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Operations
Erin Aucar is a social innovator and educator passionate about driving change within existing organizations and facilitating connections among other changemakers. She has her B.A. in Political Science from the University of Notre Dame and a M.A. in Social Entrepreneurship with a concentration in International Education Program Design from American University. Erin is creating and managing the operational systems for SENT while also supporting John in big-picture strategy and project management. Previously, Erin’s professional experience was focused on outreach and regional program development, first for the nonprofit AMIGOS and later for the University of Notre Dame’s Center for Career Development. She currently lives in DC and in her free time, Erin volunteers on a leadership committee for the Hallow App, serves on the Board of Directors for the Gap Year Association, and spends time at the dog park with Guinness, her mini bernedoodle puppy.
Founder, Servant
John Cannon founded SENT to fuel Catholic entrepreneurs to address pressing human and spiritual needs through integration of world-class business insight and deep spiritual practice. Prior to SENT, John founded and ran a boutique management consulting practice, where he advised for-profit and NGO clients in diverse sectors on growth and financial strategy. As an investment banker for Wells Fargo, he was part of the Leveraged Finance deal team that closed a $1.2B financing for an energy client. He is a former Policy Advisor to the Governor of Alabama and also spent seven years in monastic life as a Carmelite, an ancient Catholic religious order, where he prayed, taught spirituality, and worked in a variety of ministries. John received a BBA (Finance) and BA (Political Science) from the University of Notre Dame, a Masters in Politics & IR from Oxford University, an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MA in Philosophy from Mount Angel Seminary and MA in Theology from Franciscan University Steubenville. He spent a year researching the lives of 50 renewal leaders in Catholic Church history to identify their common characteristics, about which he hopes to share with the SENT Community.
Founder, Servant
John Cannon founded SENT to fuel Catholic entrepreneurs to address pressing human and spiritual needs through integration of world-class business insight and deep spiritual practice. Prior to SENT, John founded and ran a boutique management consulting practice, where he advised for-profit and NGO clients in diverse sectors on growth and financial strategy. As an investment banker for Wells Fargo, he was part of the Leveraged Finance deal team that closed a $1.2B financing for an energy client. He is a former Policy Advisor to the Governor of Alabama and also spent seven years in monastic life as a Carmelite, an ancient Catholic religious order, where he prayed, taught spirituality, and worked in a variety of ministries. John received a BBA (Finance) and BA (Political Science) from the University of Notre Dame, a Masters in Politics & IR from Oxford University, an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MA in Philosophy from Mount Angel Seminary and MA in Theology from Franciscan University Steubenville. He spent a year researching the lives of 50 renewal leaders in Catholic Church history to identify their common characteristics, about which he hopes to share with the SENT Community.
Executive Coach, Novus Global
Joseph Thompson is an Associate Coach with Novus Global, an elite tribe of executive coaches. He works with people, just like you, to guide them as they transform and renew their lives. Joseph is dedicated to a life of serving others in their exploration and creation of a flourishing life. He has a lifetime of leadership experience — a treasure trove of successes and failures — that includes over a dozen years and counting in education. He has achieved record-breaking revenue and profit growth in more than one career. He is a published author and poet, a spouse of 12+ years, father of four daughters. His clients include c-level executives, department directors, authors, speakers, business owners, school administrators, finance professionals, and an award-winning chef. He received a BA in liberal arts and English from Thomas Aquinas College and a MA in English from the University of Mississippi. He lives in Texas.
Founder & Managing Partner, Mission Advancement Partners
Kate Sell is an organizational and communications strategist with more than 15 years of experience in business and nonprofit consulting. Her experience in the Catholic sphere throughout the United States and abroad brings a unique perspective to those serving the “Pope Francis Church.” By assisting organizations to better understand the Catholic landscape in the 21st Century, Kate is able to guide organizations to more effectively live their unique mission with innovative evangelistic strategy and to utilize their resources to most effectively communicate to serve the needs of the modern Church. Having worked with for- profit companies, national nonprofits, dioceses, parishes and ministry-based organizations, Kate has experience in all phases of organizational change and development, as well as the communications strategy and messaging necessary to bring initiatives to the forefront. Her expertise in planning and strategy provides clarity and focus to organizational growth and transition while equipping clients to maximize resources – human, time, and capital. In addition, Kate’s reputation for communication strategy and messaging ensures that project, campaign, or organizational identities reach target audiences with specific messaging that resonates with their needs and invites them to learn more.
Co-Founder & CEO, Baker & Daboll, LLC – Executive Coaching. Co-Founder & CEO, “From Founder To CEO” Podcast
Todd has coached hundreds of entrepreneurs seeking to scale their businesses for the past 16 years. He’s been an entrepreneur himself through growing his coaching business. Todd is also the co-founder and CEO of From Founder To CEO which runs one of the most highly followed startup podcasts and helps founders transition from starting to building a company. Through the From Founder to CEO podcast, he has interviewed leading entrepreneurs such as the founder of Netflix, Mailchimp, and more. Todd is deeply committed to the Catholic faith and is eager to support fellow Catholic entrepreneurs.
Director, The Arthur & Carlyse Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship at Catholic University
Andreas E. Widmer is the Assistant 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. Previously he co-founded The SEVEN Fund, a philanthropic organization promoting enterprise solutions to poverty. Widmer is a seasoned business executive with experience in high-tech, international business strategy, consulting and economic development. He served as CEO of the business strategy firm OTF Group and helped lead web content management pioneer Eprise Corporation, speech recognition pioneer Dragon Systems, and internet pioneer FTP Software. He has brought more than 100 leading-edge technology products to market, and was an executive in residence at Highland Capital Partners. Andreas is also the author of The Pope & The CEO: Pope Saint John Paul II’s Lessons to a Young Swiss Guard, a book exploring leadership lessons that Widmer learned serving as a Swiss Guard protecting Pope John Paul II.
