Our Leadership Team

Healing happens together.

At Widow Strong, we believe healing happens through community. Our leadership team is united by a shared passion to serve widowed families with compassion, excellence, and hope — creating meaningful opportunities for care, connection, and growth.

Founder & Executive Director

Mishael “Misha” Porembski

Misha is the Founder and Executive Director of Widow Strong, a nonprofit dedicated to helping widows and their children rebuild their lives with health, hope, and healing. After losing her husband while pregnant with their second daughter, she transformed her personal grief journey into a mission to serve others.

Drawing from both personal experience and years of ministry leadership, she developed the 180 Your Life Grief Resilience framework and has spent more than a decade creating programs, support groups, leadership development, and community outreach for widowed families. Misha is passionate about helping others move from surviving to thriving, and believes deeply that healing happens through faith, community, and purpose.

Volunteer Leadership

The hearts behind the mission

Serving behind the scenes and on the front lines, these leaders make care, connection, and community possible for every family we walk beside.

Crystal Emory

Crystal helps coordinate the day-to-day activities behind our programs, events, volunteers, and outreach. With a gift for organization and a heart for serving others, her leadership behind the scenes plays a vital role in creating meaningful experiences for widowed families.

Wayne & Jovita Simpson

Wayne and Jovita create welcoming environments where widowed families experience care and connection. From refreshments to gathering spaces, they bring warmth and servant-hearted leadership so every person who attends feels seen, valued, and cared for.

Greg Griffin

Greg provides steady support across organizational administration, communications, planning, and coordination. His commitment to the mission keeps operations running smoothly while supporting volunteers, partners, and the leadership team with consistency and care.

Our Shared Mission

Care, community & cultivating leadership

Widow Strong is supported by a growing network of volunteers, church partners, donors, and community leaders who make this mission possible. We are grateful for every individual who helps us extend hope, healing, and practical support to widowed families throughout our community and beyond.

Care

Reaching widows and their fatherless children through local and online spaces that listen, love, encourage, equip, and empower.

Community

Serving widowed families through Biblically based small groups, workshops, newsletters, podcasts, events, and meaningful connection year-round.

Cultivate

Training local leaders — including widowed leaders — to provide sustainable grief resilience support through Widow Strong resources and church partnerships.

Join Us

We are Stronger Together.

Whether you are a widow, a friend, a volunteer, or a partner — there is a place for you here.

Widows

Children

Church Leaders

Volunteers

Donors

Friends

Board Of Directors

Rich Gartrell | Paul Mergenhegen | Greg Griffin | Misha Porembski