Leadership

About Us

LEADERSHIP

Roland Fernandes

General Secretary, Global Ministries and UMCOR, Higher Education and Ministry

Roland

ogs@umcmission.org

Roland Fernandes became the general secretary (chief executive) of Global Ministries and the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) on Sept. 1, 2020, having filled key leadership roles in the organizations since 1995. He added to his responsibilities when he became general secretary of Higher Education and Ministry on July 1, 2024. With more than 30 years of experience at Global Ministries, Roland was both chief operating officer and chief financial officer of Global Ministries/UMCOR from 2003 and several times served as interim general secretary. He oversees programs, projects and partners in 115 countries, including 250 missionaries in 70 countries. UMCOR is the church’s relief and development organization.

Bio and Contact

The Rev. Jack Amick

Director, Global Migration

Jack

umcor_office@umcmission.org

The Rev. Jack Amick directs the United Methodist Committee on Relief’s Global Migration program for Global Ministries. He serves on the United Methodist Immigration Task Force, on advisory committees for Church World Service, the board of Immigration Law and Justice Network, the ACT Alliance Migration and Displacement Reference Group, and he maintains relations with several other migration/refugee organizations. His earlier work for UMCOR involved leading disaster response programs.

Jack served as a pastor at local United Methodist churches for seven years. Prior to being ordained as a United Methodist elder, Jack served two years with the Refugee Admissions Office of the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration at the U.S. Department of State and two years as vice-consul for Economic Affairs at the U.S. consulate in Mumbai, India. As desk officer for Eastern Europe at the Peace Corps, Jack designed crisis responses to flooding in Central Europe and post-war recovery in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He has led disaster response in different contexts, including managing disaster damage assessments and family services with the American Red Cross. Jack has a Bachelor of Arts in international service and economics from American University in Washington, DC, a Master of International Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona, and a Master of Divinity from Boston University School of Theology. Jack is the father of two young adults and the husband of the Rev. Susan Amick, a United Methodist deacon who serves as chaplain with Wesley Woods Senior Living in Atlanta.

Bio and Contact

Kerri Broussard

Director, Human Resources

hrgeneral@umcmission.org

Kerri Broussard is the director of Human Resources at Global Ministries. The HR department is responsible for providing support to Global Ministries employees during their employment lifecycle, which commences with recruitment and onboarding, continues through talent management and ends with offboarding or retirement. Kerri’s knowledge of Global Ministries spans her 18 years of service with the organization.

She is a member of both local and national chapters of the Society of Human Resource Management. She holds a bachelor’s degree and is a Senior Certified Professional through the SHRM. Kerry was born on the island of Jamaica, migrated to the U.S. with her family at age 3 and grew up in New York City. She and her husband Chris have three children: Adam, Adalyn and Addison.

Kerri

Bio and Contact

The Rev. Dr. Judy Chung

Executive Director, Missionary Service

ms@umcmission.org

The Rev. Dr. Judy Y. Chung is the executive director of Missionary Service at Global Ministries, the program area responsible for the lifecycle of missionaries, including young adult missionaries and Mission Volunteers. This lifecycle incorporates recruitment, selection, training and support for missionaries while in service. Judy earlier served as executive secretary of the Asian American and Pacific Islander Ministry plans and as a Korean American missionary in the Los Angeles area.

Born in Gwangju, South Korea, Judy moved to the United States at age 11 and grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada. She also lived in the Los Angeles area and is an ordained elder of the California-Pacific Annual Conference. She received her Master of Divinity degree from Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, and the Doctor of Ministry degree in pastoral leadership from Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, D.C. Judy served as senior pastor of Placentia and La Mirada United Methodist churches in the California cities of those names. She and her husband, Dr. David J. Brewer, have two children, Caleb and Esther.

Judy

Bio and Contact

Susan Clark

Chief Communications Officer

communications@umcmission.org

Susan Clark serves as chief communications officer for Global Ministries and Higher Education and Ministry. She leads the communications function in articulating the messaging of the work and ministry of both agencies to key stakeholders and the public. Susan is a mission-driven marketing and communications executive with experience in nonprofit, higher education, cultural and corporate settings. After graduating from Duke University, she began her professional career running the Harvest of Hope program at the Society of St. Andrew (SOSA), a church-supported hunger education and relief organization that is one of Global Ministries’ Advance partner projects.

