Eric was born and raised in Virginia and has served with Cru for 25 years, including two years as Bill Bright’s traveling assistant. In addition to the U.S., he has been involved in projects to take the gospel to Venezuela, Africa, Australia, Kazakhstan, and Asia.
In 2016 Eric was named CEO of Cru Foundation. He has earned the Chartered Adviser in Philanthropy designation from the American College and enjoys helping others experience God’s pleasure in their stewardship. Eric and his wife Colleen have five children. They enjoy golf, soccer, volleyball, board games, and camping.
Bethany Ware was born in Torrance, California shortly before her family moved to Little Rock, Arkansas to join Cru staff with FamilyLife. Bethany was just 2 ½ and then at only 4 ½, Bethany repented and placed her faith in Jesus.
After graduating from high school, Bethany’s family was called by God to move to Italy to plant an evangelical church and reach Italians for Christ. After a year of cross-cultural training and ministry in Italy, both working with and ministering to Italians, Bethany moved to Orlando to join Cru in 2009 as a Donation Services Representative. Shortly thereafter, she received her bachelor’s degree in marketing. Over the years, Bethany has served on several Cru teams which has afforded her the ultimate Cru experience. Bethany now serves as Marketing Director and Donor Services Team Lead for Cru Foundation.
Bethany has been married to her husband, Kyle Ware, since 2018 and they reside together in Winter Park, Florida. Bethany is the oldest of five kids and enjoys her special bond with her family which has grown even more important since 2019, when she and her siblings lost their mom, Jeannette, to colon cancer.
Bethany enjoys serving people, but especially Cru donors. She has a heart for ministry and to see the Great Commission fulfilled. In her spare time, Bethany enjoys traveling the world, trying new restaurants, going to the beach and spending time with family.
Sully Alvarez is a native Floridian with her roots connected to the island of Puerto Rico. She was raised by a godly, amazing mom, her stepfather, and her grandparents, who were pastors for many years. Sully is newly married, she married Danny in April 2021.
Sully returned to Cru after ten years of pursuing other callings. Sully worked as a Shift Leader for a major grocery chain and as a Pre-school Teacher. At Cru, Sully also served as a Donation Verifier and Processor for almost five years before eventually returning to Cru as a Donor Relations and Gift Program Administrator for Cru Foundation. In addition to her work, Sully is a worship leader at her church.
Sully has a heart for generosity, helping donors create DAF accounts and connecting them with resources to expand their kingdom giving.
Katie grew up in a small town in northern Indiana. After attending college at Miami University (of Ohio), she went back to the Hoosier state to complete her master’s and a law degree at Indiana University. Shortly after graduation, Katie moved to central Florida to work in the General Counsel’s Office at Cru Headquarters. She served as an in-house staff attorney and later, major gift representative with the Jesus Film Project. Katie’s passion for giving and helping others achieve their goals of generosity through the wise use of charitable tax law is what brought Katie to Cru Foundation. She loves helping donors make a difference with their Kingdom giving, both now and when leaving a legacy.
Katie is married to Matt and they have two children, Micah (2009) and Hannah (2010), and a dog named Sullivan. The Brubaker family resides in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Katie enjoys reading, meeting new people, playing in the woods with her kids, travel, large family gatherings, home DIY projects, dinner parties with neighbors, and jazz music. She also serves on the board of a local nonprofit that comes alongside refugee women and teen girls as they work to make their new communities home.
Originally hailing from the great state of Texas, Ryan Harkey brings nearly 30 years of experience in the non-profit sector, including almost a decade of serving with Athletes in Action and 20 years in pastoral ministry before joining the Cru Foundation team.
Ryan is thrilled to be part of Cru Foundation, where his unwavering passion revolves around helping others to take bold steps of faith in accelerating the gospel through smarter generosity.
Ryan loves cultivating authentic relationships and believes in the profound power of connecting
with others and helping them to take steps of faith in their own spiritual journey. He deeply enjoys seeing the transformative potential of generosity being played out as people understand advanced giving concepts and how using their time, talents, and treasures for the kingdom can leave a lasting impact on eternity.
Beyond his professional life, you’ll often find Ryan relishing in the beauty of heart-to-heart conversations with loved ones, enjoying great books, and the experiences that God brings his
way. Whether it’s basking in the warmth of the sun at the beach, savoring the flavors of a delectable meal, or enjoying quality time spent with friends and family, he revels in the simple and profound moments that grace his journey.
Heidi was born and raised in Southern California. She attended Cal Poly Pomona and received a degree in Business Management. Heidi has served with Cru since 1986. She has had the opportunity to serve in the Philippines, Russia, South Africa and New Zealand.
Heidi joined the foundation in 2001. Her degree in Business Management and training as an Estate Design Specialist have equipped her to serve ministry partners well. In her spare time, she likes to read, sew, cook and visit her niece, nephew and extended family in Southern California.
