CIVITAS DEI FOUNDATION - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Development Committee
Bishop Hicks, a native of Harvey, IL, received his B.A. in Philosophy from Niles College of Loyola University Chicago. He received his Master of Divinity degree and Doctor of Ministry degree from the University of St. Mary of the Lake. In July 2005, with permission from Cardinal Francis George, Bishop Hicks moved from Chicago to El Salvador to begin his five-year term as Regional Director of Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH) in Central America. NPH is a home dedicated to caring for more than 3,400 orphaned and abandoned children in nine Latin American and Caribbean countries. From 2010 to 2014, Bishop Hicks served as the Dean of Formation at Mundelein Seminary. Bishop Hicks was appointed Vicar General of the Archdiocese by Cardinal Cupich in 2015. On September 17, 2018, he was ordained an Auxiliary Bishop at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago. On July 17, 2020, Pope Francis announced that he had named Bishop Hicks as the sixth Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Joliet, IL. He was installed at the Cathedral of St. Raymond Nonnatus in Joliet on September 29, 2020.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Development Committee
Bishop McGovern, a Chicago native, attended the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary and was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1994. He has served as Pastor of St. Mary in Lake Forest and St. Raphael in Old Mill Creek, Illinois. Pope Francis appointed him the ninth Bishop of Belleville on April 3, 2020. He was ordained and installed on July 22, 2020.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Development Committee
Bishop Tyson was born on October 16 in Moses Lake, Washington and at an early age moved to Seattle with his family. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1989. His degrees include a Bachelor of Arts in Russian and Eastern European Studies as well as Editorial Journalism from the University of Washington, a Masters in International Relations from the University of Washington, a Masters of Divinity from the Catholic University of America, and an honorary Doctorate of Letters from St. Martin's University in Lacy. In 2005, he was consecrated Auxiliary Bishop of Seattle and named Vicar General. From 2008-2011, he served as Superintendent of Catholic Schools. He was installed as Bishop of Yakima in 2011 and currently serves as a member of the USCCB's Committee for Cultural Diversity and Chair of the USCCB's Pastoral Care for Migrants, Refugees and Travelers.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Development Committee
Bishop Walkowiak was ordained to the priesthood June 9, 1979 by the late James Cardinal Hickey and was assigned as associate pastor to Saint Mary Parish in Lorain, Ohio. After his studies in canon law at The Catholic University of America, where he received the Licentiate degree in 1984 and the Doctorate degree in 1987, Bishop Anthony Pilla assigned him to the faculty of Saint Mary Seminary in Cleveland and also appointed him vice chancellor of the Diocese of Cleveland. In 1993, he began work as an adjutant judicial vicar for the appeals court of Cincinnati, Ohio; Steubenville, Ohio; and Washington, D.C. In 2006, Bishop Pilla appointed him pastor of Saint Joan of Arc Parish in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, where he served until June 2013. Pope Francis appointed him the 12th bishop of the Diocese of Grand Rapids on April 18, 2013, and he was ordained and installed as the 12th bishop of Grand Rapids on June 18, 2013.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Development Committee
Bishop Weisenburger attended Conception Seminary College in MO, graduating in 1983. He attended the American College Seminary at the Catholic University of Louvain in Leuven, Belgium, earning the Pontifical S.T.B. in Theology, an M.A. in Religious Studies, and a Masters in Moral and Religious Sciences. Ordained to the priesthood in 1987, Fr. Weisenburger earned a pontifical J.C.L degree in Canon law, was Vicar General, and was appointed a Prelate of Honor to His Holiness by Pope Benedict XVI, with the title Reverend Monsignor. Following the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, he served as an on-site chaplain for rescue workers. He was appointed Bishop of Salina, Kansas, by His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI in February 2012. He was appointed the seventh Bishop of Tucson by His Holiness, Pope Francis in October 2017.
Job Titles:
- Provost, Vice President of Development and Marketing
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Development Committee
- Board Member Development Committee
- Professor in the Education Department at Saint Xavier University
Dr. Eileen Knight is a Professor in the Education Department at Saint Xavier University in Chicago. In 2017, Eileen was appointed to the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council (APC).
