A Note from the Founders
FROM IVY TOWERS TO THE LEAST OF THESE
One of the greatest experiences of our lives was living life with Princeton University students for almost a decade. While we were a part of an organization that (rightly) perceived these leaders as ones who may one day change the world, what we experienced were these energetic and aspiring young leaders changing our lives and our world.
Over the course of those years, we had the privilege of sharing life with hundreds upon hundreds of students. Whether students needed a place to stay because they were sick… or because their families were in town… or because they had an LSAT exam the next morning and needed a good night’s rest… they opened themselves up to us and to our home. It is estimated that over 16,000 servings of homemade desserts were happily fed to these hungry and appreciative college students. In so doing, we, the ones who seemed to be giving, were the ones receiving. It was a sacred privilege to share our lives, hopes and dreams together.
Little did we know that this taste of friendship, mentorship, and “surrogate” parenthood would lay the foundation for us to step into a different type of calling: away from the future leaders of our country to those who are the most vulnerable, the “least of these” who found themselves placed in the foster care system through no fault of their own because they did not have a stable family and/or a safe place to call home.
ABOUT DAN
Dan has had a varied professional career with a proven track record of leadership in both the non-profit and the for-profit sectors. His work experience has ranged from living cross-culturally in developing countries to developing future leaders at some of our nation's top universities. He has successfully navigated a high-paced, demanding corporate environment managing over $1.5 billion of business for a Fortune 500 company… and helped a nonprofit organization grow from five full-time employees to over 80, from 25 constituents involved to over 1,400 and an annual budget that grew from $500,000 to over $12 million.
Dan’s wife, Laurie, is the best thing about him—and everyone who knows her agrees. They reside in North Carolina and are proud parents of six foster children. In addition to leading Exiliant Ministries, Dan is a certified executive coach helping proven leaders achieve levels of impact and success that they barely thought were possible.
ABOUT LAURIE
Laurie is one of those people whom it is hard to forget when you meet her. She has a Master’s degree in Education and gained a passion for impacting the younger generation while working with university students in East Asia. She took that passion, along with her off-the-charts gift of hospitality, and helped build a thriving leadership develop organization at one of our nation’s top universities, Princeton University. Because of her love and her tireless efforts to help students become all that they could become, multitudes of Princeton University students’ lives will never be the same..
In addition to that, she has an amazingly sweet spirit, awe-inspiring creativity and an irrepressible ability to make people feel at home. She loves color, nature, beauty, flowers, birds and being outdoors, traveling to new places, learning new things and experiencing new adventures.
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She and Dan reside in North Carolina and are the proud parents of six foster children.
