CATHOLIC TALENT PROJECT
Media Kit
CATHEDRAL OF THE HOLY CROSS | PHOTO: BILL DAMON | CC BY 2.0
Mission
The Catholic Talent Project's mission is cultivating faithful witnesses to serve in Catholic schools across America.
History
The Catholic Talent Project is a response to the alarming percentages of young children walking away from their Catholic faith during their school years. By age 13, almost half of the children who begin as Catholics lose their faith. A staggering 86 percent lose their faith by age 18.
The Catholic Talent Project was conceived by Thomas W. Carroll, who served for the past five years (April 2019 - June 2024) as Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of Boston. During his tenure, Carroll concluded that a Catholic renewal was not possible without cultivating faithful Catholic witnesses to serve as classroom teachers, principals and superintendents and many other positions throughout Catholic schools that now serve 1.6 million students.
During his tenure, Carroll replaced 75 percent of parochial school principals, hiring only principals with strong faith lives and a commitment to evangelization. Carroll also founded the St. Thomas More Teaching Fellowship to recruit and train young, smart and faithful college graduates to serve as classroom teachers, providing students with compelling witnesses to their Catholic faith.
In the words of Pope St. Paul VI: "Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses."
The Catholic Talent Project was conceived by Thomas W. Carroll, who served for the past five years (April 2019 - June 2024) as Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of Boston. During his tenure, Carroll concluded that a Catholic renewal was not possible without cultivating faithful Catholic witnesses to serve as classroom teachers, principals and superintendents and many other positions throughout Catholic schools that now serve 1.6 million students.
During his tenure, Carroll replaced 75 percent of parochial school principals, hiring only principals with strong faith lives and a commitment to evangelization. Carroll also founded the St. Thomas More Teaching Fellowship to recruit and train young, smart and faithful college graduates to serve as classroom teachers, providing students with compelling witnesses to their Catholic faith.
In the words of Pope St. Paul VI: "Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses."
Meet the President and Founder
Thomas W. Carroll
Thomas W. Carroll is the former Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of Boston (2019-2024), a Consultor to the USCCB Committee on Education, former President of the Invest in Education Foundation, and founder of the Brighter Choice Foundation.
Thomas W. Carroll
Sample Interview Questions
1. What was the most important insight you gained from your five years as Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of Boston?
2. Is there a precedent for what the Catholic Talent Project is seeking to pull off?
3. The National Catholic Register credited you with a "renaissance of Catholic education" in Boston? What were the key elements?
4. Who is supporting the Catholic Talent Project?
5. How many dioceses do you expect to operate within? How will they be chosen? Have any initial dioceses been chosen?
6. Are you optimistic about the future of the Church and the faith of young men and women these days?
2. Is there a precedent for what the Catholic Talent Project is seeking to pull off?
3. The National Catholic Register credited you with a "renaissance of Catholic education" in Boston? What were the key elements?
4. Who is supporting the Catholic Talent Project?
5. How many dioceses do you expect to operate within? How will they be chosen? Have any initial dioceses been chosen?
6. Are you optimistic about the future of the Church and the faith of young men and women these days?
Endorsements from Church Leaders
Cardinal Seán O'Malley
Archdiocese of Boston
"In his time as Superintendent of Schools in the Archdiocese of Boston, Tom increased the Catholic identity of our schools and recruited young Catholics from across the country to serve in our schools. Tom and his team promoted our efforts to engage young people in a life of faith and inspire them to greater participation in the work of the Church.”
Cardinal Sean O'Malley, OFM Cap.
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone
Archdiocese of San Francisco
"There is a largely untapped supply of faithful college graduates who, graced with a missionary zeal, want to serve the Church and draw school children closer to God. With the creation of the nonprofit Catholic Talent Project, participating bishops will have a way to tap into that pool to make sure our Catholic schools have the faithful teachers we need to inspire students to embrace Jesus Christ and amid a modern culture that is increasingly alien to the moral teachings of the Church. I'm very excited about the Catholic Talent Project."
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone
Bishop Tom Daly
Diocese of Spokane
"The Catholic Talent Project responds to a very serious need facing our Church. We need witnesses in our schools if we are going to have any hope of stemming or reversing the high rates of children walking away from the faith of their parents. A smaller Church may be an easier church, but I agree with Tom Carroll that we need to embrace the call to evangelize our youth and for that we need faithful witnesses in the classroom and leadership of our schools. May we ask the Holy Spirit to guide this endeavor so that it may bear much fruit in the Church’s mission to save souls."
Bishop Tom Daly
Mary Pat Donoghue
Executive Director of the Secretariat of Catholic Education for the U.S.C.C.B.
"During Tom Carroll's innovative time as Superintendent, the Archdiocese of Boston led the way in figuring out how to recruit, train and inspire young Catholic college graduates to become teachers and evangelize students in our Catholic schools. The Catholic Talent Project will be of great assistance to bishops seeking faithful, well-formed teachers and leaders for their schools. There is broad agreement that the high rates of disaffiliation constitute a five-alarm fire for the Church. The renewal of the Catholic Church hinges on our ability to evangelize successfully the 1.6 million students in our schools. Any parent worried about whether their school-age sons and daughters will embrace their faith as they get older should be praying for the success of the Catholic Talent Project."
