Archbishop William E. Lori, S.T.D.

Chairman of the Board, Catholic Benefits Association


Archbishop of Baltimore

Archbishop Lori serves as Archbishop of Baltimore, MD, the first See in the United States. A longtime defender of religious liberty, Archbishop Lori serves as Chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty. He is also the Supreme Chaplain for the Knights of Columbus. Archbishop Lori formerly served as Bishop of Bridgeport, CT (2001-20012) and as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. (1995-2001). He received his Bachelor’s degree from the Seminary of Saint Pius X in Erlanger, Kentucky; a Master’s degree from Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, MD; and a Doctorate in Sacred Theology(S.T.D.) from The Catholic University of America. Archbishop Lori is a founder of Catholic Benefits Association.

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, S.T.L., D.D.

Vice Chairman of the Board, Catholic Benefits Association 

Archbishop of Oklahoma City

 In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Archbishop Paul S. Coakley as the fourth Archbishop of Oklahoma City, OK. He previously served as Bishop of Salina, KS (2004-2010). Archbishop Coakley is currently the Chairman of the Board of Catholic Relief Services, an international relief organization that serves more than 85 million people in 101 countries. He received his Bachelor’s degree in English and Classical Antiquities from the University of Kansas; his Masters and Masters of Divinity from Mount St. Mary Seminary in Emmitsburg. MD; and his Licentiate in Sacred Theology (S.T.L.) from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. Archbishop Coakley is a founder of Catholic Benefits Association.

Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond, M.D.V.

Archbishop of New Orleans

Archbishop Gregory Aymond is the first New Orleans native to serve as its Archbishop in the 216 year old history of the Archdiocese. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of New Orleans in 1975 and is a graduate of St. Joseph Seminary College (1971) and of Notre Dame Seminary, from which he received his Master of Divinity degree (M.D.V.) in 1975. He was a professor and rector of St. John Vianney Preparatory School until 1981 after which he served as professor of pastoral theology and homiletics and director of pastoral education at Notre Dame Seminary where he served as president-rector for 14 years. Archbishop Aymond also served as Executive Director of the Archdiocesan Christian Formation and Director of the Archdiocesan Propagation of the Faith. He was ordained an auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans in 1997, appointed Bishop of Austin in 2000, and returned to the Archdiocese of New Orleans upon his appointment as its Archbishop in 2009. He has chaired the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People and the Committee on Divine Worship. From 2000-2004 he chaired the National Catholic Education Association. In addition to serving on several USCCB committees, Archbishop Aymond is Chairman of the National Catholic Bioethics Center. He was elected to the Boards of the Catholic Benefit Association and the Catholic Insurance Company in 2016.

Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone, J.D., J.C.L.

Archbishop of San Francisco

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone was appointed Judicial Vicar for the Diocese of San Diego in 1990 and served as an assistant to the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura from 1995-2002.  On July 5, 2002, Pope John Paul II appointed him the Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of San Diego, where he served until his appointment as Bishop of Oakland on March 23, 2009. On July 27, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him as the ninth Archbishop of San Francisco. Archbishop Cordileone serves as Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth and is also a member of the USCCB Committee for Canonical Affairs and Church Governance, and sits on the USCCB Administrative Committee. He was formerly chairman of the USCCB Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, and a member of the Committee on Religious Liberty.  The Archbishop serves on a number of boards, including the Governing Board of the International Theological Institute (ITI); he was appointed Vice-Grand Chancellor of the ITI in October 2019.

Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda, J.D., J.C.L.

Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

Archbishop Bernard Hebda is the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Ordained a priest for the Diocese of Pittsburgh in 1989, his route to the priesthood and episcopacy was different than most in that he was graduated from Harvard University (1980) and Columbia University School of Law (J.D. Degree 1983) before enrolling in St. Paul Seminary in Pittsburgh (1984). Archbishop Hebda completed his philosophy studies at Duquesne University before going to the North American College in Rome where he completed his theological studies, earning his S.T.B. from the Pontifical Gregorian University (1989) and his licentiate in canon law (1990). He returned to Pittsburgh to serve in the bishop’s office as Master of Ceremonies and as director of campus ministry at Slippery Rock University Newman Center before being called to Rome in 1996 to work for the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, the council responsible for the interpretation of the Code of Canon Law. St. John Paul II named him Undersecretary of the Council in 2003. Archbishop Hebda was appointed Bishop of Gaylord, MI and ordained to the episcopacy in 2009. In 2013, he was named Coadjutor of the Archdiocese of Newark. In June 2015, Pope Francis named Archbishop Hebda Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis for which he was installed as Archbishop in 2016. He currently serves as Chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance. Archbishop Hebda was elected to the Boards of the Catholic Benefits Association and the Catholic Insurance Company in 2016. 

Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki

Archbishop of Milwaukee

Archbishop Listecki attended the University of St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein Seminary in 1971 and was ordained a priest on May 14, 1975. He has a licentiate and doctorate in Canon Law and Moral Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. He also has a civil law degree from DePaul University in Chicago. He taught Canon Law and Moral Theology at the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein. He is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army Reserves. Archbishop Listecki is the Chairman of the Committee for Canonical Affairs and Church Governance for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Also, he is a member of numerous boards and committees.

Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, D.D.

Archbishop of Kansas City, KS

Archbishop Joseph Naumann is the Archbishop of Kansas City, KS. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1975 after study at St. Louis Preparatory Seminary South (1967), Cardinal Glennon College (1971) and theological studies at Kenrick Seminary (1975). He spent his early years as a priest in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, MO where he served as Vicar General (1994-2003) and an Auxiliary Bishop of St. Louis (ordained 1997). He was then appointed Coadjutor of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, KS (January 2004) and on January 15, 2005 assumed the responsibilities of as the 4th Archbishop and 11th Bishop of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, KS. He serves on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Pro-Life Activities, Committee on Marriage and Family, the Kenrick-Glennon Seminary Board of Trustees and Chairs the Kansas Catholic Conference. Archbishop Naumann was elected to the Boards of the Catholic Benefits Association and the Catholic Insurance Company in 2016.

Archbishop Thomas J. Wenski

Archbishop of Miami

Archbishop Thomas Wenski is the Archbishop of Miami. After being named coadjutor bishop of Orlando in 2003, and taking over as bishop in 2004, Miami’s “native son” returned to South Florida in 2010 as the archdiocese’s fourth archbishop. He quickly moved to reopen some parishes that had been closed due to the 2009 financial crisis, and launched a second archdiocesan synod in 2012. It concluded in October 2013 with a Strategic Pastoral Plan which began to be implemented in 2014. In 2003, the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Migration and its Mexican counterpart published “Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope,” a first-ever joint pastoral statement urging better treatment of Mexican immigrants in the U.S. Archbishop Wenski also has traveled as far away as Korea and the Congo to study the plight of refugees. And he has been heavily involved in PROCHE, the international Partnership for Church Reconstruction in Haiti in response to the January 2010 Port-au-Prince earthquake. He continues to speak out as strongly for immigrants as for the unborn, and urges Catholics to set an example of holiness in a world full of outrage and divisiveness.

Bishop John T. Folda

Bishop of Fargo

The Most Reverend John Folda is currently serving as the Bishop of Fargo. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1989 in Lincoln, Nebraska. Bishop Folda attended St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia where he obtained a bachelor of arts in philosophy and a master of divinity. He went on to the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome for his licentiate in sacred theology. As a priest, he served the Lincoln diocese as pastor, diocesan director of religious education, spiritual director, and as rector of St. Gregory the Great Seminary. He also served on the board of directors to Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital and was a member of Catholic Social Service Board and the Ethics Committee of St. Elizabeth Regional Medical Center. Bishop Folda was installed as the Bishop of Fargo on June 19, 2013 and has served on various committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Mother Agnes Mary Donovan, SV

Founding Superior General of the Sisters of Life

Mother Agnes Mary Donovan, SV, was among the first to respond to John Cardinal O’Connor’s inspiration to found the Sisters of Life, a religious community dedicated to the protection and enhancement of the sacredness of human life. Serving as the first Superior General from 1993-2023, Mother Agnes was richly prepared by God for her consecrated mission.  She received a PhD in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chaple Hill in 1985 and was a professor of psychology at Columbia University in New York City and The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.  As a psychologist, she focused on family intervention, mother/child relationships, and children with special needs.  Responsible for anchoring the community of the Sisters of Life in its charism and guiding it to holiness, Mother Agnes is called often to share the gift and patrimony of the Institute – reverence for human life.  Through the years, Mother Agnes has served the Church as a member of the Pontifical Academy of Life, a Consultant for the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities, a member of the Board of Directors of the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious (CMSWR), and on numerous Board of Catholic lay ministries.

Sister Mary Peter Muehlenkamp, O.P., J.D.

St. Cecilia Congregation

Sister Mary Peter has been a Dominican Sister of St. Cecilia Congregation in Nashville, Tennessee since 1996, and presently serves as In-House Counsel and Immigration Coordinator for the Congregation. She has taught in various Catholic elementary and secondary schools and was president of her community’s Aquinas College in Nashville from 2007-2011. Sister Mary Peter received her Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Northern Kentucky University, her Juris Doctor from Salmon P. Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University, and Post-Baccalaureate Teacher Certification from Aquinas College.

Helen M. Alvaré, J.D.

