School of Leadership and Development

Testimonials

During my time at Eastern, I was given the opportunity to wrestle with issues of faith, poverty, social justice and financial concepts.  My time allowed me to develop strong and long-lasting friendships.  Eastern was a catalyst that provided me the tools to take a purposeful leap of faith and work overseas.
-Biju C. Matthew,
MBA International Economic Development, 2005
Currently the Chief Operations Officer,
Growing Opportunity Finance, Chennai, India

I credit Eastern University with providing a foundation in all areas of nonprofit management. The experience has enhanced my ability to share in depth the knowledge of nonprofit law and operational practices with all the nonprofit organizations throughout Pennsylvania.
-Tish Mogan, MBA in Nonprofit Management, 1998
Currently the Standards for Excellence Officer,
Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations. An association with over 800 members, PANO is the statewide membership organization serving and advancing the charitable nonprofit sector through leadership, advocacy, education and services in order to improve the quality of life in Pennsylvania.      

The program has helped me develop the organization into a new level entirely.  I learned how to develop collaborative relationships with local companies and charities and other organizations.  I liked the weekend residency program format of the program and the collaboration with my professors and other students.  The thing I really took out the class was the opportunity to develop relationships with my classmates that have various backgrounds and goals.   
-Ade Otenaike, MS in Non-Profit Management 2007
President, Wings of the Dawn International Institute for Children, Fort Worth, Texas

Sure, I knew Haiti needed help, but Eastern really helped me gain preparedness, the ability to help and a strategic way to go about it.  At Eastern, I had a great deal of exposure to international development, and I learned about development approaches and theories. The program taught me how to systematically organize my thoughts and approaches, and gave me development knowledge. It also gave me the network of my classmates, who continue to support me although I have graduated from the program.  We are all still connected, through e-mails and blogs, amongst other things.  I know these people will always be there for me if I ever need help.
-Ruth Entwistle, MBA in Economic Development 2008
Started a non-profit organization, Deep Springs International in Grove City, PA.  Deep Springs International won the 2008 Templeton Freedom Award.


I knew Eastern was the right place for me to gain a deeper understanding of my life mission.  I did not know one word in English, and it was very tough but, I would not be where I am today if it weren't for Eastern.  It helped me to become organized, and learn how to deal with human resources better, for example who I should recruit, who can perform the work, and who I should avoid.  It helped me build up my organization and learn the managerial skills that were necessary to make it all happen.
- Pastor Nouh Ag Infa Yattara , MS in Economics and Community Development 1998
Pastor and founder of Tahanint N'Massinag E Tinbuktu (TNT), an organization that works to help the people of Timbuktu by providing physical, emotional, monetary and material support to those that would not otherwise have access to it

My work at Eastern has been a personal journey of reflection upon my character, has helped shape my leadership, and helped me to grow personally and professionally based on sound Biblical principles.
-Kanyata Mukelabai, MA in Organizational Leadership

For Applied Research and Cross-Cultural Communication/ Anthropology, I spent time in a squatter village near our home, and out of my research there, a literacy/back-to-school/evangelism/discipleship ministry has been birthed. Two mothers and one teenage girl have come to faith; twenty children come for Bible stories every week.  Seven out-of-school children are ready to start school for the first time.  Some mothers with 12 hungry children have learned about birth control for the first time.  The whole community seems to be coming to life with hope...

As I looked at transferring responsibility for this ministry to someone else, God brought into my life a single mother who had moved to Manila and started a huge ministry at Smokey Mountain, which includes having built a   school for 500 trash-picking children.  She and I are also in communication about my helping her organization (Philippines Christian Foundation) apply for grants (thank you, Marketing class)... I still work as a volunteer in the curriculum office.

We were being criticized by our accrediting body and I showed my boss/co-worker the Log Frame Analysis, and it looks like we will be using at least part of it as we clean up our planning process.  He asked to see copies of my Log Frames, Problem Trees, Stakeholder Analysis- everything I did for David Bronkema.  Finally, as I was hashing through my Advocacy issue, I ran into some good friends from Vietnam, and we have begun to talk about how the VN church might respond to human trafficking.  I gave them a copy of my Assignment G and they are awaiting Assignment H. 

It has been a blast to have professors and coursework that require me to think big, to think outside the box, to try to flesh out some of the glorious ideals we all see and believe in Scripture.  And I have NEVER had anyone ASK for a paper I’ve written for school.  In just one month, I’ve found myself accessing papers from three or four different classes.
- Elizabeth Williams, MA in Organizational Leadership, May 2008