About Us

Mission

Our mission is to holistically serve the global poor and persecuted through relief, medical care, development, and training.

Vision

  • To see the persecuted and oppressed given compassionate, holistic care

  • To see the poor and marginalized equipped and empowered to bring themselves out of poverty

  • To increase the capacity of our national ministry partners in their service to their communities

Values

  • Compassion for all people

  • Honesty, integrity, and trustworthiness in everything we do

  • Being good stewards of the resources we have

  • Professional excellence

  • Finding partners with a shared mission and heart for people

  • Long term goal of self-sufficiency for all

 

Why We Help

 

'Why We Help' can be explained by the many statistics that show the vast problem of poverty and disease in the world. 'One child dies of malaria every 30 seconds', 'heart disease is the leading cause of death in Africa', and 'diarrhea is the second leading cause of death in children under five years old'. The World Food Program estimates 842 million people in the world do not have enough food to eat and one out of every four children has their growth stunted due to malnutrition. These facts and statistics are the grim reality for families when the average wage in many developing world nations is less than a dollar a day.

However, 'Why We Help' starts with a personal story. For years, I worked on Wall Street as a computer programmer, building corporate banking systems and trading systems for financial firms. As the years went by, my walk with the Lord became distant as I aimed for success in the corporate world. Around 1999, things began to change when I renewed my walk with God and He opened my eyes to the world and its vast needs due to famine, war, political unrest and natural disasters. I was motivated to show practical compassion that the Bible teaches ('Love your neighbor as yourself', Leviticus 19:18 and Mark 12:31).

I began organizing volunteer teams for my church to go out to the developing world to try and make a difference. We encountered deep poverty, untreated diseases and other things that we take for granted in the Western world. After organizing numerous medical and dental clinic teams, colleagues from the investment banking firm that I worked for began giving me funds to purchase medical equipment and supplies for my trips. That's when World Compassion Fellowship was born.

For us, it's not statistics that motivate us. It's more personal. It is the starving baby's cry we heard in our medical clinic in a Sudanese war refugee camp. It is the mass of desperate people coming into our makeshift medical camp right after the earthquake in Haiti. It's the simple handmade bowl given to us as a thank you gift by a shoeless albino African man whose child was suffering from diarrhea and had soiled his clothes. Our volunteer team gave him literally the shoes off our feet, new shirt, hat, ointment and medicine for him and his child. This is 'Why We Help'.

The second phase of 'Why We Help' came from meeting local people during our humanitarian trips that were thankful for our help, but they really wanted to support themselves. However, they lacked business skills, training and opportunities. The causes of poverty are complex including cultural, historical, political, regional and many other causes that can be outside the control of the local people or our organization.

So we began organizing business and life trainings in practical areas such as creating a budget or managing a small business. This has evolved into a curriculum that we've now taught in numerous cities in numerous countries. Our audiences range from farmers to community leaders to entrepreneurs to students. Our other development projects include community business projects and training centers that we hope to launch in the near future. Long-term development needs to accompany the short-term relief and aid so that eventually non-profits like ours will not be needed one day.

Your partnership with us will help us get there one person, one family and one community at a time.

Jerry Park
President

Advisory Board and Staff

Meet our Board of Directors and Management Team

Board of Directors

  • J Park

    President/Board Director

    J Park has 30+ years of experience in the technology and corporate finance industry building corporate banking and trading systems. He has served in various senior roles for major and smaller financial firms. Since 2000, he began traveling overseas and was touched by the poverty and lack of access to care that we take for granted in the Westernized world. It is from this experience of working in the impoverished and under-privileged Majority World, trying to combat poverty, sickness and hopelessness that led him to found WCF.

