Teaching Staff

I am gathering bios from our staff and special guests and expect to have this page complete very soon!

Proverbs 31 Ministries’ Team

Lysa TerKeurst

Lysa TerKeurst is a New York Times best selling author and national speaker who helps everyday women live an adventure of faith through following Jesus Christ. As president of Proverbs 31 Ministries, Lysa has lead thousands over the past 17 years to help make their walk with God an invigorating journey. Her message enables women to:

Learn how to make a Bible passage come alive in your own devotion time.
Replace doubt, regret and envy with truth, confidence and praise.
Stop the unhealthy cycles of striving and truly learn to love who you are.

Lysa has written 15 books, including her latest NY Times best seller, Made to Crave. Don’t miss checking out her book’s interactive website, www.MadetoCrave.org, where you can download free articles, read and submit success stories, and watch several motivating teaching videos.

Other noteworthy books and Bible studies include, Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl, What Happens When Woman Say Yes to God, and What Happens When Women Walk in Faith.

Not only does Lysa write and speak about adventures in faith, she lives them! When Lysa’s family adopted 2 boys from Africa, it inspired her community to adopt over 45 children from the same Liberian orphanage. Her family’s amazing story captured the attention of national media, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, the 700 Club, USA Today newspaper, and Focus on the Family radio.

Audiences across America are drawn into a unique relationship with Jesus through Lysa’s message. She is a frequent keynote speaker at women’s events, fundraising banquets, and the Extraordinary Women arena events.

In the midst of her ministry, though, Lysa is a real, everyday woman who simply seeks to glorify God through her life and family. She and her husband, Art, reside near Charlotte, North Carolina, with their five priority blessings named Jackson, Mark, Hope, Ashley, and Brooke.

The best way to connect with Lysa personally is through her daily blog where her Jesus girlfriends gather and chat it up about life, love, and looking to God in the midst of it all. You can find her blogging from her sticky and crumb-filled farm table here: www.LysaTerKeurst.com

Renee Swope

Renee is author of the best-selling book, A Confident Heart, co-host of Proverbs 31 Ministries’ international radio program and a national women’s conference speaker. Sasoned with laughter and saturated with Truth, Renee’s messages are packed with powerful stories and Biblical insights as well as real life-applications that equip women to:

Trust the certainty of God’s promises in the uncertainty of their circumstances
Replace paralyzing insecurities with powerful transforming Truths
Overcome fear-filled thinking with faith-filled believing
Learn how to fail forward every time they have a setback
Exchange guilt-induced doubt with grace-induced confidence

In addition to her speaking and writing, for the past 16 years, Renee has served on the leadership team that grew Proverbs 31 Ministries from a small newsletter to one of the leading women’s ministries in America. She currently serves as Executive Director of Devotions and Radio is also a contributing author for our Encouragement for Today devotions as well as God’s Purpose for Every Woman, Leading Women to the Heart of God and The Reason We Speak.

But Renee’s favorite titles are wife to JJ and mom to Joshua (17), Andrew (14) and Aster (3). She and her family live in Charlotte, NC. Connect with Renee at www.ReneeSwope.com , www.Facebook.com/reneeswope and on Twitter @reneeswope.

LeAnn Rice

LeAnn Rice is the Executive Director of Operations at Proverbs 31 Ministries and the She Speaks Conference Director. This is LeAnn’s eighth She Speaks Conference and each and every year she is taken by surprise at what God accomplishes in and through the lives of the guests as well as the P31 Ministry Team. We simply set the stage and He shows up in a BIG way.

LeAnn is the co-author of the best-selling e-book, Untangling Christmas and is currently working on a new project with her friend and co-author, Karen Ehman. Their new book, Everyday Confetti will hit book stores in the fall of 2013!

In addition to writing and her responsibilities at Proverbs 31 Ministries, LeAnn, a former caterer and event planner, has a popular food blog called She Cooks. LeAnn launched her cooking website as a form of outreach to those who do not know Jesus. It is her prayer that women will come looking for a recipe, but find the hope of Jesus Christ in the stories shared of her life around the kitchen table.

