Valerie Wright serves as Hillcrest’s Director of Youth and Family Ministries, walking alongside children, youth, and their parents as they grow together in faith, connection, and belonging. She brings decades of experience in youth ministry, education, counseling, and spiritual formation.

Valerie holds a Master of Arts in Counseling and spent many years teaching counseling theory and practice in a graduate counseling program. She also taught psychology and social justice courses at the high school level and later served for more than two decades as a school counselor---supporting students and their families through the important seasons of adolescent development, academic growth, and postsecondary discernment.

Her ministry experience includes youth ministry in church settings, retreat leadership, and guiding immersion trips that invited young people to live their faith through service, relationship, and shared reflection. Throughout her work, Valerie has emphasized that faith is not only something we believe, but something we live — embodied in compassion, courage, and service, as Jesus modeled.

Valerie feels called to create spaces where youth feel seen, valued, and connected — to God, to one another, and to their own inner wisdom. She is deeply committed to partnering with parents, honoring them as the primary spiritual teachers in their children’s lives, and supporting families as they nurture faith at home.

Valerie is the proud single mother of two teenagers, who continue to teach her daily about grace, humor, and resilience. When she is not at church, she enjoys walking her dogs, spending time in nature, journaling, singing, and sharing laughter with family and friends. She also runs Wright Pathway Coaching & Consulting, where she supports women in rediscovering their gifts and navigating life transitions with courage and faith. She is deeply grateful to serve the Hillcrest community and to support families as they nurture faith across generations.