Executive Leadership Team

Dieda Anita Gouentoueu
CANADA
Director of Microenterprise

Anita stepped into the Director of Microenterprise in 2023. She currently lives in Canada and works remotely with her mother, Tirzah’s Legacy Leader Madeleine Gouentoueu. Anita has served with Tirzah’s Emerging Leader Program helping women know their value and worth. She coordinates the small-business training across the Francophone region.

Esme Bowers
SOUTH AFRICA
Director of Leadership

Training and leadership development for God’s purposes is Esmé’s passion. She is Tirzah’s Director of Leadership Development and serves other ministries including being the International Director of Church Engagement for the World Evangelical Alliance and a chairperson for African Women in Mission Network and the Pan African Women's Alliance. Her ministry focuses on training women leaders to know their value and recognize their callings. She also works to help reconcile the genders by teaching both men and women that God values women and has great purpose for their lives. She resides in Cape Town, South Africa with her husband who is a pastor.

Board of Directors

David Kirkland
UNITED STATES

David serves as Secretary/Treasurer of the Board. He has a 40-year corporate career in the area of Information Technology (IT) where he has managed global teams, led IT programs, and now specializes in Project Management. David's personal vision is to empower men and women to hope, learn, and grow. Toward that end, David has supported Tirzah International in various ways, beginning with its precursor organization, Women of Global Action. David and his wife Julie, a talented artist, live in Colorado Springs, Colorado where David enjoys playing tennis, trail running, and wood working. He has two adult children.

Why Tirzah? I want to bring technology possibilities and make Tirzah and its work more visible to other organizations, such as men’s ministries. I want to be a part of project management training for leaders.

Debbie Ardan Christian
UNITED STATES

Debbie has been affiliated with the Tirzah since 2002. She has a background in economic research, corporate philanthropy, and publishing. A devoted book lover, she happily handled submissions for Alive Literary Agency and acquisitions/production for Bondfire Books until retiring in 2019. Debbie and her husband, Rick, live in Black Forest, Colorado.

Why Tirzah? I have a widow’s heart that connects with the women we are serving.

Fenny Ang
SINGAPORE

Dr. Fenny Ang is a seasoned executive coach and leadership consultant with over 20 years of experience in management consulting, human resources, and business development across Asia Pacific. She holds a PhD in International Business Management from the University of South Australia, where her research focused on building interpersonal trust with cultural intelligence. Additionally, she has earned a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Western Michigan University. She has a deep commitment to coaching senior executives and millennial leaders, with a focus on cultural intelligence, team building, and leadership transitions.

Why Tirzah? I have been with Tirzah since her infancy and I am still with Tirzah because I get front row seat to see how Tirzah’s story is literally being lived out, time and time again against all odds- Tirzah is this young woman who was not afraid of Moses to demand (quite politely) entitlement to her father’s land. This is quintessentially what Tirzah is about - to be the voice for the voiceless, to rise up and encouraging the World to rise with her.

Jessica Thompson
UNITED STATES

Jessica is Vice-Chair of the Board. Her drive to help women globally began on her first trip to Africa where she met a woman named Gaudence, whose story inspired Jessica to start her own business to help build microenterprise opportunities for women. She now owns her own health and wellness company with Arbonne International and is a National Vice President. With over a decade of experience in mentoring and coaching women in the business arena, she is passionate about using her knowledge to help women all over the world use their God-given gifts. Jessica is a mother of four and wife of the senior pastor at Pulpit Rock Church, Thomas Thompson, in Colorado Springs.

Why Tirzah? I have a passion for impacting women. I want my colleagues and friends to know and love the Tirzah story like I do.