EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR:  (Wendy and Melissa are in a transition between now and June 2026)

WENDY WILSON (2015-2026)Having served in various capacities in leadership training ministry since 1984, Wendy’s great joy is envisioning and equipping women to participate fully in living out their design in the Image of God and in the grand calling of the Great Commission.  With a BBA from Texas A&M University, and an MABS from Dallas Theological Seminary, Wendy has led inter-mission and inter-confessional mentoring and equipping efforts for 40+ years, having lived and traveled abroad for many of those years.  After serving for 28 years with a pastoral training mission where she led the focus on training women with shepherding gifts, she moved into a new role as the Mission Advisor for Development of Women to the Missio Nexus network of mission agencies where she served from 2012-2024. She continues to serve as the founder and Executive Director of the collaborative Women’s Development Track until June 2026 when she’ll retire and pass the baton to Melissa Singfiel!

DR. MELISSA SINGFIEL (2026 –   ) Melissa brings over 20 years of experience in the missions world serving in community development and church planting, developing ministry leaders and coaching missionary teams across Europe. She holds a BS in Missiology and English from Nyack College, an MDiv from Alliance Theological Seminary, and is currently in the final semester of a DMin in Leadership and Spiritual Formation from Portland Seminary/George Fox University. Melissa’s passion for developing women began through a training Wendy led in 2005, and since that time Melissa has led national women’s ministries in her country of service, as well as global women’s development efforts within her mission. She is passionate about equipping the next generation of global women and cultivating collaborative ministry between women and men, where all are free to exercise their unique gifts as they live out the Great Commandment and Great Commission.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS: 

HEATHER ALTHOFF currently serves as Missions Pastor at LifeWay Church in Federal Way, WA. Previously, she has served as the Community Life Pastor, leading discipleship and small groups, as well as serving in youth and sports ministry overseas. She has earned a Bachelor’s degree in Classical Greek and a Master’s of Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. Through her 22 years of ministry experience in the United States and abroad, she has developed a passion for discipleship, but also a burden for churches to embrace the wide-ranging gifts of women as they seek to live out the gospel, become effective witnesses, and grow into healthy communities of faith. She lives with her husband, Matt, and their two kids in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

“I have found WDT to be a fantastic place for Great Commission women to come together to grow, encourage, and challenge one another, while wrestling with all that it means to fulfill God’s calling in each of our lives. God expects so much more of his daughters than many of us admit, but he also offers us so much more of himself than many of us realize.” 

MARGIE BURGESS has been a missionary with SIM since 2011.  Together with her husband, she served at a mission hospital in Malawi for 5 years before returning to the USA to work with the Healthcare Ministries Team as leaders of the Health Provider Advocacy Group.  This team seeks to walk alongside and support the more than 230 medical missionaries serving with SIM worldwide, especially addressing the many unique challenges medical workers face.  Margie has served as a peer discussion group facilitator with WDT and is passionate about the development of women throughout the mission world.  She would love to see women in missions equipped and encouraged to live out their callings as disciple makers and leaders so that the Gospel is lived and proclaimed.

“The Women’s Development Track modules have powerfully impacted my life and ministry.  Each module contains excellent content that is practical, challenging and renewing.  These weeks model the balance they teach, allowing space and time to process and connect with the Lord.  Each time I have returned with a clearer view of God’s calling on my life and with tools for following Him more intentionally.  The fact that this all happens in a community of other likeminded women from different ministry organizations is inspiring, as I hear what God is doing through their lives and ministries around the world.  I recommend these programs to any global worker as a way of deepening your walk with God, refreshing your focus in ministry and for gaining new tools and insights from the material and your co-learners.  After each WDT experience, I return home passionate about WDT as a resource for myself and my fellow workers.”

JULIE GRUNZWEIG (CPA – Idaho, USA) is a professional accountant and tax preparer in her community. As a board member of a non-profit educational ministry for many years, Julie has used her giftings and experience to bring clarity to the complex regulation requirements. She also served on the leadership team for a local training effort for women in ministry, and as a facilitator of learning environments at her local church.

“As a recipient of the ministry of WDT, I have been equipped and encouraged to fully bring herself to whatever God calls me to. It is from that experience that I am passionate about WDT opportunities to encourage and equip women to grow in their giftings and confidence in a variety of roles and seasons of life.”  

DR. WANDA WALBORN served at Nyack College for 23 years in the roles of Residence Director, Director of Spiritual Formation, Adjunct Professor and Institutional Professor of Spiritual Formation at Alliance University and Alliance Theological Seminary in New York City. Wanda is also the Founder and Executive Director of Empower, a certificate program for women that equips women in Bible, Theology, Spiritual Formation and Mentoring (empowerww.org). She is the author of the book and leader’s guide, Spiritual Journey, Can I Really Get Close to God?  Wanda lives out her passion of mentoring emerging leaders and in her free time, she enjoys reading, the outdoors, walking, spending time with her family and good coffee!

LEADERSHIP ADVISORS:

DR ROB DIXON has served on staff with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship for the last 21 years. In his current role, he oversees InterVarsity’s ministry on college and university campuses in central California and southern Nevada. Issues at the intersection of gender and faith are a key aspect of Rob’s ministry, including a book Together in Ministry that came out of his doctoral studies at Fuller Theological Seminary, where he researched attributes of flourishing male/female partnerships in mission.

DR LEANNE DZUBINSKI served overseas as a church planter, educator, and trainer for missionaries and missionary women for 17 years with Greater Europe Mission. During that time she also studied mission-related issues such as acculturation and women’s contributions to missions. After a decade of teaching in the Cook School of Intercultural Studies at Biola University, she now serves at Westmont College. Her research focuses on women in leadership, particularly executive-level women leaders in mission organizations.  She is the co-author of Women in the Mission of the Church. 

DR TED ESLER is the President of Missio Nexus. Ted worked in the computer industry before becoming a church planter in Sarajevo, Bosnia, during the 1990’s. He is the author of the book, “Overwhelming Minority,” about their family’s ministry in Bosnia. In 2000, Ted became the Canadian director of Pioneers and three years later moved to Orlando to eventually be the Executive Vice President where he served until 2015 when he assumed his current responsibilities. Ted has BS in Computer Science, an MTS in Theology, and a PhD in Intercultural Studies (Fuller Theological Seminary). He recently authored The Innovation Crisis.

“Missio Nexus recognizes the historical contribution that women have made in the pursuit of the Great Commission. We are committed to seeing women developed across the array of opportunities in the North American mission movement. Wendy Wilson has been an outstanding resource for women’s development and in areas of leadership and we therefore purposefully partner with her and endorse her ministry.”

ANDREA BUCZINSKI has served as the Global VP for Leadership Development and HR for Cru for the past twenty years. She came to Christ through the Four Spiritual Laws while a chemistry student at Penn State. Called to campus ministry 47 years ago, her formative ministry and leadership experience started with 15 years of campus assignments throughout the Midwest before coming to serve at the headquarters in Florida in 1993. Nine years as National Director of Staffed Campuses preceded a short time as Global Campus Ministry Leadership Development specialist, before taking on the Vice President role in 2004. She is currently serving as a Leadership Development consultant and coach with Cru, and a Board member for Christian Leadership Alliance. She enjoys coffee, good books and the beach.