She opened SOSA’s first regional office in North Carolina. After earning her Master of Business Administration degree at Northwestern University’s J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, she worked at S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., Eastman Kodak Company and the High Museum of Art. Prior to accepting her position with Global Ministries, she served for almost ten years as associate dean for marketing and communications and chief marketing officer at Emory University School of Law, overseeing the school’s internal and external digital and print communications efforts, recruitment marketing strategies, event management and journals publication program. Susan has lived in Atlanta for many years, but she still calls the Eastern Shore of Maryland home.

Susan

Bio and Contact

Jim Cox

Executive Director, United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR)

Jcox@umcor.org

Jim Cox serves as UMCOR’s executive director, working with General Secretary Roland Fernandes to guide Global Ministries and UMCOR’s work in alleviating human suffering around the world. He came to UMCOR directly from Helen Keller International, a global public health organization, where he served as chief operating officer. Before Helen Keller, Jim was with Lutheran World Relief-IMA World Health (now CORUS), where he served as executive vice president of health and emergency programs. He was chief operating officer for IMA World Health for nearly five years after serving as country director for IMA in Tanzania. Jim had previously served at UMCOR for almost 10 years in various capacities, including country director in the Republic of Georgia, executive director for international programs and executive director for Katrina Aid Today – UMCOR’s Hurricane Katrina response.

Jim’s expertise in program management includes emergency interventions, livelihoods and health initiatives in partnership with vulnerable communities, major donor agencies and private foundations. Jim lives in North Carolina, is married to Lauren, and has two daughters working on their university degrees.

Jim

Bio and Contact

Kathleen Griffith

Director and Team Lead, Global Health

globalhealth@umcmission.org

Kathleen Griffith is the director and team lead for Global Ministries’ Global Health unit. The unit is responsible for implementing the denomination’s Abundant Health Initiative, which includes the Imagine No Malaria program. The team works in the U.S. to encourage health ministries in a range of contexts across the United Methodist connection. They work internationally with central conference health networks, helping to strengthen health systems by developing leadership and governance, staff capacity, infrastructure and supply systems. Together with partners, they use evidence-based decisions to plan and make preventive and curative interventions in response to major health concerns, such as infectious disease, malaria, HIV and AIDS and responding to high maternal, newborn and child mortality rates.

Kathleen was born and raised in Zimbabwe. She is a nurse and midwife who first practiced in Southern Africa and then worked as a maternal, newborn and child health program manager in Central Asia for 10 years. She moved permanently to the United States in 2008 and has worked with Global Ministries for much of the time since then. She is married to the Rev. Bruce Griffith, a retired elder in The United Methodist Church. They live in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

Kathleen

Bio and Contact

Mike Gurick

Chief Financial Officer, Global Ministries and UMCOR

finance@umcmission.org

Michael Gurick is the chief financial officer of Global Ministries and UMCOR. He has been with Global Ministries since July 2018, when he joined the staff as senior director of finance. Prior to arriving at Global Ministries, Mike began his career at the Georgia Lottery Corporation, where he worked as manager of financial planning and analysis. In 1999, he moved to Hi-Tech Rentals as controller and became vice president of finance in 2005. In 2008, he joined Production Resource Group, where he worked as the controller for the PRG Atlanta and Nashville offices.

In 2012, Mike was promoted to general manager over the PRG Atlanta office and served in that role until 2015, when he became director of finance for PRG’s corporate and tradeshow division. Mike graduated from Florida State University in 1992 with a Bachelor of Science in finance and earned his CPA license in 1999. Mike and his wife, Kendra, currently reside in Powder Springs, Georgia, and have two children, Kelsey and Gavin.

