The following is a press relesase this morning form GAC Executive Director John Dettrick:
Search Committee Nominates “Management Visionary” for GAC Executive Director
“The world needs the Presbyterian Church,” says Chicago area executive and long-time Presbyterian
May 10, 2006, LOUISVILLE, KY – Linda Bryant Valentine, Hinsdale IL, near Chicago, has been named by a search committee as its candidate for executive director of the General Assembly Council of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Valentine’s nomination will be presented to the General Assembly Council at a meeting on Tuesday, May 23 in Chicago.
“This is an exciting time and a significant moment for the General Assembly Council. The next executive director will lead the church’s ministry and mission during a time of tremendous transition. We had a number of candidates with very strong credentials. Linda was the best of the bunch for this job, ” said Rev. Karen Dimon, search committee chair.
“Linda is a visionary who is also management-oriented. She will take the GAC into a new day,” Dimon continued.
Valentine said prayer, the support of family and friends, and listening to “a voice within” assured her that she had been called to serve the church in this “new and bigger way.”
“The world needs the Presbyterian Church. We are called to serve – to bring light and life, hope and opportunity to the world, to share our resources, and be faithful to Christ’s call to serve the poor and the poor in spirit,” said Valentine.
Most recently, Valentine has served as the fund manager and general counsel with Opportunity International, one of the world’s largest microfinance networks. She also has over 30 years of experience as a senior executive and corporate attorney in both the business world and the church. In 2002, Valentine was the interim executive director at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago for six months.
The nine-member search committee received more than 40 applications and worked for 14 months before selecting Valentine. Following the election in May, the General Assembly, the church’s highest governing body, will hold a confirmation vote at its meeting June 15 – 22, in Birmingham, AL.
John Detterick has served eight years as executive director and will be retiring at the end of his second four-year term following the conclusion of the General Assembly in June.
The General Assembly Council (GAC) is an elected body of seventy-two ministers and elders responsible to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). It advises the Assembly on priorities, programs, and strategies for the ministry and mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and implements those at the national level.
Here is her bio:
Linda Bryant Valentine - Search Committee Candidate for General Assembly Council Executive Director
Professional and Educational Experience
2005 – present: Opportunity International, Fund Manager and General Counsel
Opportunity International is one of the world’s largest microfinance networks providing loans and financial services to poor persons in 28 developing countries. Last year, this humanitarian organization issued more than 1 million loans worth $345 million helping 810,000 poor entrepreneurs in 27 developing countries work their way out of chronic poverty. Valentine has served on the Board of Directors for Opportunity since 2003.
2003: TenFold, Senior Vice President
TenFold is a software products company based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Valentine had responsibility for operations, law, and other corporate functions.
2002: Interim Executive Director, Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago, IL
Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago is a vibrant and diverse worshiping community of 5,400 members. Valentine served as interim chief operating officer on a part-time basis over six months during a time of transition bringing some order and business process to staff and planning. Her contributions included: revisions to the way staff meetings were conducted, extensions to the planning horizon, and utilization of planning and communication tools to ensure focus and alignment of purpose around common objectives.
1984-2002: Motorola, Senior Vice President
Valentine was one of the two highest ranked women in the company of over 130,000 employees and served as general counsel for Motorola’s communications businesses, which had sales of $29 billion in 2000. She has held leadership and managerial positions in law, business and professional and non-profit organizations. She has extensive experience in mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, divestitures, securities, marketing, corporate law and governance, finance and commercial matters and leadership of complex, multi-party transactions and projects. She also was a leader on an ambitious company-wide e-business transformation program.
Earlier Experience: Valentine has also been an associate in a large Philadelphia law firm, and attorney for Atlantic Richfield Company and United Airlines.
Education: Valentine is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Georgetown University Law Center and studied business in the MBA program of the University of Southern California.
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