President
David R. Gemmer
David Gemmer is the grandson of H. C. Gemmer and the son of H. Robert Gemmer. He’s been on the Board since 1977 and also serves on the Finance Committee. He is retired after 35 years in appellate law in the Tampa Bay area. The last 13 years of his career he represented death row inmates in post-conviction relief. He and his wife Marsh live in a retirement community in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Executive Vice-President & Treasurer
Elden Hartman
Elden Hartman, of Indianapolis, is a former attorney and retired federal law enforcement officer. He has a B.A. from University of Indianapolis and J.D. from Indiana University School of Law at Indianapolis He has been on the board of directors and served as Treasurer of the H.C. Gemmer Family Christian Foundation since 1982. He has served as the Foundation's Executive Vice-President since 1988, succeeding his father, the late Dr. Grover L. Hartman. Elden currently works part-time for the Security Department of AES Indiana.
Vice-President
Rev. John Hinant
John has been on the board of the Gemmer Foundation since 1995. He lives in Indianapolis with his wife Elyce.
board development committee
Rev. Worth Hartman, M. DIV, BCC, LMHC
Worth Hartman, of Indianapolis, is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ (UCC) and a recorded minister in the Society of Friends (Quaker). He retired in 2022 after 30 years of ministry in a variety of health care ministries as a board certified chaplain. He has a B.S. degree from Earlham College (1975) and a M.Div. from Earlham School of Religion (1987). He was recorded as a Friends Minister in 1990. He has served on the board of the H.C. Gemmer Family Christian Foundation since 1988 and is chair of the Board Development Committee. He has had a lifelong passion for issues of peace, eceumenical and interfaith cooperation, hunger and economic development, legislative and policy advocacy and mental health advocacy. He has been active with AFSC, Church World Service, United Senior Action, Habitat for Humanity, the Peace Learning Center, Faith in Indiana/Act Indiana, and the UCC Just Peace Church Network.
Secretary
Yvonne Dilling
Yvonne has been a member of the foundation board since filling her mother's seat in 2011, and also presently serves on the Board Development Committee. In the mid 1980s, she met the Gemmers through the Church of the Brethren as she advocated for peace in Central America. Yvonne’s passion for peace and sustainable international development is grounded in her experience as a Caritas volunteer working in Salvadoran refugee camps located in Honduras. She gave testimony to her eye witness experience of the war in the award-winning book “In Search of Refuge” published by Herald Press in 1984. In subsequent years she gave leadership to Witness for Peace and the Pledge of Resistance, then to the Church of the Brethren Latin America/Caribbean Office and through them with the National Council of Churches Committee on the Caribbean and Latin America. She served on several boards of non profit groups focused on peace in Central America. From 1999-2006 she lived and worked in rural El Salvador.
She currently lives in an intentional neighborhood in San Antonio, Texas and works with Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers in Mission Promotion and Education.
rev. david vargas
Rev. David Vargas joined the Gemmer Foundation in 2013. He is President Emeritus of the Division of Overseas Ministries (DOM), Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada, where he served as Executive for Latin America and Caribbean, Vice President, and President and Co-Executive Officer of Global Ministries, a common witness with the Wider Church Ministries of the United Church of Christ. His 28 years of service with this church entity provided Vargas the opportunity to travel extensively, work with partner churches and ecumenical organizations in many countries, and experience first-hand the social, economic, political and religious realities and challenges affecting the life of human beings throughout the world.
Before joining DOM/Global Ministries, Vargas led the Hispanic Ministries of the Disciples of Christ, providing programs and services for congregations and pastors throughout the United States. Also, he provided pastoral leadership to three congregations in his native Puerto Rico.
Vargas has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Puerto Rico, a Master of Divinity from the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico; and pursued post-graduate studies at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago. He was ordained in February 1970, by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Puerto Rico.
Sandra Gourdet
Sandra Gourdet is a retired ordained minister with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). She served as a mission co-worker as teacher and pastor on the continent of Africa and in Haiti for 33 years. She served in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, eSwatini (formerly Swaziland) and in Haiti. She was the Executive for Africa of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ from 2005-2014. Her job was to strengthen and maintain the relationships with these two US denominations and the partner churches/organizations in 14 countries as well as supervise the mission staff. She was a member of the Board of Directors for Church World Service for 6 years and also served as a board member for the Washington Office on Africa. In addition to the H. C. Gemmer Family Christian Foundation board, she is currently on the Congo American Bridge board. She resides in Indianapolis with her husband, Daniel.
tia manson, j.d.
Tia Manson is a 10th Grade Special Education Teacher at Kipp Indy Legacy High School in Indianapolis, Indiana. She also holds an Indiana Educator’s License in Government and Citizenship. Ms. Manson has taught at both the middle school and high school level for the past twenty-one years serving both students and the community at- large. Over the years, she received several district awards recognizing her achievements as an outstanding teacher leader.
Ms. Manson received dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Political Science and English from Howard University in Washington D.C. in 1984. She also received a Juris Doctorate degree from Howard University School of Law in 1987. She joined the Gemmer Foundation board in 2015.
Currently, Ms. Manson serves as the Chair of the Trustee Board and a member of the Executive Board at New Zion Tabernacle Church in Indianapolis. She has one daughter and one grandson.
Erick "Rick" Reisinger
Erick (Rick) D. Reisinger retired as President of Board of Church Extension, dba Disciples Church Extension Fund on December 31, 2021. Reisinger served Church Extension for more than 45 years in the areas of finance, loans, asset and liability management, and congregational consulting. In addition to his experience and his lifelong relationship with many aspects and entities with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), he brought to the ministry a deep understanding of the intricacies of church building planning and fundraising.
Reisinger holds a B.S. degree in business administration and economics from Culver-Stockton College in Canton, MO and an Honorary Doctorate of Ministry from Bethany College, Bethany, WV. He currently serves on the boards of the United Church of Christ Insurance Board, World Convention of Churches of Christ and National City Christian Church Foundation. He joined the Gemmer Foundation board in 2016 and serves on the Finance Committee.
ANDREW MCCUTCHAN
Gemmer Foundation Board Members Group Photo Taken November 19, 2022 (Rick Reisinger Missing)