| | | | | | | | MAY 2025 Greetings and Welcome to a Special Edition of News and Updates! In April, the LVC Fellows, Board, and staff met in DC for our first in-person retreat in five years, "The Pathways of Purpose". We hosted several presenters representing the highest levels of their career paths, including CEOs, founders, doctors, lawyers, Reverends, financial advisors, and recruiters. These speakers introduced new concepts and paths for our Fellows, who will soon graduate from their LVC experience and enter the workforce. | | | | | | LVC HOSTS SUCCESSFUL FELLOWS' RETREAT IN DC | | The LVC proudly hosted our 2024/2025 Fellows at Luther Place Memorial Church in DC. Thanks to the dedication of our Board and staff and the generous participation of our donors, all of our Fellows gathered in DC to interact with fabulous and accomplished presenters who spoke on vital topics for young professionals. Read on to see our full roster; presenters who were previously LVC Fellows are marked with an asterisk. These presentations were not only enlightening but also created with our Fellows in mind. They are available for our Fellows to peruse in the future, and the speakers have made themselves available for one-on-one sessions at the Fellows' discretion. We are incredibly grateful to our presenters, Board, staff, and Fellows for making such a wonderful retreat! *Asterisks designate a former LVC Fellow. | |  | | |  | Picture 1: LVC Staff and Fellows From left to right: Theresa Chesney, Shae Agee, Moe Kojima, Halima Ellams, Ivanna Davila, Olivia Hynes, Diego Varas Rubin, Louisa Ntaji, Sophie Sperber, Brandon Desiderido, Jean Ahwesh, Avery Liang, Sarah Devan Tomko | |  | Picture 2: LVC Board and In-Person Presenters From left to right: John Foster, Cheryl Bedrad, Adam Paulisick, Matthew Johnson, John Carr, Cynthia Prosek, Jean Ahwesh, Dr. Catherine Kimball-Eayrs | |  | Picture 3: Dr. Catherine Kimball-Eayrs, Cynthia Prosek, and Olivia Hynes | | | | | | | | FY2024/2025 FELLOWS TAKE THEIR NEXT STEP | | Our FY2024/2025 Fellows are stepping into the next phase of life and have extremely impressive job prospects on the horizon! As you may know, roughly 50% of our Fellows are offered jobs at their Placement after their LVC graduation. Sophia Sperber: Sophia accepted a place at Georgetown Law, Diego Varas Rubin: Diego accepted a job with the Mexican Consulate in the Twin Cities, Ivannav Davila: Ivannav will continue her LVC career as a second-year Fellow, Halima Ellams: Halima will continue her LVC career as a second-year Fellow, Brandon Desiderio: Brandon accepted a full-time position with his Placement, Christ House DC, Avery Liang: Avery is considering a second-year Fellowship, Olivia Hynes: Olivia is considering a second-year Fellowship, Moe Kojima: Moe accepted a full-time corporate position based in Japan, Louisa Ntaji: Louisa is still considering job offers. Erin Murphy: Erin accepted a position as a volunteer coordinator for Valparaiso University. | | | | | | KEYNOTE SPEAKER SPOTLIGHT | | | | ADAM PAULISICK, FOUNDER AND CEO OF SKILLBUILDER.IO Adam Paulisick is the CEO of Skillbuilder.io - deploying inbound AI Growth Agents within minutes thanks to more than 4 years of applied research anchored out of Carnegie Mellon University.
Adam has spent well over 10 years as a Professor of Entrepreneurship (sales, marketing, and digital product design) at the graduate level of Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business, a lead Executive Education Instructor at CMU's School of Computer Science (#1 in the world), Adjunct in the Masters of Artificial Intelligence program, and Adjunct at CMU’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute (the first HCI graduate program of record).
Prior to Adam’s focus on teaching at CMU, Adam was the Chief Product Officer at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) resulting from the acquisition of MAYA Design and was a Senior Vice President at the Nielsen Company post the acquisition of BuzzMetrics with global leadership roles based in the US and Europe.
When not on campus Adam spends his time on his farmette where he hosts regular retreats and workshops for fellow serial entrepreneurs looking to quiet the world and distribute the future more evenly. | | | | | | | | MEET OUR NEWLY PROMOTED CHIEF PROGRAM OFFICER, SHAE AGEE | | SHAE AGEE (SHE/THEY), LVC CHIEF PROGRAM OFFICER Shae Agee has been named as the new Chief Program Officer for the Lutheran Volunteer Corps and has been on the LVC team for 6 years. She has worked in the non-profit sector and higher education for 18 years, with tenure at the YWCA National Capital Area, the YMCA of Greater Washington, and Trinity Washington University. She has a bachelor's and master's degree in psychology and is discerning a seminary as her next academic and spiritual step. She recently published her first book of poetry, "3:33, Reflections of Love and Grief". Lutheran Volunteer Corps has been integral in the personal, spiritual, and professional evolution for Shae. The organization's mission and values have become a tenet in her life. The passion and commitment to advocacy and altruism inherent in the LVC Fellows inspire her. LVC's commitment to racial justice, the celebration of the LGBTQ+ community, and the exploration of spirituality are important in the faith-based service year landscape. Shae hopes her 11-year-old son, Jordan, will have the opportunity to become an LVC fellow one day. | | | | | | | | | | LVC THANKS SENATOR JEFF MERKLEY AND LVC FELLOW, MARY SORTEBERG | | Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley and his wife, LVC Fellow Mary Sorteberg, spoke at our closing ceremony, which was hosted by Andrew McIlroy and Brian Schuh. We were overjoyed to hear Senator and Mary Sorteberg's vision of hope for the future. Even in difficult times, they reminded us that LVC provides a light in dark places. Our Fellows' dedication to living a service-minded life is not a rare commodity. However, in today's news cycle, it can be difficult to focus on those who are helping their communities rather than upending or inconveniencing them. Senator Merkley and Mary Sorteberg not only congratulated our Fellows on their decision to sacrifice a year of their lives investing in those less fortunate but also reminded them that they are about to step into their power as the next generation of community organizers. The LVC is proud to be part of a legacy of life-changing thought leaders who are driven by compassion, justice, and empathy. We sincerely thank Senator Jeff Merkley and Mary Sorteberg for their kind words and essential reminders. We also thank our board member, John Carr, for arranging the meeting. CLICK HERE TO WATCH A BRIEF SNIPPET OF THE CLOSING REMARKS! | |  | LVC at our closing dinner, with special guests Senator Jeff Merkley and Mary Sorteberg, hosted by Andrew McIlroy and Brian Schuh. | | | | | | | | MORE WAYS TO GET INVOLVED... | | | | - Please communicate with us and share your insights, observations, and suggestions to news@lutheranvolunteercorps.org
- Spread the word! Tell your community why you support Lutheran Volunteer Corps by sharing your support on social media.
- JOIN OUR MISSION! We invite you to become an LVC insider! Click here to join our campaign of inclusion to receive News & Updates, announcements, and invitations for in-person and video gatherings!
- To make an even more significant impact: Make a gift to our "Fellow's Stipend Impact Fund for Life and Learning" by reaching out to our Interim Executive Director, Jean Ahwesh at jahwesh@lutheranvolunteercorps.org or by calling her at 724-316-9507.
| | | | | | | | A FEW OF OUR TREASURED PARTNERS & BENEFACTORS | | | | | | | | | | Lutheran Volunteer Corps
1226 Vermont Avenue NW | Washington, District of Columbia 20005
202-387-3222 | operations@lutheranvolunteercorps.org | | | | | | | | | | | |