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Development Committee
- Member of the Finance Committee
- Physician
- Board Member Finance Committee
- Member of the USML Board of Advisors
- Physician in the Intensive Care Unit at St. John Medical Center
Pete has served as a member of the USML Board of Advisors since 2019. Pete is a physician in the intensive care unit at St. John Medical Center, a Catholic hospital in Tulsa. During Pete's childhood, he came to Mundelein one week a summer to visit his uncle Monsignor Canary, a former rector. Peter and Meredith both feel a strong bond to the mission and are honored to serve on the Board.
Job Titles:
- Rector / President of the University of Saint Mary of the Lake / Mundelein Seminary
Father John Kartje was appointed as rector/president of the University of Saint Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in 2015. A native of East Chicago, Indiana, Father Kartje was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago in 2002. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics and a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics in 1987 from the University of Chicago. In 1995, the University of Chicago's Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics conferred a Ph.D. degree on Father Kartje. In addition, he earned a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Catholic University of America's Department of Biblical Studies in 2010. Father Kartje has served as a faculty member at both the seminary and the Institute for Priestly Formation since 2009. He previously served as the director and chaplain of the Sheil Catholic Center at Northwestern University from 2009 to 2013, at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Washington, D.C. from 2004 to 2009, and as associate pastor at St. Benedict Parish in Chicago from 2002 to 2004.
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer
- Chief Operations Officer
- Rector Reflections
Job Titles:
- Rector Reflections
- Senior Vice President of Financial Operations
Job Titles:
- Senior Director of Development
- Rector Reflections
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Development Committee
- Board Member Development Committee
- Member of St
- Member of St. Joseph Parish
- Member of the USML Development Committee
Dan has served as a member of the USML Development Committee since 2020. Dan has been a member of St. Joseph Parish for the past 25 years where he is a Liturgy Coordinator, Sacristan, Bereavement Minister, EOM, and Tolton Teaching Parish team member. He has been married for 38 years, is the father of 5 and grandfather of 3. He is a retired Senior Executive for Medline Industries where he built the largest health care disposable incontinence business in North America. His previous company experiences were with Procter and Gamble, Weyerhaeuser, and Kimberly-Clark. He is currently serving as a Trustee for the Village of Libertyville.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Development Committee
- Board Member Development Committee
David began his service as a member of the USML Board of Advisors in July 2021. David is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of PureGen Power, LLC, a company that provides asset management, project development, and consulting services in the renewable energy industry. Prior to that he was the CEO of Recurrent Energy, a leading developer of utility scale solar power plants in North America. Since 2007 David has participated in the development of dozens of renewable power plants totaling over 2,000 megawatts of generating capacity. David also serves as President of the Board of Northridge Preparatory School, an independent school for boys with a mission is to build men of intellect and character who love God. He and his wife Lisa have been married for 33 years and have four grown children.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Development Committee
- Vice Chair of the Finance Committee
- Board Member Finance Committee Vice Chair
Jerry began his service on the USML Finance Committee in January 2021 and joined the USML Board of Advisors as of July 2021. Jerry is the former Non-Executive Chairman of Heitman and an equity owner of the firm. He was a member of the firm's Board of Managers, Global Management Committee, and Private Equity and Debt Investment Committees. Jerry received a BSBA from Georgetown University and an MBA from the University of Notre Dame. He started his career in 1970 at White, Weld & Company as a member of the corporate finance department. In 1978, he became co-head of acquisitions for JMB Realty in Chicago and was named Chairman of JMB Institutional in 1990. In 1994, JMB Institutional Realty merged with Heitman, and he became head of the advisory business of the newly formed investment advisory entity. In 1999, he was named Chairman and CEO of Heitman. He is a member of the Pension Real Estate Association and served a six-year term as a member of its Board. He advises the University of Notre Dame with respect to a portion of its off-campus real estate. Jerry is also the Chair of the St. Mary's parish Finance Council.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Development Committee
- Board Member Development Committee
Jorge began his service as a member of the USML Board of Advisors in July 2021. A managing director at GCM Grosvenor, his work focuses on labor strategies and initiatives. Jorge is the former president of the Chicago Federation of Labor (CFL), the third largest central labor council of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), representing 300 unions and a half million working people across the Chicagoland area. He served as an officer of the CFL from July 2006 and was elected the CFL's first Latino president in July 2010. Jorge graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso with a double major in marketing and computer information systems and he obtained his Juris Doctor from the Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Development Committee