LeAnn is a single mom who became a widow over a decade ago. She and her 18-year-old son, Nick, live in the Charlotte, North Carolina area with their very ornery cat. Connect with LeAnn at www.SheCooks.org or www.AWidowsMight.org, www.Facebook.com/SheCooksP31 or on Twitter @LeAnnCooks.

Wendy Blight

Wendy teaches women through Bible studies, retreats, and conferences to stand on the Word of God and really know what it says and apply it in their lives. She not only teaches Bible study but also writes corresponding curriculum. The bulk of her messages and lessons share the specific Scriptures and prayers that have transformed her heart, life, and home. They equip women to:

Apply God’s Word in a way that makes it relevant and applicable to everyday circumstances
Unpack Scriptures in a way that enables women to write powerful and effect prayers
Gain victory over trials and struggles through faithfully praying the Scriptures

She has authored a book and several Bible studies. Her book, Hidden Joy in a Dark Corner: The Transforming Power of God’s Story grew out of an attack by a masked man hiding in her apartment. It is a testimony that recounts her journey of transformation from a prison of fear to freedom in Christ and offers a step-by-step walk through God’s Word to find physical, spiritual, and emotional healing. She has been a featured guest on Oprah Radio, The 700 Club, Family Life Today with Dr. Dennis Rainey, Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss, and Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with her husband, Monty, and her two children Lauren (18) and Bo (14). (For more about Wendy, visit her at www.WendyBlight.com)

Lisa Boyd

Micca Campbell

Micca Campbell helps women Fear Less and Live More. As the author of, An Untroubled Heart, endorsed by Kay Arthur, Co-President of Precept Ministries, Micca explores the anxieties of every woman’s heart. She encourages you to lay down your fear, trust in your heavenly Father, and receive a life marked by peace and freedom. Micca is a national speaker with Proverb 31 Ministries. She has touched and transformed the lives of thousands across the US. The mainspring of Micca’s life is devotion to Christ alone — a devotion that is contagious to others. Her message enables you to:

Find a faith stronger than all your fear
Balance pressure and stress without giving way to anxiety
Recognize the presence of God guiding your life
Overcome fears of betrayal, loneliness, rejection, and the unknown
Live a life marked by joy, peace, adventure, and courage

(Learn how Micca can serve you by visiting her at www.miccacampbell.com)

Whitney Capps

Whitney hopes that sharing her struggles and failures will point her listeners to God. “My failures magnify His grace and goodness. Why hide what God uses for His glory?”

Whitney shares familiar texts with believers in hopes that they will be challenged to think about well-known passages in new ways. She wants others to look beyond what they think they know about a particular passage, and let the Spirit reveal new insights for the journey ahead.

Similarly she hopes that seekers who have been turned off by too much “church talk” will find her candor and honesty attractive enough to take another look at the God of Scripture. “I don’t teach because I have a lot of answers; I teach because I have a lot of questions.”

Whitney loves to shatter the perception that to study the Scriptures one must be a scholar or a saint. “I’m neither. And yet in His infinite grace when I study the Word, the Author Himself condescends to explain it to me! How can I not share with others what I’ve learned?” Whitney and her husband Chad are raising their four boys, Cooper, Dylan, Ryder and , just outside Atlanta, Georgia. (For more about Whitney, visit her at www.WhitneyCapps.blogspot.com)

Amy Carroll

Amy is a very ordinary woman made extraordinary only by a desire to know God and to apply scripture in her everyday life. She loves connecting women to God’s Word and each other, and her knack for cutting God’s big truths into small, practical bites makes her messages appealing to a variety of audiences.

Amy’s deep passion is women’s ministry. She helped develop a mentoring ministry, served as women’s director for 3 years and currently teaches a women’s Sunday school class encompassing the generations. Amy also serves women in speaking ministry as the director of Next Step Speaker Services, an equipping arm of Proverbs 31 Ministries. You can sign up for free weekly speaking tips or find more information about the services at www.nextstepspeakerservices.org.

