Bernard Brenninkmeijer is an Investment Committee member at Porticus and has been working for his family business for the past 30 years. Bernard holds a Bachelor’s in Economics from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from INSEAD.
Bernard is the Executive Director of CPS, the services organization inside of the Constanter Foundation. He also sits on the Constanter investment committee as well as serving on / chairing grantmaking committees.
Prior to the CPS role, Bernard managed the Constanter investment portfolio for the family foundations with a special focus on the topic of responsible investing. Previously he was a Managing Director at Bregal Investments, sitting on various investment committees and working on both fund and direct private equity investments. Early in his career he held operational and financial management positions with the clothing retailers C&A and ARG in Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Pasadena.
Greg has created and led businesses in the publishing industry, focusing heavily in recent years on personal finance and investing. He is skilled at building information businesses from the ground up, at one time driving print and online publications with combined readerships of nearly 1 million. Prior to that, he ran a trilingual monthly business magazine read by more than 100,000 influential business and government leaders in more than a dozen countries. Previously, he worked as a foreign correspondent for a variety of international publications and as a daily news reporter for The Miami Herald.
Greg has lived and worked abroad, spending four years in Santiago, Chile, where he became a fluent Spanish speaker and met his wife Jimena, a native of Chile. He resides in Apex, North Carolina with his wife and two teenage sons, Ben, age 19 and Daniel, age 16.
In addition to his professional career, Greg has been a member of the Raskob Foundation for Catholic Activities since the age of 18. He has been a trustee and held several officer positions, mostly recently as Treasurer. His oldest son Ben is now a fifth-generation apprentice member of the foundation. Greg was a double major in English and History at Stetson University in DeLand, Fla. and he holds a master’s degree in English literature from the University of Florida Gainesville.
Timothy (Tim) Connors is the founder and managing partner of PivotNorth Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm based in Palo Alto, CA focused on disruptive innovations in computer science.
Tim received a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame, an MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Stanford University, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Tim has created over $40B of market capital as a VC and operator. Prior to founding PivotNorth, Tim was a partner and GP for 12 years at Sequoia Capital and US Venture Partners. During Tim’s operating career, he helped build C-Cube Microsystems from a startup into a publicly traded leader in digital video, and at Tandem Computers he helped design Tandem’s flagship Everest server line. Tim is co-author of three issued US patents and has co-founded five companies.
He serves on the Advisory Council of the College of Engineering at Notre Dame and chairs the Notre Dame California initiative. Tim is a Stanford University DAPER Venture Investment Fund director and serves on the Archdiocese of San Francisco Finance Committee. Tim has been married for 23 years and has three daughters.
A third-generation member of the founding Peter family, Dan now serves as the Grants Manager on the staff of Specialty Family Foundation, in Santa Monica. His primary areas of focus are the Foundation’s work in Catholic Education, Housing, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Prior to joining the team full-time, Dan taught at the Village School, the Wildwood School, and Our Lady of Malibu School in Southern California for seven years. His proven track record of success is vital to safeguarding Specialty Family Foundation’s goals and objectives. Dan holds a B.A. and M.Ed. from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
Prior to working at the Foundation in 2020, Dan served 5 years as the Foundation’s first third generation Board Director (2014-2019). His work at the foundation continues to honor the legacy of his grandparents’ core values of faith, family, and a fearless approach to philanthropy. Dan and his new wife Hilary reside in CA.
Beth Flaherty joined the Flaherty Family Foundation as the first executive director in September of 2015. The Flaherty Family Foundation provides high school college prep scholarships to high potential students with economic need. Beth has expanded and formalized the Scholarship Opportunity from 11 Flaherty Scholars at three high schools in the Twin Cities to over 400 Flaherty Scholars at 32 high schools in Minnesota, Virginia, Washington, DC, Maryland, New Jersey, and Montana.
Beth brings a wealth of experience in education, having taught at public, charter, and private schools. She spent eight years teaching middle and high school social studies and coaching gymnastics in Summit County, Colorado. She spent six years teaching in Arlington, Virginia at Washington-Lee High School and at an alternative school, New Directions, which serves students involved in the juvenile justice system.
In addition, Beth was a foster parent in Arlington County from 2010-2020 and began mentoring with Capital Partners for Education in Washington, DC in 2017. She is on the board of Women’s Education Alliance which supports four Catholic Community Schools in Baltimore City.
