NCEA Board of Directors

2024-2025

The NCEA Board of Directors brings valuable experience and expertise from leaders in Catholic education, including clergy, superintendents, lawyers, educators, accountants, CEOs and university professors. Find NCEA's bylaws here.

 

BOARD CHAIRMAN

The Most Reverend Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv.
Archbishop
Archdiocese of Atlanta

ARCHBISHOP GREGORY J. HARTMAYER, OFM Conv., was appointed chair of the NCEA Board of Directors in 2024. He is currently the seventh Archbishop of Atlanta, installed on May 6, 2020. Prior to his installation in the Archdiocese of Atlanta, Archbishop Hartmayer was the fourteenth Bishop of the Diocese of Savannah, appointed by Pope Benedict XVI on July 19, 2011, and consecrated and installed on October 18, 2011. He joined the Order of Friars Minor Conventual, commonly known as the Conventual Franciscan Friars, and took his simple vows in 1970 at the St. Joseph Cupertino Friary in Ellicott City, MD, before making his solemn profession in 1973. He received a Master of Education in secondary Catholic school administration from Boston College in 1992. Archbishop Hartmayer also has been a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Administrative Committee, the Committee on Priorities and Plans and served on the committee overseeing the distribution of financial support to dioceses in Eastern Europe. He currently serves as chairman of the Subcommittee on the Catholic Communication Campaign and is on the board of directors of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.

Steven Cheeseman, Ed.D.
NCEA President/CEO, effective August 1, 2024 (Ex Officio)
National Catholic Educational Association

STEVEN CHEESEMAN, Ed.D., is the incoming NCEA President/CEO. Until his appointment, Dr. Cheeseman served as the superintendent of schools in the Diocese of Bridgeport, CT, since 2016. In the past year, he has also served as the interim executive director of the Seton Collaborative in the same diocese. Prior to his tenure in Connecticut, Dr. Cheeseman was associate superintendent of schools in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, NY, and a teacher/administrator at both the elementary and secondary levels. He has also been an adjunct professor at St. Joseph College in Patchogue, NY, and from 2009 to the present has been an adjunct professor at Fordham University Graduate School of Education.

Holding NY State Certification as a school district administrator and a teacher, Dr. Cheeseman earned a Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts and Professional Diploma before earning a Doctorate in Education Leadership & Technology from Dowling College in Oakdale, NY. Dr. Cheeseman has received numerous education awards and recently received the Benemerenti Medal, which is a Pontifical honor.  He and his wife, Danielle, have three adult children.

 

MEMBERS

Tom Buckley, J.D.
General Counsel
Archdiocese of St. Louis

TOM BUCKLEY, J.D., is the general counsel for the Archdiocese of St. Louis. He has a demonstrated history of working in the religious institutions industry. He is skilled in torts, litigation management, trial practice, dispute resolution and trials. Mr. Buckley has served as the general counsel for the Archdiocese of St. Louis for nine years. Along with an associate general counsel, a paralegal and a legal assistant, Mr. Buckley’s general counsel office oversees the archdiocese’s legal affairs, including those at parishes, schools, agencies and ministries. From 2011 to 2017, he served on the NCEA Board of Directors. In this capacity, he played a crucial role in assisting with the restructuring of the board and its bylaws and was a transitional board member from the previous board of representation to the current governing board. Mr. Buckley is a graduate of St. Louis University School of Law.

Lauren Casella, Ed.D.
Assistant Clinical Professor
Loyola Marymount University

LAUREN CASELLA, Ed.D., is an assistant clinical professor at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in the department of educational leadership and administration and the director of the Catholic School Leadership Academy and co-director of the Master of Arts in Educational Leadership. She is a school board member at St. Anastasia Catholic School in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Additionally, Dr. Casella is a leadership mentor in NCEA’s New Leaders Academy and was president of NCEA’s Catholic Higher Education in Support of Catholic Schools (CHESCS) until the start of her board term at NCEA. Additionally, Dr. Casella is a curriculum writer, presenter and session lead with the LMU/Los Angeles Unified School District Leadership Academy and Equity for Principals (LEAP) collaboration supporting principals through the Black Student Achievement Plan. Before entering higher education, she taught in Catholic elementary schools in the Archdiocese of Chicago and was an administrator and principal. Dr. Casella holds a Bachelor of Arts in liberal studies from LMU, a Master of Arts in leadership and supervision from Loyola University Chicago and a Doctor of Education in educational leadership and teacher education from the University of Southern California. She holds an Illinois general administrative credential, an Illinois teaching license and a California teaching credential & BCLAD.

David Devine
Chief Financial Officer
Academy of Holy Angels

DAVID DEVINE is the chief financial officer for the Academy of Holy Angels. He has more than seventeen years of experience in finance and accounting, including time spent with the Chicago Public Schools as a capital budget manager and the Minneapolis Public Schools as an accountant supervisor. He began his finance career with Marquette Partners in Chicago as a senior financial futures trader. Most recently, Mr. Devine was the senior finance director of the Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ), an organization dedicated to permanently closing the achievement gap and ending generational poverty in North Minneapolis. Immediately out of college, he spent two years as an AmeriCorps volunteer, teaching math, history and coaching basketball at Cathedral College Preparatory High School in Los Angeles, CA. Mr. Devine received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of St. Thomas in finance and economics. He obtained a Master of Business Administration from DePaul University in Chicago.

