I am blessed to be raising three boys. I am an active member of St. Joseph Parish in Wauwatosa, where I have served on parish council and on the Stewardship and Communication Committees.  My full-time job is in finance. I became involved in Awake’s Leadership Team after finding out that my great-uncle was credibly accused of abuse as a priest in the Green Bay diocese. After taking a year to focus on my family, I am excited to be part of the Board of Directors. Awake has given me a way to focus my frustration and anger about the crisis in our Church by turning it into action. I desire to help our Church fully acknowledge the pain and hurt caused and work towards bringing Christ to others.

A lifelong Catholic, I grew up in the Fond du Lac area and graduated from UW-Madison. My work as a high school teacher brought me to Milwaukee where I met my husband A.J. We live in Glendale with our young daughter, and we are parishioners at Holy Family parish in Whitefish Bay. When I was a high school senior, our parish priest was removed due to allegations of sexual abuse, just before abuse scandals in the Church made headline news in 2002. Due to that experience, it became apparent to me in 2018 that the way we responded in the early 2000s was woefully insufficient, and Awake provides the opportunity to listen to survivors and work with the Church to affect change. I am grateful that I can work with Awake to help bring healing in the manner to which Christ compels us.

I am a lifelong Catholic who grew up in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. I went to college in the Chicago area and worked as an attorney in Illinois as well. After years of practicing law, I obtained a license in canon law, the law of the Catholic Church. I have since worked for dioceses, Catholic ministries, and currently for a religious order. I live in northern Illinois with my wife and son. I was in college when the sexual abuse crisis became public and the Archbishop resigned. I was shocked at how the institutional Church had treated so many people. I have encountered many survivors, and am committed to helping inside the Church anyway I can. I joined Awake because as people of God we are called to action in bringing Christ's redemptive healing to the Church.

I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and the founder and clinical director of Heartspace Therapy Center in Central Florida, where I provide counseling for individuals, couples, and families and lead a team of therapists committed to compassionate and high-quality care. Much of my work focuses on trauma, relational healing, and helping people feel safe enough to share their stories and begin the process of restoration. Over the course of my career, I have become deeply aware of the profound wounds that abuse can cause within individuals, families, and faith communities.

As both a therapist and a Catholic, I believe healing requires truth and compassion, and that victims deserve to be heard, supported, and accompanied. It is an honor to serve on the Awake Board and support its mission to walk with survivors and encourage greater accountability and healing within the Church.

I am a nonprofit consultant, Certified Praesidium Guardian, and freelance content writer working in Northern Virginia. My experience in faith-based safeguarding and accompaniment began through a program management role, where I worked with Catholic funders and their partners to resolve gaps and create a ‘new normal’ of abuse prevention across philanthropy. As a committed, lifelong Catholic, I am profoundly moved by Awake’s mission to accompany survivors, build bridges, and offer pathways for healing and justice, and I am honored to serve on the Board. Centering survivor voices and the lived experience is necessary to transform hearts, minds, and process in our Church and beyond.

I am a Catholic convert of nearly twenty years with a deep commitment to the history of the Church and the lessons it offers for the present. I firmly believe that the witness and stories of survivors—past and present—are invaluable resources in shaping a more just and safe future in our Church. Their stories matter to the life of the Church. I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Religious Studies at Stanford University. My research examines African American history and U.S. Catholicism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. I am a proud alumnus of Tennessee State University, where I earned a bachelor’s degree in political science. I later earned a master’s degree in Theological Studies from Vanderbilt University, a master’s degree in Church History from Yale University, and a master’s degree in American History from Stanford.

I research clergy sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, examining the psychological, spiritual, and institutional harm it causes victims. As a lifelong Catholic, I am deeply committed to exposing clergy abuse of adults within the Catholic Church and advocating for true accountability and justice for survivors. The institution's repeated betrayal of victims through denial, concealment, and inadequate response must end if the Church is to embody the justice, compassion, and human dignity at the heart of its values. Through Awake, I have been inspired by what a community of genuine accountability and survivor-centered care can look like for the Catholic Church.

I earned my Ph.D. from Baylor University and my bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of California, Irvine. I have engaged lawmakers and led state-level policy initiatives to prevent clergy-perpetrated abuse, and have presented my research across the U.S. and internationally, including at the University of Regensburg in Germany and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. My peer-reviewed research on the clergy abuse crisis appears in journals such as Critical Social Policy and the Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work, and my public writing in America Magazine and The National Catholic Reporter.

I grew up Catholic in a suburb of Philadelphia, and after graduating from college I worked as a chaplain in the Diocese of Fort Worth. I then completed advanced studies in theology and social work at Boston University and began a career as a therapist and social worker. For 14 years, I served as the Director of Investigations and Religious Accreditation at Praesidium. Over the past two decades, I have also dedicated much of my time to working with children and families in the Texas foster care system. Currently, I run an investigation agency that specializes in cases of clergy misconduct, and I serve 12 religious orders as a survivor assistance coordinator. This role has deepened my appreciation for the vital mission of Awake. I am honored and excited to contribute to the meaningful work of this much-needed organization.

I am originally from the Boston area and was personally impacted by the crisis there. For the past 25 years, I have lived and worked in the Washington, DC region where I am an attorney with practice experience in the public and private sectors. I came to Awake to share in its restorative mission of supporting individual survivors and in advancing transparency, accountability, and positive change in the institutional Church.

I am a recent graduate of the English department at Marquette University, the last chapter of a lifetime of Catholic education. Currently, I’m a non-profit professional in the Milwaukee area. I spend my free time reading, cooking, and with my friends, and driving frequently to my hometown, Appleton, Wisconsin, where most of my family, including my parents and two sisters, live. I’ve been interested in and increasingly involved with Awake’s work for three years. I’ve found incredible value in this community’s mission to intentionally emphasize survivors’ perspectives on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, which I see elsewhere discussed abstractly without understanding or dismissed completely. As a Catholic, I’m frequently awed at the resolute sense of strength in survivors and encouraged by the authenticity of Awake’s work.

I am a mother, grandmother and social worker. I worked for the Archdiocese of Boston for thirty-five years followed by five years with One Fund Boston coordinating supportive services for those injured at the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013. In 2002, when the clergy sexual abuse scandal exploded, it was a privilege to be charged with developing a program of pastoral care and clinical services as an outreach to survivors, families and parishes for the Archdiocese of Boston. Survivors continue to courageously point the way with prophetic voices longing for justice, healing, and renewed trust and friendship as sisters and brothers in Christ. I am humbled to be invited to join Awake as an ally in its zeal and passion to continue the journey.

Treasurer
I live in Michigan, and am a wife to a wonderful husband and mother of two beautiful young adults. I grew up in a large Catholic family in Indiana and attended Catholic grade school and high school. After college, I worked as an environmental engineer for 30 years in the consulting industry. Currently I serve as an active volunteer for several local Catholic organizations. Service to others is and has always been an important part of my life, and I am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of Awake’s important mission to be informed, encourage change, and help those who are hurting from abuse.

I have served the greater Cincinnati area as a leader in Catholic adult formation for over 25 years. Most recently, I founded Magdala House where I host retreats and accompany others as mentor and spiritual director. I have a certificate in spiritual direction and am currently studying theology at the Athenaeum of Ohio. Before entering full time ministry, I worked as a statistician. My husband and I are parents to three adult sons, and I enjoy long walks in the woods with my golden retriever, Daisy May. Helping support the Awake community in its mission is an honor and privilege. I offer my own personal experiences with abuse in the Church and my formation as a spiritual director to accompany those seeking healing and to inspire transformation in the Church.