James Pressnell Email & Phone Number

Recruited to reestablish a strong Religious Life team during a period of significant organizational change. Transformed fractured and marginally productive team of 37 nation-wide into a unified, high performing team. Created a renewed sense of vision and purpose.• Provided faith supports for the 2000 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Established performance measures and process for tracking performance. Increased time Religious Life staff spent in group homes with people supported by 55%. • Equipped and mentored Direct Service Professionals (DSP) to assist with faith supports. Redesigned new employee training to clarify the role of the DSP and to enhance the partnership between DSPs and Religious Life staff.• Built a network of more than 500 congregational partners to live out their calling as communities of belonging for people of all abilities.• Optimized three camps nation-wide for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Oversaw the redesign of the camp ministry and initiated the creation of 35 new standard operating procedures.• Developed programs and materials to support the faith journeys of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Defined strategic themes and outlined all new publications.• Established productive strategic partnerships with the Lutheran Church and other Christian organizations to grow awareness nation-wide of Bethesda and Bethesda services.

Recruited to reestablish Church Relations function that had lain dormant for over two years. Served as the public face of the university to churches, church workers and other church organizations, building trust relationships with mutual benefit.• Developed marketing strategy targeting high priority congregations that increased congregational giving to the university by 60% while in the midst of the most significant recession in recent history.• Identified and recruited 50 or more prospective students per year, many of whom enrolled. As a tuition-driven university, this had meaningful impact on the university budget.• Worked closely with the Foundation to steward major donors and solicit gifts for the university. • Collaborated with the Music Department, managing all of the logistics to take five ensembles on tour and into churches on Sundays. Increased giving to the university through these means by 65%.• Organized and facilitated the university’s Lutheran Elementary School Tournament bringing over 1000 fifth through eighth graders from 18 Lutheran Schools in five states to campus. Leveraged this event as a recruiting tool for the university.• Led the university initiative to create the Art & Carol Wahlers Center for Applied Lutheran Leadership, communicating its mission and vision to constituents and raising the gifts necessary to make this center operational.

Recruited to establish solid business foundation to ensure the sustainability of the organization.• Established sound financial reporting and equipped the staff to understand how their work impacted the organizational bottom-line. • Facilitated organizational redesign to create a more efficient organization.

Recruited as the first full-time Executive Director to grow the organization and its mission. In just 18 months, grew the organization by:• Creating a marketing strategy that grew the number of congregational partner from 2 to 14.• Creating a strategy to get more individuals personally participating in the ministry that increased the number of short-term mission teams sent from 2 to 15 per year and grew the Sponsor-a-Child program from 12 children in Panamanian village to over 150 children in 3 countries.• Developing a stronger partnership with the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod and the Lutheran Church of Canada that resulted in expanding the work from Panama only to Guatemala, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.• Creating a development strategy targeting both congregations and individuals that increased the annual operating budget from $65k to over $255k.

Managed and facilitated the collection of current state information, its analysis, and the creation of system requirements for implementing several modules of PeopleSoft’s Financial Management System. Facilitated and managed strategic projects for the university’s Chief Financial Officer, ensuring successful completion of all deliverables.

Managed several large client projects and client accounts, providing strategic leadership, financial management, staff development and accountability for the successful completion of all deliverables. Consulting Clients: Department of Veteran’s Affairs Health System, Merit Behavioral Care Corporation, The Pillsbury Company, Green Giant, The Maytag Company, Integrated Communications, Inc., All-American Gourmet, Kennestone Health System, Alpo Petfoods, Kraft-General Foods, Petrochemical Industries Company-Kuwait, The Las Vegas Valley Water District, Defense Threat Reduction Agency.• Assessed and facilitated the redesign of the Human Resources function of a large Middle East petrochemical company.• Assessed and facilitated the redesign of the Information Systems function of a major utility company.• Facilitated effective process reengineering and organizational redesign for Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers around the country.• Planned and implemented for several clients organizational self-assessments using the criteria of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Used the self-assessment results to drive quality improvement efforts. Used the quality tools to drive process reengineering.• Created organizational performance measures and Balanced Scorecards for several client organizations to give senior leaders effective tools for managing their organizations successfully.

Master Of Divinity (M.Div.)

Bachelor Of Arts (Ba)

Education record