Harmonee Jones
Donor Relations & Gift Program Administrator
Contact Harmonee at Harmonee.Jones@cru.org
Harmonee grew up in Orlando, Florida, and is the youngest of three children. She was raised by two amazing parents who taught her to worship God and love people. Harmonee grew up singing and worshiping alongside her family and now plays the acoustic guitar and is a worship leader at her church.
Harmonee was a team leader at Chick-Fil-A for 6 years, where she learned how to be loving, kind, and patient in serving others. She then moved on to becoming a virtual assistant to Tax and Accounting specialists, where she learned how to be organized, flexible, a researcher, and a constant student.
Harmonee is now excited to be serving alongside the amazing team at Cru Foundation as a Donor Relations and Gift Program Administrator. She is ready to serve and use the gifts God has developed in her for the glory of His name and the expansion of His kingdom.
Stacey handles the office’s behind-the-scenes tasks. She manages financial transfers, keeps track of state filings, organizes calendars, and executes special projects. Her considerable administrative experience has equipped her with the tools she needs to keep the foundation running smoothly.
Stacey and her husband, Thomas, have 2 children. In her spare time, she likes to watch documentaries, partake in her husband’s cooking, and enjoy whatever her children are doing.
Keva grew up in Atlanta, GA, with six siblings. Shortly after moving to Columbus, Ohio, Keva met a friend who introduced her to a young life led by Christ. Fascinated and influenced by her Youth for Christ city life group, Keva accepted God and allowed the Father to lead her.
After high school, Keva was ambitious to work in the industry she believed the spirit was calling her to, so she moved back to Atlanta and took on college and two full-time jobs. After graduating in 2014 as a Health Information Technologist, Keva got her head start in healthcare while representing and assisting nurses, doctors, and pharmacists.
Keva always finds ways to find fellowship and community in church, no matter the city or state. Her family relocated to Orlando, Florida, in late 2020. Keva was introduced to Cru while in the midst of praying for a career change. She describes this time as her “reintroduction to the power and mercy of God.” Keva’s passion for God’s work and servant’s heart for helping others made her journey tremendously satisfying.
In the year of my 50th spiritual birthday, I have the remarkable opportunity to serve the Kingdom with Cru for a second time through the Cru Foundation! When I came to Christ through the Campus Ministry my life and career path changed, I met Ann my wife of 48 years on our first staff assignment, then over the next 27 years we raised our family of six children as supported field staff with Cru assignments including Campus, Inner City, and Executive Ministries.
The faith building experience of ministry partner development laid the foundation for an enjoyable sequence of career opportunities: development work with corporations and foundations, higher ed, major gifts, endowments and non-cash gift planning and estates. In God’s timing all have provided a lifetime of training to serve now as Senior Gift Estate and Design Specialist for the Cru family!
Janet has enjoyed more than three fruitful decades of ministry with Cru. First as an accounting student at Missouri State University, then showing the Jesus Film in remote areas of Argentina for two summers, and finally joining full-time missionary staff in 1989. After serving in the Southwestern US, East Asia, and then at the Orlando headquarters as Cru’s Retirement Plan Administrator, she found her niche with Cru Foundation. Janet serves as a Gift and Estate Design Specialist, combining her love of people with her technical skillset.
Janet is the proud mother of five children, including a set of triplets. However, one of the triplets developed profound handicaps and went from her mother’s arms to the arms of Jesus at age six. Janet’s own journey navigating loss and a special needs child has uniquely suited her to serving donors with sensitive family dynamics.
Serving her community is a passion and joy for Janet, as she leads groups at her church and neighborhood. She enjoys traveling, connecting with friends, funny memes and exercising on her rowing machine.
A native Texan and the youngest of four siblings, Melodie is a Baylor Bear who daily lives her personal mission of encouraging people, philanthropy and prayer as she joins the Cru family. She brings over 25 years of non-profit and ministry experiences to the Cru Foundation. Specifically, Melodie developed 20+ years of knowledge working at some of the nation’s most prestigious higher education and healthcare institutions in the areas of charitable gift planning, major and principal gifts. She facilitated generous givers by arranging over $250 million of outright, deferred and testamentary gift plans.
Melodie was affectionately given the nickname “Barnabas” by her church family when she lived on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC during 2000-2003. Melodie comes alongside multiple community agencies, school partners and student leaders, like Barnabas did John Mark, when she is not working with generous givers to advance the Great Commission. Barnabas later evolved into Barnaby Girl by 2012 to reflect Melodie’s passionate missions work and social media presence evangelizing, discipling and mentoring Gen Zs, or Zoomers as they like to say. Believing and living by Matthew 6:33, 28:18-20, Luke 12:48b, Ephesians 2:10, Melodie’s personal time is still devoted to Next Gen Zoomers, age 25 years and younger.