Board Member Biographies
Shirley Stover Allen (Province VII)
Shirley Stover Allen is a former commercial real estate attorney and active in numerous charitable organizations. She serves on the advisory board of SEARCH Homeless Services, the steering committee for Greater Houston Community Foundation’s (GHCF) Youth Homelessness Fund and GHCF’s Anti-Human Trafficking Donor Working Group. Ms. Allen is also a long-time member of the Compass Rose Society and the Alexis de Tocqueville Society of the United Way of Greater Houston. A member of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston, she has served on the Wedding Guild, as a Bible study leader, an Altar Guild group co-leader as well as a Sunday school teacher and greeter.
Ms. Allen received both her JD and BA with honors from the University of Texas at Austin.
She and her husband, Skip, have one daughter.
N. Kurt Barnes (Ex-Officio)
Mr. N. Kurt Barnes is the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society. His career spans finance and investment management in for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. Mr. Barnes began his career as an economist for the RAND Corporation. He later became an Associate Editor at Time Inc.’s Fortune Magazine.
Mr. Barnes worked for 20 years as a Financial Officer at Inco Limited (International Nickel Company of Canada). He subsequently joined Morgan Stanley as a Vice President in the Fiduciary Advisory Group. In 2002, in a reorganization initiated by the New York State Attorney General, Mr. Barnes became Chief Financial Officer of Hale House Center, Inc. He also served as the Interim Deputy Executive Director for Finance and Information Technology at Amnesty International USA.
Mr. Barnes is a life-long Episcopalian and his volunteer activities include service to the Episcopal Diocese of New York as a member of the program, budget and governance committees and Episcopal Charities. He is also the treasurer of an organization that provides funding to enhance the educational and social activities of a group of Yale University seniors. Mr. Barnes also serves on the Investment Committee of Amnesty International USA. He is an ex-officio member of Episcopal Relief & Development’s Board of Directors.
Mr. Barnes received his bachelor’s degree in economics from Yale University and master’s degree in economics from Harvard University.
He resides in New York City and serves on the vestry of Grace Church, Millbrook, NY.
Putney Cloos (Province II)
Putney Cloos is the Chief Marketing Officer of Cision, a global leader in public relations and communications technology and intelligence. Prior to this role Putney held a variety of marketing leadership positions at American Express and was an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company where she was recognized for her expertise in marketing and sales strategy. Putney is also on the Board of Trustees for the Cathedral of St John the Divine in New York City and is on the Board of the Quissett Harbor Preservation Trust. Further, she is an active supporter of the Lulu & Leo Fund and its flagship Choose Creativity initiative. Putney has an AB from Harvard College and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management.
Ms. Cloos and her husband and their two sons live in Harlem and attend the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry (Ex-Officio, Honorary Chair)
The Most Reverend Michael Bruce Curry was installed as the 27th Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church on November 1, 2015. He was elected on June 27 at the Church’s General Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah. Bishop Curry is the 27th Presiding Bishop, Primate, and Chief Pastor of The Episcopal Church. He also serves as President of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society.
Most recently, he served as the 11th Bishop of North Carolina. Bishop Curry is a graduate of Hobart College and received his Master of Divinity degree in 1978 from Yale University Divinity School. He has also pursued additional studies at The College of Preachers, Princeton Theological Seminary, Wake Forest University, the Ecumenical Institute at St. Mary’s Seminary and the Institute of Christian Jewish Studies.
Bishop Curry was ordained to the priesthood in December 1978, at St. Stephen’s, Winston-Salem, North Carolina and began his ministry as deacon-in-charge at St. Stephen’s, Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 1978 and was rector there from 1979-1982. He next accepted a call as rector at St. Simon of Cyrene, Lincoln Heights, Ohio where he served from 1982-1988. In 1988, he became rector of St. James’, Baltimore, Maryland which he served until his election as bishop.
In his three parish ministries in North Carolina, Ohio and Maryland, Bishop Curry had extensive involvement in Crisis Control Ministry, founding of ecumenical summer day camps for children, preaching missions, the Absalom Jones initiative, creation of networks of family daycare providers, creation of educational centers, and the brokering of millions of dollars of investment in inner-city neighborhoods. He inspired a $2.5-million restoration of the St. James’ church building after a fire. The St. James’ After School Academy was designated a Jubilee Ministry by Presiding Bishop Edmund Browning.
Previously, Bishop Curry was chair of Episcopal Relief & Development’s Board of Directors before transitioning to its Honorary Chair in November 2015. He has served on the boards of a large number of organizations and was a member of the Commission on Ministry in each of the three dioceses where he has served. Bishop Curry has a national preaching and teaching ministry, having been featured on The Protestant Hour and as a frequent speaker at conferences around the country. He has received honorary degrees from Sewanee, Virginia Theological Seminary and Yale.
