‘Nobody in their right mind’ …

After serving 20 years at Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America (BPFNA), 1989 Furman University psychology alumna LeDayne McLeese Polaski has announced that she’ll step down from the Fellowship’s executive director post in May 2019. Under her leadership, BPFNA is lauded for its bold embrace of Hispanics on both sides of the border, and its work addressing racial justice, immigration, and gun violence, among other issues. In her remaining months with the Charlotte-based Fellowship, Polaski has much to do, says writer Jeff Brumley of Baptist News Global. He speaks to Polaski and founding BPFNA board president George Williamson who said, “None of this [progress] would have happened if it wasn’t for LeDayne because nobody in their right mind would have taken it on – and she did.”

LeDayne McLeese Polaski, M.Div, was the recipient of the 2016 Richard Furman Baptist Heritage Award, which honors a graduate who reflects Baptist ideals by thinking critically, living compassionately and making life-changing commitments.