Ed Conrad has been a Board Member of Children Rising for over 10 years. With 37 years of experience as an ordained Unity minister, Ed has served Unity churches across the country, including Unity of the Valley in Eugene, and founded Unity churches in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Boulder, Colorado. He also served as the Executive Director of the Oregon Interfaith Hub and continues to provide ministerial guidance to Unity churches.
Growing up in Fort Worth, Texas, during a time of segregation and discrimination, Ed’s early experiences deeply influenced his lifelong commitment to creating a world where all individuals, especially children, are valued and empowered. He is a dedicated spiritual teacher, elder leader in The Mankind Project, and a father of two and grandfather of five. Ed resides in Eugene with his wife, Candyce.
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What led you to join Children Rising?
Meleah and Jim Drew’s long-term commitment to raising adopted children has served to inspire me to be a participant in helping to fulfill the vision of Children Rising.
What is your primary role at Children Rising?
As a long standing Children Rising board member, I am committed to serving as a board member through this initial launch phase of the organization.
What do you find most rewarding about your work here?
What is most rewarding is being witness to the fulfillment of Meleah and Jim’s vision to truly empower and support single mothers.
What skills or unique perspectives do you bring to the team?
For 12 years I have been a godparent of an adopted child of a single mother. She adopted 4 children. I have been an ongoing witness to the great everyday challenges of a single mother raising children alone and how life-changing this type of commitment can be for both the adopted children and the single mother.
Having served as a leader in spiritual communities since 1987, I have directly experienced how life-changing it is for parents and children to be a part of a loving, empowering community of support.
My extensive experience in community building and spiritual counseling, along with being a first-hand witness to the countless challenges of raising children in a 21st century world, have instilled in me how profound the need is to provide safe and empowering spaces for single parents and children who have minimal resources and skills.
How do you align with the organization’s vision and mission?
I am completely aligned with Children Rising’s commitment to nurture families and children to reach their highest potential by creating and sustaining loving, healing communities that open wide new fields of possibility.
What inspires you about working with single mothers and their children?
As a foster parent, I helped raise other people’s children. Many of these children were born to women who had spent time in foster care during their own childhood. What inspires me is to interrupt that generational cycle by teaching young parents the skills necessary so they can keep their children and raise them in a safe and healthy environment.