Professor of Law at George Mason University School of Law

Helen Alvaré is a Professor of Law at Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University where she teaches Family Law, Law and Religion and Property Law and is a faculty advisor to the school’s Civil Rights Law Journal. Ms. Alvaré served as a consultor to the Pontifical Council of the Laity (Vatican City) for eight years, and is an advisor to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops USCCB). She is also the founder of Women Speak for Themselves, an organization of women who support the competing voice offered by religious organizations and individuals regarding sex, marriage, family life and religious freedom. Ms. Alvaré is a prolific writer on the issues of marriage and family and a committed advocate for the First Amendment rights of religious organizations and individuals. She received her Bachelor of Science degree from Villanova University, her Master’s degree in Systematic Theology from The Catholic University of America and her Juris Doctor from Cornell University School of Law.

Thomas M. Buckley

General Counsel – Archdiocese of St. Louis

Tom has served as in house General Counsel for the Archdiocese of St. Louis since 2012. He oversees the legal affairs of the local Church, its parishes and agencies. Tom is an Adjunct Professor of School Law at St. Louis University. He currently serves on the boards of directors of the Bishops Plan Insurance Company, a Vermont domiciled property and casualty insurer and the St. Thomas More Society – a St. Louis association of Catholic lawyers.  He is a past director of the National Catholic Educational Association in Arlington, Virginia. Tom received his Bachelor of Arts and Sciences degree from St. Louis University and his Juris Doctor from St. Louis University School of Law. Tom is a Knight of the Equestrian Order of Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

Beth Elfrey, J.D.

Chief Human Resources Officer at Knights of Columbus

Beth Elfrey serves as the Chief Human Resources Officer at the Knights of Columbus. Prior to joining the Knights, Ms. Elfrey served as the Director, Fraud/Bank Secrecy Act in the Internal Revenue Service’s Small Business/Self-Employed Operating Division; she also was an attorney in the Department of Justice Tax Division. She graduated with high honors from Florida International University with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (Accounting major) and received her Juris Doctor with honors from Georgetown University Law Center.

Nancy Matthews, J.D.

Nancy Matthews is a graduate of Smith College and an honors graduate of the University of Connecticut School of Law. She is the retired Chancellor of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn. She has served Catholic Benefits Association as Corporate Secretary and Membership Director since their inception in 2013.

Carla K. Mills

Chief Financial Officer – Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas

Carla Mills has served as the Chief Financial Officer for the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas since 2013. She leads the Accounting, Human Resources, Internal Audit and Pastoral Center departments and serves on the Archbishop’s leadership team. Ms. Mills is a Dame Commander with the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and a Charter Member of Legatus in Kansas City. Ms. Mills has a background in non-profit accounting from her time with Catholic Charities of Kansas City-St. Joseph. Prior to joining the non-profit world, she was Vice President of Finance for an investment management company and a senior finance manager for a pharmaceutical company. Ms. Mills earned her CPA after beginning her career with Ernst and Young. She serves on a number of boards including the Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference and Catholic Cemeteries of Northeast Kansas. Ms. Mills earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Kansas State University and an MBA from Rockhurst University.

Douglas G. Wilson, Jr.

CEO

A Marine and Viet Nam veteran, Doug Wilson majored in English Literature at Georgia State University where he also completed his Master’s in Healthcare Administration. He went on to make a career of reviving struggling hospitals around the United States. More recently he led the start-up and growth of two new healthcare technology companies. Doug now serves as Chief Executive Officer of Catholic Benefits Association.

L. Martin Nussbaum

General Counsel

Martin Nussbaum is the General Counsel for the Catholic Benefits Association.  He also is founding partner of First and Fourteenth PLLC, a boutique firm advising and advocating for religious institutions nationwide.  Martin graduated Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in Theology. He is a consultant to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Religious Freedom Committee and a member of the Executive Committee of the National Diocesan Attorneys Association. 

Sister Diane Marie McGrew, O.S.F – In Memoriam

Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis

Sister Diane Marie McGrew, O.S.F., has been a member of The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis since 1988. Sister Diane Marie was appointed President of OSF Healthcare System in 2006.  In 2000, Sister was appointed as the Treasurer for OSF Healthcare System and The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis and continues to hold those positions.  From 1990 to 2000, Sister served as a Corporate Accountant at the Corporate Office of OSF Healthcare System. Sister was appointed to the Governing Board of The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis in 2000.  She has served as a Board member of OSF Healthcare System since 1998.    She was appointed to the Board of OSF Healthcare Foundation in 2001 and has served on the Board of OSF Saint Francis, Inc. (now known as Pointcore, Inc.) since 2003.  She also served as a Board member of OSF Health Plans from 1999 until its sale in 2008.  Sister was appointed to the OSF Multi Specialty Group Board in 2011. Sister has also been a member of the Finance Council of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria since 1995 and is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives.  Sister holds a Bachelor of Business degree in accounting from Western Illinois University, Macomb, Illinois.