He is married to the former Sharon Clement and they have two daughters, Rachel and Elizabeth.
Miguel Escobar (Province II)
Mr. Escobar is Executive Director of Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary (EDS). There he works with the Very Rev. Kelly Brown Douglas in building a Master of Divinity in Anglican Studies program aimed at forming Gospel-based, social justice faith leaders for The Episcopal Church.
Previously, Mr. Escobar served as managing program director for leadership, communications and external affairs at the Episcopal Church Foundation. He earned a Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in 2007 and served as the communications assistant to then-Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori from 2007 to 2010.
Mr. Escobar is a member of the board of directors of Forward Movement and serves on the advisory council of Duke Divinity School’s Leadership programs and Episcopal Relief & Development’s Church Programs Committee.
He grew up in the Texas hill country and attended Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas, where he studied the Roman Catholic social justice tradition, Latin American liberation theologies, and minored in Spanish. He joined the Episcopal Church through St. Mary’s, West Harlem, drawn by the congregation’s diversity and commitment to social justice, and is now a member of All Saints Episcopal Church in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
Paul Faeth (Province IV)
Mr. Paul Faeth is the Global Technical Director for Climate and Energy at Abt Associates, a major implementing partner for USAID and other U.S. and international environment and development agencies. He is leading an effort expected to bring solar power to 10,000 health clinics in Africa that do not have electricity. He was formerly a principal of the Cadmus Group working on issues related to climate change, water, and energy, internationally and domestically and was Chair of the Jamaica Energy Resilience Alliance, working to invest up to $50 million in new distributed power in the country. Mr. Faeth was also the Executive Vice-President and Managing Director at the World Resources Institute. He has over 35 years of experience in environmental research and management, economic and policy analysis and outreach, particularly in developing innovative policies that promote climate mitigation and water resources protection.
Mr. Faeth has a BS degree in Agricultural Engineering and an MS in Resource Systems and Policy Design.
He is married to The Rev. Dr. Margaret Ann (Sam) Faeth and lives in Asheville, NC.
The Rev. Dr. Canon Michele V. Hagans (Province III)
The Rev. Dr. Canon Michele V. Hagans is a native Washingtonian who graduated from Howard University with a B.A. in Zoology and a M.E. in Environmental Engineering. She also completed an MBA at The George Washington University, and later returned to Howard University to earn a Master of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry. Following a successful career at General Electric in California, the Midwest and Upstate New York, Canon Hagans returned to Washington in 1980 to work for her father, a Washington, D.C. developer. In 1983, she became General Manager of public parking at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. In 1984, following the death of her father and brother, Canon Hagans assumed the role of President of her father’s companies: Fort Lincoln New Town Corporation, Fort Lincoln Realty Company and Hagans Development Company.
In 2007, Canon Hagans was ordained to the priesthood by the Rt. Rev. John B. Chane, eighth Bishop of the Diocese of Washington. Canon Hagans has been a lifelong member of The Episcopal Church with initial membership at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Washington. Since her ordination, she has been heavily involved in ministry, holding positions at the Episcopal Diocese of Washington as Canon of Ministry Initiatives, Grace Episcopal Day School as Chaplain, and Grace Episcopal Church in Silver Spring, MD and Holy Comforter Episcopal Church in Washington, DC as Associate Rector. She also has served as interim part-time rector of St. John’s Church, Lafayette Square. Currently, she assists with services at Washington National Cathedral. Canon Hagans has used her extensive experience and knowledge of real estate and development to provide counsel for a number of parishes within the diocese. She has three adult children.
Kenneth Jones II (Province III)
Kenneth Jones II is currently Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation where he is responsible for the finance, accounting, tax, audit, information technology, grants management, administrative services, core services, building management and facilities functions for the Foundation. He also serves as the Chief Equity Officer for the Foundation. In addition, Ken implements and evaluates the Foundation’s financial objectives and performance to support MacArthur’s priorities and programs. Prior to joining the MacArthur Foundation, he was Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Ken is an operations & administrative professional with over 25 years of proven success and leadership abilities with international experience in Latin America, Africa, Asia. and Europe. His private sector experience includes working at the Pfizer Corporation, the Ford Motor Company, and the Prudential. Ken currently serves as board chair for the Center for Urban Families, the Mission Investors Exchange, and the Center for Disaster Philanthropy. He also serves on numerous boards including Corus, the Joint Center, the Southern Education Foundation, Virginia Union University, Foundation Financial Officers Group, and Candid. Mr. Jones has his MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, a Masters in Applied Economics from the University of Buffalo, and a Bachelor’s Degree from Boston University. In 2021, Ken was ABFE’s James Joseph Lecturer.
