Christine Leahy
Christine Leahy, the founder and CEO of Women Stand Up!, has a heart for serving the kinds of women many church's and women's ministries aren't reaching - the hurting and abused and depressed and broken-hearted. Modern day misfits just like her. But it can't be her day job. Not just yet, that is.
Because Christine is currently serving our nation as a paralegal and non-commissioned officer in the United States Army. Can you think of the last church speaker you had who's low crawled under barbed wire while under live fire and thrown live hand grenades? Don't worry, it's not part of her event!
For the last several years though, Christine has been just as busy under the lights on stage as she's been on the firing range. Each fall for the last 3 years, she's been selected as the main narrator in the Army's multi-million dollar production "Spirit of America" celebrating America's rich military heritage. She travels across the country with a cast of hundreds of her fellow soldiers from "The Old Guard" performing in public arenas before standing room only crowds of 10-15,000.
Christine has also been selected three years running to perform before 4,000 of the Army's leaders at the Annual Conference of the Association of the United States Army, which was televised on C-SPAN. The audience included Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, Army Chief of Staff General George Casey, and Afghanistan Commander General David Petraeus. Just this past June, Christine was the Master of Ceremonies at the 235th Army Birthday Ball attended by 2,700 Army leaders, defense contractors and guests and was televised globally on the Pentagon's cable network. Talk about pressure under fire.
Closer to home, Christine started an all female soldier bible study for the women serving their country from her post. Prior to serving in her present capacity as a paralegal in the Army, Christine spent 10 years in various positions in judicial affairs and residence life at a number of colleges and universities. Before that, she attended Central Michigan University and Illinois State University where she earned a bachelors degree in Psychology, a masters degree in Higher Education Administration, and completed a year and a half of studies towards her doctorate in Clinical Psychology.
In her spare time, Christine stays involved in her husbands ministry, BraveHearts, traveling and sharing the stage with him to offer a woman's perspective on issues like pornography, body image issues, and the sexualization of the culture. When her Army contract ends in September 2011, she plans on going into full-time ministry both traveling and speaking with Michael and BraveHearts and developing her vision for a new kind of women's ministry called "Women Stand Up!" They currently live in the Washington, D.C. area.
Christine Leahy, the founder and CEO of Women Stand Up!, has a heart for serving the kinds of women many church's and women's ministries aren't reaching - the hurting and abused and depressed and broken-hearted. Modern day misfits just like her. But it can't be her day job. Not just yet, that is.
Because Christine is currently serving our nation as a paralegal and non-commissioned officer in the United States Army. Can you think of the last church speaker you had who's low crawled under barbed wire while under live fire and thrown live hand grenades? Don't worry, it's not part of her event!
For the last several years though, Christine has been just as busy under the lights on stage as she's been on the firing range. Each fall for the last 3 years, she's been selected as the main narrator in the Army's multi-million dollar production "Spirit of America" celebrating America's rich military heritage. She travels across the country with a cast of hundreds of her fellow soldiers from "The Old Guard" performing in public arenas before standing room only crowds of 10-15,000.
Christine has also been selected three years running to perform before 4,000 of the Army's leaders at the Annual Conference of the Association of the United States Army, which was televised on C-SPAN. The audience included Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, Army Chief of Staff General George Casey, and Afghanistan Commander General David Petraeus. Just this past June, Christine was the Master of Ceremonies at the 235th Army Birthday Ball attended by 2,700 Army leaders, defense contractors and guests and was televised globally on the Pentagon's cable network. Talk about pressure under fire.
Closer to home, Christine started an all female soldier bible study for the women serving their country from her post. Prior to serving in her present capacity as a paralegal in the Army, Christine spent 10 years in various positions in judicial affairs and residence life at a number of colleges and universities. Before that, she attended Central Michigan University and Illinois State University where she earned a bachelors degree in Psychology, a masters degree in Higher Education Administration, and completed a year and a half of studies towards her doctorate in Clinical Psychology.
In her spare time, Christine stays involved in her husbands ministry, BraveHearts, traveling and sharing the stage with him to offer a woman's perspective on issues like pornography, body image issues, and the sexualization of the culture. When her Army contract ends in September 2011, she plans on going into full-time ministry both traveling and speaking with Michael and BraveHearts and developing her vision for a new kind of women's ministry called "Women Stand Up!" They currently live in the Washington, D.C. area.
