02.02.2016
Compassion International President and CEO Santiago “Jimmy” Mellado will be the keynote speaker for Judson University’s annual Community Prayer Breakfast, which will be held from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Wednesday, May 11, in the Lindner Fitness Center (1151 N. State St., Elgin).
In 2013, Santiago “Jimmy” Mellado was named president and CEO of Compassion International, a Christian child sponsorship organization dedicated to the long-term development of children living in poverty around the world.
Having been born in El Salvador, Central America, and reared in seven countries, Mellado has experienced firsthand the impact local churches can have on their communities.
Prior to joining Compassion, he was president of the Willow Creek Association (WCA), a global ministry dedicated to helping local churches thrive. During his 20-year tenure, WCA’s worldwide ministry income grew from $2 million to more than $20 million and membership grew from 860 churches to well over 7,000 churches.
In 1995, Mellado partnered with Bill Hybels, senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church, to launch and host The Global Leadership Summit. The Summit is recognized as an engaging, annual not-for-profit event created to address the need for high-caliber leadership training in local churches and among other organizations worldwide. It draws wisdom from corporate CEOs, heads of state, academic leaders and others.
Mellado graduated cum laude from Southern Methodist University, with a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. He earned his MBA from the Harvard Business School.
An accomplished athlete, he was a member of the 1983 NCAA Division I Indoor and Outdoor National Championship team at SMU, where he competed in the decathlon and held the school record. After college, he went on to place fourth at the 1987 Pan American Games and 26th in the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.
In addition to highlighting Mellado’s inspiring speech, the Community Prayer Breakfast will honor one local civic leader with the D. Ray Wilson Volunteer Service Award, which is presented annually to the candidate who has contributed to the greater good within the greater Elgin community by voluntarily serving others’ physical, emotional, intellectual or spiritual needs. Nominations for the D. Ray Wilson Award can be submitted at www.judsonu.edu/prayerbreakfast/nominations through Wednesday, April 6.
Judson University’s Community Prayer Breakfast welcomes more than 300 Fox Valley volunteers and civic leaders each year. Tickets for the May 11 event will be $25, with online registration available beginning Tuesday, March 1, at www.judsonu.edu/prayerbreakfast.
Judson University is a fully accredited, private Christian university of the liberal arts, sciences and professions. Judson offers degrees in more than 65 different majors/minors for traditional, graduate, and adult students. Judson University ranks consistently among the Top Tier of Regional Colleges in the Midwest by U.S. News & World Report and was recognized recently as a “Christian College of Distinction” for the 2015-2016 academic year. With an academically challenging environment and encouraging spiritual community, Judson shapes lives that shape the world.