Amy writes for Proverbs 31 Ministries with features in the P31 Everyday Life and Encouragement for Today devotions. She has also written for in her local paper and is a contributing author for The Reason We Speak.

Amy is married to Barry, the man that she still loves madly after 21 years. Her two boys, Anson and Nolan, are her delight. On any given day, you can find Amy enjoying the music that fills her house, typing at a computer, reading a book or trying to figure out one more alternative to cooking dinner. (For more about Amy, visit her at www.amycarroll.org)

Lynn Cowell

As speaker and author with Proverbs 31 Ministries Lynn Cowell’s passion is leading teens and their moms to completion in Christ. She lives in with her husband, Greg of 24 years and her three teenage children. The Cowell’s enjoy all types of outdoor sports including hiking, fast pitch softball and white water rafting. She is very excited about the release of her first book this past spring His Revolutionary Love: Jesus’ Radical Pursuit of You; a study for young women. She loves sushi, well worn sweatshirts and anything that combines chocolate and peanut butter. (For more about Lynn, visit her at www.LynnCowell.com)

Leah DiPascal

Leah currently serves as Executive Assistant to Renee Swope at Proverbs 31 Ministries. With over 18 years of experience in women’s ministry, Leah has created programs and trained women within a variety of settings such as church plants, mega churches, and community outreach venues. She’s also served in leadership roles at Mom’s In Touch International, Stonecroft Ministries, and Community Bible Study International.

With a passion for God’s Word and years of experience as a Women’s Ministry Director, Leah has taught numerous bible studies, created small groups, planned women’s conferences and retreats. Leah currently serves on a message development teaching team at her church and loves the opportunity of connecting with women every day.

Leah lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with her husband, Keith and their two sons, Brody and Carson. She enjoys traveling with her family, playing tennis, having lunch with friends, and mentoring women of all ages. She is also the author of Revealing A Women’s Heart. For more information, please visit Leah at www.LeahDiPascal.com

Karen Ehman

Karen Ehman has been described as profoundly practical, engagingly funny and downright real. She is the Director of the Proverbs 31 Ministries national speaking team, a contributor to Focus on the Family’s magazine Thriving Family and a speaker for Hearts at Home Moms Conferences. Karen is the author of four women’s books including A Life That Says Welcome: Simple Ways to Open Your Heart and Home to Others and The Complete Guide to Getting and Staying Organized. She is also the project creator of the Hearts at Home Just for Mom’s Planner, an organizational tool designed specifically for the purpose of helping mothers organize their personal and family lives.

Karen has been a guest on national television and radio programs including The 700 Club, At Home Live, Engaging Women, The Harvest Show, Moody Midday Connection and Dr. James Dobson’s Focus on the Family. She is a graduate of Spring Arbor University with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science and has been married for 25 years to her college sweetheart Todd. Together they have three sometimes quarrelsome, but mostly charming children: Mackenzie 20, Mitchell 16 and Spencer 13. (Connect with Karen through her encouraging blog at www.KarenEhman.com)

T. Suzanne Eller

T. Suzanne Eller (Suzie) leads women in a new direction. She shares with women how to live their best life in the areas of family, feelings, and faith in spite of a painful past. Suzie is the author of five books, and her latest in the Live Free series will be published in 2013, titled Lord, I Want to Forgive: When You Just Can’t Do It On Your Own. She has spoken to groups of all sizes across the nation, and in Germany, Austria, Italy, The Netherlands, Jamaica, and El Salvador. She is a popular guest on radio and TV, and has been featured on Focus on the Family, Harvest Show, MidDay Connection, Aspiring Women, and hundreds of others. She is the author of more than 1000 articles, and is a mentor with the Jerry Jenkins Christian Writers’ Guild, and speaks at writers conferences nationwide. Suzie ministers to women through her blog at www.tsuzanneeller.com, to thousands of moms at Moms Together at www.facebook.com/MomsTogether and encourages women to live intentionally free at www.facebook.com/LiveIntentionallyFree. Whens she’s not writing or speaking, you can find Suzie hanging out with her three beautiful grandbabies, hiking, or hanging out with her family. She finds joy in following Christ and coming alongside women as they discover the woman, the mom, the believer they were always meant to be.