Teri Lawver (Province II, Board Chair)
Teri Lawver is the Chief Commercial Officer for DexCom, which helps people with diabetes improve their glucose control. She is responsible for global sales, marketing and customer experience.
Prior to joining DexCom, Teri worked for 20 years at Johnson & Johnson. Most recently, she was the Worldwide Vice President, Immunology. She has also worked as an Associate Principal at McKinsey & Company and as a Derivatives Analyst at Bloomberg Financial Markets.
She is known for shaping innovative strategies that deliver transformational healthcare innovations to areas of high unmet medical need, and is a vocal advocate for advancing DE&I in the healthcare sector. She has been recognized by NJ Biz as one of New Jersey’s Top 50 Women in Business and featured in Thrive Global magazine.
Teri holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Georgetown University and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Duke University.
Teri and her husband reside in New Jersey, where they are active in many community and philanthropic causes.
Karen Longenecker (Province VII)
Ms. Karen Longenecker, MA, LCSW, IMH-III is a clinical social worker at the University of New Mexico’s Center for Development and Disability. Ms. Longenecker has diverse experience in early childhood and infant mental health including her background in home visiting, developmental care in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at UNM Hospital and early intervention with the UNM FOCUS program. Her work currently focuses on supporting high-risk parents and children who suffer from addiction and trauma.
Ms. Longenecker was a member of the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church where she served as the Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on World Mission. Her experience in The Episcopal Church includes involvement in international and ecumenical affairs, women’s issues and work within the Anglican Communion.
She has a Masters in Latin American Studies and conducted research in Chile on reproductive health policy, women’s health initiatives and political and cultural influences affecting women’s access to reproductive health care. She also has a Masters in Social Work from New Mexico State University.
She is fluent in Spanish and attends church at St. Mark’s in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Dr. David Martin (Province VI)
Dr. Martin is an independent consultant specializing in the technical analysis of software systems. Working in the software industry for over 40 years, he has lived and studied broadly, in locations near San Francisco, Stuttgart Germany, Boston, Denver, Bismarck North Dakota and the Chicago suburbs. He also served for nine years as a computer science faculty member at the University of Denver and the University of Massachusetts Lowell.
Dr. Martin is also a former elected city council member in Ames, Iowa, a city of approximately 65,000 residents and home to the land-grant Iowa State University of Science and Technology. As a council member, he represented constituents in setting the city government’s priorities, enacting and revising city ordinances, and in authorizing the city’s $250 million budget.
In the 1990s, Dr. Martin joined The Episcopal Church and was confirmed at the Church of St. John the Evangelist in Boston. Since then, he has served the church in the roles of vestry member, chorister, website manager, and clergy spouse. He presently serves on Episcopal Relief & Development’s Administration and Finance and Audit and Risk committees. His husband, the Rev. Steve Godfrey, serves as the Diocesan Minister for the Episcopal Diocese of North Dakota.
Dr. Martin earned his BS in Computer Science, Mathematics, and German at Iowa State University and his PhD in Computer Science from Boston University.
Dr. Robert McCouch (Province II)
Robert McCouch took up his position as the UNICEF Director of Evaluation in August 2021.
Mr. McCouch has served in a variety of evaluation roles in the UN system, including UNICEF, over the past 17 years. He was recently the Chief Evaluation Officer at the World Health Organization, prior to which he was the Chief of Section in the evaluation division of the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS). From 2009-2013, as Senior Evaluation Specialist in the UNICEF Evaluation Office, he was responsible for the Organization’s large portfolio of evaluations focused on humanitarian action.
His career prior to joining the UN system was in the field of data analytics and policy and opinion research in the private sector. He was the Director of Research and Evaluation at the Harvard Medical School, covering a range of innovative programs aimed at improving psychosocial, academic and health outcomes in highly vulnerable children.
Mr. McCouch received a PhD in social policy from Brandeis University, with a specialization in child, youth and family policy, and a post-doctorate in child-centered evaluation methods from Harvard Medical School and the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. He holds a Cand. scient. pol. degree in political science and political psychology from the University of Copenhagen, an M.A. in foreign languages from Middlebury College in Vermont, and a B.A. in international affairs from the George Washington University in Washington, DC.
He is a US national and speaks English, Danish, German, French and Italian.
He is married to Jeffrey Shumaker.
The Rt. Rev. Héctor Monterroso (Province VII)
The Rt. Rev. Héctor Monterroso was born in Guatemala and was the Diocesan Bishop of Costa Rica for 14 years. In 2017 he became Bishop Assistant within the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. His current ministry includes the strengthening and growth of Hispanic congregations and new missional communities. Bishop Monterroso oversees the southern region of the diocese, which includes 52 churches and several development programs. He coordinates interfaith and ecumenical efforts, supports the process and development of a multicultural presence in the congregations, and promotes the call to ordained ministry, identifying vocational leaders within the local Hispanic ministry.
