ABOUT SENT
You weren't just called.
You were SENT.
"As the Father has sent me, so I send you." - John 20:21
WHY SENT EXISTS
Your business is a platform for mission.
Catholic entrepreneurs carry a unique and powerful calling. Not just to build profitable businesses, but to build companies that become workplaces for the Kingdom, transform lives, and renew the culture around them. The men and women of SENT are serious people: running real companies, making hard decisions, and trying to do it with faith, integrity, and the long view in mind.
John Cannon
John founded SENT in 2020 — but his path here was anything but ordinary. After a career in investment banking, consulting, and Harvard Business School, a transformative encounter with God led him to leave it all for a Carmelite monastery, where he spent nearly eight years as a friar.
Studying the entrepreneurial saints, he found the conviction at the heart of SENT — that the Saints were holy and entrepreneurial. SENT exists so you don't have to choose between the two.
FOUNDER
The people behind SENT
We’re entrepreneurs, operators, and mission-driven leaders who share your desire to build boldly while staying rooted in faith. Together, we're here to help you become the builder and leader you were made to be.
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Before founding SENT, John got degrees in Finance, Political Science, and Business from Notre Dame, Oxford, and Harvard. He was an investment banker, boutique management consultant, and Policy Advisor to the Governor of Alabama.
He then became a Carmelite Brother for 7 years, where he lived a monastic life of prayer, study, service. During this time, he completed advanced degrees in Philosophy and Theology, with a particular study on the lives of founder Saints.
He eventually discerned out to found SENT and help Catholic founders and execs take their ventures and lives to the next level.
John currently serves on the SENT Board, where he supports organizational strategy and special projects while helping to build the broader Catholic entrepreneurship ecosystem.
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Nick Madden is the CEO of SENT Ventures. He is a purpose-driven entrepreneur passionate about building meaningful connections.
Over the past decade, he has grown Red Door Escape Room from a single location to 20 nationwide, generating over $20MM in revenue and leading a team of 400+. Nick has coached and consulted with various businesses, developing a deep understanding and empathy for the entrepreneurial journey. His work with SENT has been a profound blessing, evolving from Fellow to Coach, and now serving as CEO under founder John Cannon’s guidance.Rooted in his Catholic faith, Nick integrates spirituality with business to help entrepreneurs thrive personally, professionally, and spiritually. A loving husband to Kaci and father of three, Nick resides in San Diego, CA, and is committed to fostering community and delivering transformative experiences.
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Sam Mazzarelli is a Gospel-driven leader. Driven by the entrepreneurial spirit, he has spent his career helping men and women find effective and innovative ways to fulfill God's purpose through formation, leadership, and community. Through his various senior leadership roles and entrepreneurial endeavors, he has helped organizations scale their mission well, maintaining culture and consistency. Sam serves as Chief Community Success Officer at SENT Ventures, where he is dedicated to supporting SENT members in their entrepreneurial journey as they build their businesses, grow as disciples of Jesus, and transform culture with their unique gifts and entrepreneurial spirits.
Sam and his wife, Michelle, live in Wichita, KS, with their ten children. Sam and his family dedicate their time to helping others encounter Jesus Christ through friendship and community.
CHIEF COMMUNITY SUCCESS OFFICER
HEAD OF MEMBER ENGAGEMENT
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David Trotter serves as the Head of Growth for SENT Ventures. In 2005 David graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Kansas, where he fell in love with his wife Erin and the Catholic faith. Over the past 20 years he has served in critical roles to help scale and grow some of the most well-known Catholic organizations such as Benedictine College and FOCUS (the Fellowship of Catholic University Students). Recently, David completed a Master of Science in Church Management at Villanova University and utilized those skills and training to help turnaround one of the oldest, Catholic, college prep, boarding schools in the country. David has a passion to go on mission with people and organizations to help make disciples of all nations. He, his wife, and eight children live in Atchison, Kansas.
HEAD OF GROWTH
COMMUNITY MANAGER
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Marisa is a Pittsburgh-based event planner passionate about creating experiences that encourage authentic encounters. She started her career in the corporate event world, planning conferences and meetings nationwide. After gaining valuable industry knowledge, Marisa was drawn to use her skills to support purpose driven missions and transitioned to the non-profit world. She now uses her experience to plan events that foster community, strengthen faith, and promote personal and professional growth.
EVENT MANAGER
COMMUNITY MANAGER
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Daniela is SENT's Community Success Catalyst, bringing to bear her passion for excellence and heart for service on membership development, event execution, operations, and special projects. Throughout her career, she’s naturally found herself at the center of the work that keeps organizations running well and the initiatives that take them to the next level — first at a Montessori school, then on college campuses, now for our network of Catholic entrepreneurs. Previously, as strategic partner to the founder of a Houston Montessori school, she managed operations, HR, marketing, and events, stepping in as acting director whenever leadership was away. She's also coordinated donor and campus events at Ralston College and Thomas Aquinas College, and directed vocal ensembles and children's choirs in her spare time. A great aficionado of Sacred Music and a semi-professional vocalist, Daniela has earned post-graduate certificates at the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music, and holds an MA in Humanities from Ralston College and a BA in Liberal Arts from Thomas Aquinas College.
