Nonviolent Pressure Builds: Updates on MAST Advocacy, Letter‑Writing Campaign, and MCC Boards’ Limited Responses

Letter-writing campaign

In late 2025, MAST issued a general call for letters to the MCC US boards ahead of their October meetings in Akron. More than 20 people responded with public letters, urging the boards to (1) commit to an external investigation of all allegations, (2) release survivors from NDAs, and (3) accept the proposed conversation parameters with John Clarke and Anicka Fast.

The boards responded to some of the writers with a form letter, stating that they could not respond to anonymous complaints and insisting that they remained committed to caring for staff and to making changes when needed.

Anger instead of accountability at MCC US Board meetings

Meanwhile, MAST learned from a source that the allegations continued to be minimized and dismissed at the MCC US all-boards meetings in October 2025. Apparently, the board members’ discussion about the emails received from church leaders focused overwhelmingly on anger that board members’ emails had been leaked (thus allowing the letter-writers to contact board members directly). The letters and allegations were depicted as a distraction and even as the devil’s work. At MAST, we were deeply disturbed by this evidence of board members' hostility and unwillingness to take allegations seriously. Read a personal reflection on this topic from Julene Fast, one of the letter-writers and a MAST steering committee member.

Movement toward conversation with survivors

In the week following the board meetings, the MCC US and Canada national boards agreed to the facilitators’ proposed parameters for a conversation with John and Anicka. And in December, the West Coast MCC board chairs invited another survivor couple, Kathryn and Dan Smith Derksen, to a “listening session” to hear their story. However, MCC has offered no response to the letter-writers’ requests for an external investigation and an end to the use of NDAs.

A disappointing listening session on the US West Coast

In December 2025, the West Coast MCC board chairs reached out to Kathryn Smith Derksen in response to her October 8 and October 16 emails. They offered her and her husband Dan a 90-minute in-person “listening session” with several West Coast board members and the MCC US Executive Director, Ann Graber Hershberger. Their stated goal was to give Kathryn and Dan space to share their experience “in their own words,” with the hope that this time would “serve as a step toward healing and reconciliation.”

Kathryn and Dan accepted the invitation, but asked that Ann not be present, asked that the board be open to additional sessions and “further steps,” and emphasized that details of their story had already been shared publicly. They expressed concern that this meeting was being organized as an exercise to placate donors, asked for the presence of a victim advocate and a family support person and stated that they would not consider the meeting confidential. The board chairs responded with agreement not to have Ann present, but committed only to “listen” – not to “discuss NDAs, investigations, or other requests by MAST.”

The meeting took place on January 18, 2026. A victim advocate and a support person accompanied Kathryn and Dan. Kathryn and Dan say that the listening felt “genuine.” Those present from MCC showed sympathy when hearing their story. However, they were not willing to give answers or engage with the question of wrongdoing or broader accountability. Their message to MAST was: “MCC is not ignoring the situation.”

Kathryn reflects,

“Sharing our story (what they expected) caused a sympathetic reaction, but when we talked about the needed investigation, speaking for the many other victims, etc., their demeanor changed – they don't really believe us.”

The board members did not take notes and said they would simply share a “short verbal report” with those to whom they are reporting. It is unclear whether Kathryn and Dan will be informed of the contents of this report.

Following the meeting, Kathryn and Dan wrote to the board chairs to express their disappointment that the representatives of MCC came to the meeting “unable to talk about anything of substance, the equivalent of trying to make peace but with both hands tied behind your back.” They find it hard to believe there will be any follow-up.

Online facilitated conversations with John Clarke and Anicka Fast underway

Since December 2, Anicka and John have had four online meetings with two MCC board members. Also present in the meetings are two facilitators, two support people, and a survivor advocate. As per the agreed parameters, what is said in these meetings is not confidential. Anicka and John expect to report more fully on these meetings soon.

After the conversations end, the facilitators will submit a report to the MCC boards and to John and Anicka about the process and their experience of it. Parties will be free to share this report publicly if they wish.

Conclusion

Although MCC board members have made some efforts to listen to survivors, we are discouraged to see how listening continues to be limited in scope and unaccompanied by action for accountability and repair. MCC continues to try to control the timeline and the process of listening to survivors. Meanwhile, we continue to document cases of abuse (87 to date) that include racial, sexual, and psychological harassment, brutal firings that put individuals and families into financially precarious positions, retaliation against whistleblowers, and financial misconduct. These cases are not from the distant past. Some of the abuse is ongoing, and many current MCC leaders have played a direct role.

MAST remains committed to nonviolent advocacy. We continue to document concerns, to work with allies who seek accountability, and to protect the safety and dignity of survivors. We also continue to advocate for an external investigation of all allegations, an end to the use of NDAs, and a commitment to listen fully to survivors. We deeply appreciate the many words of counsel, wisdom and advocacy that Mennonite leaders have shared with MCC board members, both in public and in private. We invite everyone who shares our concerns to speak out.

We would love Mennonites to be known as the people who showed what non-violence looked like by refusing to put up with violence inside their own peacebuilding institutions.

Check out statistics about cases of abuse known to MAST on our home page at https://www.mccabusesurvivors.org/. Consider joining our teal ribbon campaign. Review our list of possible additional actions at https://www.mccabusesurvivors.org/get-involved.