The head of an agency dedicated to fostering full participation within The United Methodist Church will be the keynote speaker at West Virginia Wesleyan College’s Founders Day Convocation. The event is set for 3 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 11, in Wesley Chapel. The Rev. Dr. Giovanni Arroyo, General Secretary of the General Commission on Religion and Race, will deliver the address.

A native of Puerto Rico, Arroyo moved to New York City as a young boy and discovered his calling to ministry at Knickerbocker United Methodist Church in Brooklyn, New York.

During the Sept. 11 attacks, Arroyo served as one of the three chaplains at Bellevue Hospital in the New York Annual Conference.

In 2004, Arroyo was invited to the Baltimore-Washington Conference of The United Methodist Church to assist in a new Latino church start. He is currently an Elder of the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference, where he chairs the conference’s Hispanic/Latino ministries and advises the Racial Advocacy team, Call to Action Team and Intercultural Competency team.

Since 2019, Arroyo has worked with The General Commission on Religion and Race as the team leader for program ministries. He oversees the programmatic initiatives and resources of the agency worldwide. Arroyo has developed training and curriculum on intercultural competence, race discussions and institutional equity. He facilitates groups worldwide and is involved in the ongoing development of GCORR’s work in the Central Conferences. Over the last eight years, he has managed 80 projects as the agency grant administrator for the CORR Action Fund.

Arroyo earned a Master’s of Divinity from Wesley Theological Seminary, a Master of Science in Management from the University of Maryland, a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health from the University of the Cumberlands, a Doctor of Ministry in Transformational Leadership in the Wesleyan Perspective from Wesley Theological Seminary in partnership with Cambridge University: Methodist House of Studies in Cambridge, United Kingdom and a Pastoral Care Skills certificate from Blanton-Peale Graduate Institute of Mental Health and Religion.

Founders Day Convocation is part of Homecoming Weekend. For the full schedule, visit www.wvwc.edu/homecoming