A Personal Note About ERI’s Next Chapter

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I have some important news to share, and I want you to hear it directly from me.

After 12 years as ERI’s co-founder and President, I am stepping down. My last day will be June 12th.

I spent months considering this from every angle and getting advice from my most trusted friends, and thanks to nine months of hard work and preparation, I’m not worried about ERI surviving this transition. The team is fantastic, and I found someone I’m genuinely thrilled about to take ERI into the next season. 

His name is Greg Austen, and I think you’re going to love him.

Greg brings more than 25 years of experience as a mission-driven executive leader. He cares a lot about what he calls “listening conversations,” training and empowering fresh generations, and a compassionate and intellectually rigorous pro-life movement that is reconnected to character, civility, and a holistic understanding of human life rooted in the Imago Dei. These passions — part of Greg’s core values — are also ERI’s DNA. And knowing Greg and the convictional leader he is, told me everything I needed to know.

Before coming to ERI, Greg served for six and a half years as the Executive Director of Church Outreach and Engagement at Care Net, where he led a national team that equipped pregnancy centers and churches to serve women and men facing pregnancy decisions. Before that, he spent 11 years at the National Fatherhood Initiative as Senior Director of National Programming. He is a licensed Teaching Elder in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, holds a Doctor of Ministry from Westminster Theological Seminary, and is the author of several books, including How I Became a Christian Despite the Church, Christian Nationalism: A Constructive Conversation, and Irreplaceable: Recovering God’s Heart for Dads.

While working at Care Net, Greg called me out of the blue seven years ago. He’d read an article I’d written and wanted to talk about it because he saw genuine overlap between what ERI was doing and what he was building at Care Net. Next thing I knew Greg had us presenting together at the next three national Care Net conferences, where we’d co-lead a half-day seminar. We weren’t just filling time; we were working through the same questions from different angles, and it was some of the most energizing collaboration I’d had in years. 

Greg’s ideas and enthusiasm got me more excited about hanging out with him, but that’s not the only thing about him that stuck with me. Greg and I would hang out after the sessions ended over dinner or a drink at the hotel, and we rarely talked shop. He’d ask about my wife, Hannah. About my faith. About what I was wrestling with. He wanted to get into the real stuff, not just compare notes on the pro-life movement, though we had a lot in common when it came to those concerns. I don’t merely respect Greg’s résumé or the books he’s written; I trust him as a good man and leader. And I think you will too.

He is exactly who ERI needs for this next chapter.

As for what’s next for me, I’ve spent my life believing that human dignity is worth fighting for, and I still do. The arena is changing; the conviction isn’t. I’ll have a lot more to say about where I’m headed on my own blog and podcast later this year, after a long-awaited sabbatical. I hope you’ll follow along.

I’m proud of what we’ve built together, and I’m confident it’s in good hands.

For those of you I’ve been privileged to know personally over these years, Greg and I hope to connect with as many of you as possible in the coming weeks. If we don’t get to connect before my last day, please know how much your friendship and support have meant to me.

Thank you for everything you’ve meant to this work. It has been one of the great privileges of my life.

P.S. You can read Greg’s full bio at EqualRightsInstitute.com/Greg. I hope you’ll take a moment to get to know him.

President

Josh has worked in the pro-life movement since he was 18. After 12 years of full-time pro-life work he launched Equal Rights Institute to maximize his impact on the movement.

A sought-after speaker, Josh has spoken for more than 29,000 people in six countries and in 25 of the 50 states.

Josh’s primary passion is helping pro-life people to be more persuasive when they communicate with pro-choice people. That means ditching faulty rhetoric and tactics and embracing arguments that hold up under philosophical scrutiny.

He has publicly debated leaders from Planned Parenthood, the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), Georgians for Choice, and one of the leading abortion facilities in Atlanta.

Josh also wants to bring relational apologetics to the pro-life movement. “Some pro-choice people will not change their mind after one conversation on a college campus. Some of them will only change their mind after dozens of conversations with a person they trust in the context of friendship.”

Josh is formerly the host of a globally-heard podcast turned radio/TV show, Life Report. He now hosts the Equipped for Life Podcast. He’s also written dozens of articles for LifeNews.com and the ERI blog. He has been interviewed by the Washington Post, NPR, and Focus on the Family.
He directed the first 40 Days for Life campaign in Fresno, resulting in up to 60 lives saved.

Josh has been happily married to his wife, Hannah, for 19 years. They have three sons, Noah, William, and Eli. They live in Charlotte, North Carolina.
David Bereit, the National Director of 40 Days for Life, sums up Josh’s expertise this way: “Josh Brahm is one of the brightest, most articulate, and innovative people in the pro-life movement. His cutting-edge work is helping people think more clearly, communicate more effectively, and — most importantly — be better ambassadors for Christ. I wholeheartedly endorse Josh’s work, and I encourage you to join me in following Josh and getting involved in his work today!”

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