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Andrew Q. Hendren

Andrew Q. Hendren

General Secretary and Chief Executive Officer

Andy is the general secretary and chief executive officer of Wespath Benefits and Investments, which administers benefit plans for over 100,000 participants serving at United Methodist-affiliated organizations and is the largest reporting faith-based pension fund in the world. Wespath also is a global leader in sustainable investment stewardship, managing benefit plan assets as well as endowment and foundation assets of numerous Methodist-affiliated organizations. Reporting directly to Wespath’s board of directors, Andy leads Wespath’s enterprise efforts and fiduciary functions.

Andy applies a deep understanding of church values, regulatory frameworks and societal trends to strategic planning, organizational decision-making, and the evolution of benefits and investments products and services for faith-based organizations. He has long-standing relationships with stakeholders throughout The United Methodist Church, across a diversity of faiths, and among multiple government and secular business arenas. His expertise includes United Methodist polity, ecumenical cooperation, government relations and employee benefits law (particularly church benefit plans).

Andy joined Wespath in 2004 and has served in multiple positions. Prior to assuming the general secretary/CEO role in 2022, he was Wespath’s general counsel/chief legal and governance officer, as well as corporate secretary. Previous Wespath roles included associate general counsel and assistant general counsel.

Andy serves on the Steering Committee of the Church Alliance (a coalition of nearly 40 church benefit programs) and on the board of directors of the Church Benefits Association (a multi-denominational coalition whose members manage over $100 billion in benefit plan assets). He served in leadership roles in the Church Alliance from 2014 through 2020. Through his work with the Church Alliance, Andy periodically engages in policy-setting dialogues with Congressional members and legislative/committee staff, as well as staff at many regulatory agencies.

Earlier employers include Sidley Austin LLP and a clerkship for the Honorable Chief Justice William Ray Price (Supreme Court of Missouri). Andy has a juris doctor from the University of California at Berkeley School of Law, a master’s degree in Economics from Iowa State University, and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Truman State University. 

Bill Kavanaugh

Bill Kavanaugh

Chief Operating Officer

Bill joined Wespath Benefits and Investments in 2016. As chief operating officer, he manages Wespath’s overall operations, resources, policies and strategic direction, including Wespath’s long-term strategic plan development and implementation. As CEO of our Wespath Institutional Investments subsidiary (WII), Bill has overall accountability for WII’s goals and objectives, as prescribed by the WII Board.

Before joining Wespath, Bill worked at Allstate Insurance Company where he held the dual role of senior vice president, Life and Retirement Distribution and president and chief executive officer, Allstate Financial Services, LLC. Prior to that, he spent 10 years with Securian Financial Group.

Bill received his master’s degree in financial services from The American College and his bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of North Florida. He also has received certification as a Certified Financial Planner™, Chartered Financial Consultant, Chartered Life Underwriter and Accredited Estate Planner.

Eileen Kane

Eileen Kane

Chief Financial and Strategy Officer

Eileen has worked at Wespath Benefits and Investments since 1987 and serves as chief financial and strategy officer (CFSO). As CFSO, Eileen leads Wespath’s benefits administration transformation and strategic governance for the organization’s broader business plan, while also overseeing the accounting and finance division.

Eileen has held multiple positions at Wespath, most recently chief financial and information officer, where she was responsible for overseeing accounting and forecasting, technology, information systems, project management and data analytics. Previous Wespath roles include managing director of information and project services, managing director of the enterprise project management office, and controller.

Eileen earned her MBA in strategy, execution and valuation from DePaul University and a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Eastern Illinois University.

Dave Zellner

Dave Zellner

Chief Investment Officer

Dave has been with Wespath since 1997. As chief investment officer (CIO), he is responsible for managing the investment team, comprised of investment management, impact investments, institutional investment services and sustainable investment stewardship. This includes serving as CIO of each of Wespath’s subsidiaries, with responsibility for executing their respective investment programs as directed by their investment policies. Dave provides primary strategic investment direction and oversight for our Wespath Institutional Investments (WII) subsidiary.

