Dr. Jo Anne Lyon - Executive Director

Dr. Jo Anne Lyon is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of World Hope International, Inc., a faith-based relief and development organization alleviating suffering and injustice in thirty countries around the world through education, enterprise and community health. The purpose of World Hope International is captured in its Mission Statement: “To the hungry, we offer life. To the forgotten, we offer opportunity. To the outcast, we offer dignity. To the desperate, we bring hope.” With core values of transformation, empowerment, sustainability, and collaboration, World Hope International strives to meet the challenges offered in God’s word concerning meeting the needs of the oppressed through its signature Microfinance, HIV/AIDS, and Anti-Trafficking Programs. As the CEO of World Hope International, Dr. Lyon has traveled in over fifty countries as a lecturer, performing site assessments and organizing development projects. A licensed professional counselor and an ordained minister of The Wesleyan Church, she had thirty years prior experience in administering urban and rural human service programs before founding World Hope International. Dr. Lyon was recently elected the General Superintendent of The Wesleyan Church.

Following a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Cincinnati, Dr. Lyon went on to receive a Masters degree in counseling from the University of Missouri. She pursued further graduate studies in historical theology from St. Louis University, and has received honorary doctorates from United Wesleyan College, Southern Wesleyan University and Indiana Wesleyan University. Dr. Lyon has assisted the faculties of Asbury Theological Seminary and Indiana Wesleyan University as an adjunct professor of church and society. She serves on many boards, including the General Board of the Wesleyan Church, and for almost twenty years, the Houghton College Board of Trustees. She and her husband, the Rev. Wayne Lyon, have four children and five grandchildren.