HomeNews Interact Cleveland Appoints Donna Wilhelm, ssj-tosf, Executive Director
Interact Cleveland Appoints Donna Wilhelm, ssj-tosf, Executive Director
Jan 27, 2008 at 11:49 PM
(Cleveland, Jan. 22, 2008) The board of trustees of InterReligious Partners in Action of Greater Cleveland (InterAct Cleveland) yesterday evening unanimously voted to appoint Donna Wilhelm, ssj-tosf, to be its executive director. Wilhelm is only the third executive director since the organization was founded in 1991.
The Rev. June W. Begany, InterAct president, praised Wilhelm for “her strong leadership to move InterAct forward into its vision of interreligious community.” “I believe InterAct’s mission is a critical one for our time. I feel called to this role, and I am not only eager to press forward but both thrilled and humbled by the responsibility placed on me by the board,” commented Wilhelm on accepting the post.
Wilhelm joined the InterAct board in 2004 and became president in 2006. The board appointed her acting executive director in September 2007. Rabbi Melinda Mersack, who filled Wilhelm’s term as president, chaired the executive director search committee which was guided by Janus Small Associates. The committee unanimously agreed on Wilhelm. Other search committee members from within and outside the InterAct board were Dr. Ali AlHaddad, the Rev. Daniel E. Budd, the Rev. Dr. Robert J. Campbell, Allison Hauserman, and Leona Jackson.
For additional information about InterAct Cleveland, call (216) 241-0230 or e-mail
, or visit www.interactcleveland.org.
Biography of Donna Wilhelm, ssj-tosf Sister Donna is a Roman Catholic Franciscan sister, a member of the congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis. She began her professional career in education at the secondary level and has experience teaching at the college level as well. Sr. Donna has served in parish ministry as a director of religious education and as a pastoral minister. She has developed and administered cooperative programming among various churches and has procured funding and initiated ongoing educational opportunities within the African-American Catholic community in Cleveland.
Sr. Donna has served on the advisory board for Religious Education in the Diocese of Venice, Fla. She is among the coauthors of a religious formation process for the Sisters of Notre Dame of Cleveland, and has published articles in the area of religious formation. She has acted as department chair for the theology departments in three different Catholic high schools.
Sr. Donna is an accomplished urban educator and has most recently served on the theology faculty at Cleveland Central Catholic High School. She also has experience in campus ministry, has given retreats, and maintains a spiritual direction practice at the Franciscan Center in Garfield Heights, Ohio. She is a member of the Social Justice Fund Committee of the Sisters of St. Joseph, Third Order of Saint Francis, a group that awards grants nationally to nonprofit entities whose efforts focus on peace and justice. She is a member of the Franciscan Federation of Congregations of Third Order Regular and in 2005 was a presenter at its annual meeting.
She holds a master’s degree in theology from the University of Dayton and in spirituality from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. She earned a B.S. in biological sciences from Notre Dame College of Ohio. Sr. Donna has received advanced training in religious education and was awarded certification in spiritual direction from the Franciscan Internship Program in Toronto.
Born and raised in Greater Cleveland, Sr. Donna makes her home in Cleveland’s Slavic Village. With InterAct, in addition to her board and administrative duties with the Homeless Stand Down and other InterAct programs, Sr. Donna has actively participated in interreligious dialogue and clergy discussion groups.
InterReligious Partners in Action of Greater Cleveland (InterAct Cleveland) promotes mutual understanding and appreciation of diverse religious beliefs and practices, as well as discovery of the values and beliefs shared by many faith traditions. InterAct members actively engage with one another to help shape positive responses to the challenges and opportunities facing Greater Cleveland, including religious diversity itself. (Revised mission statement adopted 2007.)
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