We are excited to announce that on April 3rd, the Board of Directors of the Willow Creek Association introduced Tom De Vries as their incoming President & CEO, succeeding Gary Schwammlein. This transition is the culmination of a comprehensive national search led by Neal Joseph, lead associate for Slingshot’s nonprofit division.
Schwammlein joined the WCA in 1996 after a successful career as a corporate executive. He built the WCA’s international ministry almost from its inception to where it stands today, with a presence in 128 countries via the Global Leadership Summit. In 2013, he became President & CEO and, after four years of exciting growth and expansion, he will pass the baton to De Vries.
“We were truly honored to be entrusted by the WCA board to lead an extensive, global search for their new President & CEO,” says Joseph.
“We felt the weight of this important Kingdom opportunity and were led to a number of excellent candidates. We’re thrilled at Tom’s hiring and the skills, experience, vision and calling he brings to the WCA and the Global Leadership Summit.”
Tom De Vries has served as the General Secretary of the Reformed Church of America (RCA) since 2011. As the General Secretary, Tom provides leadership to over 1,100 RCA congregations and new church starts, with over 200,000 members. In addition, he serves as the CEO of the bi-national office with 90 staff in five US locations and 100 mission co-workers in 40 countries around the world. He holds a Doctorate in Ministry from Western Seminary, a Master of Divinity from Fuller Seminary and a B.A. from Wheaton College.
He has a track record of innovation, strategic planning, and leading high-performance teams, and brings a wealth of experience, knowledge, and relationships to the WCA and Global Leadership Summit. His life’s mission is to be an “influencer of influencers” for Jesus Christ, and he believes that can best be lived out through his new role. He will begin on June 15th as President Designate and assume the role of President and CEO on September 1st.
Slingshot Nonprofit launched two years ago under Neal Joseph’s direction. It has already grown into a major source of leadership talent for faith-based nonprofits around the world, including Mission Aviation Fellowship International, WAY Media/WAY-FM Network, David C. Cook, East-West Ministries, PULSE, American Leprosy Missions, and CDF Capital.
