The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) has presented its Lifetime Achievement Award to Joyce Meyer, PBVM. The distinguished honor is presented to women religious who have made an extraordinary impact on religious life.

The LCWR announcement stated, “Sister Joyce is recognized around the world for her generous service that has had far-reaching impact on sisters in hundreds of congregations. Passionate to empower communities of women religious to educate their sisters and to function autonomously in advancing their ministries, Joyce has mentored sisters across Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe in grant writing and grant management. In her role as executive director of the Hilton Fund for Sisters
from 1999 to 2011, Joyce traveled around the world to meet
sisters, to share information about grant opportunities, and to
visit the location of grant projects. She linked many congregations to resources via the Hilton Fund for Sisters through the
networks she established. Her efforts helped many congregations achieve grant funding desperately needed to initiate new ministries and strengthen others.”

Always an advocate for sisters, in addition to serving on the Board of Medicines for Humanity, Sister Joyce also serves on the board of directors for the Good Shepherd International Foundation, and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. She presently serves as an international liaison for Global Sisters Report and as a consultant to organizations working with sisters in Africa and Asia. Additionally, she has been involved in a research project with the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate and Mary Johnson, Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur on international sisters in the United States.

MFH Board Chair Kirk Ryan stated, “We are all so very proud of Sister Joyce and extend our congratulations to her for this well-deserved honor. We remain ever grateful to her for her ongoing commitment to saving the lives of the world’s most vulnerable children and their mothers and for her vision which has become central to the work of Medicines for Humanity.”

Joyce Meyer is A Sister of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, she worked for five years as a missionary in Zambia where she taught college English and served as executive director for the Zambia Association of Sisterhoods. Following her time in Africa, Sister Meyer served in leadership in her congregation. She was president of the board of the Presentation Health System based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and served on the sponsorship board of the National Catholic Health Care Association. She helped establish the International Presentation Sisters Association, a non-governmental organization in special consultative status with the United Nations. Her education includes degrees from Marquette University and Catholic Theological Union at Berkeley.