Zoë Elmore

Zoë challenges women to experience the Lord’s peace and provision as she pours His life into theirs. Through inspiring stories and unforgettable word pictures, she encourages you to experience God’s presence in a new and fresh way. Zoë is a powerful and effective Bible teacher who inspires women to live above their circumstances while cheering them on to live a godly life.

Happily married to Tom, Zoë is the mother of two sons, Joshua and Joseph. She makes her home in Charlotte, where she serves her church and community. Zoë has six years of training with Bible Study Fellowship International where she served as a small group leader, assistant teaching leader, and as the Area Director for Neighborhood Bible Studies. The Lord is taking Zoë throughout the United States as she encourages women to be obedient to God’s call in their lives. (For more about Zoe, visit her at www.ZoeElmore.blogspot.com)

Tracie Miles

If there is one thing Tracie is known for, it is her ability to relate to her audiences by communicating straight from the heart. Through her genuine transparency, vulnerability, humor and story telling, Tracie speaks God’s truths to empower and motivate women to live intentionally for Christ. Tracie is a popular speaker at women’s events across the country, and is a contributing writer for the Proverbs 31 Ministries Encouragement For Today daily devotions and the Proverbs 31 Woman Magazine. Tracie is a published author of her book entitled Reinventing Your Rainbow, and has a new book being released in the Fall of 2012 entitled Stressed-less Living: Finding Peace In Your Chaotic World. Tracie is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and after spending fifteen years climbing the corporate ladder, God called her to leave the corporate world and invest in His Kingdom instead. Tracie has a passion for equipping women to be leaders in their homes, communities and churches and is a seasoned Corporate Trainer in the field of management and leadership. Tracie lives in Charlotte, NC with her husband, Michael, of 23 years, and her three children, Morgan (18), Kaitlyn (15) and Michael (12). For more information about Tracie, visit her blog at www.traciewmiles.com .

Rachel Olsen

Rachel Olsen helps women live Biblically in modern day life. She’s the author of It’s No Secret: Revealing Divine Truths Every Woman Should Know. Rachel serves as Editor of Proverb 31′s Encouragement for Today online devotional, and the devotional book God’s Purpose for Every Woman. She is a member of both the ministry’s writing team and the ministry’s speaker team.

With a master’s degree from a Christian graduate program, Rachel teaches part-time for the University of North Carolina in Wilmington. She and her husband Rick live by the coast where they cook together, raise two school-age children, teach at the university, serve at their church and walk the beach season ’round. (For more on Rachel, visit her at www.RachelOlsen.com)

Wendy Pope

Wendy is a woman who loves the Lord and His Word. She is passionate about igniting this same love in the women she teaches. Her messages are filled with Biblical truths but have just the right amount of humor to help her audience see she is a real, everyday woman. Wendy leads over 5000 women each day in her online Bible study Trusting God for a Better Tomorrow ~ A Study of the Psalms. Women who hear Wendy speak leave with a:

Craving for God’s Word
Confidence to read, study and apply the Bible to their lives
Commitment to have quiet time with God every day

(For more about Wendy or to join her Online Bible Study visit www.WendyPope.org)

Luann Prater

Luann is wife to Dwight, mother to Jennifer, AJ and Tiffany, friend to Dwight’s daughters Kim and Christie and her favorite role is grandmother to seven! She is the host on the weekly radio show, Encouragement Cafe with Luann & Friends. She owns Bee Sweet, Inc., is a REALTOR with Keller Williams Realty and contributing author to God’s Purpose For Every Woman and The Reason We Speak. She has been writing and speaking with Proverbs 31 Ministries for over a decade.