COMMUNITY SUCCESS CATALYST
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Member Systems & Operations
MEMBER SYSTEMS & OPERATIONS
HR TEAM
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A finalist of Mexico's National Design Award 2023, Diana has collaborated with top brands as a freelancer. Specializing in captivating designs that elevate businesses, she ensures seamless alignment with client goals for success.
Advisors & Mentors
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David Mann’s career has spanned a number of leadership, operational, and investing roles. Currently, David serves as the Managing Partner and co-Founder of The Firefly Group, a holding company focused on investing in lower-middle market businesses. He currently serves as the board chair of Dealers Wholesale, EOS Worldwide, and Sales Xceleration. In addition, David co-founded Spring Mill Venture Partners, a venture capital firm, in 2002. David is an adjunct faculty member at Indiana University, Kelley School of Business (Indianapolis). Previously, David worked with ServiceMaster Ventures and served as a founding member of the ServiceMaster Home Service Center, a joint venture between Kleiner Perkins and ServiceMaster. Earlier, he served as a summer associate with Invesco.
David began his career as an officer in the U.S. Navy, serving as a White House Liaison on the staff of the Secretary of the Navy, holding leadership positions on board a nuclear guided-missile cruiser, and working in information systems. David received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and B.S. from the U.S. Naval Academy. He serves on a number of corporate and non-profit boards.
Managing Partner and co-Founder, Firefly Group
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Valerie Mullen Pletcher is a nonprofit innovation specialist with over two decades of professional fundraising and management experience. Her knowledge of systems thinking, ethics and standards of excellence have enabled her to raise over millions of dollars to help organizations thrive. Valerie currently serves as the Senior Director of Philanthropy for the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), advancing major financial support in the Mid-Atlantic region and developing an overseas philanthropy program. Valerie holds a B.A. in speech communications from West Chester University, and multiple certificates in grant writing, annual fund development, leadership management, and sponsorships. She is a licensed consultant for the Nonprofit Standards for Excellence Institute™ and a graduate with distinction of the International Advanced Fundraising Diploma (IADF) of the U.K. Institute of Fundraising (IoF) in collaboration with Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). Her experience and training have made her a frequent guest speaker and educator at fundraising conferences and workshops. Valerie served multiple terms as chair of the AFP Youth in Philanthropy program and was selected to present the youth philanthropy model at the 2017 Japan Association of Fundraising Conference in Tokyo. Valerie is a member of the John Carroll Society and the AFP Washington D.C. chapter. She lives in Northern Virginia with her family where she is a member of Saint Mary of Sorrow’s Parish and teaches 6th grade CCD.
Senior Director of Philanthropy for the Fellowship of Catholic University Students
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A seasoned investor at the forefront of the Internet of Things, energy and industrials markets, David Mount has spent his career advancing the ‘Industrial Awakening’ by supporting companies at the intersection of connectivity, advanced processing and traditional industry.
Over the last decade, David led a number of successful investments as a Partner at Kleiner Perkins’ $1B Green Growth Fund, and, more recently, founded and incubated Element Analytics, a high-growth industrial software company. David has invested in OSIsoft (shares sold to SoftBank), ServiceMax (acquired by GE), Opower (acquired by Oracle), SilverSpring Networks (SSNI), UpWind Solutions (acquired by Vestas) and Choose Energy (acquired by Red Ventures).
Prior to Kleiner Perkins, David developed his principal investing expertise at Bain Capital Credit, a $20B structured finance unit of Bain Capital. There, David helped manage a traditional energy portfolio, which included exploration, production, refining, field services and specialty chemicals. His involvement in the firm’s consumer portfolio included investments in multinationals within the food, health and sustainable business sectors.
David holds a B.A. degree from Yale University, an M.S. in environment and resources and an M.B.A. from Stanford University, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar. He remains involved at Stanford as a guest lecturer and as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board at the Stanford School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences
Partner, G2 Venture Partners
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Karl Wirth is a business leader and entrepreneur. He co-founded Evergage in 2010 and, as CEO, led the company from startup to the leading personalization platform on the market to successful acquisition. He is now leading and scaling the business for Salesforce, which acquired his company. Prior to Evergage, Karl had a variety of leadership roles in general management, product management, and marketing for Red Hat (now IBM), RSA Security (now EMC), and Sentillion (now Microsoft).
Co-Founder & CEO orFounder of Nimbalyst. Former Co-Founder of Evergage (acquired by Salesforce)
Professor of Entrepreneurship and the Director of the Art & Carlyse Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship at The Catholic University of America’s Busch School of Business.
Bryan F. Grane is the Founder of East Orchard Capital (EOC). Prior to he was the Owner, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CST.
Friar at Order of Preachers
What is SENT?
