President

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 currently on the Stewardship and Communication Committee.  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 priest of the Archdiocese of New York, but grew up in Milwaukee. I’ve served for thirteen years as professor of moral theology at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, NY where I collaborate in the formation of future priests. Helping Church leaders to respond more adequately to the clergy sexual abuse crisis has become a passion for me. I believe intensely in Christ’s power to turn our wounds into sources of grace for ourselves and others. I am also a founding member of the National Catholic Restorative Justice Initiative which seeks to apply the practices of restorative justice to the Church’s sexual abuse crisis. Along this path, our Lord has led me to accompany a number of survivors on their journey toward healing, and to collaborate more closely with Awake, supporting our organization’s prophetic mission.

I am an employment and immigration attorney and partner at a local law firm. I live on the east side of Milwaukee with my husband Rob, two children, and dog Tilly. I am a lifelong Catholic and dedicated to our Catholic community in Milwaukee. It is my honor to be on the Awake Board and assist this important organization in their work to provide comfort, counseling, and consolation to victims of clergy abuse. I appreciate Awake’s community of concerned and faithful Catholics dedicated to doing something constructive about this crisis in our Church.

I was born in Rochester, New York, the oldest of seven in a Catholic family. I chose to attend university in Pittsburgh, where I met my husband, a mountain climber; we now have 2 adult sons. I retired after 35 years as a high school teacher of Leadership Development, English, and Student Activities. Currently, I am a travel guide and leadership consultant. My strong faith has led me to be involved with numerous parish ministries for over 50 years. As a victim/survivor of abuse from a foreign priest assigned to my church, I recognize the voice of God on my healing journey, and my heart and soul rejoice.

I was raised in Cedarburg and graduated from Beloit College with a BA and a MAT in Elementary Education. After teaching sixth grade, I graduated from Marquette Law School, served as Chief Staff Attorney at the Milwaukee Legal Aid, Society, taught as a law professor at Marquette, was appointed as an interim Milwaukee County Executive, and the founded the Marquette Law Restorative Justice Initiative and the Andrew Restorative Justice Center. I also served as a Milwaukee Circuit Court Judge for 12 years and a Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice for 5 years. I have been a practicing Catholic for over 40 years. For the last 15 years I have worked internationally to develop, teach and apply restorative justice approaches to the clergy/religious abuse scandal. Having the deepest respect for Awake’s work, I am happy to serve as a member of its board.

I became interested in Awake’s work as a result of a conversation with a fellow victim-survivor from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, where I studied for priesthood at St. Francis de Sales Seminary beginning in 1965. I continued my studies at Catholic University in Washington, D.C, and I have two Master’s degrees, one in pastoral studies from Loyola University of Chicago and another in organizational development from Silver Lake College in Manitowoc. I had a successful 35-year career in business during which I helped raise our six children, but I am currently retired and living in Appleton, Wisconsin. I think that Awake is doing important work, and I want to lend my expertise and personal experience as a victim-survivor to benefit a hurting Church!

I am the mother of three wonderful daughters and work at a local corporation. In my free time, I enjoy playing sports with my daughters, taking care of our many pets, and volunteering with animals. I have been exposed to sexual and domestic abuse in my own life and found Awake’s mission of helping victims of abuse extremely patient, effective, and compassionate. I’m still on a journey of healing and have learned so much in living with this trauma for myself and my children. God is bigger than the abuse, bigger than the abusers, bigger than all the crosses we carry. God will never abandon us, and Awake represents that so well to me.

I am a recent retiree from Milwaukee County, where I worked for 30 years as a contract manager. I grew up in Whitefish Bay, and today live with my wife in a home that was on my paper route back in the 70s! I sing in the choir at Saints Peter and Paul Parish in Milwaukee. Growing up in the 60s, I saw firsthand how the Church failed to protect its flock by moving dangerous priests from parish to parish. I found out many years later that some of my fellow grade school students were victimized by a serial abuser. I was very angry at the Church for years, until Awake showed me how to turn my anger into constructive action. Awake has helped me learn how to best support survivors, to walk with them, to listen, and acknowledge their trauma. I am grateful for Awake’s presence as a positive, empathetic presence in the Catholic faith community.

I am a licensed mental health clinician and professor of clinical mental health counseling. My doctoral work focused on male survivors of childhood sexual abuse and work difficulties, and I have humbly assisted hundreds of survivors find their path forward as they negotiate their love of the Catholic Church and the reality of abuse. I have served as a trustee, parish council member, lector, and Eucharistic minister at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Monona, Wisconsin. I am also vice-chair of the State of Wisconsin’s Marriage and Family Therapy, Professional Counseling, and Social Work Examining Board. I wanted to become involved with Awake because it fulfills a needed dialogue. More importantly, it is a safe and supportive space where people can come together and walk shoulder to shoulder with others who are also on a journey of healing.

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.

Ex-Officio, Immediate Past President

I was raised in a Catholic family in Indiana, graduated from Indiana University, and spent many years working in nonprofit development in Chicago, Milwaukee, and Portland, Maine. These days, I live in Shorewood with my husband Eric and four small children and belong to St. Robert parish. I love the Catholic Church and feel blessed by a wonderful parish community that is helping me raise my children in the faith. I have been involved with Awake since early 2019, after feeling called to “do something” about the deep wounds caused by a growing awareness of abuse in the Catholic Church. I am thankful for Awake giving me a safe place to share, listen, and ask tough questions with other people of faith, making it possible to connect with the pain of survivors, and inviting me into the work of transformation and healing.

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.