  • Timothy Adams (Retired Chief Private Brand Officer, Macy’s)

    Board Director

    Tim has served as Chief Private Brand Officer of Macy’s, Inc. since February 2009 until his recent retirement. He was responsible for the organization that conceives, designs, sources and markets Macy’s portfolio of highly successful private brands of apparel, accessories and home goods. Tim was also responsible for research and strategy development related to international retail store development. From July 2005 to February 2009, Tim served as chairman and CEO of Macy’s Home Store. Prior to joining Macy’s Home Store, Adams was chairman and CEO of Macy’s Florida in Miami since April 2001. Tim began his retailing career at Macy’s South in Atlanta in 1976. He joined Macy’s West in San Francisco in 1989 as a merchandise administrator, and held positions of increasing responsibilities. He was named president of The Bon Marche in Seattle in March 1997. A native of Atlanta, Adams is a graduate of the University of Georgia with a degree in finance.

  • Daniel N. Arbeeny (Managing Partner of CMF Partners LLC)

    Board Director

    Daniel is a principal at CMF Partners, which is a boutique executive search firm, specializing in recruiting for a select group of investment banks, hedge funds and asset managers. He started his career in engineering and moved into finance where he worked at JP Morgan 12 years predominantly in the Fixed Income Swaps businesses inclusive of trading and sales positions. He also held roles in Economics, Research and Technology while at JP Morgan. Additionally, Daniel helped found Blackbird which is the first electronic trading system for interest rate derivatives. He has worked and lived in New York, London and Tokyo. Daniel has a BS degree in Electrical Engineering from Pratt Institute and a MS degree in Electrical Engineering from Steven’s Institute. Daniel has been active volunteering for over 10 years at Long Island College Hospital in various capacities including being a community board member as well as focusing on Women’s Health initiatives through education and fund-raising.

  • Pierre Arty, MD (Psychiatry)

    Board Director

    Pierre is a board Certified in Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine. With his broad knowledge base, he is able to provide expertise in the field of psychopharmacology to address issues such as Mood Disorders, Anxiety Disorders, along with Psychosis. He currently holds the position as the Clinical Medical Director at St. Vincent’s Services where he oversees and provide psychopharmacological treatment for adults, children and those with Chemical Dependency. He attended Columbia College of Columbia University where he graduated in 1984 after completing a Pre-Medical concentration in Political Science. He graduated from S.U.N.Y. Downstate Medical School in Brooklyn in 1990. After completing an Internal Medicine Residency at Kings County Hospital, in Brooklyn, N.Y., he pursued a Fellowship in Addictive Medicine, followed by a residency in Psychiatry at the same institution. He held the position of Director of the Kings County Addictive Disease Services from 2003-2004 and subsequently took on the position of Deputy Executive Director of Kings County Hospital’s Behavioral Health Department from 2004-2008. He received the Executive Director’s Award for services to the Kings County Hospital in 2004 and held the position as Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at S.U.N.Y.

Management Team

  • Jacquelyn Pressey

    Secretary

    Jackie brings extensive leadership experience to WCF from the private sector, having had increasing roles of responsibility for Fortune 100 organizations in the Consumer Package Goods and Financial Services industries. Before joining WCF, Jackie worked for American Express, leading Business and Partner Development teams - successfully driving significant growth and deepening strategic relationships with leading enterprise clients. Jackie holds a B.B.A. in Finance from Howard University and an M.B.A. in Marketing and Entrepreneurial Management from The Wharton School

  • Roberts Omolo

    Treasurer

    Roberts has more than twenty years of financial management in the humanitarian sector. A Certified Public Accountant and member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Kenya, Roberts is also a holder of Bachelor’s degree in Commerce. He has worked with several major humanitarian agencies including World Vision International, Food for the Hungry International, International Medical Corps, United Methodist Committee on Relief and International Rescue Committee in five developing countries spread across Africa and Eastern Europe. Currently he is the Regional Finance Controller in International Rescue Committee in New York, an agency with an annual revenue base of more than one-half billion United States dollars. He is also on the board on Dream Sponsors Incorporated, a US non-profit agency with a goal of making dreams come true for African Orphans.

