[1]DENVER (BP)–Colorado-based Promise Keepers announced Oct. 1 that Thomas S. Fortson Jr. is its newest president and CEO.
Fortson, who previously served as the organization’s executive vice president of administration and operations, succeeds Promise Keepers founder Bill McCartney, who resigned to spend more time with his wife and family.
Fortson serves as a deacon at Riverside Baptist, a Southern Baptist church in Denver, and is also helping plant a church, Journey Christian Fellowship, a spokesman for Promise Keepers said.
Fortson was elected unanimously by the board of trustees, Promise Keepers said. Fortson said he plans to increase the organization’s reach in the U.S. and throughout the world.
“If I could paint a big picture of where I think PK needs to go, it’s to build on our foundation in the US and to reach the world,” a news release quoted Fortson saying. “That’s our vision — men transformed worldwide. It may take a little time to get there, but God’s heart is for the world and that’s where He’s called us.”
Before joining PK, Fortson spent many years in corporate America, serving as an administrator at General Motors Corporation in Detroit and as the vice president of human resources at Edwards Baking Company in Atlanta.
[2]Fortson has also served as dean at the Atlanta Center for Theological Studies and as president of Next Step Consultants, a Christian consulting group also based in Atlanta.
Board chairman Alonzo Short said that Fortson has guided Promise Keepers through touch economic times.
“Tom Fortson has managed the operation of Promise Keepers since 1996, through challenging times and multiple changes, and we stand strong as a ministry today, thanks in large part to his steady hand,” Short said, according to the release.
Fortson received his doctorate in administration and higher education from Michigan State University. He currently serves on the board of trustees of the Moody Bible Institute and Carver Foreign Missions. In addition, he is a motivational speaker and speaks regularly for Campus Crusade for Christ Family Life Seminars with his wife, Toni. They are the parents of three adult children.
Promise Keepers has an estimated $27 million budget and currently employs 70 full-time and 15 seasonal staff members, the release said. More than 160,000 men will attend a Promise Keepers conference this year, it said.
–30–
(BP) photo posted in the BP Photo Library at http://www.bpnews.net. Photo title: THOMAS S. FORTSON JR.