Mary Pat Donoghue
Executive Director of the Secretariat of Catholic Education
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (Ex Officio)

MARY PAT DONOGHUE is executive director of the Secretariat of Catholic Education for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Over her twenty-nine years of service to Catholic education, Ms. Donoghue is perhaps best known for her tenure as principal of St. Jerome Academy in Hyattsville, MD, where she led the effort to move the parish school from near failure to a thriving and growing institution. Before then, she served as a vice principal and as a teacher in the classroom; since then, she has consulted nationwide with superintendents, pastors and principals, sharing her experience in teacher formation and supervision, curriculum implementation and financial stability in conjunction with the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education.

Tommy Espinoza
President, CEO and Co-founder
Raza Development Fund

TOMMY ESPINOZA is president, CEO and co-founder of Raza Development Fund (RDF). He is a prominent architect of Latino community and business development policy and programs, with more than forty-five years of experience that span the breadth of the public, private sector and nonprofit spectrum. Mr. Espinoza spent his early days organizing youth groups in Phoenix’s low-income neighborhoods, helping young Latinos escape the self-defeating treadmill of poverty and crime through educational programs. He then worked with Latino families to gain access to affordable housing through Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC), where eleven years later as president and CEO, he transformed CPLC into one of the country’s most dynamic forces for Latino empowerment and economic well-being. While at CPLC, Mr. Espinoza was selected by the White House to advise President Jimmy Carter as a member of the Mexican American Advisory Council. Mr. Espinoza currently serves on The Catholic University of America Board of Visitors for the School of Arts and Sciences, LISC National Board of Directors, the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders National Board and the Greater Phoenix Leadership Board of Directors.

Edward P. Hardiman, Ph.D.
Head of School
St. John's Preparatory School

EDWARD P. HARDIMAN, Ph.D., is a leading voice in Catholic education and is the sixteenth headmaster of St. John’s Preparatory School. During his tenure, he has led efforts to increase diversity among students and faculty, expanded the scope of the school’s campus ministry programs and completed an ambitious strategic agenda.  He is chair of the board of directors of Rostro de Cristo and serves on the boards of Blessed Stephen Bellesini Academy, OSA, Our Lady of Good Counsel High School and the Corporate Members Board for Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools. During his career in education, Dr. Hardiman has served as a teacher and administrator, assistant principal for academics, dean of students, director of campus ministry and as a lay missionary. Fluent in Spanish, he earned degrees from Fairfield University and Boston College. In 2007, he received an honorary doctor of laws degree from Fairfield University. He and his wife live in Danvers, MA, with their four children.

RaeNell B. Houston, Ph.D.

Superintendent of Catholic Schools/Executive Director
Archdiocese of New Orleans

RAENELL B. HOUSTON, Ph.D., is the superintendent of Catholic schools and executive director of faith formation for the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Prior to joining the department of Catholic education and faith formation, Dr. Houston was an instructor in the department of teaching and learning at Southeastern Louisiana University and an assistant professor in the education department at the University of Holy Cross. She is a certified reading specialist and former elementary and middle school teacher. Dr. Houston attended Louisiana State University, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in elementary education, and a Master of Arts in curriculum and instruction. She also received a master’s degree in business from Southern New Hampshire University and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from the University of New Orleans.

Christina Lamas
Executive Director
National Federation of Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM)

CHRISTINA LAMAS is the executive director of the National Federation of Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM), a role she has held since 2016. Prior to this, she served as the associate director of the Office of Religious Education and division coordinator of youth ministry for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. With a strong belief in the mission of NFCYM, Ms. Lamas relocated from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., to take up her current position, where she continues to support and strengthen those who accompany young people as they encounter and follow Jesus Christ. Ms. Lamas holds a Master of Arts in social work from the University of Southern California. She enjoys collaborating, dreaming big and empowering and cultivating the potential in others by identifying their God-given gifts. She currently serves on the board of directors for Catholic Relief Services, the Leadership Roundtable, the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate and the Bishops Working Group on Youth and Young Adults for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Father Ronald R. O’Dwyer, SJ, Ed.D.
President
DeSmet Jesuit High School

FATHER RONALD R. O’DWYER, SJ, Ed.D., serves as the president of De Smet Jesuit High School in St. Louis, MO. Fr. O’Dwyer holds a doctorate in educational leadership and policy from Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of Education. He earned a licentiate in church history from Boston College, where he studied the reception of Vatican II in Jesuit High Schools in the USA, 1963-1973. Fr. O’Dwyer served at Saint Louis University’s School of Education as an assistant professor, the assistant to the dean for Catholic School Initiatives, and the director of the Billiken Teacher Corps. After his ordination to the priesthood in 2015, Fr. O’Dwyer was missioned to St. Peter Claver Parish in Punta Gorda, Belize, which oversees operations for more than thirty village churches and rural Catholic elementary schools. His scholarship and practice focus on fostering the operational vitality and the ecclesial mission of Catholic schools.

