The Board of Directors consists of three to seven member-servant leaders of good standing who were nominated for the Board of Directors by the Member Board Trustees and selected as a Director by the Board of Directors. The Chair of the Board is an ordained Awakening Together Minister. The primary purpose of the Board of Directors is to oversee the Member Board Trustees to ensure the Awakening Together purpose and values remain in the highest position of consideration in all organization-level decision making including decisions made in the management of day-to-day affairs.
Our Board of Directors are:
Rev. Joanne Schneider
Joanne has been on a personal spiritual path for quite some time. In 2009, she was ordained through Pathways of Light. In 2016, she was ordained through Awakening Together. She has been involved in Gentle Healing since January 2017. Joanne works as university faculty where one of her roles is to chair a board of researchers who review research for the protection of human subjects. This board considers both safety and ethics. Joanne serves as the Chair-Minister of the Board. She was re-elected to the Board of Directors in October 2024.
~ ~ ~
Rev. Kelly Barber
Kelly first became conscious of a spiritual path when she was divinely led to the beautiful healing of 12 Steps to help with a drinking problem. It was there where she gained an understanding of dependence on a loving presence that began to invade all aspects of her life. Always a seeker, she discovered Awakening Together and Regina and has felt at home since. Kelly completed MPP in 2015, participates in Gentle Healing Year 2 and helps facilitate Movie Watchers Group. Kelly is Human Resource Manager for a non profit company that provides services for individuals with intellectual disabilities in a residential setting. She was born and raised in the beautiful state of Idaho and continues to live there her husband Jim, their two dogs Pete and Oscar and the newest member of the family Missy the feline. Kelly serves as Vice-Chair and Secretary. Elected to the Board of Directors in November 2020.
~ ~ ~
Ron Raitz
Ron grew up in a small Georgia town and in a deeply religious Seventh Day Adventist family and almost went into the ministry before becoming disillusioned. He became actively involved with a mega Methodist Church after his two children were born. In 2013 he started his non-religious spiritual journey after unsuccessfully trying to prove his wife was wrong about “all” of the new testament not being the “word of God”. The progression of Neale Walsch, Hay House speakers and A Course In Miracles followed. He started an ACIM group and started working with Jennifer Hadley. Then discovered Inner Ramana and Nisargadatta which changed his path. He felt the Awakening Together platform and core principles most aligned with his practice. He has been a member of three non-profit boards, owns a tax consulting company, is married and has two college age children. He serves as Awakening Together’s Treasurer. Elected to the Board of Directors in May 2019.
~ ~ ~
Rev. Beverly Toporowski has been an AT member since 2016 and participates in Weekly Gatherings in the sanctuary. She is a Barbara Brennan School of Healing graduate, Science of Mind Practitioner, and Awakening Together ordained minister. She began her spiritual journey in her teen years and grew up the daughter of a Methodist minister. Her journey led her to explore God in a completely different way. Her interest in spiritual healing led her to Barbara Brennan. She soon became interested in the teachings of Eckhart Tolle, A Course In Miracles, and Ernest Holmes who she studied at the Center For Conscious Living in Moorestown, NJ. She graduated from the MPP program in 2019. She is currently a physician practicing Family Medicine in New Jersey where she resides with her husband Dave and daughters, Nia and Sana. Elected to the Board of Directors in June 2022.
~ ~ ~
Andy Walker
Andy grew up in the Catholic Church but struggled to relate to its dogma and rituals along the way. His spiritual journey was sparked as a graduate student after reading The Phenomenon of Man by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, which described human evolution as a process culminating in the unification of consciousness. His internal guidance – the simple quiet listening to the resonance of his own inner being – led him to investigate various spiritual authors, teachings, philosophies, and practices along the way. He re-discovered ACIM in 2007, and its non-dual teachings reverberated profoundly during the ensuing years. In 2015, apparently ready to take a new important step on his spiritual path, he attended his first ever large-scale spiritual gathering – an ACIM conference in NYC, where he met Regina Dawn Akers and learned more about her books, online gatherings, and spiritual teachings. He continues to strongly resonate with the teachings and practices of Awakening Together, especially its teachings around paying attention to and trusting one’s own inner intuition above any external source. Andy is married, has two adult age daughters, and spends most of the year living in Southern Spain. Elected to the Board of Directors in November 2020.
~~~
Elaine Wilson
Elaine was raised in rural