He and his wife, Sandra Cardona, have two grown children: María Beatriz, a geriatrician, and Héctor Ramón, a civil engineer.
The Rev. Steven D. Paulikas (Province II)
The Rev. Steven Paulikas is rector of All Saints’ Church, a growing and diverse Episcopal parish in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn. He currently serves on the Pastoral Care Advisory Committee at New York Presbyterian-Brooklyn Methodist Hospital and previously served on the Board of Governors of the Episcopal Church at Yale and facilitated the process of discernment for holy orders through the Commission on Ministry of the Diocese of Long Island. He is a candidate for the DPhil in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Oxford. While a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Steven co-chaired the New York Term Member Advisory Council.
His opinion writing has recently appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, and others, and his essay on the political response to evil is featured in Modern Ethics in 77 Arguments: A Stone Reader.
He is a graduate of the General Theological Seminary, the University of Cambridge, and Yale University. Prior to attending seminary, Steven was a journalist based in Vilnius, Lithuania.
He is married to Jesse Lazar.
The Rev. Christine Purcell (Province VIII)
The Rev. Christine Purcell is a Dartmouth College graduate and worked in human resources and cash management before settling and raising a family in central Pennsylvania. During that time, she earned an MBA from the University of Connecticut. After graduating from General Theological Seminary in New York in 2004, the Rev. Purcell served congregations in her home diocese of Central Pennsylvania, where she also chaired the Communications Commission and was a Deputy to General Convention in 2009 and 2012. After serving as Rector of Christ Church in Westerly, Rhode Island, she moved to the Diocese of Los Angeles and has been the Associate Rector at the Parish of St. Matthew in the Pacific Palisades since 2016. Her primary areas of responsibility are pastoral care, adult formation and liturgy. She also serves on The Episcopal Church Programs Committee as an advisory member and has traveled with Episcopal Relief & Development on pilgrimages to Myanmar and Zambia.
Dr. Robert W. Radtke, President & CEO (Ex-Officio)
Dr. Robert W. Radtke has served as President & CEO of Episcopal Relief & Development since 2005. Prior to that, he served in various senior-level posts at the Asia Society.
Dr. Radtke provides strategic leadership to the agency’s programs in nearly 35 countries across Africa, Latin America and Asia, as well as the United States.
Episcopal Relief & Development facilitates healthier, more fulfilling lives in communities struggling with hunger, poverty, disaster and disease – and the organization is committed to demonstrating a measurable impact in three transformative program priorities: women, children and climate.
In his role as President & CEO, Dr. Radtke has overseen a number of major initiatives, including NetsforLife®, the agency’s award-winning, flagship malaria prevention program, which to date has reached 47 million people in 17 African countries; and the US Disaster Preparedness and Response Program, which helps Episcopal dioceses, congregations and other church institutions to both prepare for and respond to disasters in their local communities.
Episcopal Relief & Development is a pioneer in the area of Asset-Based Community Development in a faith-based context, with programs that mobilize local resources in an integrated approach to achieve measurable and sustainable change for the most vulnerable. The organization has been recognized with major awards and grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.
Dr. Radtke was a founding trustee of the Anglican Alliance for Development, Relief & Advocacy. He also served on the board of the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith & Local Communities and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Dr. Radtke has a Bachelor’s Degree (AB) from Columbia College of Columbia University and a doctorate (DPhil) from New College of the University of Oxford, which he attended as a Rhodes Scholar. In 2012, Episcopal Divinity School awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree.
Matt Silva (Province VII)
Matt Silva is a sales and business professional from San Antonio, TX. Most recently he was a Director of Sales and Software Development in the food distribution industry. He brings 11 years of experience in systems architecture, digital marketing and strategic planning to the Board.
Mr. Silva was born and raised in San Antonio Texas where he and his family volunteered frequently at the Good Samaritan Center. He served as an acolyte for St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in downtown San Antonio where he attends today with his daughter, Sofia Charlotte.
Mr. Silva earned his BA in American History from Boston University.
John Van De Weert (Province III)
Mr. John Van De Weert is a partner in the Banking & Financial Services practice of Sidley Austin LLP, in Washington, D.C. His practice focuses on the regulation of consumer banking. Mr. Van De Weert has an A.B. in Classics from Princeton University and J.D. from the University of Chicago. He is currently the Chancellor of the Diocese of Washington, and a member of St. Monica & St. James church in Washington.