Hosffman Ospino, Ph.D.
Professor of Theology and Religious Education
Boston College

HOSFFMAN OSPINO, Ph.D., is professor of theology and religious education at Boston College, Clough School of Theology and Ministry where he is also chair of the department of religious education and pastoral ministry. Dr. Ospino has served as the principal investigator for several national studies on Hispanic Catholics. He has received multiple awards recognizing the value and impact of his work from various organizations, including the Catholic Education Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA). He is the author/editor of more than twenty books and more than 260 articles, academic and general. Dr. Ospino is a member on the boards of several academic and ministerial organizations and regularly serves as a consultant for Catholic educational institutions. He is actively involved in ministry with his family in the Archdiocese of Boston.

Karen Rauenhorst, RN, MPH
Mark and Karen Rauenhorst Foundation

KAREN RAUENHORST, RN, MPH, serves the Catholic Relief Services Foundation as vice chair, and is the former chair of St. Catherine University’s governing board, serving a four-year term. Mrs. Rauenhorst was acting president of St. Catherine University in St. Paul, MN, from June - August 2016 and is a trustee on the Foundation and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities (FADICA) Board in addition to serving on several other boards and foundations. After receiving a Bachelor of Science in nursing from Creighton University, Mrs. Rauenhorst then received a Master of Public Health from the University of Minnesota.

Sister Mary Grace Walsh, ASCJ, Ph.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Archdiocese of New York

SISTER MARY GRACE WALSH, ASCJ, Ph.D., an Apostle of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, was appointed superintendent of schools of the Archdiocese of New York by His Eminence, Timothy Cardinal Dolan on July 17, 2023, and is responsible for the education of students in 170 Catholic schools in Manhattan, Staten Island, the Bronx, Westchester and the upper counties of the archdiocese. Previously, Sr. Mary Grace served as CEO then president of Cor Jesu Academy in St. Louis and provided overall leadership and vision for the integration of faith and learning. She also served as provost for education, evangelization and catechesis and president of Saint Thomas Seminary in Hartford where she was responsible for the continuum of Catholic education, formation for all the faithful and the supervision and coordination of the offices which served Catholic schools. From 2006 through 2015, she served as superintendent and later secretary of Catholic education and faith formation for the Diocese of Bridgeport.  She has also been an elementary and secondary school teacher and administrator in seven arch/dioceses throughout the country in parochial, diocesan and congregation-sponsored schools and just completed her service as a provincial councilor for the Mary Queen of Apostles province of her religious community. Sr. Mary Grace holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Albertus Magnus College, an Master of Arts in educational administration and supervision from Saint Louis University and a Ph.D. in educational administration/church leadership from Fordham University.

Joe Womac
President
Specialty Family Foundation

JOE WOMAC, having joined in 2012 as executive director, now serves as president of Southern California’s Specialty Family Foundation, which has granted nearly $40 million in poverty alleviation motivated investments during his twelve years in the role. Mr. Womac leads the foundation’s efforts in capacity building with low-income-serving Catholic schools in the region. In his role as president, Mr. Womac also leads the foundation’s aggressive efforts to work with partners to end the housing crisis in Los Angeles County, particularly for system-impacted young adults. Prior to joining the foundation, Mr. Womac served nine years as executive director for the Fulcrum Foundation in Seattle, WA, which raised more than $65 million in strategic support for seventy-three Catholic schools in the Seattle area. The White House honored Mr. Womac in 2012 as one of nine National "Champions of Change" in Catholic Education.  He is also the recipient of the University of Notre Dame’s Michael Pressley Award for Excellence in Catholic Education, the University of Portland’s Oddo Service Award and the National Catholic Educational Association’s President’s Award. Mr. Womac also taught and received education in Catholic schools.  Under the auspices of the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education, he taught and coached in Louisiana Catholic schools from 2000 to 2002. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in communication and political science from the University of Portland, a Master of Education from Notre Dame and a Juris Doctorate from Seattle University.

Most Rev. Thomas R. Zinkula, DD, J.D., J.C.L.
Archbishop
Archdiocese of Dubuque

THOMAS ROBERT ZINKULA, DD, J.D., J.C.L., is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who has served as Metropolitan Archbishop of Dubuque in Iowa since 2023, where he first served as a priest. He served as Bishop of Davenport in Iowa from 2017 to 2023.  The eldest of nine siblings, he was inducted into the Cornell College Athletic Hall of Fame for football.  After college, he worked as an actuary before earning his Juris Doctorate, then practiced law in Iowa. He received a Master of Theology from The Catholic University of America and a licentiate in canon law from St Paul University, Ottawa, Canada.  Throughout his vocation, he has served as pastor, parochial vicar, sacramental priest, judge for the Archdiocesan Tribunal, judicial vicar, rector of the Archdiocesan college seminary and episcopal vicar.  Archbishop Zinkula’s episcopal motto is Fiat voluntas tua, Latin for ‘Thy will be done.’

 

Board Members Emeritus