Isaac B. Akers Email & Phone Number

Saint Louis, Missouri

As a member of the Program Staff at Stephen Ministries, my work is primarily focused in the areas of program development, publicity and marketing, and customer service. I write, research, edit, create and develop projects, design, and contribute in many other ways. Beginning my time at the organization as a Program Assistant, I joined the Program Staff team in 2018 to reflect my growing role and responsibilities.Over the past eight and half, I have progressed from acting as a contributing editor in team-based program initiatives to guiding entire projects from start to finish as a lead writer/editor and video producer/director. My love of the creative process—cultivating an idea from conception to completion—is a driving force in my program work, inspiring me in producing the best resources possible for our audience. Most recently, I co-authored the second edition of When and How to Use Mental Health Resources: A Stephen Ministry Guide with Stephen Ministries founder Dr. Kenneth C. Haugk and produced, directed, and scripted the training video Navigating Mental Health Issues in Stephen Ministry.I bring the same level of energy and enthusiasm to my publicity and marketing work, contributing fresh conceptual ideas and quality copy to my projects. Our team-based approach to publicity development involves a high level of collaboration, an experience I’ve found very valuable for being able to learn from and exchange ideas with my colleagues.I also directly interact with our customers in a variety of ways, including managing the on-site bookstore at our national training conferences, conducting research phone and video interviews, and offering phone support as needed.

After writing for the Crunchyroll Newsletter on a volunteer basis for a few months and publishing a few guest features on the site, I was given the opportunity to bring the Crunchyroll frontpage its first weekly editorial article series: titled, simply, Aniwords. Spanning a period of around a year and a half, Aniwords led the way for the eventual development of a formal features writing team on Crunchyroll by demonstrating there was an audience for thoughtful, conversational writing about anime. There are few things I'm more proud of in my writing career than the lively comments sections that often developed in response to my pieces for the column, particularly those thoughts from a regular community of readers. As the Crunchyroll Features Team began to welcome new writers, I took on additional responsibility as an Associate Features Editor and by beginning to write additional articles on assignment or by pitch. As an editor, I spent much of my time communicating with the team of freelance writers I assisted in identifying and developing. Along with my fellow editors, we implemented a number of team-wide initiatives and paired the creative side of our work with key administrative tasks such as managing publishing schedules, proofreading articles, and helping writers develop pieces.

Kirksville, Mo

As a sophomore undergraduate student, I joined the Residence Life team at Truman with Centennial Hall, an on-campus residence hall primarily for incoming freshman. For the next two years, I served with a co-Student Advisor, building floor community with groups of about 40 students by facilitating resident interaction through event programming and maintaining positive personal relationships with individual residents. In my final year, I served as an Apartment Manager, applying all these principles to a more independent living community of students.The Truman Residence Life Department placed a high priority on equipping staff to effectively implement departmental policies and execute departmental procedures. It was through these trainings and the experience to responding to several student mental health crises that I developed an interest in the topic of mental health and lay mental health care—something I would take with me to my later work at Stephen Ministries.

West Des Moines, Ia

A job I held from the middle of high school through college, I started at Hy-Vee as a courtesy clerk, gradually being promoter to roles involving more responsibility as a stocker, cashier, and, finally, a customer service clerk. I also helped out in various other departments as needed. A common theme in each of these positions was a need for flexibility and strong customer service, multitasking, and time-management skills.

West Des Moines, Ia

As an intern in the Human Resource Department at the corporate offices for Hy-Vee, a partner and I were tasked with interviewing full-time employees regarding their job duties to update position descriptions in compliance with ADA and SSA regulations.

Greater St. Louis Area

My introduction to working at Stephen Ministries, my internship experience involved being trained in all aspects of organization customer service, culminating in direct contact with customers over the phone. I also performed a number of basic writing tasks, including writing and editing internal procedure and policy manuals. Following the conclusion of the internship, I continued to do occasional work for the organization as a transcription during the school year.

Denver, Co

Together with a four-person team, I planned and led week-long spiritual camps for elementary, middle-school, and high-school-age students following the Totus Tuus model. We served seven churches over the course of the summer.

Bachelor Of Fine Arts (Bfa), Creative Writing, Gpa: 4.0/4.0

Activities and Societies: Truman State Residence Life Department, Catholic Newman Center.Minors: Communication, Film Studies

High School

Activities and Societies: National Honor Society (2010), National Council on Youth Leadership (2010), A Cappella Choir, Show Choir, School.