A new Young Women general presidency and a change in counselors in the Young Men general presidency were presented and sustained by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Saturday, April 1.
Presented by President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, the leaders joined five new General Authority Seventies also sustained during the Saturday afternoon session of the Church’s 193rd Annual General Conference.
The new Young Women leaders will begin their service on Aug. 1; the changes in the Young Men presidency are effective immediately, President Oaks said.
President Emily Belle Freeman has been called as the new Young Women general president, with Sister Tamara W. Runia as first counselor and Sister Andrea Muñoz Spannaus as second counselor.
Young Women General President Bonnie H. Cordon and her counselors, Sister Michelle D. Craig and Sister Rebecca L. Craven, who were sustained in April 2018 and were formally released Saturday, April 1, with an acknowledgement of appreciation, will complete their service as the Young Women general presidency on July 31.
Joining President Steven J. Lund in the Young Men general presidency are Brother Bradley R. Wilcox as first counselor and Brother Michael T. Nelson as second counselor.
Elder Ahmad S. Corbitt, the current first counselor in the presidency, was sustained as a General Authority Seventy during the session’s sustaining of leaders and released from his Young Men call. Brother Wilcox, the current second counselor, moves to first counselor, with Brother Nelson completing the presidency as the new second counselor.
The presidency of President Lund, Elder Corbitt and Brother Wilcox had served together since their sustaining in the April 2020 general conference.
Brief biographies about each member of the general presidencies are included below. A more in-depth profile on each will appear in coming weeks.
President Emily Belle Freeman
President Freeman is an author, speaker, podcaster and teacher. She has written more than a dozen books and has taught for many years in the Church Educational System. She has also spoken at a variety of BYU programs and conferences, as well as the annual Deseret Book-sponsored Time Out for Women.
She was born in Boston, Massachusetts, raised in Utah, and spent her senior year of high school in Ventura, California, after her parents were called there to lead a mission of the Church of Jesus Christ. She has previously served as Young Women president and Relief Society president in her ward. She and her husband, Greg, have five children.
Sister Tamara W. Runia, first counselor
Sister Runia was raised in Walnut Creek, California, and lives in Provo, Utah. She attended BYU, where she met her husband, Scott . They served as leaders of the Australia Sydney Mission (2018–2021). She has also served as a stake scripture class instructor, stake Young Women president and stake Relief Society presidency counselor.
Sister Runia participates in civic life, which has included 20 years on the board of the Food & Care Coalition in Provo. She and her husband have seven children.
Sister Andrea Muñoz Spannaus, second counselor
Sister Spannaus has been serving on the Relief Society general advisory council. She is a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and served in the Argentina Resistencia Mission. She earned a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education and also studied art and interior design.
She has been an adviser in a young single adult Spanish-speaking ward, an early morning seminary teacher, a member of the South America South Area committee to organize For the Strength of Youth conferences and mission leader with her husband, Alin, in the Mexico Cuernavaca Mission (2009–2012). They are parents of two daughters.
Brother Bradley R. Wilcox, first counselor
Brother Wilcox is from Provo, Utah, and received degrees from BYU. He is currently a professor in BYU’s Department of Ancient Scripture. He is the author of the book “The Continuous Atonement” and the BYU devotional address “His Grace Is Sufficient.”
He has served in several Church callings, including full-time missionary in the Chile Vina del Mar Mission, bishop, president of the Chile Santiago East Mission (2003–2006), member of the Sunday School general board and stake Young Men president. He and his wife, Deborah, have four children.
Brother Michael T. Nelson, second counselor
Brother Nelson is from Salt Lake City. He works as the chief financial officer of a Utah-based company. He studied organizational communications at Brigham Young University and the University of Utah.
Previous Church service includes president of the California San Bernardino Mission (1998–2001), stake president, bishop, ward and stake Young Men president and missionary in the Chile Santiago Mission. Brother Nelson and his wife, Barbara Fluckiger, have nine children.
