Columbia Union Names First Woman Vice President

The Columbia Union Conference in the Mid-Atlantic has appointed its first woman vice president. Today at the Union’s executive committee spring meetings, Celeste Ryan Blyden was promoted from assistant to the president for communication to vice president for strategic communication and public relations. 

In the announcement, Dave Weigley, union president, said that the union committee unanimously voted to elevate Blyden to vice president, the Columbia Union Visitor reported. 

“It was one of those decisions where you could catch and feel the electricity in the room. It was time to do this. This is the right thing to do. It is the first time, to my knowledge, that the Columbia Union has had a woman vice president,” he said, as the room exploded with a standing ovation.

Blyden has spent 12 years as editor of Visitor magazine and has 25 years of communication experience. She has served the church as a journalist, editor, public information officer, marketing coordinator, media relations manager, corporate communication director, social media strategist and television producer. 

In addition to her new duties, she will continue to lead the communication department and serve as publisher of the Visitor. Beth Michaels will take over as editor. During her tenure, Blyden and her team grew the Visitor brand to include a weekly email newsletter, videos, websites, an annual calendar, social media and other platforms.

The Blue Mountain Academy graduate has a Bachelor of Science in Communication and Counseling Psychology from Columbia Union College (now Washington Adventist University) and a Master of Arts in Organizational Communication from Bowie State University.

This information was taken from an article for the Columbia Union Visitor by Taashi Rowe.