A Season of Transition

Last week Faith Matters Network announced that our Founder & Executive Director, Rev. Jen Bailey is moving on to the next chapter of her professional career. After ten years of leadership and service to our organization, Jen will be leaving her role to start a new journey as Executive Director of the Dan and Margaret Maddox Fund in her adopted home town of Nashville, TN. Jen’s experience at nonprofits combating intergenerational poverty expands beyond a decade, and her commitment to philanthropy aligns with the mission of the Maddox Fund, which seeks to champion just, equitable, and liberatory systems and policies throughout Middle Tennessee.

In addition to being a Vanderbilt Divinity alumn, Rev. Jen Bailey is an ordained itinerant elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and served locally on the staff of Great Bethel A.M.E Church in Nashville, TN. Nationally, Jen is recognized as a public theologian and multi-faith leader for justice. She is an Ashoka Fellow, Nathan Cummings Foundation Fellow, Aspen Ideas Scholar, On Being Fellow and Truman Scholar. Her work has been featured on OnBeing with Krista Tippett, CBS This Morning, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and dozens of other publications. Her first book, To My Beloveds: Letters on Faith, Race, Loss and Radical Hope was published by Chalice Press in October 2021.

In addition to her new role as Executive Director at the Maddox Fund, Jen will continue to serve on the boards of the Fetzer Institute, the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, the Healing Trust, and we are honored to have her serve on the board of Faith Matters Network as we move forward into a new season. We are deeply grateful to Jen’s bold vision and the remarkable ways she has served the organization during her tenure. We at Faith Matters Network will miss her more than we can put into words and are thrilled for the new opportunities ahead for her. You can read Jen’s sentiments below in last week’s announcement to our beloved community:

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I’m reaching out during a tender moment, knowing that many of us are feeling the weight of this divisive election season. In times like this, when our movements need both courage and care, I am more grateful than ever for the work of Faith Matters Network.

I am writing to you to share some exciting news, both for FMN and for me. After 10 years as Executive Director of the organization, I will be leaving my role to start a new journey as Executive Director of the Dan and Margaret Maddox Fund in Nashville, TN. My last day at Faith Matters Network will be January 3, 2025.

When I founded FMN, I did so with the core belief that the big bold vision for accompanying spiritually grounded leaders healing themselves and their communities through a Womanist lens did not belong to a single person– but to an emerging community of spiritual innovators who understand the transformation that is needed in our world, and center how we care and take care of one another and the planet. I am so proud that over the past decade we have walked alongside more than 25,000 spiritually grounded leaders. Leaders like you. You are the reason that we exist and we are so grateful for your trust in us.

I am so thrilled that FMN is vibrant and strong! We have an outstanding board, a talented and committed staff, a strong balance sheet, a strategic plan we are all passionate about making a reality, and dedicated community supporters, and donors like you, who will make sure we thrive. Now is the time to leverage our strengths and intentionally and thoughtfully bring in the next leader to achieve even greater impact.

While I’m excited for this next chapter, it’s not easy to say goodbye. Faith Matters Network has been home for me—a space we’ve nurtured together where those on the frontlines of justice can find rest, resilience, and renewal. I’m incredibly grateful for your partnership in building a community that holds space for care, especially when the work feels heaviest. I will always be a champion for our work and look forward to accompanying the organization in new ways in the days and weeks to come.

I’m also thrilled to share that Rev. Dr. Patricia Hunter, our beloved board member, will step in as Interim Executive Director while we stand up a search for a new Executive Director this January. “Dr. P” as she is affectionately known by our team brings decades of wisdom and experience to this role – one that she previously held during my first maternity leave. With her guidance and your support, I know FMN will continue to serve as a source of strength for our movements and leaders.

I remain deeply grateful for the opportunity to have served this remarkable organization. Thank you for your unwavering support of Faith Matters Network and of me over the years.

Eternally Grateful,

Rev. Jen Bailey