Inspired, challenged and spurred into action, is how women describe their life after spending time with Luann. Weary women say Luann’s love for life and her zest for living is contagious. She motivates the immovable, ignites the smoldering and encourages the brokenhearted. God uses her life struggles and pain to portray a picture of hope and encouragement to others. (For more about Luann, visit her at www.LuannPrater.com or at www.EncouragementCafe.com)

Melissa Taylor

Glynnis Whitwer

Glynnis Whitwer is on staff with Proverbs 31 Ministries as the Senior Editor of the P31 Woman magazine. She is one of the writers of Encouragement for Today, the Proverbs 31 online devotions, with over 375,000 daily readers. She is the author of When Your Child Hurts, work@home: A Practical Guide for Women Who Want to Work from Home, and co-author of a Bible studies series entitled Kingdom Living. Her next book will be released in August and is titled, I Used to be So Organized.

Glynnis has a degree in Journalism and Public Relations from Arizona State University and worked as a PR writer for 15 years before joining the staff of Proverbs 31 Ministries. Glynnis, her husband Tod, and their five teenagers live in Glendale, AZ. Together they run two home-based businesses: an Internet retailer (www.roselanecottage.com) and an environmental consulting firm.

Special Teaching Guests

Lisa Allen

Amy Bayliss

Stephanie Bryant

Stephanie Clayton

Blythe Daniel

Blythe Daniel is a literary agent and marketing consultant with considerable experience with author acquisitions, marketing and publicity campaigns. She has had clients on the Today Show, Dateline, Fox News, Good Morning America, CBS’ The Early Show, The 700 Club, The G. Gordon Liddy Show, The Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, LA Daily News, and others. Blythe was the Publicity Director and Marketing Director for Thomas Nelson Publishers. She worked in news at a radio station in Nashville and has been a freelance writer to magazines. She has been the Product Development Manager for New York Times bestselling author John Eldredge. She has placed books with publishers like Thomas Nelson, Moody, Multnomah, Standard Publishing, Beacon Hill Press, and others. Her agent clients come from ministries like Proverbs 31 Ministries, Focus on the Family, Campus Crusade for Christ; media outlets like the Houston Chronicle, ESPN, and Disney; business organizations like Dollar General, counselors, pastors, health professionals, leaders, television commentators and educators.

Tom Davis

Andrea Doering

Andrea is an executive editor with Revell Books, an imprint of Baker Publishing Group, acquiring both fiction and nonfiction titles such as Choosing to SEE by Mary Beth Chapman, and The Choice by Suzanne Woods Fisher. She is the former editor-in-chief of Crossings Book Club. Her experiences also include academic publishing, book packaging, and a stint in public affairs at Focus on the Family. She holds an M.A. in English/Creative Writing from the University of Maine, and has published several children’s books and short stories.

Esther Fedorkevich

Founder of The Fedd Agency, literary agent Esther Fedorkevich launched her career in 1997 as a salesperson for a major book publisher. Within six months, she sold a million dollars in products. From there she went to work for Dave Ramsey, NY Times bestselling author and television host with a national syndicated radio program. She worked in the publishing department, selling and marketing his books and other projects, and fell in love with book publishing. When Esther was pregnant with her first child, her entrepreneurial spirit was charged. She decided to venture out on her own and sell books and ideas as a literary agent.

Investing in authors since 2003, Esther founded The Fedd Agency. Her first client came to her for help when William Morris could not get her a book deal after pitching it for two years. With her innovative intervention and her acute business sense and selling skills, Esther got the author a three-book deal within two months. Continuing to hone her innate marketing and sales talents and coupling it with a passion for selling life-changing books, Esther firmly believes she doesn’t just represent authors, she represents and builds futures.

Her clientele includes NY Times bestselling authors Lysa TerKeurst, Matthew Barnett and George Barna, Mark Batterson, David Kinnaman, Phil and Amy Parham of The Biggest Loser, Michael Franzese, Tim McGraw, Sara Evans, Tom DeLay and Chris Seay. A natural entrepreneur, Esther also negotiates movie deals and offers audio book production services.

