Leadership

Before joining JSC, Aleta spent 16 years with the NC Council of Churches where she held a variety of roles, from newsletter editor to Deputy Executive Director. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia with a degree in government and foreign affairs and spent much of her early career as a journalist.

Aleta and her husband have three young adult sons who continue to come home to Cary for dinner or at least groceries. She is a fan of all things UVa (which can be hard in North Carolina, especially during basketball season), reads everything from entertainment magazines to histories, and works hard at spending more time with her girlfriends, her yoga mat, and her dogs, Phoebe and Ella.

Christina comes to us with a diverse background of administrative and management experience. She has been a parishioner of The Chapel Of The Cross for 20 years, where her son Carter, now a freshman in college, and daughter Isabel, a junior in high school, were both baptized and confirmed. She is most proud of her work as a mother and wife. Scott her husband of 26 years was a former mentor of JSC where she first got the opportunity to appreciate the extraordinary people with this program.

Born and raised in Virginia, Andrew has quickly come to love calling North Carolina home. Prior to moving to Raleigh, he graduated from James Madison University with a degree in social work. That also happens to be where he met his wife, Kelly.

He continued his studies at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. while also serving as an associate pastor of a growing United Methodist Church. It was during that time that they felt called to a year of full-time volunteer service, so they partnered with Mission Year and moved to Houston, Texas. The experience had a tremendous impact on their lives, and Andrew is excited to have the opportunity to journey with Johnson Service Corps members during their service year. He enjoys summer evenings on his front porch swing, game nights with friends, and spending time with his wife and their dog, Jack.

The Rev. Stephen Elkins-Williams served as rector at Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill from 1985-2015. During his tenure, he helped begin the Johnson Service Corps. Stephen grew up in a devout Roman Catholic family in Missoula, MT. At age 20, he joined the Society of Jesus and earned a degree in philosophy at Gonzaga University; he followed with a Masters of Divinity degree at Regis College in Toronto. His education kindled a keen interest in Ignatian Spirituality, and he was ordained a Catholic priest in 1975. While working in campus ministry at Seattle University, he met a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, Betsy Elkins, of Durham, North Carolina. Their friendship deepened, and after a year of discernment. Stephen left the Jesuits, and he and Betsy were married in 1978.

They joined the staff of St. Stephen's, Seattle as youth ministers, and Stephen was received as an Episcopal priest in 1982. They moved to Chapel Hill and raised two sons, Tyler, a plastic surgeon in local practice, and Peter, on the business development team for Facebook in New York. Tyler and his wife, Priti, have two sons, Walker and Sutton, and a daughter, Palmer. Peter is engaged to Katie Nimick. Stephen will officiate at their wedding in May 2019. “The Word of Love,” a compendium of about 80 of Stephen’s sermons, is available on the Amazon or Barnes and Noble websites.

Perry Studevent currently serves as the Senior Assistant Director in the Department of Allied Health Sciences at UNC Chapel Hill and has worked in various areas of higher education since 2001. His main areas of focus are admissions, housing, and financial aid. Raised in Davie County, NC, he earned his bachelor’s degree from UNCG, my MS from ECU, and am currently finishing my MBA from ECU. He serves on the Wake County ECU Alumni Volunteer Board. Perry is very passionate about higher education as he was only the second member of his family to have completed both a bachelor’s and master’s degree. He believes spirituality is an important part of who we are and should be developed along with our minds and bodies. He tries to meditate when he can and enjoys the beach. Perry lives in Raleigh.

Emma Sternlof is a native New Englander who moved to North Carolina for the 2013-2014 Johnson Service Corps. A Trinity College graduate with a history degree, she currently works as a grant writer at Ipas, an international NGO that increases women's access to sexual and reproductive health care. Emma lives in Durham with her fiance, Michael, and enjoys live music, reading, and weightlifting.

Ed was in the private practice of law in Durham for 42 years before retiring from Moore & VanAllen in 2014. He is a lifelong member of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Durham having served on its Vestry and as Senior Warden several times. He was the co-founder and leader of Durham Episcopal Housing Ministries which provided transitional housing services for homeless families for twenty years before it closed in 2014. Since 2006 he has been the Chancellor of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina providing secular and canonical legal advice and assistance to the Diocese. He and his wife, Stuart, have a second home at Oriental, NC, where they enjoy sailing and being close to the water. They are avid travelers and enjoy not only traditional traveling but also camping (now in a trailer) and adventure trips. He felt called to serve on the JSC board because of its focus on social services and helping young people discern their role in the provision of social services and attaining social justice.

Born and raised in Virginia, Will graduated from Washington and Lee University followed by 3 1/2 years as a Coast Guard officer. He is a lifelong Episcopalian and has served on the vestry of Trinity Cathedral in Columbia, SC before coming to the Chapel of the Cross where he is active in the Men's Breakfast Group. He and his wife, Paula, have made multiple stops across the Southeast through Will's work Will's work. They have five children and eight grandchildren.

As a lifelong coach and mentor to others, Will enjoys serving on the JSC board because he gets to work with a truly amazing group of young people.

Day comes to the Board of JSC with a commitment to providing a life-changing formation experience for the young adults in the program. She is the Executive Director of the Episcopal Evangelism Society, a grant-making foundation that supports innovative ministry projects, and it was through that work that she became aware of the mission of Episcopal Service Corps. She is a member of the Church of the Advocate in Chapel Hill, lives in Durham, and has three adult daughters.

Bill is currently on faculty at Duke University’s Nicholas School for the Environment and of counsel at Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, LLP. Bill formerly led the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources as the agency’s secretary from 2001-2009. He is a member of Chapel of the Cross.

Sarah (Donahue) Wolff participated in Johnson Service Corps in 2003-2004 after she graduated from Duke University. Sarah currently works for the Center for Responsible Lending and Self-Help Credit Union in Durham. She and her husband Mike have two young children and are members of Duke Chapel Congregation. Sarah is excited to join the board and continue serving the organization in new ways.

The Rev. Stephanie Yancy is the vicar of St. Titus’ Episcopal Church in Durham. Stephanie was ordained and served in the Diocese of Maryland for several years before moving to Durham five years ago. Stephanie first came to know and appreciate the Episcopal Service Corp in Maryland and is pleased to be able to support the program here in North Carolina.

Prior to ordination, Stephanie worked as a banker for twenty years. She finds that some of the skills acquired in that field are helpful in ministry as well. She hopes to put those skills to good use on the JSC Board of Directors.