Former employers include Shell Oil Company, where he managed equity portfolios for Shell’s retirement plans, and Investment Research Company (an investment management firm) where he was a portfolio manager and responsible for managing the firm’s investment operations.

Dave received his MBA from the University of Houston and his bachelor’s degree in finance from Louisiana State University. He is a founding signatory and co-author of the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment, as well as a founding representative of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board’s (SASB) Investor Advisory Group. Dave serves as the chair of FaithInvest, which is a U.K.-based nonprofit that helps religious groups around the world to invest in line with their values.

Sheila Saegh Henretta

Sheila Saegh Henretta

Chief Legal Officer

Sheila is Wespath’s chief legal officer and oversees the Legal and Compliance and Internal Audit departments, while also serving as Wespath’s corporate secretary, supporting the Wespath Board of Directors and coordinating governance of Wespath’s subsidiaries. She joined Wespath in November 2020 as deputy general counsel.

Sheila has extensive experience with financial services and securities law regulations, corporate finance and acquisition transactions, and pension plans. She came to Wespath from the Options Clearing Corporation, and prior to that served as the director of banking for the State of Illinois and as general counsel of the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget. She began her career in mergers and acquisitions at Jones Day.

Sheila received a juris doctor degree from the Case Western Reserve University School of Law and her bachelor’s degree in Economics from The Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania.

Bryan Mjaanes

Bryan Mjaanes

Chief Information and Technology Officer

As chief information and technology officer (CITO), Bryan oversees strategy and leadership for all aspects of information technology, governance and security, the Project Management Office (PMO), and the development and implementation of key information technology initiatives in support of Wespath’s business objectives. He joined Wespath in January 2022. Most recently, he served as vice president of IT and chief information officer at Vermont Mutual Insurance Group, where he oversaw execution of comprehensive systems modernization and IT cultural transformation. He is a certified Scrum master and has extensive experience leading complex IT and business initiatives.

Bryan received a bachelor of science degree from the University of Wisconsin and completed post-graduate coursework on artificial intelligence from Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management.

Board of Directors

Chairperson

Bishop Robert Schnase
Rio Texas

Vice-Chairperson

Bishop Paul Leeland
Western North Carolina

Recording Secretary

Rev. Tracy Bass
Eastern Pennsylvania

  • Rev. Nate Berneking, Missouri
  • Rev. Dr. Brenda Biler, Virginia
  • Christopher Davis*, Western North Carolina
  • Necia Dexter, North Texas
  • Jean Edin, Minnesota
  • Celeste Eubanks, Alabama-West Florida
  • Rev. Joel Fitzgerald, Michigan
  • John Goodwin, New Mexico
  • Kevin Goodwin, Peninsula-Delaware
  • Dr. Will Green*, New England
  • Rev. Jan Griffith, Illinois Great Rivers
  • Stacie Hawkins, Texas
  • Glenn Heisey, Susquehanna
  • Steve Johnson*, North Texas
  • Teresa Keese, Rio Texas
  • John Kellington*, West Ohio
  • Herman Lightsey, South Carolina
  • Irwin Loud*, Northern Illinois
  • Robby Lowry, North Carolina
  • Tonya Manning*, Western North Carolina
  • Liz Mariano, Philippines
  • Jana Milford*, Mountain Sky
  • Rev. Matthew Miofsky, Missouri
  • Rev. Dr. Jeonghyun Park, California-Nevada
  • Rev. Tom Parkinson, Western Pennsylvania
  • Mathew Pinson, North Georgia
  • Neal Purcell, North Georgia
  • Rev. Elizabeth Ingram Schindler, Pacific Northwest
  • Tim Smith*, New England
  • Rev. Dr. Gray Southern, North Carolina
  • Mike Spangler, West Ohio
  • Lynn Staner*, North Georgia
  • David Stotts, Mississippi
  • Cheryl Tillman, Baltimore-Washington
  • Rev. Dr. Ed Tomlinson, North Georgia
  • Jessica Vittorio, North Texas
  • Neal Wise, Virginia

* Non-Board (at-large) Committee Member

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