Esther lives in Austin, TX with her husband Jimmy and their two kids, Alexi Jane (7) and Paul Gregory (5). In her spare time, you can find Esther shooting hoops, swinging a golf club or tennis racquet, reading, or cooking gourmet meals for her family and friends.

Emily Freeman

For over five years, Emily Freeman has been blogging at Chatting at the Sky, a quiet place for a woman’s soul to breathe. After pitching her first book proposal at She Speaks in 2009, she received a two book deal from Revell. The first one, Grace for the Good Girl, will release in bookstores in September 2011. Emily is a regular contributor for DaySpring’s (in)courage, an online home for the hearts of women, and is also a blogger for Compassion International. Emily is a writer who loves to read and a speaker who would rather listen. She and her husband have three young children and live in North Carolina.

Holley Gerth

Susanne Woods Fisher

Donna Jones

Courtney Joseph

Kathleen Kerr

Lori Marshall

Robin Phillips

Jill Savage

Publishing Guests

Kathleen Kerr, Harvest House

Kathleen Kerr spent most of her childhood haunting the shelves at her local bookstore. When she turned sixteen she started working there, and once she grew up she decided to try her hand at making books instead of just reading them. Beginning in 2008 she acquired middle grade titles at Zondervan Publishing House, and in 2011 moved to Harvest House Publishers. She has a passion for finding new voices and for helping writers discover their true vocation. When she’s not cooing over her favorite new manuscript, she can often be found hiking in the mountains with her husband or creating chaos in the kitchen.

Andrea Doerring, Revell Books

Miranda Gardner, Discovery House

Miranda Gardner is an editor with Discovery House Publishers, a division of RBC Ministries. (RBC produces the Our Daily Bread devotional, Day of Discovery TV show, and various radio programs.) Discovery House aims to publish books that feed the soul with the Word of God, fostering growth and godliness in the lives of God’s people. Prior to Discovery House, she was associate editor with Kregel Publications. She enjoys reading (of course!), music, and classic movies.

Sandy Vander Zicht, Zondervan

Sandy Vander Zicht is Associate Publisher & Executive Editor at Zondervan, where she has served for more than 26 years. She acquires nonfiction titles in the Christian Living category, which includes Relationships, Practical Help, and Spiritual Growth. She edited two books that reached the New York Times bestseller list this year: One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp and Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst. She holds a B.A. in English from Calvin College and a M.A. in English Language & Literature from the University of Michigan. She has also served as associate editor of a weekly denominational magazine and as a curriculum editor for Christian Schools International.

Robin Phillips, Zondervan

Robin Phillips specializes in all things curriculum at Zondervan. She has a particular passion for women’s and children’s study materials. Robin holds a ministry degree from World Harvest Bible College in Columbus, Ohio and has a varied background in church ministry, missions, and publishing. Robin lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan with husband, Ryan, and daughter, Lauren.

Laura Derico, Standard Publishing

In 14 years in Christian publishing, Laura has edited a wide range of interesting projects from children’s board books to fantasy novels. Through her work with Standard Publishing (currently as an editor in the adult and teen department) and previously with Lion Hudson (Oxford, UK), she has had the opportunity to partner with many talented artists, designers, editors, and authors, and looks forward to meeting many more. When not editing, she enjoys nurturing her favorite two products, her children.

Kim Bangs, Regal Books

Kim Bangs has 21 years of publishing experience. Currently, she is the Manager for Author Relations/Contracts for the Regal Books, as well as a member of the acquisitions team. She has had the privilege to work with Dennis and Barbara Rainey, Holly Wagner, Jim Burns, Gloria Gaither, Pam Stenzel, Craig Johnson, Lisa Harper, Josh McDowell, Gary Smalley, Michelle McKinney Hammond, Karen O’Conner, Carole Lewis and the First Place 4 Health team and many others. Kim enjoys working with authors to provide resources that touch hearts and change lives and open conversation with others. For more information on Regal Books, visit www.regalbooks.com.