About Us: Leadership

The Faith to Action Initiative functions as a coalition, including a Leadership Council, Advisory Network, and Board. Together, we seek to solve the complex problem of reaching U.S. Christians with the family care message, because no individual or single organization has the mandate, capacity, knowledge, or resources to do so alone. The coalition is based on the shared vision we can only create together. Our purpose in joining together to form Faith to Action is catalyzing our collective value for pursing Faith to Action’s mission.

Board Members

The Board acts as fiduciary and oversees the mission of Faith to Action’s work.

KELLEY BUNKERS
Senior Associate, Maestral International

Kelley Bunkers is a Senior Associate with Maestral International. She has 34 years of experience in child protection, care reform, and social service workforce (SSW) strengthening, with work spanning 40 countries. Her technical areas focus on strengthening the capacity of child protection systems and advancing care reform in close collaboration with government institutions, UNICEF, international NGOs, and faith-based organizations. She holds a master’s degree in child rights, is a Senior Fellow at Georgetown University’s Children’s Collaborative, and has served on the leadership council of Faith to Action since 2017. A prolific author, she has written more than 20 peer-reviewed publications and over 100 technical documents on child protection, adoption, care reform, and SSW strengthening. Kelley speaks English, Spanish, and Romanian.

LEENA HILL
Humanitarian Advisor, Compassion International

Leena Hill serves as Humanitarian Advisor for Compassion International. Previously, Leena served as Vice President of Global Services at Bethany Christian Services, where she oversaw international programs focused on family-based care, including local foster care and adoption, family preservation and reunification, mental health and psychosocial support, and child protection. She brings 20 years of experience leading global humanitarian responses and international operations involving institutional and private donor engagement, partnership development, project design and delivery, and cross-functional collaboration and accountability. She also served as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in South Africa. She holds a M.A. in International Development from American University in Washington D.C., and lives in Arlington, Virginia, with her husband and daughter.

CARI ARMBRUSTER

Cari Armbruster is a nonprofit and healthcare leader with more than 25 years of experience in nursing, organizational leadership, and international development. She previously served as Executive Director of Alliance for Children Everywhere, where she led programs in Zambia focused on foster care, adoption, family preservation, and strengthening systems of care for vulnerable children. Under her leadership, the organization became a recognized voice in family-based care and partnered with government and community stakeholders to advance child welfare reform. Cari currently works in community-based program development in the Seattle area. She has experience in grant management, participatory research, and trauma-informed programming. In addition, she has been co-owner of Ashworth Homes for the past 27 years, where she helps oversee business strategy and personnel management. Throughout her career, Cari has worked with multidisciplinary and cross-cultural teams and has remained committed to strengthening families and communities through collaborative, evidence-based approaches. She lives in the Seattle area with her husband and family.

Leadership Council

The Leadership Council serves as the governing body for the Initiative. Members support the Initiative in their areas of expertise, and member organizations amplify the messaging within their own networks.

PHIL AND JILL ASPEGREN
Casa Viva

Philip and Jill Aspegren pioneered caring for children in local families when they co-founded Casa Viva in Costa Rica in 2004.  Working in partnership with local churches, Casa Viva places children in local foster families while biological family reunification and adoption possibilities are being pursued. Casa Viva’s team provides professional support to the families and churches. Before founding Casa Viva, the Aspegrens developed children’s homes, day programs and educational facilities for six years in the Dominican Republic.  Today, with Casa Viva Costa Rica as their platform, and using their backgrounds in business economics and education, the Aspegrens are developing Casa Viva Solutions and the Casa Viva Greenhouse to equip and inspire solutions for children separated from their families with the goal of seeing local families become the first and primary response.

JOANNA KRETZER CHUN
Director of Program Quality for International Programs, World Relief

Joanna Kretzer Chun is the Director of Program Quality for International Programs at World Relief. Joanna has over eighteen years of international development and ministry experience, including seven years as a gender advisor at World Vision International and three years working alongside churches in the north coast of Colombia. Supporting programs in Latin America, Africa and Asia, her background spans the areas of gender mainstreaming, women’s empowerment, child protection, child development, family strengthening, faith leader engagement, and social norm change. Joanna has a passion for ensuring families are equipped to provide a nurturing and safe environment for their children to thrive. She holds Master degrees in Intercultural Studies and Family Studies from Fuller Seminary and a BA in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia. Joanna resides with her husband and son in Washington, DC.