Mike

Bio and Contact

Katie Hills

Director of Disaster Response, UMCOR

khills@umcor.org

Katie Hills is the director of disaster response for the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). She oversees U.S. and global UMCOR disaster response activities including capacity building, technical assistance and grant making for disaster response and recovery. She joined UMCOR in 2018 as manager of the international disaster response portfolio covering Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

Katie previously worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Emergency Operations, as an emergency management specialist, focusing on enhancing public health emergency management capacity among Ministry of Health personnel worldwide. Katie’s passions are risk communications, capacity development and community-based disaster planning. She has conducted training and research activities in Rwanda, Senegal, Cameroon, Indonesia, the Philippines and the Bahamas. Katie earned a Bachelor of Art in Development Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2008 and a Master of Public Health in Global Health from Emory University in 2014. She resides in California.

Katie

Bio and Contact

Amihan Jones

Director, Monitoring and Evaluation

amihanjones@umcmission.org

Amihan Jones grew up in various parts of the United States, including Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Texas, before earning a B.A. at the College of Wooster in Ohio and a master’s in Development Practice at Emory University in Georgia. She served two years as a Global Mission Fellow US-2 with Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington, D.C., where she worked on advocacy issues and supervised volunteers who provided English as a Second Language classes to day laborers, and she also worked with old-homeless clients.

She served as a United Methodist Volunteer in Mission in Chiang Mai, Thailand. As a monitoring and evaluation professional, Amihan has years of experience working with nonprofit and international development organizations in the U.S., Kenya, Uganda, Thailand and Nepal. Her portfolio includes work in a range of sectors, including food security, public health, microfinance, and humanitarian relief and recovery.

Amihan

Bio and Contact

Dr. Dana Lyles

Director, Multiethnic Ministries

mem@umcmission.org

Dr. Dana Lyles is the lead of Multiethnic Ministries for Global Ministries. The program connects and collaborates with U.S. annual conferences and other agencies for mission programs related to racial/ethnic communities, ethnic ministry plans, human relations ministries and ministries with Native and Indigenous communities. Prior to joining Global Ministries, she served as a business education teacher and school administrator in North Carolina.

A lifelong United Methodist and preacher’s kid, Dana is layperson from the Western North Carolina Annual Conference. She has served the church in a variety of capacities, including consulting and co-leading a predominately white church and African American church through a merger, serving as a co-chair for the Western North Carolina Annual Conference’s young adult leadership development program and serving on the denomination’s Connectional Table. She is a three-time graduate of North Carolina A&T State University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in economics, a master’s degree in business education, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in leadership studies. She also received a master’s degree in school administration from Gardner-Webb University. Dana resides in Atlanta, Georgia, and serves the community through her membership in the Junior League of Atlanta and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. Dana splits her time between North Carolina and Georgia and is a member of St. Matthew’s UMC in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Dana

Bio and Contact

Haley M. Reardon

Chief Development Officer

hreardon@umcmission.org

Haley M. Reardon is the chief development officer for Global Ministries and Higher Education and Ministry. She leads both agencies in advancing their global work through strategic fundraising and donor engagement. Haley oversees the planning, implementation, and evaluation of comprehensive fundraising initiatives supporting education, ministry, mission, and humanitarian programs. Her responsibilities include cultivating major gifts, planned giving, direct response and digital fundraising, and disaster response fundraising. She also works closely with board and agency leadership to strengthen relationships with key donors and stakeholders.

A bilingual fundraising professional, Haley has over a decade of experience in nonprofit development, donor relations, and major gift fundraising. Since 2020, she served on the development team at Emory University’s School of Medicine, most recently as director of development. At Emory, she successfully led philanthropic initiatives resulting in endowed professorships and programs, while consistently exceeding fundraising goals. Prior to Emory, Haley held fundraising roles at Wesley Theological Seminary, where she expanded giving programs and strengthened donor engagement.

Haley holds a Bachelor of Arts from Birmingham-Southern College and a Master of Divinity from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology. Following her graduation from Candler, she served for several years as a licensed local pastor at Pleasant View Charge of The United Methodist Church in Winchester, Virginia.

