We are excited to share some news with you.
The Board of Trustees of Friends Publishing Corporation, which publishes FRIENDS JOURNAL, met over the weekend of February 4, 2011, in Philadelphia. After careful and prayerful consideration, the Board is very pleased to announce the appointment of Gabriel Ehri as Executive Director Designate, as of March 1, and as Executive Director on July 1, 2011. We are grateful to have had excellent candidates apply for the position and offer our thanks to them.
FRIENDS JOURNAL has been a part of Gabe’s life since childhood. He grew up going to University Friends Meeting in Seattle and his parents subscribed to the Journal, recognizable then as now by its stark black-and-white cover. He read it regularly as an undergraduate at Haverford College, where his meeting had sent him a gift subscription.
At Haverford, Gabe served as the news editor of The Bi-College News. After graduation, he worked as a web content manager with an Internet startup company. Four years later, he decided to pursue a career that would use his talents in service of his values as a Friend.
Gabriel found that calling at FRIENDS JOURNAL in 2004 as a project and database manager. His talents and abilities were quickly recognized, and soon he was directing marketing, circulation, and special projects as well as overseeing technology projects. In 2007, he was promoted to Associate Publisher and took a more active management role in the organization.
Gabe has a strong vision for the future of FRIENDS JOURNAL. He has a deep and broad understanding of new communications media as well as a passion for traditional magazine and book publishing.
Gabriel shares the Board’s vision of Friends Publishing Corporation’s continued growth into a comprehensive communications organization that uses multiple media to reach broader audiences—young Friends, Friends from every yearly meeting, religious seekers, and sympathetic fellow travelers. This outreach will include use of new media and the solicitation and development of content that speaks effectively to our condition. Gabe also understands the practical necessity of engaging a greater number of Friends to advance this ministry through fi nancial support beyond the annual subscription price.
Susan Corson-Finnerty, who has led the Journal since 1999, has established a vital channel for communicating Friends’ message, one reaching 65,000 readers in 170 countries in the past year through a print magazine, website, and books. Susan will continue to work with FRIENDS JOURNAL as Publisher and Executive Editor until her retirement on September 30. The opportunity for Susan and Gabe to work together side by side allows for a more smooth and seamless transition that engages the gifts of both these Friends to the greater benefi t of FPC and those we serve.
I wish to thank all involved in this successful process—the Staff, the applicants, and the Board of Trustees. Their diligent and discerning work in seeking our new Executive Director is greatly appreciated. I offer my particular thanks to the members of the Leadership Transition Committee who coordinated this process.
Janet Ross
Clerk, Board of Trustees,
Friends Publishing Corporation
