Staff

Jen Gash

President and Founder

Jen Gash, President and Founder of Sweet Sleep, Inc., is an internationally recognized advocate for orphaned and abandoned children.

Jen grew up in Springfield, Illinois and moved to Nashville, Tennessee and served as Executive Assistant to Mayor Bill Purcell.

In July 2003, Jen took her first trip to Moldova, where God opened her heart to the needs of the thousands of children living in Moldova’s orphanages. When Jen returned home, she founded Sweet Sleep. Since that time, Jen has led hundreds of people on mission journeys to minister to Moldova’s orphans and has seen numerous team members and children give their lives to Christ.

In May 2005, Jen resigned from her job as the Executive Assistant to the Mayor of Nashville in order to dedicate her life to the mission of providing “a bed for every head.” As President of Sweet Sleep, Inc., Jen is responsible for world-wide operations which include fund raising, advocacy, and program development. Her tireless pursuit to provide beds for these children has been recognized all over the world including NBC’s Today Show, The Tennessean, and in Bob Buford’s “Half-time” leadership series “Success to Significance.”

Jen is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University where she received bachelor’s degrees in Journalism, Political Science, Entrepreneurship. Jen is an active member of Brentwood Baptist Church and lives in Nashville with her dog, Chinch, and Galina Tiscenco, a teenage girl from Moldova who grew up in one of Moldova’s orphanages, and is now living with Jen while studying in the US on a student visa.

Stuart McAlister

Vice President of Operations

Stuart McAlister became aware of the needs of Moldova's orphans while he was serving as Director of Inventory at EMI Christian Music Group. EMI CMG partnered with Sweet Sleep in 2005 to provide winter coats for Moldova’s orphaned and abandoned children instead of hosting their traditional staff Christmas party. Stuart was moved by the stories of these children and felt called to get personally involved in ministering to them.

Stuart's first trip to Moldova was in June of 2006. He has since taken numerous trips to Moldova and has continued to be a passionate advocate for orphaned and abandoned children around the world, serving as Chairman of Sweet Sleep's Board of Directors from January 2006-March 2008.

After nine years at EMI CMG, overseeing inventory of more than 4,000,000 units in two warehouses serving two separate distribution channels resulting in nearly $100,000,000 a year in sales, Stuart felt called to join Sweet Sleep full time as Vice President of Operations, and devote the use of his gifts and talents to providing beds for orphans.

As Vice President of Operations, Stuart directs the organization’s day-to-day business and manages Sweet Sleep’s US and international staff teams. Stuart also facilitates all Sweet Sleep Mission Journey Teams and secures in-country materials to provide beds in the orphanages where we serve.

Stuart is originally from Denton, Texas and moved to Nashville with his wife D'Ann after their graduation from Abilene Christian University in 1990. Stuart and D'Ann are members of Woodmont Hills Church of Christ and live in Franklin with their two boys, Cameron and Evan.

Jon Merryman

Communications and Events Director

If you talk to Jon Merryman for more than a couple of minutes, you’ll hear about two things—his family and Moldova. Since Jon’s first trip to Moldova in 2004, he has visited there at least twice a year and has led numerous teams to minister to the orphaned and abandoned children living in Moldova’s orphanages.

Jon brings to Sweet Sleep years of experience in ministry with children both here and abroad, as well as a passion for communicating Sweet Sleep’s mission to the world. Jon is an ordained minister and holds a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications/Public Relations from Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.

Jon has previously served on staff as Marketing Coordinator for Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Children’s Pastor at Rolling Hills Community Church and also as Associate Children’s Minister at Brentwood Baptist Church. He has also served in multiple capacities with LifeWay Christian Resource’s Centrifuge and Centri-Kid Camps, serving as Camp Pastor and Camp Director, and writes curriculum for LifeWay including Worship KidStyle, G-Force, VBS, Club VBS, and TeamKID. Jon has recently been traveling and speaking at children’s camps and churches about Sweet Sleep through the Build-A-Bed Project. Read more about this project at www.sweetsleep.org/build-a-bed.

Jon and his wife, Emily, are members of Rolling Hills Community Church in Franklin and live in South Nashville with their fifteen-year-old son, Dennis, whom they adopted from Moldova in 2008, and their two Miniature Schnauzers, Max and Maggie.

If you are interested in having any of our staff team speak to your group, contact jon@sweetsleep.org.