Tearfund Canada, based in Markham, Ontario, has announced the appointment of Trisha Okenge as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Executive Director from Sept. 1. At the center of lasting impact is an empowered local church, she says.
The announcement on Tuesday followed the resignation of previous CEO Wayne Johnson first announced a year ago, after eight years at the helm. On LinkedIn this week, Johnson wrote a post welcoming the appointment of Okenge and said he would be “slowing down and doing some consulting, supporting small and medium non-profits and businesses.”
“It has been a real privilege to be part of a great team of staff and partners who trained over 68,000 farm families in climate-smart agriculture, saw over 804,000 women join Village Savings & Loans Groups, and facilitated thousands of women in Biblically-based trauma healing from the impact of sexual violence in South Sudan,” wrote Johnson.
“It has all been alongside the local church in East Africa and India. To top it off, in two years, we are planting over 2.2 million trees in regions of Ethiopia and Kenya trying to adapt to a changing climate.”
In a press release, Tearfund Canada said new appointee Okenge had strong leadership experience “with decades of experience in fundraising and managing programs, bringing a depth of strategic leadership operations experience.”
Helen Reimer, Chairperson of Tearfund’s Board of Directors, said that finding a replacement to build on the foundation made by Johnson had been a “difficult task.”
“We began our search with prayer and can confidently say that Trisha Okenge is a Godsend. We believe she will continue our focus on the church impacting sustainable change, bringing hope and opportunity to local communities.”
Okenge previously served as country director in both Ethiopia and Uganda with the charity Food for the Hungry International. She “improved seeds and new cycles of crop management helped increase food production as much as fivefold,” according to the press release.
During her tenure in Ethiopia at Food for the Hungry International, Okenge increased staff from 1,000 to 1,700 personnel, with an annual increased budget from $30 million USD with eight donors to $82 million USD with 20 donors.
Okenge is known to be supportive of women’s ministry and particularly empowering women financially with savings and loan groups.
“I am so honored to be joining the Tearfund Canada team. I’ve had the privilege of working alongside the organization for years as a partner and have seen firsthand the incredible impact the local church can have when equipped and resourced,” said Okenge. “Biblically, we know the local church should lead in ministering to its community; however, often, there are resource gaps that need to be bridged.
“This is where Tearfund Canada comes in. When that gap is bridged, the power of the local church is unleashed in a sustainable, powerful way that creates a genuine, lasting impact in communities.
“I look forward to growing our impact and moving the organization forward on the strong, steady foundation that Wayne Johnson worked so hard to build.”