KARMEN FRIESEN
Executive Director, World Without Orphans

Karmen has led CoMission since 2001, networking, resourcing and equipping Christian leaders, organizations, churches and individuals in Russia and Ukraine to minister more effectively to orphans and children at risk. Since 2007, a major focus has been equipping Russian and Ukrainian Christians for adoption and foster care. As a result, Karmen has been involved in developing the Russia Without Orphans Alliance and supporting Ukraine Without Orphans, movements that are engaging the Church in their own countries for family-based care. He is also on the steering team of World Without Orphans, a movement of Christian organizations and leaders working globally to mobilize national movements like the ones in Russia and Ukraine. As part of his work, Karmen has coordinated numerous conferences and led the development of online directories of orphan care resources and events, in both English and Russian.

MARY BETH IDUH
Senior Program Manager for Faith Engagement, CRS

As the Senior Program Manager for Faith Engagement for CRS, Mary Beth Iduh brings over 15 years of Catholic international development experience to the role. Mary Beth is responsible for developing and implementing a comprehensive global engagement strategy with faith-based audiences and actors, beginning with the U.S. Catholic Church, as well as supporting CTWWC’s faith-based partnerships. Mary Beth joined Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in 2008, first working in Africa and South America in the areas of orphans and vulnerable children, HIV & AIDS, human trafficking/refugees and economic strengthening, followed by regional and national representational roles focused on deepening global discipleship and solidarity within U.S. Catholic organizations, dioceses, universities, seminaries and other communities. Since 2007, Mary Beth has served on the Board of Directors of the Farm of the Child USA, which supports a Catholic center of protection for children in Honduras where she previously was a lay missionary. She is active in her community and parish and was selected for the inaugural cohort of interfaith Imagining Justice in Baltimore community leaders in 2016. Mary Beth has an undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Notre Dame and dual-Masters degrees in Pastoral Ministry & Global Macro Social Work from Boston College. She lives in Baltimore with her husband and two young children.

JUSTIN LONAS
Director of Regional Partnerships, The Chalmers Center

Justin serves as Director of Foundational Products and Regional Partnerships for the Chalmers Center at Covenant College. He read When Helping Hurts with his church missions committee in 2009, starting a shift in his thinking about poverty and the church that led to his joining the team at Chalmers in 2016 after serving in different roles for 10 years at an international missions organization. At Chalmers, he coordinates the work behind books, articles, blog posts, online courses, video projects, and small group curriculums produced by Chalmers’ staff and ministry partners around the core concepts of a biblical framework for poverty alleviation and works with churches and organizations to help them apply these ideas in their ministry programs. He holds a B.A. in communications from Bryan College, and an M. Div. from Reformed Theological Seminary. Justin and his wife, Rachel, have four daughters and live in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

MARK LOREY
Executive Director, OUR CALL

Mark Lorey serves as Executive Director of Our Call, a new initiative focused on expanding support among American Christians and churches for the world’s most vulnerable children and families – through praying, volunteering, giving, and advocating. Our Call is housed within the Accord Network, which brings together more than 160 Christian relief and development organizations. Mark spent most of the first ten years of his career in Africa, including two years in Malawi with Save the Children and several years leading World Vision’s HIV and AIDS program development across Africa. He went on to a series of roles in World Vision International, including leadership of WVI’s global program strategy and impact. Mark and his family live in northern Virginia.

Dr. REBECCA NHEP
Senior Technical Advisor, Better Care Network

Dr. Rebecca Nhep is the Senior Technical Advisor for Better Care Network, the leading global child rights network driving action for children without parental care. With over 25 years of experience in child protection and care systems reform her expertise includes the transition and closure of residential care services and combatting orphanage trafficking and orphanage tourism. Rebecca convenes several global interagency working groups including ReThink Orphanages and the Transitioning Residential Care Working Group. She has worked extensively at both global and national levels, including 15 years field-based in Cambodia. Rebecca holds a PhD in Law and post graduate degrees in international law, international development and anthropology. She is an Adjunct Research Fellow with Griffith Law School, and member of the Australian Institute of Criminology’s Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery Research Network. She was previously the Joint CEO of ACC International and member of the Australian Government’s National Roundtable on Human Trafficking and Slavery.

MATTHEW STEPHENS
Senior Technical Advisory for Child Protection, World Vision U.S.

Matthew Stephens is the Senior Technical Advisor for Child Protection at World Vision United States. For over 20 years, Matthew has worked domestically and internationally to strengthen government and community responses to child abuse, neglect and exploitation. Since 2006, he has provided technical support to World Vision’s child protection programming in over 30 countries, with a personal passion for advancing faith communities’ contributions to sustainably reducing violence against children. Prior to his current role, Matthew spent eight years in living and working in the Republic of Georgia. Matthew holds a Master of Science in Social Work from the University of Texas-Arlington, and is based in Washington, DC with his wife and three children.