Advisory Board

  • Dr. Jeanette Adams

    Jeanette has 40 years experience in nursing. She is a board certified clinical nurse specialist and also holds a national certification in infusion nursing. She has served as past President of the Board of Directors for the Infusion Nursing Society, an international professional nursing organization. She received her nursing education from Georgia Baptist Hospital of Nursing (Mercer University), Medical College of Georgia (Regents University) and Georgia State University where she earned a Masters of Science (Nursing) and a Doctor of Philosophy in Human Resource Development with a cognate in organizational culture and nursing. She also earned a post-doctorate in emerging infections from the University of Miami School of Nursing. She has a breadth of experience in acute care, home care, transport nurse (international and domestic), management and supervision, and higher education. She has been a nurse educator for over 30 years and has participated in several scholarly activities with presentations internationally, active research and has several publications in peer reviewed journals and contributed chapters in textbooks.

  • Holly Dunlap

    Holly is an experienced fashion & social entrepreneur, and was also Head of the Private Client Group at Sotheby's Auction House in London. Holly had lived in Malawi where she set up Makono, a fashion business which employs people with physical disabilities. She also co-founded the Sarah Adams Foundation (also known as Sarah's Kids), which provides academic scholarships for street children in Malawi. Prior to living in Malawi, Holly built and ran her fashion business HOLLYWOULD before selling the brand to a large American fashion group. She has been featured in magazines ranging from Vogue to Newsweek, and has spoken on entrepreneurship, viral marketing, and luxury goods at Harvard Business School. She is a graduate of Parsons School of Design in Paris, France.

  • James (Jim) Ellerbee (Retired President of Ellerbee Consulting GmbH)

    Description goeJim is the founder and president of Ellerbee Consulting, GmbH, a small boutique consulting business providing tailored services for large and small businesses in the financial industry. He has 35 + years of business and technical experience by holding positions as CEO, COO, CIO and consulting multi-billion dollar corporations around the world. Jim has served on several medical/hospital and ministry board of directors. He was responsible for hedge funds, fund-of-hedge funds (FoHF) and index funds platform management and development at a major multinational bank. Elected to the Harlem Y BAI (Black Achievers in Industry) and is a graduate with a BFA at Cooper Union College in New York.s here

  • Ronald Miller (Retired Vice President, Public Policy and Federal Government Affairs, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMS))

    Ron has had a diversified career with Bristol-Myers Squibb, where he started as a Medical Sales Representative for Mead Johnson Company and was promoted to Manager of Public Affairs. After Bristol-Myers merged with E.R. Squibb, Ron was named Associate Director, Public Policy and Strategic Planning at the company’s Pharmaceutical Headquarters, where he later took on added responsibility for leading the company’s State Government Affairs Group, and a few years later he led the company’s Washington DC Office. He retired with the Vice President title at BMS. He has served as past Treasurer of the National Health Council in Washington, D.C., and currently serves as treasurer of The Because Project in Yardley, PA, and World Compassion Fellowship. Ron has a B.S. in Administrative Science from Central Connecticut State University, and an MBA with a concentration in Strategic Planning from The University of Connecticut.

Financial Accountability

World Compassion Fellowship’s goal is to be consistently accountable in its current and future envisioned humanitarian, missions, and business activities.


WCF Accountability Structure:

  • WCF wants to demonstrate, to those who have entrusted their funds, that it understands, has accepted and is fulfilling its responsibilities. This is often called “upward accountability.”

  • Accountability is being responsible to others as well as being responsible for ourselves. WCF wants to ensure and show that, as an organization for empowered and accountable individuals is able to fulfill its responsibilities. This is often termed “internal accountability” This relates to the WCF mission, value, staff, and volunteers.

  • Accountability is about sharing responsibility with others. WCF intends to work with peer organizations/individuals (“horizontal accountability") and ultimate beneficiaries (“downward accountability'") to ensure it is able to not only fulfill its responsibilities but do it with excellence.

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