The award was conveyed at FADICA’s 2025 Annual Meeting and Symposium on March 11. This prestigious lifetime achievement award recognizes visionary leadership, outstanding philanthropic initiative, and a deep spirit of service in advancing the renewal and vitality of the Catholic Church.
The award was conveyed during a particularly meaningful time and place, during FADICA’s 2024 Pilgrimage and Retreat in Rome, Italy in November. FADICA President and CEO Alexia Kelley and Board Chair Michael Wolohan presented the award on Wednesday, November 13 at a dinner for pilgrimage attendees and guests.
In November 2024, FADICA pilgrims attended a private audience with His Holiness Pope Francis at the apostolic palace in Vatican City. The audience was a blessed beginning to FADICA’s five-day Rome pilgrimage, in which FADICA members engaged multiple leaders at the Vatican on topics like safeguarding, global human development, faith consistent investing, and education and culture.
FADICA – Catholic Philanthropy Network was thrilled to convey the St. Mary Magdalene Medal of Service to Gabriela Smith—a FADICA member, board member, and the founder and executive chair of the Crimsonbridge Foundation—at a FADICA Advent gathering in Washington, DC, on December 12, 2023.
In early May, Alicia Simon and FADICA Board Chair Mike Wolohan traveled to Seattle to present the St. Joseph of Arimathea Medal of Service to Dick Abrams.
At its national gathering in New Orleans in February, FADICA the Catholic Philanthropy Network bestowed the St. Katharine Drexel Award in Catholic Philanthropy to Terrell Richardson, the St. Joseph of Arimathea Medal of Service to Dr. Reynold Verret, and the Mary Magdalene Medal of Service to Gayle Benson.
FADICA’s second cohort of the Catholic Social Tradition & Philanthropy Certificate recently graduated twelve Catholic philanthropists.
The Alliance to End Human Trafficking honored FADICA with its 2023 Margaret Nacke, CSJ Bakhita Award at its recent10th Anniversary celebration.
Rome – As the world commemorated the first World Day of the Prevention of, and Healing from Child Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Violence on Friday, November 18th, simultaneous events marking this occasion took place in Rome. Colleen Crawford, Manager of FADICA’s and Safeguarding Initiative, was on the ground to witness this historic gathering.
Washington, DC – For more than 35 years, the Catholic Funding Guide has served grantseeking Catholic ministries, helping them connect with funders who share in their mission and priorities. A project of FADICA, the Guide is now expanding to serve Catholic philanthropy broadly, including both grantmakers and grantseekers, by connecting each to relevant resources and building community online to support mission impact. Both funders and grantseekers can join the Guide’s community on the project’s website. First published in 1998 as a print only resource, FADICA took the resource online in 2010 and 10 years later began a complete renovation and reimagination. The Guide’s director, Jon Jakoblich, was hired in 2020 to lead that effort. Jakoblich built a new website, complete with a digital portal that allows grant seekers to search for funders, funders to search through projects posted by grant seekers, and a Knowledge Center of articles and videos detailing philanthropy best practices. “Faith based organizations have long been at the heart of the nonprofit sector, yet grant seeking remains a challenge,” Jakoblich says, “We renovated the Catholic Funding Guide not only to help address that challenge, but to give funders and grantseekers another point of connection through Amplify.” The Guide’s Amplify feature is designed support connection between funders and grantseekers with aligned priorities. Grantseekers are able post projects in need of funding, and funders can search and identify projects that match their priorities. Funders can then communicate directly with those ministries through the Amplify feature. Membership to the Catholic Funding Guide as a grantseeker
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.
