Written by: Ashley Petress
Ten years ago, when Jeffery and I started Second Chance Global, we knew God had given us a vision that was much bigger than us. Our vision was simple, but expansive: to maximize the development of each person to impact the world for Jesus.
At the time, we were only serving in Haiti, but even then, we believed the vision would stretch far beyond one country and reach more people than we could ever imagine. And over the last ten years, God has done exactly that.
He has used my gifts, along with the gifts of an incredible board, staff, ambassadors, partners, and supporters, to grow Second Chance Global into something far beyond what we could have built on our own.
One thing has remained consistent throughout the journey: God continues to pour out vision, and I continue to feel called to cast it.
A few years ago, I began sensing that the way I served this vision was going to change.
Shortly after our seven-year anniversary, as we launched our Three-Year Journey of Impact, I started feeling a tension in my heart. I sensed that God was beginning to narrow my role, not because my assignment with Second Chance Global was ending, but because He wanted me to lean more fully into the gifts He had specifically given me.
I began recognizing more clearly that my greatest contribution was not in the day-to-day operations of an organization. My gifts are in vision, faith, galvanizing people, building relationships, opening doors, and helping people see what is possible when we say yes to God.
In 2024, our Board of Directors and I began conversations about eventually adding another layer of leadership and moving me out of the executive director seat. We believed that by 2027, Second Chance Global would need a leader whose strengths were specifically rooted in organizational health, structure, sustainability, and scale.
In 2025, I actually shared with a board member that there was only one person that I had in mind or that I would want to do it, “but he would never consider it.”
We needed someone deeply Spirit-led, with a genuine gift of faith, who also had the leadership and organizational strength to build a healthy, growing organization. The person we needed felt like a unicorn.
In the Spring of 2026, while attending a spiritual retreat on a ranch in Colorado, I spent time alone with the Lord asking Him what was next. During that time, I felt Him assure me that the person who would eventually sit in the executive director seat was someone I already knew.
I left Colorado praying one simple prayer: God, show me who it is.
Less than 30 days later, I got an answer I never expected. The person I had actually mentioned and about before, but had immediately dismissed because I could never imagine him leaving his successful corporate career, came to me with a conversation of his own.
He told me that on his 5 a.m. runs, he found himself thinking about Second Chance Global. Driving down the road, instead of thinking about the next deal he needed to close, his mind kept drifting toward the work we were doing around the world.
Then he said something that stopped me in my tracks: If there were ever a place for him on our team, he wanted me to know he wanted it.
At first, I laughed in disbelief. I knew what leaving his career for the nonprofit sector would require. But he quickly told me that he and his wife had already been praying and talking about the sacrifice involved. They were serious.
That was the moment I began to realize that God had been preparing an answer before we even knew how to ask the question.
Over the late Spring and early Summer, we began conversations and a formal interview process with our Board of Directors. And ultimately, the decision was unanimous.
I am incredibly excited to announce Matthew Cunningham as the new Executive Director of Second Chance Global. Matthew brings exactly the combination we had been praying for: deep faith, strong leadership, organizational wisdom, and a genuine belief in the mission and future of Second Chance Global.
Matthew and his wife, Karigan, are making a significant personal sacrifice to step into this calling. Together with their son and daughter, they are saying yes to what God is doing through this mission, and we could not be more grateful to welcome their family into ours.
For ten years, God has taught us how to step into the unknown, believe for what feels impossible, and follow Him when the path requires faith. This will not change.
I want Second Chance Global to always be an organization willing to get out of the boat. And as we step into our next decade, I believe God has given us another incredible gift: the right leader for the season ahead.
I am not stepping away from Second Chance Global. In many ways, I believe I am stepping more fully into the role God has been preparing me for all along: carrying the vision, building relationships, opening doors, and inviting people into what God is doing around the world.
The first ten years have been more than we could have imagined. And I believe we are only getting started.
Welcome to the Second Chance Global family, Matthew.
