Committee looks for an adaptive leader
by Melody K. Smith | Presbyterian News Service
LOUISVILLE – The search committee for the executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA) has finalized the leadership profile for the position and formally launched the search for the next PMA leader. Applications are now being accepted.
“On behalf of the search committee, I want to express deep appreciation to everyone who shared their hopes for the next executive director via the open online invitation and those in leadership whom we interviewed personally,” said Nancy Ramsay, chair of the search committee. “We listened to you.”
Ramsay said that what they heard from more than 330 responses to the online invitation, as well as those who were interviewed as the leadership profile was developed, was that this is a time of structural ambiguity at the General Assembly level, and also a time of hopefulness and dynamic transformation.
Boardwalk Consulting, a national firm experienced in faith-based leadership searches, was selected as the search firm to assist with the recruitment. According to a recent search committee report, they were selected based on their experience and their grasp of the situation and understanding of the organization.
The next executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency will be a leader who embodies cultural humility and demonstrates intercultural fluency. “For such a time as this, the committee is looking for a person of deep faith who is clearly called to this position,” Ramsay said. “We are looking for a person with passion for mission and ministry and whose leadership inspires trust.”
The search committee remains committed to its goal for presenting a successful candidate by the end of this calendar year. “We are moving with deliberate speed,” Ramsay said. “We seek a person who can lead adaptively, a person with excellent communication skills, and someone with experience and gifts for leading a complex organization. The executive director will help the Presbyterian Mission Agency and its gifted staff support the mission and ministry of the PC(USA) at local, mid council, national and global levels.”
Interim Executive Director Tony De La Rosa will continue to serve throughout this process. He was called to the position in December 2015. His contract was recently extended to December 2017.
The committee remains committed to sharing the process openly by posting its meeting minutes and other pertinent information on the Presbyterian Mission Agency website. Those documents can be viewed here.
View the leadership profile for the executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency here.
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