- Conrad Mandsager
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Conrad Mandsager (born 18 July 1953) is an American entrepreneur and innovator who is the founder and current president and CEO of ChildVoice International, a Christian humanitarian relief and development organization seeking to restore the voices of children silenced by war.
Throughout his professional career, Mandsager has provided "on the ground" expertise to social service organizations in not for profit, for profit, and government sectors. His strong record of leadership and program development has assisted numerous organizations seeking aggressive growth in new and existing ventures that serve populations at risk.
Early Life
Mandsager was born in Bismarck, North Dakota, United States as a son of a surgeon and teacher. The following year, Mandsager’s family moved to Paris, France where his parents entered language school in preparation for a move to Cameroon, West Africa. In 1955, Mandsager’s father built and began operation of a mission hospital in Garoua Boulai, Cameroon. At age twelve, after completing his elementary education in Cameroon, Mandsager’s family moved to Iowa City, Iowa, United States.
Education
Mandsager graduated from Marshalltown High School in Marshalltown, Iowa in 1971. He went on to attend Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa on a football scholarship and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology in 1975. While at Wartburg, he was awarded an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, and from 1976 to 1977, Mandsager pursued post-graduate work in Veterinary Physiology at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.
Work
Mandsager left graduate school in 1977 to run the family farm in northern Iowa.
In 1982 he and his family moved to Jefferson, New York to manage Middlebrook Farms, an investor-owned dairy operation.
From 1985 to 1991, he advanced from State Director to National Director of Prison Fellowship Ministries, an international non-profit organization active in justice reform, victim rights, and services to prisoners, ex-prisoners, and their families. During his years with Prison Fellowship, Mandsager directed programs in 200 state and federal prisons in a 19 statewide area with a staff of 18 field directors and 11,000 volunteers. He also designed and implemented a volunteer-driven, pre-release program at minimum security prisons, which became the model for 133 programs nationally.
From 1991 to 1994, Mandsager was the Director of Field Ministry for JAF Ministries in Agoura Hills, California. JAF Ministries is an international non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating Christian ministry in the disability community through education and awareness, volunteer mobilization and training, and program development. While at JAF, Mandsager designed and launched Wheels for the World (WFTW), an international wheelchair collection and refurbishment program that has distributed over 20,000 wheelchairs to over 60 countries in the last 12 years. He also directed a research project on the church and disability, resulting in strategy and design of a national field organization.
From 1994 to 2004, Mandsager served as a Senior Consultant for Dare Mighty Things (Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Washington, DC), a consulting firm specializing in the start-up of innovative, self-sustaining social ventures, including high-level strategic planning and program development for foundations, national non-profit groups, and government agencies. His clients included the National Guard Bureau, Department of Justice, Health and Human Services, DeVos Family Foundation, World Vision, Feed the Children, Promise Keepers, Prison Fellowship International, and the Jack Eckerd Foundation. Mandsager had a number of accomplishments during his time with Dare Mighty Things, including the development and production of WorldView, a widely acclaimed audio and video assisted training curriculum for mentors of high-risk youth and directing the launch of the InnerChange Freedom Initiative, the first faith-based prison in the United States.
In 2004, Mandsager started Mandsager and Associates, a consulting practice specializing in program development and evaluation. In 2006, Conrad founded ChildVoice International in response to the millions of children whose destinies are being destroyed by war. ChildVoice's programs recognize that someone must speak for the voiceless and devastated children who often are unable even to whisper the horror of becoming young victims of brutality and inhumanity. But more than speak, ChildVoice acts on the conviction that children beaten down by war can be restored in safe communities with loving care, spiritual and psychosocial counselling, and effective education and vocational training.
Currently, ChildVoice is operating a multi-phase humanitarian development project to assist the children victims of war, abduction, and slavery in northern Uganda. This project provides direct relief for child mothers – formerly abducted girls who bore children while in captivity—and their infants through long-term rehabilitation which includes sanctuary, care, education, vocational training, and spiritual and emotional counselling. ChildVoice is also operating a number of community development projects with a focus on agriculture, health care, water and sanitation, and education.
Personal Life
Mandsager married Kathy Osterbur in 1974 . Together they have three children—Nathan, Thad, and Alison.
He and his wife currently reside in Nottingham, New Hampshire on a small farm where they raise Highland cattle.
References
External links
Categories:- Living people
- American Christians
- 1953 births
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