Karen Manczko, Luis Guardia, and Susannah Cunningham Join the CWS Board
New York City—Church World Service today announced that it has welcomed three new members to its Board of Directors, Karen Manczko, Director of Institutional Relationships at Wespath Institutional Investments and Wespath Benefits and Investments; Luis Guardia, Chief Financial Officer for the National Association of Counties and founder of Guardia Investors; and Susannah Cunningham, Senior Director for Building Resilient Communities, of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Each of these leaders brings decades of experience related to CWS’ mission of building a world where everyone has food, voice and a safe place to call home. Through their leadership, CWS will better face current and future challenges including ongoing attacks on our nation’s spirit of welcome, rising poverty, disaster response, and climate displacement.
“As we approach the 80th anniversary of CWS, our churches, communities, and the world are facing similar challenges of conflict, displacement, and inequality that were present at our beginning. We celebrate the expertise, passion, and commitments from our new board colleagues of which will be invaluable for such a time as this.” said CWS Board Chair Rev. Dr. David Vasquez-Levy.
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Karen Manczko is Director of Institutional Relationships at Wespath Institutional Investments, advising faith-based and nonprofit clients on sustainable and values-aligned investment strategies. She specializes in ESG integration, fiduciary management, and institutional relationship development.
“I’m honored to join the Board of Church World Service, an organization committed to transforming lives through compassion, justice, and sustainable solutions,” said new CWS Board Member Karen Manczko. “I am looking forward to collaborating with inspiring leaders to make a global impact.”
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Luis Guardia is a nonprofit and policy leader specializing in social justice, hunger eradication, and racial equity. Currently, Guardia serves as the Chief Financial Officer for the National Association of Counties and founder of Guardia Investors, a philanthropy, impact investment, and policy advisory firm. Previously, he served as President/CEO of the Food Research & Action Center, leading national and local efforts to strengthen US nutrition policy during the COVID-19 and its immediate aftermath. Guardia has also served in top leadership roles in global philanthropy and development organizations including Global Impact, The ONE Campaign, and the International Center for Research on Women.
“Now—more than ever—the world needs CWS to address global climate, poverty, migration, and disaster challenges,” said Luis Guardia, new CWS Board Member. “I am incredibly excited to join the CWS team and work to support communities with just and sustainable responses to these challenges.”
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Susannah Cunningham is the Senior Director for Building Communities at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. She has nearly two decades of experience in refugee protection and advocacy. Susannah worked closely with CWS partner StARS in Cairo, Egypt, for 3.5 years, where she co-founded the Refugee Legal Aid Project.
“It is an honor to join the board of Church World Service, which has been united in mission to serve the vulnerable for 80 years,” said new CWS Board Member Susannah Cunningham. “CWS lives out the call to care for God’s creation and all of our siblings experiencing disaster, displacement, persecution, and hunger. CWS is a leader in this field and we are all profoundly well served by their fidelity to this great call.”
More information about these board members or the full CWS Board of Directors can be found here.