Administration
Advisory Board
The Unity Women’s Desk is governed by an Advisory Board consisting of four women, each representing one of the four Regions of the Moravian Church. Currently serving are Sister Rachel Lwali for the Africa Region; The Rt. Reverend Blair Couch from the America Region: the Reverend Erdmute Frank from the Europe Region; and Sister Muriel Held from the Caribbean and Latin American Region. When we schedule our board meetings (via videochat), we need a complete world clock!
Advisory Board members are elected by the Unity Board and serve for four year terms; they may be re-elected for one additional four year term. Every two years, two members rotate off the Board unless re-elected.
The Advisory Board is responsible for setting policies for the UWD, making decisions about the allocation of funds for scholarships, loans, projects, etc., and for planning the upcoming Women’s Consultation.
Coordinator
Carrying out the day-to-day responsibilities of the Board is a Coordinator, who is a non-voting member of the Advisory Board. Sister Julie Tomberlin is currently holding this position. She was appointed by the Unity Board in 2018 and serves at the discretion of the Advisory Board and the Unity Board.
Sub-Desk Coordinators
Working with Sister Tomberlin and the Advisory Board are seven Sub-Desk Coordinators.
Currently serving as Sub-Desk Coordinators are Sister Fatima Kiongosya for the Western, Northern, Lake Tanganyika, and Rukwa provinces of Tanzania, the Congo Province, and the Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Kenya Mission Provinces/Areas; Sister Agness Njeyo for the Southern and Southwestern provinces of Tanzania, the Malawi Province, and the Eastern Tanzanian, Zanzibar,and Zambia Mission Areas; Sister Colleen Van Reenen-Cunningham for South Africa; Sister Margo Harris for the American Region; the Reverend Ruth Stephenson for the English-speaking Provinces of the Caribbean and Latin American Region; Sister Alay Rodriguez for the Spanish and Miskitu-speaking Provinces and Mission Areas. We will be announcing the Sub-Desk Coordinator for the European Region soon.
The Sub-Desk Coordinators are appointed by the Advisory Board with the approval of the Unity Board. They are responsible for securing information from the Provincial Coordinators and reporting this information to the Advisory Board of the Unity Women’s Desk. They will also be responsible for recommending scholarship recipients, micro-loan recipients, and projects from the various Provinces for funding by the UWD.
Provincial Coordinators
Each Province of the Unity, each Mission Province, each Mission Area, and each Unity Undertaking will have a UWD Provincial Coordinator to report activities, projects, and celebrations in their respective areas to the Sub-Desk Coordinators. They will also apprise the UWD of the needs for assistance in their areas. They will also be responsible for distributing information and resources in their areas as provided by the Unity Women’s Desk. In especially large areas, there may need to be more than one Provincial Coordinator.
Current UWD Coordinators and Provincial Leaders
Policies and Procedures Manual
In this link there is the Unity Women’s Desk Policies and Procedures Manual. If you would like to know more about how the Unity Women’s Desk functions, feel free to explore this document.