This week, Jeff Pickering, Chelsea Patterson Sobolik, and Travis Wussow are honored to welcome Gayle Manchin, Chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom to discuss USCIRF’s recently released annual report.
Comprised of nine commissioners, USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan federal body that is principally responsible for reviewing the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and making policy recommendations to the President, Secretary of State, and Congress. The President and leadership of both political parties in the Senate and House of Representatives appoint USCIRF Commissioners.
Gayle Manchin is an educator who has worked in Marion County Schools at the secondary level, on the faculty of Fairmont State University in Developmental Education, and was the Director of the university's first Community Service Learning Program. From 2005-2010, Gayle Manchin served as West Virginia's First Lady. She was appointed by the Governor to serve as a member of the State Board of Education, where she also served as President. She also served for one year as West Virginia’s Cabinet Secretary for the Office of Education and the Arts. At the national level, Gayle Manchin has been President of the National Association of State Boards of Education. She was appointed by then Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to the Federal Improvement for Post-Secondary Education Board in 2010. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of The Ford Theatre in Washington, D.C. Gayle Manchin has spoken at the state and national levels on the challenges of rural education, poverty, and student achievement. She holds a Master of Arts in Reading and a Bachelor of Arts in Language Arts and Education from West Virginia University, and a master's specialization in Educational Technology Leadership from Salem International University.