Mary Gunther understands what it means to operate in a rapidly changing environment. A graduate in the second class of women from the United States Naval Academy in 1981 and mother of nine, she has been involved in leadership education for over 30 years. After attending her first ICC conference in 2005, she brought ICC conferences to Maryland and started the first ICC Chapter. Mary’s interests are varied and diverse, including graphic design, organizational health, strategic action, latest tech trends, and visual storytelling. Along with her experience and training in leadership development, Mary holds a certificate in Art Integration across Curriculum from the Kennedy Center and a certificate in Christian Nonprofit Leadership from Christian Leadership Alliance. Currently, Mary is pursuing a graduate certificate in Spiritual Direction from Richmont University with a May 2024 graduation. Mary serves as ICC’s Chief Influence Officer and lives in Annapolis, MD, with her husband.
As ICC’s Director of Global Engagement, An Normand gets to practice one of her great passions: equipping and mentoring others in storytelling and cultural intelligence (CQ). An has trained thousands of people in intergenerational and intercultural settings. Born in Africa and raised in Belgium, An has worked and participated in missions all over the world. Her husband is French and her two children American, so CQ has been a lifelong pursuit in their home! An has completed two certifications through the Cultural Intelligence Institute. She has worked with our Global Resource team that developed and translated the Institute’s curriculum as well as with our Global Development Team. An’s son Daniel and daughter Elise both served in leadership roles in the Institute. An enjoyed traveling with Elise to Southeast Asia on an IMPACT trip in 2018.
Amy is one of the pioneers that started the first ICC international chapter in Singapore in 2010 and helped organize the first Communicators for Christ conference in East Asia in 2014. She was an ICC Chapter Sponsor before starting the first United Kingdom chapter in Leeds. Seeing the need for ICC in Europe, she organized and hosted the first European Communicators for Christ conference in Nov 2019. Before homeschooling her children full time, Amy was a lecturer in the local polytechnic, training students in intercultural communication and life skills subjects. Her passion for intercultural studies has led her to Indonesia, Australia, and Vietnam as well as finding a home in both Singapore and the UK. Amy is active in her local church ministries like the English class for migrant ladies and café ministry for the homeless and needy.
With a degree in education and twenty years’ experience in home education, Lisa McLean shares her extraordinary gift of problem solving in relationship in her work on ICC’s People Care Team. She uses her role to equip people in parenting, mentoring, and loving well. Lisa and her husband have raised their six children with a heart for genuine cultural communication. All of their children—and two of their grandchildren— spent years training with ICC into adulthood. Having traveled internationally with ICC several times, working with a global community challenges her to develop new skills and ways of thinking, to learn from other cultures, and to appreciate the immensity and diversity of the Church. Her passion: to disciple Christ-followers in wisdom, respect, and holiness.
A California native, Brian Eliason helps lead families, classrooms, and community groups to equip next-generation Christian leaders with the vital skills they need for success. Holding a graduate degree in Physics, with a specialty in Applied Optics, Brian has brought this knowledge not only to his work for corporations like McDonnell Douglas Aerospace, but also into his ministry. Brian served as a teaching leader for Bible Study Fellowship for 17 years, which has empowered him to encourage dads walking out their faith at home and in the workplace. He and his wife currently live in the Central Valley of California with Brian’s greatest achievement, his daughter Rachel, who has recently toured the globe with ICC as a speech and leadership Ambassador.
When Jane attended her first Communicators for Christ conference in 2007, she fell in love with ICC and helped start a chapter with a friend in Prairieville, Louisiana. Two years later, she became a Chapter Sponsor, then an Area Leader, and then an Area Coordinator for the South Central Area. Now she’s stepped into a new role: Coordinator for the Area Student Leader Teams. She and her husband, Mark, have ten children and eight grandchildren, and one of her favorite “hobbies” is traveling with Mark around the country visiting all of them.
Keri is a Nebraska girl living in a Louisiana world. Her family moved to Louisiana in 2015: husband John of 27 years and two awesome kiddos, Kaleigh and Jesse. Keri loves to read, homeschool, work puzzles, and she absolutely treasures any time spent with family. Keri and John had a desire for their children to be effective communicators, as they believe that words have power, so the family joined the Institute by jumping in with both feet. ICC has also empowered Keri to step out of her comfort zone and work on her own communication skills. Serving in adult leadership roles, beginning with Chapter Sponsor and Student Leader Liaison, she is currently the Area Coordinator for the Central area. She loves working with both students and adults, building relationships and hearing their stories.
Jenae and her husband Mike have been married 22 years and have 8 children. She first joined a chapter in Louisiana in 2007 when her oldest daughter was 6. Her children have literally grown up in the institute! She moved to Michigan in 2016 and has served in the roles of Chapter Sponsor, Student Leader Liaison, and Student Leader Services Coordinator on the Student Leader Development team. She enjoys increasing her learning through online classes and reading books. She has learned that slow is fast in the development of her children as well as in her own personal growth.