Keynote Speakers

Xaviere Missionary Sister Nathalie Becquart serves as undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, an ecclesiastical advisory group of Church leaders from all over the world who assist the pope by regularly examining issues close to the Church.

Inspired by the theme for World Communication Day 2022, Sr. Nathalie will speak on the mission for Christian communicators in a synodal church, how to think and live synodality in Catholic media, and how to practice a journalism of listening that gives voice to the poorest, to the peripheries.

Timothy P. O'Malley is the director of education at the McGrath Institute for Church Life and academic director of the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy. He holds a concurrent appointment in the Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame.

Prof. O’Malley will speak on: What is the role of Catholic journalists in today’s Catholic Church?

Thomas G. Plante, Ph.D., ABPP is the Augustin Cardinal Bea, S.J. University Professor, Professor of Psychology and Religious Studies (by courtesy), and directs the Applied Spirituality Institute at Santa Clara University. He is an Adjunct Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stanford University. He has published 25 books including most recently, Human Interaction with the Divine, the Sacred, and the Deceased: Psychological, Scientific, and Theological Perspectives (2021). He maintains a private practice as a licensed psychologist in Menlo Park where he specializes in assessment and treatment of Catholic clerics and laypersons. Time magazine referred to him as one of “three leading American Catholics” in a cover story on clerical abuse in April 2002. He has been a member of the Stanford Catholic Community since 1988.

For the past 17 years, Chris Baker has developed and used his gifts in the digital realm to serve the Church.

Chris was the Director of Multimedia Production for the Archdiocese of Washington from 2010 until 2019 and had the honor of producing video content during a Consistory in Rome, a Eucharistic Pilgrimage in Dublin and a Papal Visit in Washington, DC.

Chris has since launched his own Digital Marketing company where he assists Catholic organizations and dioceses achieve growth on their social and digital platforms. He’s also the Brand Manager for CatholicStock and Business Development Manager for Spirit Juice Studios.

Mary Ellen is a speaker, trainer, and founder of The Time Professionals and GoBrainGo.

Her brain-based approach has been fine-tuned over the years with one thing in mind: helping busy people get things done by working with the brain's natural tendencies. When she's not teaching or crafting new content, you'll find her backpacking... and always in search of the next (even better) fishing spot.

Christina is a digital marketer, photographer and content creator, passionate about spreading the Gospel through modern communication. Currently, she serves as the digital marketing manager at OCP, leading efforts in email marketing, social media and digital advertising. Christina has a Master’s in Public Relations from Syracuse University and firmly believes college basketball is the saving grace of the cold winter months of Upstate New York. Christina is wife to Nick and mother to Eden and Linus. Together they to do projects on their 1950s Cape Cod in their spare time. Connect with Christina on Instagram at @christinamlongo or via email at christinal@ocp.org.

Loves God, the church, his wife, his dog and bacon. A communications professional for the Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame, Hallenius is schooled in classical theology and can quote St. Thomas Aquinas in almost any situation. He holds a master’s degree in pastoral ministry from the University of Portland, has long had radio shows at Portland’s Mater Dei Radio and is an adjunct instructor in Notre Dame’s theology department.

Ellen Gunning from the PR Training Academy in Ireland has 30+years’ experience of training spokespersons and handling crisis. An engaging speaker, her workshop draws on personal experience and real-life examples.

Mary Kate is the Digital Content Editor at Busted Halo. She previously worked in various secular marketing and advertising roles at Edelman, d exposito & Partners, SiriusXM Radio, and WRXP 101.9FM. Media is Mary Kate’s passion, and so is Young Adult Ministry. She currently sits on the National Advisory Team on Young Adult Ministry (NATYAM), and she is a member of the NYC cohort for Contemplative Leaders in Action, an Ignatian spirituality and leadership program for young adults.

Fr. Patrick is the editor-in-chief of the English edition of Aleteia.org. Formally trained in theology at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC, his passion is working in evangelization and digital media.

John Grosso serves as the Director of Digital Media of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut and a freelance digital media consultant. He recently concluded work on a yearlong program with the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication and continues to assist the Vatican Synod Office with digital media work.

With a Masters degree from Marquette University, Dan has served in media since 1975 including stints as a reporter, editor, circulation manager, ad director and publisher. Many of those years were in the Catholic press. He has served as a consultant to newspapers and magazines in the United States and Europe, including 30 U.S. dioceses. In 2001, Dan purchased an ad placement service and reorganized it into Advertising Media Plus (AMPs).

Penny Wiegert, Director of Communication and Publications for the Diocese of Rockford. She is a past president of the Catholic Media Association and currently serves on the National Planning Committee for the Catholic Media Conference.

