Growing The GIPL Team

The GIPL Team is growing strong! This past month we welcomed two stellar new team members who bring a passion for faithful action in service to all of Creation. Their particular skills will ensure that GIPL's mission has an expanding reach into more faith communities across Georgia. Through their service here at GIPL, allow us to help your own congregation expand its Creation care work in 2018 and beyond!Whitney Brown, Staff Associate for Communications & AdministrationWhitney just completed her first year at Candler School of Theology, where she is pursuing her Masters of Divinity. She was born and raised in Atlanta and grew up in the Baptist Church.  After a stint of exploring denominations, she landed in the Episcopal Church.  Whitney intends to utilize her seminary education to become a licensed social worker/counselor.  She has a passion for working with youth and young adults, college students exploring their faith, LGBT families, and the arts--specifically musical theatre as well as looking at connections between faith and the rest of our busy lives and world we live in.  When she’s not working, she enjoys attending concerts of all sorts, baking, hiking, and binge-watching crime dramas.Having previously worked for Agnes Scott College, Whitney is putting to good use her creative talents by coordinating GIPL’s extensive communications efforts and helping to keep the GIPL headquarters organized. Whitney calls Holy Trinity Episcopal Parish in Decatur her current church home. Codi Norred, Staff Associate for Programs & PolicyCodi comes to GIPL with an array of experiences in local, national, and international non-profit and human rights organizations as well as a deep passion for environmental stewardship. He has been involved with environmental justice campaigns and the philosophy of sustainability since college. After working with environmental organizations such as Oakleaf Mennonite Farm and Emory’s Office of Sustainability, Codi began to see how our relationship and treatment of the environment intersects with broader systems of injustice. As a result, creation care and environmental justice are core values that stem from his faith. He believes that religious institutions have a unique ability and moral obligation to ensure creation’s continued flourishing, both for its own sake and for the sake of our global neighbors.Codi holds a Masters of Divinity from Candler School of Theology at Emory University with concentrations in Justice, Peacebuilding, and Conflict Transformation (JPCT), Theology and Ethics, and Human Rights. Also holding a BA in Religion from Samford University, Codi is interested in working at the intersection of religion, human rights, ethics, and the environment. He’s excited to be working directly with congregations as a resource for a wide array of sustainability practices. When he’s not leading GIPL programs, Codi plays the drums on Sundays with the worship band at Park Avenue Baptist Church in Atlanta.Come by the GIPL office to meet these fine folks. Or, in the least, make plans to meet them at one of GIPL's big events in January!