Meet the Staff
Nate Miller, Executive Director
Nate grew up in Lewistown, PA, before coming to the northeast PA region to study at Clarks Summit University in 2011. During Nate’s time at college, he began volunteering at Mission Scranton which ran inside a tiny room in a section-eight housing neighborhood. The next few years were formative as Nate learned first-hand about the burdens of the environment and the challenges low-income families living in urban neighborhoods face.
The founder of Mission Scranton, Dr. Mike Stallard, mentored and gave Nate more leadership responsibilities over the years. In 2015, Nate moved into the Scranton area after graduating college to continue serving as the volunteer director of Mission Scranton, while employed at Clarks Summit University.
In 2019, Nate was named the Executive Director of Mission Scranton in a part-time role. In 2021, he said, “he took a leap of faith” by leaving the stability of his full-time employment to focus on fundraising and establishing Mission Scranton as a sustainable organization that will make a long-term impact. During Nate’s time as a volunteer and staff member, he has led the organization to grow from one program a week in Valley View Terrace to multiple programs a week, providing event and camp opportunities, and reaching a second neighborhood, Hilltop Manor Apartments.
Since 2022, Nate serves as an adjunct professor at Clarks Summit University until it’s closure in 2024, where he used Mission Scranton’s as an immersive and hands-on educational experience. He also sits on the Scranton Youth Council Committee led by Scranton Mayor, Paige Gearhardt Congetti. In 2023, Miller was officially commissioned as a missionary from his hometown church, Big Valley Bible Church, to share the life-changing love and hope of Jesus with the families living in the inner-city.
Mikaela Miller, HR and Event Coordinator
Although born in Wyoming, Mikaela moved around before her family settled in Arkansas in 2000. Surrounded by chaotic circumstances and hardships resulting in many moves, her mom remarried to her step-dad and combined their households in 2007, for a 9-person family in Center Ridge, AR. Her dad’s career change led the family on another journey to Dimock, Pennsylvania in 2013 where she then finished High School, joined the Army National Guard, and attended Clarks Summit University in the fall of 2016.
Mikaela felt the call to children’s ministry as a young teenager in AR and began to serve in her local church, then began her college journey as an Education major, though quickly changing to Business before the end of her first year. She was connected to Mission Scranton through a friend who was a part of the children’s program during that same year and she has never looked back. Although the programs felt like chaos to others, it was more like home for her. She instantly fell in love with the ministry and it was never a question that this was God’s plan for her.
Moving from volunteer, to Team Lead, to Administrative Assistant, to Team Development and Safety Coordinator, to now HR and Event Coordinator, Mikaela has a heart and strong passion for reaching at-risk youth and families for the Gospel and connecting them to opportunities for a better future for life.
Despite meeting in 2016, Mikaela and Nate didn’t begin to develop a close relationship until 2019. In April of 2023, they got married and have been serving in ministry together since.
Emily Kiswani, Children’s Program Coordinator
Originally from Lewistown, PA, Emily has loved serving in ministry with children since being a young teen. Emily attended Clarks Summit University majoring in Intercultural Youth Ministry with a minor in Counseling.
While at college, she volunteered with the children’s program at Mission Scranton, where she fell in love with the people and the ministry. During the summers, Emily has worked as a camp counselor and became among the first to intern with Mission Scranton after graduation.
Emily now serves as the Children’s Program Coordinator with Mission Scranton, where she aspires to continue sharing the gospel and building relationships in the Scranton area.
Josh Kiswani, Teen Progam Team Lead
Josh is a current Scranton resident who graduated from Clarks Summit University (CSU) in 2023 with a Bachelor of Science in Youth Ministry. Josh is a coffee professional at Electric City Roasting Company, in part-time staff at Steamtown Church in the worship band ministry, and serves as the Team Lead for our junior high youth program night.
Josh first interacted with Mission Scranton as a student at CSU’s Teen Leadership Conference where he participated in our outreach workshop event in 2019. Interacting with the children's program inspired Josh to commit to CSU, where he continued to volunteer for our Valley View Children and Teen Programs throughout the next four years.
Josh said, “From the day that I first visited a Mission Scranton kid's night, I cared for the students that were being reached in Scranton's underprivileged communities. Throughout my college career, my heart deepened for Mission Scranton's ministry. As I became increasingly involved in this ministry, I grew to love the city of Scranton.”
Josh now serves as a part-time staff member overseeing our junior high youth program that has combined students from Valley View Terrace, Hilltop Manor Apartments, and the surrounding city.
