Governing Board

Melissa Rycroft currently serves as the Assistant Clerk for Upper Susquehanna Quarterly Meeting and Clerk of the Board of Trustees for Greenwood Friends School. Previously, she was the Presiding Clerk for Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. She is also a member of Pennsylvania Council of Churches Board of Directors and is a long-standing volunteer at Fowler Camp and Retreat Center in Speculator, New York. Melissa has been a staff member at Bucknell University since 1994, where she works as a Client and Application Support Specialist in Information Technology. Melissa lives in Muncy, Pennsylvania, with her partner of thirty-eight years and their seven cats, and in her downtime, she finds her balance while relaxing at her remote cabin.

Born in Philadelphia, David grew up surrounded by Quaker institutions in Bucks County, PA, but didn’t attend a meeting until the winter of 1971 when he worshiped with Princeton (NJ) Meeting as a college freshman. He first attended the FGC Gathering at Berea, KY in 1975. Since then, his roles of service to the Religious Society of Friends have included committee work and clerkships for FGC, Intermountain Yearly Arizona Half-yearly, and both Tempe & Byberry Monthly Meetings. He has a 50-year Aikido practice, runs a Tempe-based dojo with his wife Roni Burrows, and serves as national board Secretary for Aikido Kokikai Federation USA. Since retirement from the Maricopa County Community Colleges, he is volunteering as a literacy tutor for young boys of color and is trying to learn to play the violin.

Kri Burkander is a convinced Friend, originally from beautiful Bucks County, Pennsylvania, currently living in Denver, Colorado with her family. She currently serves as the Friend in Residence for the annual Gathering’s high school program. She has over twenty years' experience serving Friends in various clerking roles, including recording for monthly and yearly meetings as well as FGC's Central Committee, and as a past presiding clerk of Princeton (NJ) Friends Meeting.

Retired Physician & convinced Friend; attending Schuylkill Monthly Meeting since 1984 (PhlYM) near Philadelphia. Former monthly meeting clerk, FGC Presiding Clerk, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Co-clerk, 2005 Gathering Co-clerk and FGC Personnel Committee Clerk. Currently FGC Personnel Committee Assistant Clerk/acting clerk and Clerk of PhlYM Governance Advisory Committee. National Council of Churches’ Health Task Force co-chair. Former Medical Director of Specialty Medicine Group & VP of Rockingham Hospital Medical Group as well as member of the hospital Medical Executive Committee. Former President of The Lung Consultants (TLC) medical practice. Currently living in Elkins Park, near Philadelphia, with Jean-Marie Prestwidge Barch, my wife of more than 55 years.

Margaret has previously served on Central Committee and as a Junior Gathering leader for 3-year olds. She has attended the Friday White Friends Confronting Racism group for the past 5 years. She holds a concern for FGC's spiritual deepening ministry, young adults, and Friends of Color. She is a member of Asheville Friends Meeting's and active on both monthly meeting and SAYMA committees (Southern Appalachian Yearly Meeting and Association). She is trained in both medical and mental health nursing and clinical informatics (understanding of workflow, databases, and project management).

Daquanna Harrison is a Quaker writer, witness, and spiritual guide whose work centers on the "Prophetic Action" required for true liberation. Grounded in the Quaker testimony of the Inward Light and her identity as a Black, Queer, Gullah-Geechee woman, she challenges institutions to move beyond comfort and toward "Simple, Brave, and Outlandish" acts of justice. Daquanna is a part of Adelphi Friends and Baltimore Yearly Meeting and nationally she serves as a catalyst for restorative work, focusing on mini-reparations and the dismantling of dominant supremacy within spiritual spaces. She is a dedicated truth-teller, using history and spiritual depth to ask core spiritual questions: "Is our silence a sanctuary or a shield?," "Whose comfort are we choosing?," and "Will we answer the call to disrupt?". Daquanna finds joy in good food, being cozy, being an anime mom, and bodaciously living her life fully as she chooses!

tom's from Minnesota, has 12 siblings, mother is enrolled Standing Rock lakota oyate, & served in the US navy as a russian & farsi linguist in the Persian gulf, Indian ocean, & Spain. His chosen education is in languages, including spanish, religious studies, & religious leadership, & lives next to Nashville w/wife, kids, animals. He leads the TN Ancient Sites Conservancy & is active with bbipoc friends, decolonizing quakers, nontheist friends, & co-clerks the FGC Institutional Assessment on Racism Implementation committee.

Asma Roshi is a member of Orlando Monthly Meeting and has served as a high school clerk for Southeastern Yearly Meeting for several years. Her introduction to the larger Quaker world was through attending FGC, more specifically, the first YAY gathering in 2021. From then, she served as a high school clerk for the following gatherings, as well as Co-Clerk of FGC's 2025 YAY Gathering. These positions have opened her eyes to all that Quakers are doing across the country and have given her new communities and meaningful connections. She hopes to help others gain the same experiences and joys through her service on the Governance Board.

I have been an educator for over a decade (since 2013) including 6 years teaching high school and 5 teaching college earth science. As a geologist, I have a gift for describing and investigating changes across large periods of time, which I have and will continue to apply towards engaging with young adults about the ongoing and future needs of the Society of Friends. I am a researcher of changes to the natural and built environment, including the impact of social norms, consensus, and terminology on the perception of collective knowledge.

Lee Andrew has previously served on the Long Range Conference Planning Committee, Site Selection Committee for the Gathering, and the FGC Governance Implementation Working Group.

Gavin serves as a Southeastern Yearly Meeting representative for the Friends World Committee for Consultation and served on its affiliated Young Adult Friends planning committee. Gavin works with vulnerable populations within his Central Florida community as a social worker and as a mutual aid organizer. He is a queer singer-songwriter and a speculative fiction author, having written "Prism and the Red Wolves" with input from members of his monthly meeting. Gavin lives in Orlando, Florida.

Karen is retired, having spent 18 years as a stay-at-home mom, then 20 as a part-time library clerk. She has attended the Gathering regularly for many years, and has been involved in FGC Governance since the late 1990s. She currently serves as a co-clerk of Long Range Conference Planning, and is also active in New York Yearly Meeting and Bulls Head-Oswego Monthly Meeting. Karen lives in the valley of The River That Flows Both Ways, which the English colonists re-named Hudson.

Since 2011, Barry has served as FGC’s General Secretary (Executive Director). He provides Spirit-grounded servant leadership to fulfill FGC’s mission. This includes service to our affiliated yearly and monthly meetings. Barry is the co-author of the Pendle Hill pamphlet No. 460 “On Vocal Ministry.” He also wrote “Advancing Quaker Spirituality in the Twenty-First Century,” an article in Friends Journal. Barry lives in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.