Northwest Indiana

Rose Villarruel is the administrative assistant for the Northwest Center for Congregations.  Her administrative background is in tax sales and includes work with the Office of the Lake County Auditor.  For more than 10 years, Rose has volunteered to coach grade school volleyball for the Northwest Indiana Catholic Youth Organization.  Rose attends St. Mary Catholic Church in Crown Point, where she is actively involved in the distribution process for Gods Groceries Food Pantry.

McKenzie Scott Lewis is the director of the Center’s northwest office in Crown Point and serves congregations in the northwest portion of the state. A Baptist minister, McKenzie’s faith experience ranges from Methodist, Church of God in Christ, Charismatic to Baptist. He has taught at IUPUI, served as corporate diversity director at Wellpoint Inc, coordinated diversity and inclusion efforts at Clarian Health Partners and served as CEO and chief cultural strategist for The MSL Group. He brings energy and experience to engage listeners from all walks of life.

A graduate of DePauw University, McKenzie has written extensively in his area of expertise, including the articles “Building Boardroom Trust” from the July 2009 Leadership Ventures Newsletter; “Editorial on Diversity” in the November 2008 Indiana Business Journal (IBJ); “Clarian Health Partners: United We Thrive” in the April 2007 issue of DiversityInc, Magazine; and “Helping Diversity to Grow Up” in New York Voice/Harlem USA October 1997 edition.