ECF Announces 2023 Fellows
The Episcopal Church Foundation (ECF) is excited to announce the two individuals named to the 2023 Fellows class – Jennifer Holt Enriquez and Elizabeth Riley. These innovative and emerging leaders are pairing their expertise with their passion to make a positive impact on the Episcopal Church and beyond.
As ECF’s longest running program, the Fellowship Partners Program has been supporting entrepreneurial leaders since 1964. Initially started to support academics with intentions to teach in seminaries, the Fellowship has expanded over the years to lift up emerging academic and ministry leaders who seek to impact the wider Church. ECF is proud to partner with our 2023 Fellows and is excited to journey with them as they shape the Episcopal Church of the future. To view a list of all ECF Fellows, click here.
ECF President Donald Romanik, extending his congratulations to the 2023 Fellows, said, “For almost sixty years, ECF's Fellowship Partners Program has supported emerging and engaging leaders across the Church. As we strive to create the Church of the future, these new Fellows are leading the charge. We are proud to support them in their ministries.”
The two recipients’ ministry projects show a Church that is engaged in a changing world. Read more about the 2023 Fellows and their projects below:
Jennifer Holt Enriquez is an attorney by formal education and her career transition began in 2015 when she began working with children and youth at St. Christopher’s in Oak Park. She completed a lifelong Christian formation training program in 2017 and in the process discerned a call to ministry. Jen began focusing on teaching children skills and giving them tools for finding peace in themselves and their world via Peace Camp in 2017. In 2020 Jen sought a way to talk to kids about racism and in collaboration with Rev. Will Bouvel created Tell Me the Truth About Racism, a set of stories designed to invite children and adults into conversation about the problem of racism through the lens of faith. Jen is mom to middle schoolers Helena and Luke, plus three wiener dogs. She loves morning walks and getting her hands dirty in her garden in her spare time.
Elizabeth Riley is exploring the potential of digital evangelism in the church. With this Fellowship she is developing trainings and tools around digital evangelism to share with the church. Elizabeth will be partnering with communities passionate about exploring these tools to help equip them for this work. Working with ECF, she hopes to continue exploring how best clergy and faith leaders within the Episcopal Church can share our own wisdom and resources with one another through digital means.
The application process for the 2024 ECF Fellowship will open in November 2023. Complete information about the ECF Fellowship Partners Program can be found on ECF's website.