Mary Pat Donoghue
Colleen Donohoe
Superintendent of Schools, Diocese of Charleston
"I worked alongside Tom Carroll in Boston before I became Superintendent in Charleston and I saw first-hand the profound witness of young, faithful Catholic teachers. The powerful impact made by these teachers was the most impressive form of evangelization I’ve seen in any classroom. The students' parents deeply appreciated the collaboration with faithful teachers who modeled what it means to be a disciple of Christ. The intentional community of young faithful Catholics we built in Boston also quickly attracted even more faithful college graduates to participate in this great work of evangelizing the young…one child at a time."
Colleen Donohoe
Download the Press Release
Image Assets
Media Requests
Tom Carroll, President and Founder of The Catholic Talent Project, is available for comment.
Contact Carrie Kline at carriek@missionadvancementpartners.com for interview requests.
Leadership
The following individuals serve on our Board of Trustees or our Board of Advisors:
Thomas W. Carroll
President of Catholic Talent Project. Former Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of Boston, Consultor to the USCCB Committee on Education, former President of Invest in Education Foundation, founder of Brighter Choice Foundation. (Board of Directors)
Bob Allard
Founder and Executive Chairman of Studion, a global tech services company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Croatia that builds deeply engaging digital experiences in learning and life sciences, including the digital platform for Harvard Business School Online. Bob also serves as the Business Development Advisor of The Guild Group, which builds teams of scientists that tackle complex data analytics problems. A serial entrepreneur, Bob serves as a strategic advisor to various tech start-ups in Silicon Valley, San Francisco and elsewhere. Bob is a Distinguished Fellow at the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship at the Busch School of Business at Catholic University of America. (Board of Directors)
Anthony de Nicola
Chairman of private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson and Stowe. Board members of Inner-City Scholarship Fund, the Partnership for New York City, the Finance Committee of the Archdiocese of New York, and Brilla College Prep. Tony De Nicola also is actively involved in the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame. Tony lives with his wife Christie in Sarasota, Florida. (Board of Advisors)
Mary Pat Donoghue
Executive Director of the Secretariat of Catholic Education for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, co-founder of St. Jerome Academy in Hyattsville, MD. (Board of Directors)
Dennis Gerber
President, Knights of Columbus Charitable Fund. Vice President of Charitable Giving for Knights of Columbus and former Director of the Archdiocese of New York's Catholic Communal Fund. (Board of Advisors)
Sean Graber
Chief Digital Officer of EWTN. He has a background in business strategy and product and engineering leadership. Sean previously led Mapbox’s Search business, where he built geospatial products for customers like GM and Toyota. Prior to that, at Tripadvisor, Sean launched the company’s first subscription product and created Reco, a marketplace for travel advisors. (Board of Directors)
Richard Hough
Chairman and CEO at Silvercrest Asset Management in New York, board member of Christendom College, and former National Program Director of Children’s Scholarship Fund. (Board of Advisors)
Berni Neal
After a professional career in corporate marketing and advertising, Berni Neal is a board member of Thomas Aquinas College and has served on the boards of the Catholic Leadership Institute, ENDOW, EWTN, Legatus, Live Action, the Magnificat Foundation, and Pueri Cantores. With her husband Rob Neal, Berni Neal also has served as a member of the Papal Foundation. Berni and her husband Rob live in Newport Beach, CA. (Board of Advisors)
Peter Nguyen
Executive Director, St. Thomas More Teaching Fellowship. Former Executive Director of the Institute for Priestly Evangelization and middle-school math and science teacher at St. Mary of the Assumption School in Brookline, MA. Former FOCUS Missionary for Harvard University. (Board of Directors)
Daniel S. Peters
President of the Lovett & Ruth Peters Foundation in Cincinnati, Ohio, focused on improving K-12 education nationwide. Dan is the former Chairman of the Philanthropy Roundtable and co-founder of the Alliance for Charitable Reform. Dan serves on the board of Hillsdale College and previously held a variety of executive positions at Procter & Gamble in the areas of advertising, purchasing and research and development. Dan served with a jet squadron in the U.S. Navy aboard an aircraft carrier. (Board of Advisors)
Shawn Peterson
President of Catholic Education Partners, former Associate Director for Public Policy with the Minnesota Catholic Conference. Shawn is a consultant to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Education, and a member of board of directors for the Institute of Catholic Liberal Education. (Board of Advisors)
Martha Reichert
Board member of the Augustine Institute, and Thomas Aquinas College. Board member and former president of Endow (Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Women). Martha lives with her husband Tim in Golden, Colorado. (Board of Directors)
Austin Satrio
Director of Talent for the St. Thomas More Fellowship, will continue to serve in that capacity as the program – through the Catholic Talent Project – expands to targeted dioceses across the nation. (Board of Directors)
Lannette Turicchi
President of Falling Upwards Productions LLC, Vice President of Captive Entertainment LLC, Head of Non-Theatrical Distribution for DreamWorks SKG, New Business Development at the Walt Disney Gallery and Casting Assistant at Hollywood Pictures. Lannette has served on the board of the Saint John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington, D.C. (Board of Directors)
Selected Media Interviews of Tom Carroll as Boston Catholic Superintendent
My Advice to Catholic Schools: Double Down on Your Catholicity
National Catholic Register
How the new Catholic Talent Project plans to change Catholic education
Our Sunday Visitor
Catholic schools’ Biggest Challenge? Boston Superintendent Says it’s a ‘Lack of Vision’
Our Sunday Visitor
Tom Carroll on Saving Souls in the 16,000 Hours from Preschool to 12th Grade
Catholic Education Show Podcast
TOM CARROLL, PRESIDENT OF CATHOLIC TALENT PROJECT, SPEAKS TO A DINNER FOR SAINT THOMAS MORE TEACHING FELLOWSHIP