- Board Member Development Committee
- Member of the USML Development Committee
Ken has served as a member of the USML Development Committee since 2020. Ken was born and raised in Manila, Philippines of Chinese parents. He went to Xavier School, a Jesuit run school, then to the University of the Philippines to get his B.S in Mechanical Engineering. He left the Philippines to pursue a Masters in Management at Kellogg Graduate School of Management. He retired as a Senior Executive from Medline Industries Inc after more than 31 years of work and consultancy. Ken has served in many ministries at St. Catherine Laboure Parish, including as Parish Pastoral Council Member, Religious Education Catechist, Youth CLUB Coordinator and Tolton Teaching Parish team member. He helped establish the first Grupo da Imaculada shrine in North America at his parish. Ken has been married to Zenith for 38 years and has one son and one daughter. He speaks Mandarin, Fookien, Tagalog and English. Ken continues to strive to be a "Man for Others" and is trying to create more awareness for the needs of Deaf Catholics.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Development Committee
- Board Member Development Committee
Mike has served as a member of the USML Board of Advisors since 2019. Mike is a partner at HPS Chicago, a non-profit providing organizations with full-service business consulting. He has helped his Chicago clients, such as Old St. Patrick's, Misericordia, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Franciscan St. James Health and UCAN, raise more than $900 million.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director of Sales
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Development Committee
- Board Member Development Committee
Mike has served as a member of the USML Board of Advisors since August 2022. Mike Rigali is the director of Sales and Interior Design at Daprato Rigali Studios. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame. He is one of the 4th generation owners of Daprato Rigali Studios. Mike has 4 sons and resides with his wife, Julie, in the Chicago suburbs. He was born and raised in the Chicago area and maintains involvement with many organizations around the city. He spends his free time working with Catholic Charities, the Chicago Blackhawks Alumni Association, and is the President of the Tower Lakes Community Foundation.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Development Committee
- Board Member Development Committee
Patrick has served as a member of the USML Board of Advisors since 2016. Patrick is the President/CEO of Coleman Group Consulting and GiveCentral. He and his team focus on helping charities increase giving and reduce costs through methods such as mobile giving, texting and crowdfunding. GiveCentral is currently helping charities raise more than one billion dollars. Patrick has a diverse educational background in diplomacy, finance and theology with over 25 years of experience in operations leadership and strategic planning. He is a lay alumnus of the University of Saint Mary of the Lake, class of 1989, with a Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology and a Masters of Divinity. For his work with GiveCentral and the nonprofit community, Patrick was awarded the 2019 Gratiam Dei Award, which recognizes important and outstanding service to American Catholic Press, the liturgy of the Catholic Church or the common good.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Finance Committee
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Development Committee
- Board Member Finance Committee Chair
- Member of the USML Board of Advisors
Bob has served as a member of the USML Board of Advisors since 2017. Bob grew up on the west side of Chicago, attended Weber High School, Marquette University receiving a degree in Civil Engineering, and Northern Illinois University College of Law receiving a Juris Doctor degree. While attending law school, Bob co-founded Mostardi Platt, an environmental engineering consulting firm that provides services to a wide variety of industrial, manufacturing and real estate clients throughout the United States and abroad. Bob and his wife, Cathy Platt, live in Elmhurst where they raised their 8 children. Over the years, Bob has participated in a number of organizations and Boards and is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare and is an active member of Young Presidents Organization.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Development Committee
- Board Member Development Committee
- Member of the USML Development Committee
Sean has served as a member of the USML Development Committee since 2020. Sean is married, has 3 kids (8, 4, and 2), and lives in Elmhurst. He grew up in Lake Forest and attended St. Mary's Parish. He has worked for Morningstar for the past 16 years, in sales, for their investment management group. He met his wife there and they still sit a few rows away from each other.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Development Committee
- Member of the Finance Committee
- Board Member Development Committee Finance Committee
- Chief Executive Officer of Great Lakes Advisors
- Member of the USML Board of Advisors
Board Member | Development Committee | Finance Committee
