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Ruby Nell Sales is a highly-trained, experienced, and deeply-committed social activist, scholar, administrator, manager, and educator in the areas of Civil, Gender, and other Human Rights. She is an excellent public speaker, with a proven track record in conflict resolution and consensus building. Ms. Sales has preached around the country on race, class, gender, and reconciliation, and she has done ground-breaking work on community and nonviolence formation. Ms. Sales also serves as a national convener of the Every Church A Peace Church Movement.
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As the co-director of SpiritHouse, Cheryl Blankenship brings several decades of finely-honed administrative and management skills. She currently manages the day-to-day programmatic activities and fiscal affairs. In addition, she supervises volunteers and additional staff who occasionally help SpiritHouse with administrative and technical work, or with project development. Prior to SpiritHouse, Blankenship worked with the federal agency Corporation for National and Community Service, and at various institutions of higher education, where she served as Director of Financial Aid, Director of Student Affairs, and Associate Bursar. She has also served as a consultant to the United Nations Trust Fund and on projects for other philanthropic agencies. While a Senior Program Officer for AmeriCorps, Blankenship managed 300 programs in 24 states and territories. In this capacity, she oversaw all programmatic activities and disbursed budgets of approximately $100 million. Blankenship's portfolio included outreach to communities applying for grants to build a culture of service through Learn and Serve America and AmeriCorps programs.
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Michelle is an activist and co-director of the Mennonite Central Committee's Office on Justice and Peacebuilding in Akron, Pennsylvania. She provides resources, consulting and training for churches, agencies, and communities. She has many years of extensive training in meditation, facilitation, conciliation, restorative justice, arbitration, victim/offender mediation, anti-racism, and alternatives to violence. Michelle currently serves on the board of PRASI Leadership Council. Michelle was the former board chair of the Lancaster Mediation Center, where she also serves as a volunteer mediator, and she formerly served on the Executive Committee of Lancaster NAACP. Michelle completed an Eastern Mennonite University Graduate Certification program in Conflict Transformation. She holds dual ministerial standing in the Mennonite Church and United Church of Christ, serving as co-pastor at St. Andrew UCC on Lime and New Streets in downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
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As the daughter of a South Asian scholar, Assistant Secretary of State for Asian Affairs and Ambassador, Nancy grew up in India and traveled throughout Asia. While an undergraduate student, Nancy received a national science fellowship to participate in an archaeological dig in Iran. These various experiences give her a deep appreciation for different world cultures and peoples. Upon receiving an MSW in Community Organizing from Boston University, Nancy embarked on a career in public housing that lasted for 15 years. During this time, Nancy designed and implemented many educational and community-service programs for residents. Nancy is a multi-talented person who rises to positions of leadership, both professionally and in the church. She played a leading role in shaping public policy and grant-funding activities at the federal agency The Corporation for National Service. She graduated from Union Theological Seminary in New York City with a Masters of Divinity, and she was recently ordained in the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. Currently, Nancy works for New York University Medical Center as the Associate Director of Spirituality Programs at Bellevue Hospital.
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Dean is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Defiance College, in Defiance, OH. Prior to his work at Defiance, Dean served in several different administrative and academic appointments at Goshen College (Ind.), including Special Assistant to the Provost, Assistant to the Academic Dean, Director of the Plowshares Peace Studies Project, and Assistant Professor of Peace, Justice and Conflict Studies. As an activist scholar, he has worked with several nonprofit and not-for-profit organizations, including the American Friends Service Committee (Chicago), Mennonite Urban Ministries (Denver), ACORN (Denver), Brethren Mennonite Council for LGBTQ Interests (Minneapolis), the Veterans of Hope Project (Denver), the World Council of Churches Historic Peace Church Consultations, and the Peace and Justice Studies Association. The first instructor to teach a Peace Studies course at Anderson University, he has also lectured in Peace Studies at Purdue University, Richmond, IN, the Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership at Bethany Seminary, and the Indianapolis Peace Institute. Dean is a faithful donor to the SpiritHouse Project. Dean lives in Ft. Wayne, Indiana with his wife and son. |
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Nick is a native of St. Louis, Missouri. Currently living in Lancaster, PA with his wife, he works as the Assistant Dean of Admission at Swarthmore College. Nick is a gifted musician and serves as the Minister of Music at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. His passion is to communicate; as a member of the Board of SpiritHouse, Nick hopes to serve as a voice for the new generation. |
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Rebecca is the Associate Pastor of Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ in Washington, D.C. Before coming to Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ in April of 1995, Rev. West served as the Interim Pastoral Assistant at the First Church of Christ in Hartford, CT and Minister of Visitation for the First Church of Christ, in New Haven, CT. In addition to the two pastoral positions, she was the Program Coordinator of "I Have A Dream, New Haven, Inc." - a program founded by Rev. West, along with students from Yale Divinity School, members of the communitym, and the Yale Class of 1957. Rev. West earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of New Haven, West Haven, CT in 1975, a Master of Arts in Industrial and Organizational Psychology, University of New Haven, West Haven, CT in 1978, and a Masters of Divinity, Yale University School of Divinity, New Haven, CT in 1993. She retired from the District of Columbia Army National Guard in September of 2001. During her military career, she was an enlisted person as well as an officer. She held the ranks of Private First Class to Colonel. She had several positions as well, from clerk to Deputy District Area Commander. Currently, Rev. West serves on the Lupus Board of Greater Washington Area, chairs the Board of Sickle Cell Association of the National Capital Area, Inc., and serves on The Mayor's Veterans Advisory Board. |
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Raised in Memphis, TN, Meade attended Tulane University in New Orleans, LA, where she received a Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering in 1988. While in New Orleans, she was an active participant in various interfaith community organizations, and she took several classes at Loyola University towards a Masters degree in Pastoral Studies. Meade left New Orleans, and she later completed a Masters degree in Social Work at Catholic University in Washington, DC in 1995. That summer, she attended a nine-week language immersion school in Guatemala. Social justice, community, and spirituality are interwoven threads in Meade's life. She has been a volunteer, volunteer coordinator, a VISTA volunteer, counselor, and case manager at domestic abuse shelters, as well as an addictions and mental-health counselor. She has also served on a child-abuse prevention committee. Presently, Meade is a prime mover in the Potter's House Church of the Church of the Savior in Washington, DC, and serves as the principal administrator for the Potter's House Bookstore and Cafe in Columbia Heights. Meade and her husband, Mike, have three children - two sons and a daughter. Meade is a faithful donor to the SpiritHouse Project. |
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