Ellen Shaffer
Director of Project Management

As Director of Project Management, Ellen serves as a link between our church-run project partners in southern Africa and supporters and friends of Forgotten Voices here in the United States. She manages much of the day to day oversight of our project partnerships in Zimbabwe and Zambia, communicating regularly with our national directors in each country. She is also responsible for ensuring that the stories, updates, prayer and praise requests from our projects are shared through a variety of mediums with supporters, donors and prayer warriors here in the United States.

Ellen joined Forgotten Voices International in 2005 as a partnership coordinator, responsible for organizing events and responding to inquiries from interested parties. From 2007-2010, Ellen served with her husband Nate as volunteer Directors of Church Relations. Together they worked to build partnerships between churches worldwide to help fight against AIDS and other crises in southern Africa. In 2010, Ellen became the second US employee of Forgotten Voices in her new role as Director of Project Management.

Q: What prompted you to join the Forgotten Voices team?

A: I grew up as part of a missionary family in Papua New Guinea and felt drawn to return to cross-cultural ministry as an adult. Initially, I thought that ministry would involve moving overseas as quickly as possible after college. Instead, the Lord has lead my husband and I to serve Him right where we are, as part of Forgotten Voices' USA staff. I take great joy in working with leaders and pastors in Zimbabwe and Zambia, and sharing their stories here in the United States. Equally exciting is seeing the blessings and life changes experienced by individuals and churches in the US as they join the global church's efforts to care for those in vulnerable situations.

More recently, Nate and I welcomed our first child into the world in February of 2010. Becoming a parent myself has only intensified my commitment to Forgotten Voices' ministry to children whose parents can no longer speak up for them.

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