Tom has served as a member of the USML Board of Advisors since 2016. Tom is the Chief Executive Officer of Great Lakes Advisors and an active member of the firm's Management Committee, Operating Committee, Investment Committee, and Board of Directors. Prior to joining in 2006, Tom was Managing Director/Principal at Bear Stearns Asset Management, where he served the public fund and Taft-Hartley business groups. Prior to this, he co-founded Continental Investment Group, an institutional asset management marketing firm. Tom is a Trustee and serves as President of a suburban Illinois Police Pension Fund. He has also served as a committee member for The Annual Rerum Novarum Award and a Regional Board member of the American Ireland Fund.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Development Committee
- Member of the Finance Committee
- Board Member Finance Committee
- Member of the USML Board of Advisors
Julie has served as a member of the USML Board of Advisors since 2013. Julie received her BA in English and Economics from Lawrence University and a Masters of Management, Finance Accounting and Marketing from Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Previously she worked in lending and finance for Citicorp Commercial Lending and in market research for Pathogenesis, Orphan Drug Discovery. Julie currently serves on multiple boards, including the Lumen Christi Institute (Chairman), Relevant Radio Board (Executive Committee), FOCUS Governing Board Audit & Risk Management Committee (Chairman), Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Foundation Board, University of Notre Dame Keough School Advisory Counsel, Regnum Christi Advisory Counsel, and the Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Identity Committee. Julie and her husband Harry have 5 children and reside in Chicago, IL.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Development Committee
- Member of the Finance Committee
- Board Member Finance Committee
- CEO of NORDAM
- Member of the USML Board of Advisors
Meredith has served as a member of the USML Board of Advisors since 2019. Meredith is the CEO of NORDAM, an aerospace company. She is on the Board of Directors for SkyWest Airlines, the largest regional airline in the United States, and the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington D.C. Meredith and Peter both attended the University of Notre Dame, where they met at a St. Patrick's Day dance.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Development Committee
- Development Committee
- Member of the USML Board of Advisors
Peggy has served as a member of the USML Board of Advisors since August 2020. Peggy served in Bishop Robert Barron's Word on Fire ministry for 11+ years as Director of Marketing/Sales and Director of Faith Formation Programs. She is now on retainer as Formation Program Advisor and working primarily for the Word on Fire Institute creating formation content. Peggy has a marketing background in the consumer-packaged food industry and also founded a marketing consulting business, PDP Marketing, Inc. Peggy has led numerous Bible studies and has also served in other parish groups, such as Parish Council, Religious Education Board, and Eucharistic Ministry. She is married with three grown children (husband George; children Andrew, Ted and Claire). She has a BS in Journalism from the University of Illinois and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Development Committee
- Member of the Board
- Board Member Development Committee Chair
- Member of the USML Board of Advisors
- Real Estate Broker With Berkshire Hathaway Home Services
Amy has served as a member of the USML Board of Advisors since 2019. Amy is a real estate broker with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services and has a background in interior design. She has served on the Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital Women's Board since 2008. She also sat on the Lake Forest High School Foundation, chairing the Business Incubator program and was a member of the Shedd Aquarium Gala committee. Amy enthusiastically carries on her family's legacy and passionate commitment to Mundelein through her advancement experience and community service involvement.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Development Committee
- Reverend
Father Nevins has been a priest of the archdiocese since 1975. He has served in Hispanic parishes and the seminary system over the course of those 45 years. He served as associate pastor at St. Ann (Leavitt) and as pastor at St. Procopius, St. Francis of Assisi (Roosevelt Rd.) and presently at St. Agnes of Bohemia. He also served on the faculty of Niles College Seminary and as Vice-Chancellor of the University of St. Mary of the Lake and Director of the Archdiocesan Department of Ministry Formation.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Member of the Development Committee
- Reverend
Father Wall was appointed by the Holy See as president of Catholic Extension in March 2007. In this role, Fr. Wall focuses his efforts on raising awareness and resources for the 86 dioceses that Catholic Extension supports. Prior to leading Catholic Extension, Fr. Wall served twenty-four years as pastor of Old St. Patrick's Church, the second oldest parish founded in the city of Chicago and one of the city's oldest public buildings. Under his stewardship, this struggling urban church grew from 4 to 4,000 households, making it one of the most vibrant faith communities in Chicago today. He has served on the faculty of Niles College Seminary at Loyola University and was vocations director for the Archdiocese of Chicago from 1979-1985. A lifelong Chicagoan, Fr. Wall was ordained on May 2, 1968, after receiving his Master of Divinity and Licentiate of Sacred Theology from the University of St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein Seminary.