THE REV. ANDREW YOUNG, NCC President in 2000-01 and President Elect in 1998-99, is a United Church of Christ minister.  He is Chairman of the $100 million Southern Africa Enterprise Development Fund, which provides equity investments and loans to commercially viable, private sector businesses in southern Africa. He is Co-Chairman of GoodWorks International and serves on the Board of Directors of numerous institutions, including the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Center for Non-Violence. He served three terms in Congress, and was Ambassador to the United Nations under President Carter. He served two terms as Mayor of Atlanta and was Co-Chairman of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games. A top aide to Dr. King, he was involved in the inception of the civil rights movement and served as Vice President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He staffed the NCC Youth Department in the early 1950's. More info.

BISHOP CRAIG BARRY ANDERSON was NCC's President in 1998-99, and President Elect in 1996-97.  He has served as Rector of St. Paul's School, Concord, N.H. and previously as President and Dean of General Theological Seminary, New York City. Earlier, he was 8th Bishop of South Dakota (1984-93), where he focused on ecumenical concerns, American Indian ministry, women in ministry, racism and human rights. Before his election as Bishop, he taught at the School of Theology of the University of the South, Sewanee, Tenn. (1977-84). Bishop Anderson served on a variety of committees in The Episcopal Church's House of Bishops and has been active in both the NCC and the WCC.

BISHOP MELVIN G. TALBERT, NCC President in 1996-97 and President Elect in 1994-95, was Resident Bishop of the San Francisco Area of the United Methodist Church, living in Elk Grove, Calif. He previously served as Secretary of the United Methodist Council of Bishops and Head of Communion; Bishop of the Seattle Episcopal Area, and in California pastoral appointments.   A leader in many United Methodist ministries, he served the World Methodist Council and World Council of Churches and is a long-time member of the NCC Executive Board. Bishop Talbert has led several NCC official delegations, including to China and North Korea. He chaired the Committee of Fifteen, high-level church leaders who worked from 1988-89 to reshape the Council's structure, then served on implementation groups. From 1988-91, he was an NCC Vice President and Chair of the Unity and Relationships Unit.

THE REV. DR. GORDON L. SOMMERS served as NCC President in 1994-95, and President Elect in 1992-93. He was President of the Provincial Elders' Conference of the Moravian Church, Northern Province, residing in Bethlehem, Pa. He previously was Executive Board President of the church's Eastern District (1978-86). He had served as an NCC General Assembly delegate since 1985. A former missionary in Nicaragua and Guyana, Dr. Sommers was a founding member of the Guyana Council of Churches. He has been active in Pennsylvania state ecumenism and in the World Council of Churches. His concerns include congregational life, leadership development, mission and ecumenism.