Our Story
Isaiah 61:1-3
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the blind,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
Our name, Oaks + Crown, is inspired by Isaiah 61. This is the passage that Jesus reads at the launch of his ministry in Luke 4. In reading this passage, Jesus declares his mission on earth: to proclaim good news for all who are broken and set right that which is wrong. Jesus states that, though we are all hurting in some way, he will bestow on us a crown of beauty instead of ashes, and will make us into oaks of righteousness to display God’s glory to all the earth. To be righteous is to live out personal holiness as well as collective justice. We desire to build righteous leaders who pursue holiness in their lives and justice in their workplaces and communities. These leaders are deeply rooted in their identities as children of God, abide in his presence, and are grounded in Scripture.
We founded Oaks + Crown in 2020 as a way to build up more of these Isaiah 61 leaders. Drawing from our experiences working in East Africa and backgrounds in leadership programming, we decided to launch a faith-based leadership development program to form leaders who understand their role in bringing God’s Kingdom on earth. Our focus is in East Africa as a region that has been important in our own spiritual and professional journeys and a region that we deeply love.
Our first program ideas were birthed from a place of curiosity - we spoke with young professionals in East Africa, learning about the experiences in their lives that had been most transformational and the mentorship relationships that had the greatest impact on them. Based on key insights we found, we designed and launched our pilot program (“New Heights Leadership”) in August 2020 with an inaugural cohort of 10 individuals. After an incredibly positive experience with our pilot cohort, we could see an even greater hunger for faith-based leadership development opportunities across East Africa. Thus, in November 2020 we launched Oaks + Crown as a growing community of Kingdom leaders.
Our story is part of a greater story: God’s story of the restoration and renewal of all things. We hope you join us as we all participate in this story together, as those who are called to usher in His Kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven.”
—
Dan Fang and Skye Herrick
Co-Founders, Oaks + Crown Leadership