About the Roche Center Team

Melodie was named executive director of the Roche Center for Catholic Education and faculty member for the Lynch School of Education and Human Development in 2019. Prior to coming to Boston College, Melodie served as an assistant professor and academic director of the Mary Ann Remick Leadership Program for the Alliance for Catholic Education at the University of Notre Dame. She also has served as president of Nativity Jesuit Academy and director of mission effectiveness for the NativityMiguel Network of Schools in Washington, DC. Melodie presents nationally on topics such as Catholic School Governance and Effective Board Management, Strategic Planning, Development and Enrollment Management Strategies, and Making Schools Culturally Competent for New and Existing Latino Families. Her published work includes Seven Steps to Strategic Planning for Catholic School Leaders (2020) and Responding to the Call for Educational Justice: Transformative Catholic-Led Initiatives in Urban Education (2018). Melodie has a doctorate in educational leadership and policy analysis from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and master's degrees in educational administration from Marquette University and education from Mount Mary College.

Liz is a passionate advocate for Catholic schools. Having received a Catholic education from kindergarten through a master's degree, Liz enjoys giving back to the institutions that formed her. She has taught at the elementary, middle, high school and graduate levels. Currently, she serves on the Archdiocese of Boston's Catholic Schools Foundation’s Allocations Committee, and is a board member of the Sacred Heart STEM School. She also is an active member of the Boston College Alumni Association. Liz has undergraduate degrees in psychology and theology from Boston College, and a master's degree from the University of Notre Dame through the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) program.

A graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and the University of Notre Dame’s ACE Remick Leadership Program, Cara is a licensed school principal in the state of Massachusetts and has more than 10 years of Catholic leadership experience within the Nativity-Miguel Network, and the Archdioceses of Boston and New York.

Cristina's professional experiences range from big four public accounting audit services to private equity, financial consulting, and national advancement team leadership of the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education partner school network. One constant across industries has been Cristina's focus on business turnaround efforts with empathy and support for leaders. Cristina has a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Notre Dame and an M.B.A. with a marketing concentration from Loyola University Chicago. 

Phil is coordinator of Latino Outreach in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. In this position, he works with a select group of Catholic schools to increase Latino student enrollment by developing enrollment management plans that identify and engage new pools of prospective families, create targeted marketing collateral and recruitment events, and empower parent ambassadors to engage in the marketing and recruitment process. Phil has presented his work, titled “Culturally Competent Recruitment of Latino Families,” at the national NCEA Conference.

John is executive director of Operational Vitality for the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA), where he oversees the organization's programs related to communications, marketing, budgeting and finance, technology management, and digital learning and discipleship. He recently served as the assistant superintendent for academic excellence and budget supervision for the 32 Catholic schools in the state of South Carolina. John has a doctorate in organizational change and leadership from the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California, and he currently serves as co-facilitator co-facilitator of the Mission & Catholic Identity Emmaus Leadership Academy.

Having served as a bilingual classroom teacher, reading specialist, consultant and educational researcher, Gloria has extensive experience in developing dual language curriculum. She has her own consulting firm, which provides professional development workshops to school teams and helps districts develop their literacy and dual language programs. Gloria earned a doctorate from the University of Southern California and holds a master's of education degree in language and literacy from Harvard University with a reading specialist credential focused on second language acquisition.

Jeremy has lived in the Boston area for the last 18 years and has been a teacher and department head at a Christian prep school just north of the city. Having studied theology and philosophy (with a master's degree in philosophy from Boston College), Jeremy is researching the ways in which schools, as institutions, shape the lives and identities of students, particularly around issues of democracy and equality. Along with this, he is also interested in the ways actions within school life, particularly religious school life, can be viewed through the lens of ritual or as a kind of practice.

A native of Dublin, Ireland, Carly-Anne taught middle school religion and high school theology in Corpus Christi, Texas, before moving to full-time ministry in higher education as the Catholic chaplain at Stony Brook University. Wishing to return to studies, she earned a master's degree in religious education at Fordham University while serving as the director of religious education at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, New York City. Carly-Anne has a master's degree in ecumenics from the University of Dublin and a master's degree in education from the University of Notre Dame with the Alliance for Catholic Education.

John is executive director of Operational Vitality for the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA), where he oversees the organization's programs related to communications, marketing, budgeting and finance, technology management, and digital learning and discipleship. He recently served as the assistant superintendent for academic excellence and budget supervision for the 32 Catholic schools in the state of South Carolina. John has a doctorate in organizational change and leadership from the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California, and he currently serves as co-facilitator co-facilitator of the Mission & Catholic Identity Emmaus Leadership Academy.

Kristen currently teaches in the Archdiocese of Boston while she is pursuing a master's degree in educational leadership and policy. Prior to joining the Roche Center, Kristen was a graduate assistant and community facilitator with the Urban Catholic Teacher Corps of Boston College, from which she began her teaching ministry. She has delivered letters to Pope Francis as part of Saint Mary’s “letters from Catholic young women project" and also traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border to encounter firsthand the complexities of immigration and Catholic leaders' response. Kristen also has a masater's degree in curriculum and instruction from Boston College.

Sadie comes from San Antonio, Tex., where she earned a bachelor's degree in theology. Her theological studies have led to many opportunities, including traveling abroad and volunteering for mission trips. She recently spent a summer in Denver, Colo., working as a missionary for Christ in the City. Sadie’s passion is working in San Antonio’s prison ministry where she has helped expand the love of Christ and spread the Catholic faith.