Beth earned her BA from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, and an MA in educational leadership and an MA in curriculum and instruction from Adams State University in Alamosa, Colorado.
Alexia Kelley serves as the President and CEO of FADICA, where she manages and oversees the organization’s strategy, staff and programs. In partnership with the Board and members, she developed the organization’s current comprehensive strategic framework which includes a strong focus on member-driven research and initiatives, communications, and the spirituality of Catholic philanthropy. Ms. Kelley served for 10 years at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Catholic Campaign for Human Development. Most recently, she served as the Deputy Director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, with responsibilities for a diverse engagement and public/private partnership portfolio. She also worked previously for Environmental Resources Trust, a nonprofit that focused on market-based solutions to renewable energy promotion and climate change mitigation. Her first job after college was with the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), the oldest ecumenical advocacy organization in Washington DC. Ms. Kelley co-edited the book Living the Catholic Social Tradition: Cases and Commentary, with Dr. Kathleen Maas Weigert, and co-authored A Nation for All: How the Catholic Vision of the Common Good Can Save America from the Politics of Division. She earned a B.A. in religion from Haverford College and a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School. She lives in Washington DC with her husband and enjoys swimming, reading, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.
Anne Cullen Miller is president of the Catholic Community Foundation (CCF) of Minnesota. She joined the Foundation in 2008, first serving as investment officer and vice president of finance and investments before becoming president in 2013. Under her visionary leadership, the Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota (CCF) has grown to become the largest of its kind in the nation, managing $510 million in charitable assets and granting at $19+ million annually. Since its beginning, CCF has granted $230 million to our community.
Anne’s career includes more than 20 years of experience in the investment and insurance industries. She earned her BA in economics and MBA from the University of St. Thomas.
Anne is an active community volunteer, currently serving on the board and investment committee for Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St. Paul, Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities (FADICA) as Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee. Anne also serves on the Saint Paul Urban Tennis board and the President Advisory Committees for both the Ignatian Volunteer Corps and MINNDEPENDENT.
Charles (Charlie) Schaffler is a member of the Board of the Assisi Foundation of Memphis and has served in several capacities including co-chair of the grants review committee.
Charlie attended the University of Notre Dame, graduating in 1963 with a mechanical engineering degree. Charlie co-founded Gorham/Schaffler, Inc., which specialized in the sale and service of commercial and industrial HVAC equipment, energy management, and control systems. He retired in 2007.
Charlie has served on several boards and has a special interest in the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis, for which he served as a longtime board member. He is immediate past president of the Opera Memphis Board of Trust and past president of Concerts International. He is parishioner of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, where he serves as lector and eucharistic minister. Charlie is a Memphis native and has lived there most of his life with his wife of 55 years, Mickey. They have three sons and eight grandchildren. He enjoys family activities, especially spoiling his grandchildren, traveling, listening to music, golf and agonizing over Notre Dame athletics.
Gabriela Smith is the founder and executive chair of the Crimsonbridge Foundation, one of only 2.3% Hispanic-led foundations in the country, and has 25 years of experience in philanthropy, education, and the nonprofit sector. She received a master’s degree in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and both a master’s degree in Latin American studies and economic development and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Gabriela has designed and launched innovative partnerships in education, as well as nationwide initiatives to improve outreach and services to disadvantaged communities. She is one of the founders of the Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning and the St. Jane de Chantal Salesian Center in Washington, DC. An entrepreneurial philanthropist, she is a founding investor of Venture Philanthropy Partners (VPP) and has been an active member of its board for 20 years, currently serving in an honorary role. VPP has raised and deployed over $110 Million to programs improving the lives of children and youth in the National Capital Region
Gabriela has also served as a member of the Dean’s Council of the Harvard Kennedy School, the Georgetown University Board of Regents, the Visitation School Board, and the Georgetown Scholarship Program Advisory Board, which supports first-generation college students and students from under-resourced backgrounds. She served as President of the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders Washington DC Chapter and is a consultant to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. Her early professional background includes supervising education projects for the World Bank and serving as a social worker for Catholic Charities in Los Angeles. Gabriela has been married for 30 years and is the mother of a son and two daughters.
