DENVER, The Board of MOPS International has elected Sherry A. Surratt as the organization’s fourth President and CEO. Surratt will assume the position on January 1, 2012, succeeding Shelly Radic, who has served as the Interim CEO during the past 18 months. The MOPS International Board was aided in the search process by Price Harding, III, a managing partner of CarterBaldwin Executive Search of Atlanta, Georgia. Surratt comes to MOPS with deep experience in church ministry and learning from women leaders. Her most recent position was the Director of Leadership Network’s Radical Future Innovation Labs.
Board chair Rebekah Burch Basinger describes MOPS’ new President as a woman of warm personal faith and a passion for bringing God’s good news to young moms. “Sherry’s ministry background is noteworthy, but board members are most excited by her deep commitment to Christ and strong desire to have a part in influencing a generation of young mothers for the sake of the Gospel,” Basinger says.
Mark Hopkins, chair of the search committee, credits Surratt’s wide-ranging contacts with pastors and other church leaders as placing her at the top of the candidate list. Now, the MOPS Board looks forward to what Surratt’s networks and focus on women in ministry leadership can mean for the organization.
“In addition to her contacts with churches across the country, the insights Sherry brings from her work with Leadership Network will be invaluable as MOPS seeks to be even more entrepreneurial in how we partner with local congregations and other like-minded organizations in ministry to mothers of preschoolers. Sherry has the skill set to build on the foundation of what MOPS is already accomplishing and the imagination to lead MOPS into a bright future,” Hopkins states.
“MOPS is moving into an exciting new chapter, and we are eager that the organization step into this next stage faithfully and boldly. These are challenging times, but MOPS is poised to do great things. It is in this type of climate that God calls uniquely gifted leaders to face the future with courage ‘for such a time as this’ (Esther 4:14). We are confident Sherry is that leader for MOPS,” Basinger says.
For her part, Surratt credits the organization’s unwavering passion for equipping the next generation of moms as what drew her to MOPS. “God has filled my heart with an incredible excitement about the future of MOPS, as together we build on their strong foundation of supporting and encouraging moms across the world. I look forward with great anticipation to what God has in store as we equip and inspire an ever widening circle of moms to use their influence for Christ,” Surratt states.
A graduate of Sam Houston State University, Surratt began her career as an elementary school teacher in the Houston (TX) Public School system. Very quickly, she moved into an administrative position as Assistant Principal over teacher development curriculum. After relocating with her pastor husband to South Carolina, Surratt joined the staff at Seacoast Church based in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, as Children’s Ministry Pastor and Central Support Pastor, developing multisite ministries at their 13 campuses.
In 2009, Surratt accepted a position with Leadership Network, where she spent 18 months researching women in leadership and hosting leadership communities of women leaders. Most recently, she has helped church pastors and leaders implement new ideas in ministry as Director of Leadership Network’s Radical Future Innovation Labs, a unique experience designed to help church teams infuse new ideas into existing ministry areas.
Surratt and her husband Geoff are parents of two adult children, Mike and Brittainy, and the proud grandparents of one-year-old Maggie Claire.
MOPS will feature more about the organization’s new President and CEO in the Spring 2012 edition of MomSense magazine. Surratt will also be introduced at the 2012 MOPS International Convention in Dallas, TX in August 2012.
MOPS INTERNATIONAL
Denver-based MOPS International is a non-profit ministry that creates mothering communities to help “Better Moms Make A Better World.” Moms attend MOPS groups to experience authentic friendship, receive mothering support, and to grow personally and spiritually. Since 1973, MOPS International has served millions of mothers of preschoolers in thousands of local MOPS groups across the U.S. and in almost 40 countries internationally. MOPS serves moms from all walks of life and exists to encourage, equip and develop every mother to realize her potential as a woman, mother and leader. MOPS is the best in the world at creating authentic communities of growth that invite women into a relationship with Jesus Christ.
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