SHELTON TAGUMA
Executive Director, Kuda Vana Partnership International

Shelton Taguma is passionate about seeing all children flourish and grow into healthy adulthood. He serves as Executive Director of Kuda Vana Partnership International, which strengthens local organizations, families, and communities through partnerships, investments, and resources that promote family-based care and youth empowerment. Having grown up in Zimbabwe, Shelton experienced firsthand the challenges faced by impoverished children and youth. For more than 20 years, he has worked with churches and communities across sub-Saharan Africa to create healthy environments and hope-filled opportunities. He has served as a consultant, providing strategy, capacity-building, and program support, and previously as Executive Director of Forgotten Voices International, which partnered with local churches in Southern Africa to equip caregivers and families raising orphaned and vulnerable children. He also serves as Africa Regional Facilitator for World Without Orphans and on the board of Viva Network North America. Shelton holds a Master’s in International Development from Eastern University, a Bachelor’s in Community Development from the University of South Africa, and a qualification in Youth Development. He has lived and worked in Africa and Central America and is based in Pennsylvania with his family.

NICOLE WILKE
Director of the Research Center, Christian Alliance for Orphans

Dr. Nicole Gilbertson Wilke is a researcher, missionary, author, and marriage and family therapist dedicated to improving care for vulnerable children and families globally. She currently serves as Director of CAFO’s Center on Applied Research for Vulnerable Children and Families, serving more than 330 organizations in 130+ nations around the world. Nicole currently resides with her husband, Josh, and three children in Peru, where they work to improve the system for children in alternative care.

Advisory Network

EVANS BAGGS, Biblical Studies Teacher, Northwest Arkansas Shiloh Christian School

GREG BURCH, Ph. D., Chair of Global Studies Dept. Multnomah University

PHIL DARKE, President, Providence World; Host, Think Orphan Podcast

MICHAEL DOURIS, President Emeritus, Orphan Outreach

C.H. DYER, CEO/President, Bright Hope

ANITA DEYNEKA, Board Member, A Family For Every Orphan

IAN FORBER-PRATT, Director of Global Advocacy, Children’s Emergency Relief International

TARA GARCIA, CEO, Identity Mission

STEVE GILLIS, Executive Director, Patch Our Planet

KRISTI GLEASON, Director of Child Protection and Education, World Vision

BRIAN HEERWAGEN, CEO, MissionWorks

ASHLEE HEILIGMAN, MSW, Global Director, Global Child Advocates

JULIE HILL, Director for Philanthropy, West, Living Water International

LAURA HORVATH Ed.D., Director of Program Development and Community Engagement, Helping Children Worldwide

GREG ISHMAEL, Senior Trainer, Global Training Network

ELLEN LIVINGOOD, President, Catalyst Services

FLORENCE MARTIN, Director, Better Care Network

PETER K. MUTHUI, Director and Co-Founder, Child in Family Focus

MICK PEASE, Founder and Trainer, SFAC

DR. DELIA POP, Director, Tanya’s Dream Fund

JON SINGLETARY, Dean of the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work, Baylor University

BRANDON STIVER, Seattle Area Director, CarePortal

STEPHEN UCEMBE, Coordinator, Transform Alliance Africa

GABRIEL WALDER, M.S., Executive Director, Alliance for Children Everywhere

Staff

ELLI OSWALD
Executive Director

 Elli Oswald is the Executive Director of the Faith to Action Initiative. Prior to this role, she served as Director of Mission and Outreach at Bethany Community Church in Seattle, where she guided Bethany Community Church in various ministries to the poor and vulnerable in Seattle and around the world. Elli also served as the Children in Crisis Research and Communications Coordinator for World Vision International’s Child Development and Rights Technical Team, specializing in community-based care for children deprived of parental care. She has a B.A. from Pepperdine University and a M.A. in Cross Cultural Studies and International Development from Fuller Theological Seminary. Elli has worked with a wide variety non-profit organizations, including, Union Station Homeless Services in Los Angeles.

ALLISON COBLE
Director of Programs

Allison serves as the Faith to Action Initiative’s Director of Programs. She has over eleven years of experience overseeing family-based care initiatives. Prior to joining the Faith to Action Initiative, Allison served as Senior Director of Programs for the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI), managing CCAI’s core programs including the Foster Youth Internship program and the annual Angels in Adoption Gala. Additionally, she provided oversight and direct support for their global initiatives in Ethiopia, Guatemala, and Haiti. Her areas of expertise include project management, program development, marketing, and large-scale event management. She previously worked for a U.S. Senator as Deputy Press Secretary, and then as the Associate Director of Marketing for a Washington D.C.-based trade association.