Sister Jane Wakahiu, LSOSF, Ph.D., is a member of the institute of the Little Sisters of Saint Francis, Kenya. Wakahiu provides leadership and direction of the Hilton Foundation’s Program Department operations budget, contracts, consultant management and policy implementation. She also oversees the planning, development, implementation and evaluation of the Catholic Sisters initiative, advancing the vitality of congregations of women religious globally, capacity-building, and enabling sisters to contribute more profoundly to sustainable human development. She also contributes to the Foundation’s strategic planning. In her previous role, Wakahiu led the Foundation’s grantmaking Program Department in an interim capacity.
Prior to joining the Foundation, Wakahiu was the executive director of the African Sisters Education Collaborative (ASEC), where she implemented many programs by working closely with leadership conferences, major superiors, religious congregations and institutes, twenty-three partner colleges and universities in the United States and Africa, and major foundations.
Wakahiu serves on philanthropic, university, and nonprofit boards, including the Global Solidarity Fund, a global alliance catalyzing partnerships for the most vulnerable across the private sector, the development sector, the University of Kisubi, Uganda, and ASEC Advisory Board.
Wakahiu has extensively taught at the undergraduate and graduate level and has a breadth of teaching and administrative experience from leading high school in Kenya. An accomplished author and editor of three books, Wakahiu serves as a contributing writer for the Global Sisters Report and her peer-reviewed articles have been published in national and international journals.
Wakahiu holds a Ph.D. in human development from Marywood University, a Master of Arts degree from Saint Bonaventure University, and a Bachelor of Education from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa.
Christine (Chris) Wolohan is a retired registered nurse with over 40 years of health care experience. Her career history includes clinical, education, management, and administrative positions in a variety of public teaching hospitals and health systems and clinics in the Twin Cities, Minnesota.
Chris Wolohan has served on a variety of nonprofit boards, and currently serves as a board member for the Wolohan Family Foundation. She holds a BSN from Marquette University and an MS from the University of Minnesota.
Ms. Wolohan lives in Minneapolis. Her passions include leadership development, multicultural perspectives, faith, lifelong learning, and all things family.
Dr. Michael J. (Mike) Wolohan is a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon who practiced in Saginaw, MI for over 30 years.
Mike currently serves as President of the Wolohan Family Foundation, a member of the Catholic Relief Services Foundation Board, and President of the Catholic Community Foundation of Mid-Michigan.
Mike received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Notre Dame and his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Michigan Medical School. He completed his residency in orthopaedic surgery at the Harvard Orthopaedic Program and his fellowship in sports medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Mike has been active in and has been supportive of Saginaw Area Catholic Schools for many years. He and his wife Marcia have six children and six grandchildren.
Andrea Hattler Bramson
The Loyola Foundation
Anthony Brenninkmeyer†
Cushman Foundation
Hans Brenninkmeyer†
Porticus North America
B.J. Cassin
Cassin Educational Initiative Foundation
Elizabeth Anne Donnelly
Mary J. Donnelly Foundation
Deborah A. Estes
Specialty Family Foundation
Bridget McDermott Flood
Incarnate Word Foundation
Denise M. Hattler
The Loyola Foundation
Christine L. Healey
Healey Education Foundation
Thomas J. Healey
Healey Family Foundation
Forrest N. (Joe) Jenkins†
The Assisi Foundation of Memphis
Erica P. John
Erica P. John Fund
Timothy P. Lewis, Esq.
Frank J. Lewis Foundation
Kathleen McCarthy Kostlan
The Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Foundation
Patrick W. McGrory
Raskob Foundation for Catholic Activities
Maureen M. O’Leary
William M. and Miriam F. Meehan Foundation
William F. Raskob, III
Raskob Foundation for Catholic Activities
Karen Rauenhorst
Mark and Karen Rauenhorst Foundation
Michael G. Rauenhorst
MGR Foundation
Kerry A. Robinson
Raskob Foundation for Catholic Activities
Maria Robinson, M.D.,
Raskob Foundation for Catholic Activities
Robert A. Smith, III
Carrie Estelle Doheny Foundation
FADICA is the leading philanthropic peer network serving as a catalyst for a vital Catholic Church, Catholic ministries, and the common good. We promote the growth and effectiveness of Catholic philanthropy inspired by the joy of the Gospel and the Catholic social tradition. FADICA supports its members through education, exchange, fellowship and faith, research, joint funding opportunities, and interaction with Catholic leadership.