Haley

Bio and Contact

Dr. David W. Scott

Director, Mission Theology and Strategic Planning

dscott@umcmission.org

Dr. David W. Scott is senior director of Mission Theology and Strategic Planning at Global Ministries and Higher Education & Ministry, where his work helps United Methodists around the world reflect on the nature of mission and how to best join in God’s mission in the present day and age. He is the co-editor of the recently released book “Methodism and American Empire: Reflections on Decolonizing the Church” and has also edited or authored “Unlikely Friends,” “The Practice of Mission in Global Methodism,” “Methodist Mission at 200,” “Crossing Boundaries,” and “Mission as Globalization” as well as numerous articles and book chapters.

He serves as the blogmaster for the UM & Global website (www.umglobal.org). He has taught mission, church history, world religions and leadership at Ripon College, Eden Theological Seminary, Wesley Theological Seminary, Wesleyan University-Philippines and through the United Methodist Course of Study. He coordinated the bicentennial celebration of the first Methodist mission society in the United States, has contributed to the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism’s work on mission from the margins and the 100^th anniversary of the founding of the International Missionary Council, and is treasurer of the American Society of Missiology.

David

Bio and Contact

The Rev. Deanna Stickley-Miner

Executive Director, Mission Engagement

dstickley@umcmission.org

The Rev. Deanna (Dee) Stickley-Miner serves as executive director for Mission Engagement. In this new role, she works with the general secretary to develop a strategy to broaden Global Ministries’ missional engagement within the UMC and with Pan Methodist, ecumenical and other global partners. Dee comes to Global Ministries with a wide range of experience across the United Methodist connection. She served 20 years on the staff of the West Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church in Columbus, Ohio. As director of Mission and Justice, a role she held for 12 years, she created mission partnerships between West Ohio and United Methodist entities in Mexico, Southeast Asia, Russia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Locally, she built mission collaborations around health equity, justice for women, racial justice, and inclusion of youth in ministry.

For her last eight years at the conference, she served as director of Connectional Ministries, overseeing missional relationships, camping ministries, lay leadership, and ministries related to diversity and inclusion of all people in church life. Prior to joining the West Ohio Conference staff, Dee served seven years as the assistant dean of Student Life and director of the Course of Study School at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio.

Ordained as a deacon in the UMC in 1999, Dee says her deacon identity has always been characterized by direct involvement in ministries that serve the needs of others. Two of the direct projects of which she is most proud demonstrate her commitment to mission at both the local and global levels. Locally, she has served as a charter board member of the Charitable Pharmacy of Central Ohio, a nonprofit health care agency that provides free medications, health screenings, and wellness checks to low- and moderate-income families in Franklin County. Globally, she has been instrumental in building relationships to support and endow Wings of the Morning, an emergency medical aviation ministry in the North Katanga Conference in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Dee was born and raised in Englewood, Ohio. She graduated from Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio, with a Bachelor of Art in Psychology and Religion. She earned a Master of Divinity from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. She has been married for 30 years to her husband, Ed Miner, and is the proud parent of three adult children, Special Olympics USA Games medalist Sarah Kate, religion scholar Allison, and jazz trumpeter Lucas. Her deacon secondary appointment is at McKinley United Methodist Church in Dayton, Ohio, and she maintains strong involvement in the United Methodist Church for All People in Columbus, Ohio.

Deanna

Bio and Contact

C. Todd Willis

Chief Operations Officer and General Counsel

legal@umcmission.org

Todd Willis is COO/General Counsel of Global Ministries, overseeing the day-to-day administrative and operational functions of the agency. This includes leading property, risk management, insurance and information technology programs, among other duties. He also provides leadership and counsel on governance and compliance issues, legal strategy and assessment.

A lifelong United Methodist, Todd grew up the son of a United Methodist minister in Florida. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Florida Southern College and a Juris Doctor from the University of Florida, Levin College of Law. Prior to joining Global Ministries in August 2019, Todd practiced law in Washington, D.C. and Orlando, FL, as a partner at Carlton Fields, a national law firm. During part of that time, he served as the chair of the Immigration Law and Justice Network Board, a United Methodist ministry supporting sites across the country that provide free or low-cost immigration legal services to vulnerable immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers. Todd and his wife, Kristin Willis, have three children, Carter, Cooper, and Campbell.

Todd

Bio and Contact