2008

In February 2005, Father Larry Snyder took the helm of Catholic Charities USA—the national membership association of more than 1,500 local Catholic Charities agencies and institutions nationwide that provide help and create hope for more than 7.4 million people a year, regardless of their religious, social, or economic backgrounds.

Before assuming his post at Catholic Charities USA, Father Snyder served for more than five years as executive director of Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis—the largest private provider of social services in the Twin Cities. Each year, the agency’s 48 programs provide services to more than 150,000 people in need.

In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI named him to the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, the dicastery which oversees the Church’s charitable activities around the world.

Today, Father Snyder is overseeing Catholic Charities USA’s Campaign to Reduce Poverty in America. This multi-year, multi-faceted initiative aims to cut poverty in half by 2020 urging Congress and the Administration to give a much higher priority to the needs of the poor in budget and policy decisions on issues such as health care, housing, nutrition and economic security.

As president of Catholic Charities USA, Father Snyder is responsible for the overall direction of the Catholic Charities movement and the administration of Catholic Charities USA located in Alexandria, VA. He also serves as chief spokesperson for the organization and maintains key relationships with Catholic and other national and governmental groups.

2007

Kevin M. Ryan, Esq. is the first Commissioner of the

New Jersey Department of Children and Families and

serves as a member of Governor Jon S. Corzine's

Cabinet. He previously served as the Commissioner

of the Department of Human Services in 2006 and as

New Jersey's first Child Advocate from 2003 to 2006.

In 1997, he founded Covenant House New Jersey's

Youth Advocacy Center. Over the past ten years, the

Center has provided legal services to thousands of

homeless youth. He has helped to craft some of the

State's most important social legislation, including

the Homeless Youth Act, the Family Care Act, the

Foster Care Scholars program, the establishment of

the Office of the Child Advocate and the legislation

creating the new Department of Children and Families.

Harvard Law School recognized his work in 2000

by naming him a Wasserstein Fellow.

He is a 1989 B.A. graduate of The Catholic University

of America and a 1992 J.D. graduate of Georgetown

Law Center. He earned his LL.M. (Masters of Law)

from NYU Law School in 2000, where he focused on

public interest law.

2006

"Pulling Together" Networking

A member of the National Association of Social Work, she serves on the Pennsylvania Chapter Ethics Committee. She is chair of the Commission on Curriculum and Educational Excellence for the Council on Social Work Education, which is charged with developing educational policy for schools of social work in the United States.

Kevin M. Ryan is New Jersey's newly appointed Child Advocate, overseeing a three-week old watchdog agency established by the State Legislature and equipped with vast powers to monitor the child welfare system and demand corrective action. Ryan is heading up an investigation into the case of four adopted children who were discovered starving in a state-subsidized foster home. Public documents reveal the agency visited the home 38 times in the last four years, but none of the visits resulted in the boys being rescued. None of the boys, ages 9, 10, 14 and 19, weighed more than 50 pounds when they were rescued.

On the heels of several child fatalities this past year, the New Jersey Legislature created The Office of the Child Advocate, which Ryan heads, and gave it subpoena power; the power to sue state government; the power to hold public hearings; and the power to demand corrective action from agency heads.

Ryan and his investigators are now pouring through 10,000 pages of case records from the state agency, and plan to interview all public employees who had responsibility for serving children in the home, or overseeing those services, including 9 terminated agency employees. The Office will issue subpoenas this week for anyone who refuses to cooperate.

Ryan, the father of five children ages 3 to 12, is a lifelong child advocate. A JD graduate of Georgetown Law Center and an LL.M. graduate of NYU Law School, Ryan worked with homeless youth for nearly ten years in the South Bronx, Times Square and Newark, New Jersey, at Covenant House. He is a former law professor at Fordham Law School. He is a former Wasserstein Fellow from Harvard Law School and the author of several law review articles on the rights of foster children.

Rev. J. Bryan Hehir is currently the President and CEO of Catholic Charities U.S.A. Rev. J. Bryan Hehir is an internationally renowned theologian, author and professor whose work over the last three decades has specialized in the area of Catholic social teaching, the role of religion in American society and in world politics as well as issues of social and foreign policy. As president of Catholic Charities USA, Fr. Hehir oversees the administration of the national service center in Alexandria, VA; he guides the policy direction of the organization and serves as its chief spokesperson. By providing its members a national voice, networking opportunities, training and technical assistance, program development and financial support, Catholic Charities USA enables local agencies to better devote their own resources to serving their communities. Before assuming his post with Catholic Charities USA, Fr. Hehir served two years as head of the Harvard School of Divinity, the first Roman Catholic to hold that position. He became a member of the school's faculty in 1992 and also served as a counselor to Catholic Relief Services between 1996 and 2001. From 1973 to 1992 Fr. Hehir Held a variety of positions with the US Catholic Conference in Washington, DC. From 1984 to 1992 he also served on the faculty at Georgetown University. He was named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow in 1984. In addition to his role as president of Catholic Charities USA, Fr. Hehir also serves as a distinguished professor of ethics and international affairs at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. Fr. Hehir has received more than 25 honorary degrees from American colleges and universities. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the Council on Foreign Relations and the Catholic Theological Society. Fr. Hehir received his BA and MA from St. John's Seminary, Boston, and a Th.D. in applied theology from the Harvard

Divinity School.

Naomi Haines Griffith is a true Southerner, growing up in Alabama and Mississippi. She holds a BS from the University of North Alabama, an MA from George Peabody College of Vanderbilt University and a MSW. from the University of Alabama. She worked in North Carolina and Alabama child welfare systems until 1984 when she became Executive Director of PACT, a pioneer child abuse prevention agency she helped to found. From 1994-1997, she served on the State Board of the Alabama Department of Human Services. Since 1988, Naomi has been a national speaker and consultant on child welfare issues, speaking throughout the US and Canada. W ell-known storyteller and family systems specialist, she uses humor and her own experiences to challenge and inspire audiences. She is the author of Red Clay and Vinegar: Looking at Family Through the Eyes of a Southern Child. Naomi is a member of the Alabama Corporate Foundation for Children, a former board member for the Alabama Children's Trust Fund and as a consultant to Prevent Child Abuse America. A listener once observed: " Naomi weaves her common sense pragmatism and 30 years experience working with children and families into inspirational and heart warming stories that motivate her audiences both personally and professionally.

Father. Robert J. Vitillo is a Roman Catholic priest of the Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey, and holds a Mater's Degree in Social Work from Rutgers University, where he also pursued doctoral studies in the same field. In1997, Fr. Vitillo was appointed to the post of Executive Director of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development at the United States Catholic Conference. The Campaign was founded in 1970 by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops; it is the largest private funding source for organizations that empower the poor and work to eliminate poverty and injustice in the United States. Fr. Vitillo has worked with Catholic Charities on both diocesan and national levels as well as with Caritas Internationalis, the worldwide confederation of Catholic Church-sponsored social service and development organizations which is based in Vatican City. Since 1987, Fr. Vitillo also has been engaged in education of church leaders and development of church-based programs in response to the pandemic of HIV/AIDS in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America. He has also served as consultant to UNICEF in Eastern and Central Europe on the development of family-centered programs to benefit children in need. Fr. Vitillo serves as President of the National Catholic AIDS Network Board of Directors, as co-chairperson of the Caritas Internationalis Task Force on HIV/AIDS, and as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Council for Adoption.

Father Fred Kammer, Catholic Charities USA's president and CEO from 1992-2002, is a lawyer, an author, and a Jesuit priest. His expertise stems from many years of study, analysis and direct community experience addressing poverty and social justice.