President for Protection & Programs at LIRS, she led the agency in program and policy development with particular attention to the treatment of unaccompanied children. Susan has worked closely with other non-governmental agencies, the US government and international organizations to promote national and international policies to protect these vulnerable populations and provide appropriate services for their recovery and success. Susan has contributed to a number of articles and published reports and is a frequent workshop presenter. Susan also serves part-time as the Social Justice Consultant with the Presbytery of Baltimore. She is an ordained ruling elder and member of Catonsville Presbyterian Church, outside of Baltimore, MD. She has an MA in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin and a BA in Spanish from the College of Wooster.
His Eminence, Metropolitan Zachariah Mar Nicholovos, is the ruling Metropolitan of the Northeast American Diocese of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. His Eminence currently serves as a Central Committee and Executive Committee member of the World Council of Churches, Governing Board member of the National Council of Churches in the United States, and as a member of the Board of Trustees for St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, New York. Most recently His Eminence was appointed by the Malankara Church to serve as the President of the Department of Ecumenical Relations.
Harriett Jane Olson has served as chief executive officer of the United Women in Faith’s national administrative and policymaking arm since 2007. United Women in Faith is a nearly 800,000-member organization within the United Methodist Church in the United States. United Women in Faith members give approximately $15 million a year for work with women, children, and youth in the United States and around the world. UWF operates the Church Center for the United Nations in New York City, a retirement home for deaconesses and missionaries in North Carolina, a publication and distribution network, and a series of mission education and leadership development events annually. Through these events and their connections around the world, UWF staff and members are inspired, prepared, encouraged, and celebrated for their direct service and advocacy for justice.
A Harvard Law School graduate, Ms. Olson practiced real estate and environmental law (1983-96) at a N.J. law firm that is now part of Day Pitney before working for the church full-time. From 1996-2007, Ms. Olson was senior vice-president for publishing, editor for church school publications and United Methodist Church book editor at the United Methodist Publishing House in Nashville, TN. Ms. Olson has a bachelor's degree from Houghton College in Houghton, NY, where she serves on the Board of Trustees. Ms. Olson previously served on the CWS Board when the Board was still a representative board. Ms. Olson is based in New York City.
Wendy Patten is a respected leader, strategist, advocate, and grant maker who works to advance human rights, gender equality, justice, and the rule of law in the United States and globally. She has held leadership roles in the U.S. government, multilateral organizations, foundations, and civil society organizations working at the international, national, and community level. She helps organizations design and implement inclusive, high-impact strategies on a wide range of human rights, refugee, and related policy issues.
Wendy spent over a decade with the Open Society Foundations and Policy Center. There she designed and led advocacy initiatives and advocacy-oriented grantmaking on human rights in U.S. national security and on refugee protection. She conceptualized and co-created multi-stakeholder advocacy campaigns, built coalitions for developing and executing strategies for legislative and policy reform, and managed relationships with Congress, the Administration, international organizations, advocacy partners, and grantees. She has also served as OSCE Special Representative on Gender Issues, as Director of Multilateral and Humanitarian Affairs at the National Security Council, and held senior roles at Human Rights Watch, the ABA Rule of Law Initiative, and the U.S. Department of Justice. Earlier in her career, she was a legal aid lawyer representing immigrant and refugee women and children.
Wendy received her Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Harvard, studied international relations at the University of Strasbourg, and received her B.A. from Princeton University. She has taught women’s human rights at Georgetown University.
Rick Santos is the President and CEO of Church World Service. Prior to assuming this role in 2021, Mr. Santos was most recently the President and CEO of IMA World Health. He has more than two decades of experience working for and with faith-based organizations, including more than 10 years of living and working in Asia. Mr. Santos is an expert in engaging and partnering with civil society in the development process, and his developmental approach includes building and prioritizing robust local and regional partnerships—communities, organizations and networks—which he believes are the key ingredients to successful and sustainable development work.
Mr. Santos holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Johns Hopkins University’s Carey Business School, a Master of Theological Studies degree from Harvard Divinity School, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from George Washington University. Learn more about him here.
Marie Anne Sliwinski serves as the Senior Director for Building Resilient Communities at the Evangelical Church in America (ELCA). Ms. Sliwinski has 20 years of experience working in the non-profit sector, 14 of which are dedicated in international humanitarian and developmental programs. Currently, Ms. Sliwinski oversees the Building Resilient Communities team of the ELCA's Service and Justice unit. The team accompanies Lutheran ministries, synods and congregations in the United States and companion churches and ecumenical partners around the world to fulfill their diaconal missions to meet human needs and enhance human dignity; and support sustainable development and humanitarian assistance programming. The team integrates the ELCA World Hunger and Lutheran Disaster Response initiatives.
Marie Anne holds a master's degree in International Relations from the University of Chicago, and currently resides in the Chicago suburb with her husband and two children.
Angela Spencer-James is a senior business leader with a track record of success directing client and internal firm initiatives. With cross-industry insight advising companies on successful tax strategies, coupled with creating her own business practice and firmwide diversity, equity, and inclusiveness (DE&I) initiatives, Angela provides unique, insightful, innovative, and trusted advice. She frequently advises global enterprises regarding sensitive, high-profile US and international taxation matters and has significant experience partnering with and influencing C-suite leaders and diverse boards, with strategic, actionable goals.
She received a Master of Law - Taxation (LLM-Taxation) from New York University School of Law, a Master of Business Administration (MBA-Taxation,) from John’s University, and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB-Law) from the University of East London in London, UK.
Angela was recommended by Board Member Nobi Kaneko.