Chaz Muth, the Multimedia Editor for Catholic News Service, has been a working journalist for 35 years and joined the Catholic press 16 year ago. Chaz has traveled the world for CNS as a reporter, photographer, video journalist and most recently a podcaster, covering anything from famine to a papal transition. Based at CNS's Washington headquarters, Chaz helped launch the new service's video service in 2009 and its podcasting venture in 2021, with the 2021 podcast series "Communion" and the 2022 podcast series "Church and Race." Chaz won the Catholic Media Association's 2020 Cardinal John Patrick Foley Award for excellence and innovation in Catholic storytelling, one of the highest honors in the Catholic press.

Carol Zimmermann, a Washington correspondent for Catholic News Service, has been a working journalist for the Catholic press for more than 30 years, mostly for CNS. Her beats have included education, human interest, health care and the U.S. Supreme Court. Carol was an early social media pioneer and helped launch CNS's podcasting operation, with the 2021 podcast series "Communion" and the 2022 podcast series "Church and Race."

Jesuit Father Sam Sawyer is a senior editor and the director of digital strategy at America Media. He previously served as an associate pastor at Holy Trinity Church in Washington after being ordained a priest in 2014. During Fr. Sawyer's theology studies, he was one of the founders of The Jesuit Post and served as one of its first editors. During his Jesuit formation, Fr. Sawyer studied philosophy at Loyola University Chicago and theology at Boston College; he also taught philosophy for two years at Loyola University Maryland. Before entering the Society of Jesus, he worked as a software engineer after graduating from Boston College and spending a year as a volunteer middle school teacher. In New York, Fr. Sawyer assists at St. Francis Xavier Church.

An expert in workflow design and “an energetic, passionate devotee of continuous improvement”, Kilian Schalk has been enabling publishers to thrive in a multi-channel environment for decades. He recently positioned America Media, one of the oldest periodicals in the United States, to ‘lead the conversation about faith and culture’, galvanized the transformation of OSV, and created the blueprint for a workflow overhaul of Vanity Fair. He also put The New Yorker on the iPad as Technical Director of Digital Projects, helped define and implement cultural change across eighteen titles at Condé Nast, and began his career as the youngest Production Manager in Rolling Stone history. His unique workflow transformation program guides small to mid-sized magazine teams as they define and implement the culture change needed to compete in a mobile environment, launch new digital products, find room in the day to create podcasts, expand into radio, add video channels, and go home on time.

A Portland native, Rebecca Verheggen works remotely as Director of Creative Strategy for GoDaddy in Seattle. She’s worked on award-winning ad campaigns for Gatorade, Adidas, Miller Lite, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, and General Mills, among others at agencies inclufing TBWA\Chiat\Day, Crispin Porter Bogusky, and Erich & Kallman. After living overseas, in California, and in Colorado, Verheggen moved back to Portland and helped found a local chapter of Young Catholic Professionals. She is recently married and blessed to be a new mom to a little girl.

Alexander Roth is a cradle Catholic and lover of Chicago sports. At the University of Illinois he encountered St. Augustine of Hippo while studying classical rhetoric and continued to rediscover Catholicism in Brooklyn, New York, where he taught elementary school. In 2015, he earned a master of divinity degree from the University of Notre Dame and served as a catechist and campus minister there. He now is Coordinator of Mission & Outreach at St. André Bessette Catholic Church in downtown Portland.

Christina Kempster has been a broadcast and communications professional for the past nine years. She currently works as a communications coordinator at the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office. She has worked at news around Oregon including KXL-FM in Portland, KVAL News in Eugene, KATU News and KGW News. Most recently she worked as a digital content producer for KGW’s The Story with Dan Haggerty and was recognized, along with her team, with a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for excellence in Innovation. Kempster went to Central Catholic High School in Portland and attended the University of Oregon where she received a journalism degree. She returned to Central Catholic for a time to work in their advancement office and wrote multiple articles about the school for Portland’s Catholic Sentinel.

Levi Barros, 27, was raised Baptist in Brazil. He and his family tried several Protestant congregations, most of them anti-Catholic. None seemed right to young Levi, who had developed a love for reason. A friend urged him to take a new look at Catholicism. Barros discovered that Catholic thinkers over millennia had thought through the nature of Christ, the Eucharist, the role of the church, morality and social action. The intellectual tradition of the church hooked him. In 2019, he joined St. Stephen Parish in Portland, home to other zealous young Catholics who love church thought. He works as contractor doing masonry and plaster.

Sarah Wolf, 33, is the business reporter for The Columbian newspaper in Vancouver, Washington.

A native of the Pacific Northwest, she attended The George Washington University in the nation’s capital, studying political science. She worked in communications for several policy institutes and as a freelance reporter before being hired by the Catholic Sentinel newspaper of Portland, Oregon in 2016. She focused on parish life, Catholic schools and young adult movements, in addition to designing infographics and writing editorials.

Wolf is a lifelong Catholic thinker and now a wife and a mother of three.

Western Region Rep

Southern Region Rep

Midwestern Region Rep
(beginning July 7)

Eastern Region Rep
(beginning July 7)