Senior Director of Philanthropy, The Fellowship of Catholic University Students
Valerie Mullen Pletcher is a nonprofit entrepreneur with over two decades of professional fundraising and management experience. Her leadership in developing integrated, not-for-profit systems has resulted in millions of dollars raised to help organization missions thrive. A nonprofit director and fundraising specialist with 20+ years of experience building and restructuring effective nonprofit fundraising programs that advance revenue, increase donor retention, and develop major gift philanthropy. She is an experienced Executive Director and Chief Development Officer, highly skilled at leading organizational change, collaborating with VIPs, leaders, and program directors to advance mission impact, building and managing integrated fundraising programs, developing and leading major and campaign gift strategy, public relations, marketing, building strategic partnerships, digital fundraising, and coaching and training.
Partner, G2 Venture Partners
David Mount is a partner at G2VP, focused on investments at the intersection of advanced digital technologies and traditional industry. He serves currently on the boards of Seegrid, an autonomous robotics company, and Kespry, a leading provider of perception-based analytics for mining and other industrial end-markets. David is also an Adjunct Professor at Stanford Earth where he co-teaches a class on ‘New Frontiers and Opportunities in Sustainability.’ David was a partner at the Green Growth Fund at Kleiner Perkins from 2008-2020 and while at the Green Growth Fund, worked closely with OSIsoft (shares sold to SoftBank), ServiceMax (sold to GE), Choose Energy (acquired by Red Ventures), UpWind Solutions (acquired by Vestas), Opower (OPWR), and Silver Spring Networks (SSNI). David is also on the board of Element Analytics, an industrial analytics software developer that he co-founded and led in its earliest days.
Former Chief Executive Officer, Western Digital Corp
Steve Milligan is the former CEO of Western Digital, a Fortune 200 Company. Steve has more than 30 years of executive operational and financial leadership experience. Before rejoining Western Digital, Milligan was president and chief executive officer of Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST). Prior to joining Hitachi GST in 2007, Milligan was Western Digital’s senior vice president and chief financial officer. He originally joined Western Digital in 2002 as vice president, Finance. Milligan previously spent five years with Dell in senior finance roles after starting his career with Price Waterhouse. Currently, Milligan serves on the board of directors for Ross Stores, Inc.
Co-Founder & Managing Partner, The Firefly Group
David’s background includes leadership, operations, entrepreneurship, and investment experience. Prior to co-founding The Firefly Group, David co-founded Spring Mill Venture Partners, a venture capital firm. Previously, he worked with ServiceMaster Ventures and served as a founding member of the ServiceMaster Home Service Center, a joint venture between Kleiner Perkins and ServiceMaster. David began his career as an officer in the U.S. Navy. He serves on a number of non-profit boards and is an adjunct faculty member at Indiana University, Kelley School of Business (Indianapolis).
Founder & Managing Director, Black//Brown
Deacon Charlie is the founder of Black//Brown an LA-based strategic advisory. He’s held executive positions at AOL, Walt Disney & Univision and has entrepreneurial experience with a number of start-ups. He is President of Sofesa.org, Vice Chairman of Catholic Answers, and is on the boards of the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders, The Vida Initiative, Tepeyac Institute, and Juan Diego Network.. Deacon Charlie co-hosts The Diversity Remix, and Latino Leaders & Faith. He is married to his wife Jessica, has 5 kids, and is ordained for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles where he serves at St. Gerard Majella Parish.
Social Media Intern
Allie is a recent graduate of Providence College where she received a B.S. in Marketing. At PC, Allie joined her church’s Peer Ministry group, discovered Bishop Barron and Father Mike Schmitz, and was immersed in theology classes that opened her eyes. From then on she knew she wanted to be part of something with a Catholic mission that would enable her to support others and grow in her faith. In addition to her religious passion, Allie has gained marketing experience at Fidelity Investments where she spent a summer interning in the Workplace Investing division. During this time, she created marketing and communication materials for Fidelity’s Student Debt Program. Currently, Allie is enrolled in UMass Lowell’s Graphic Design and Digital Imaging Certificate Program where she hopes to become more skilled in visual communication.
Program Assistant
Heather Crouch is a life-long Catholic, passionate about life with Jesus Christ and building up the Church by supporting its members and sharing the good news with others. She believes strongly in the value of community, and has founded and/or supported a variety of ministries on the parish level for over 10 years: child and adult catechesis, RCIA, young adult groups, mental health support, parish spirituality and evangelization outreach. She also had the blessing of spending 4+ years living, working, praying and studying with religious communities of Carmelites, Benedictines and Little Sisters of the Poor. Professionally, she has enjoyed rendering quality administrative assistance to a variety of clients and businesses.
Strategy
Andrew DeBerry has 15 years of experience leading new cloud and artificial intelligence initiatives at T-Mobile and Microsoft. He currently heads cloud projects to improve cancer diagnoses using AI and strengthen election security at U.S. Cyber Command. Andrew has a degree in Aerospace Engineering from Notre Dame with minors in Public Policy, Arabic, and Catholic Social Teaching. He gained a Masters in National Security studies while a U.S. Air Force intelligence officer and completed an MBA in Strategic Management and MA in International Studies from the Wharton School’s Lauder Institute.