Management Team

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Mark Rohlena

President & CEO

In February 2011, Mark joined Catholic Charities of Central Colorado as the new President & CEO.  Previously, Mr. Rohlena had been serving as the Senior Ethics & Conflicts Attorney for Holland & Hart in Denver, the largest law firm in the Rocky Mountain region.  Prior to that appointment, he was an attorney in Holland & Hart’s Litigation Department, focusing on commercial, employee benefits/ERISA, and utilities and communication litigation, as well as tax litigation and labor and employment law.  He is a member of the Colorado Bar Association, the Denver Bar Association, and Colorado Bar Association Ethics Committee as well as board member of the National Lawyers Association and the St. Thomas More Society of Colorado.

Mr. Rohlena attended Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia, a Liberal Arts College, where he double-majored in History and political Science/ Economics.  He was in the inaugural class of the Ave Maria School of Law.  While there, he served as the Business Manager and an Editorial Board Member of the Ave Maria Law Review.

Mike Wolf

Chief Financial Officer

In October, 2007, Mike joined the staff of Catholic Charities and helped develop the financial strategy which allowed Catholic Charities to complete the Marian House Complex construction project.

During his 20 year career in the Air Force (October, 1969 – October, 1989) he held various managerial positions, attended technical and leadership schools, and spent more than 10 years in program management offices. Following his career in the Air Force, he worked for St. Patrick Catholic Church in Colorado Springs as parish Business Manager and subsequently, Chief Financial Officer. He helped manage various building expansion and construction projects, served on a number of diocesan level committees, and helped author the diocese’s Financial Management Handbook.

Mike was born and raised in Southern Indiana and attended the University of Evansville where he graduated in 1969 with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a commission in the United States Air Force. He earned his Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Auburn University in 1978.

Rev. Dr. Michael O’Donnell

Vice President of Institutional Advancement and Chief Development Officer

Rev. Dr. Michael O’Donnell joined Catholic Charities of Central Colorado in April 2009. Prior to that, he served as a clinical counselor on staff with Grace and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, eventually being appointed Priest-in-Charge in 2007. During that time, he also served as the Clinical Coordinator of Graduate Practicums and Internships for Colorado Christian University and as a graduate professor of counseling for their Colorado Springs campus.

He has completed two Masters degrees, one from Palmer Theological Seminary, PA and one from Cincinnati Christian Seminary, OH, and received his Ph.D. from Kansas State University. He is a published author of several books, including A Question of Honor, Good Kids, and How a Man Prepares His Sons for Life, and is the founding executive director of the Center for Fathering, originally on the campus of Abilene Christian University. He was the VP for institutional advancement of Ohio Valley University, dean of professional studies for Faulkner University, and executive director of Kansas State University’s Smith Scholarship House.

Kathy Thayer

Vice President of Life Connections

Kathy joined Catholic Charities in 1996 and over the years has coordinated parish social ministry programs, provided grants and contract administration, and directed the Family Life Center. In 2001, she became the Director of Life Connections and has continued to expand the services available in this program to include international adoption, parenting education, and child birth classes.

She has over 30 years experience in nonprofit and government leadership, management and organization development, and expertise in administering a variety of programs including child welfare, foster care and adoption, emergency services, youth and family counseling, and community-based prevention strategies. She is trained and certified to facilitate The Nurturing Parenting Programs® and conduct Home Studies using the Structured Analysis Family Evaluation (SAFE) assessment tool.

She is a former member of the Family Empowerment Team and has participated in a number of community collaborative efforts. Kathy has a B.A. in Sociology and a Masters in Business Administration with an emphasis in management.

Sam Edwards

Vice President of Poverty Reduction Services

After eight years away from the agency, Sam has returned to Catholic Charities as the V.P. of Poverty Reduction at the Marian House. He has enjoyed a successful career in nonprofit management that began in 1993 and brings a wealth of experience to the agency. Sam is excited to work with staff to bring in partner agencies from the community to enhance the already impactful programs available today at the Hanifen Center at Marian House.

He served as the Marian House Operations Manager from 1995-2001 and helped develop many of the early soup kitchen operations along with numerous other on-site programs. Since leaving in 2001, he served as the Division Director of Volunteerism for the Great West Division of the American Cancer Society. He worked with the Learning & Development team there to enhance field programs, maintain excellence in volunteer programs and ensure best practices in volunteer management.

Sam holds a B.A. in Organizational Communication and is a certified Volunteer Director. He practices what he preaches by volunteering in the community. He serves many roles in his church and is always eager to assist at his daughter’s school events.

Corey Almond

Vice President of Family Immigration Services & Parish Social Ministries

Corey  has lived and worked in Colorado Springs, Denver, and Haïti and has eight years of experience working in service to poor and vulnerable populations.  His most recent work was as Director of a nonprofit for international development called InKind. During his tenure,  he established a micro-lending cooperative in a rural village in Haïti in addition to raising funds and increasing awareness for the project within the Colorado Springs community.

Corey has also worked with  other nonprofit  in Colorado Springs, with a focus on vulnerable populations, such as advocacy for children and families in the court system under CASA of the Pikes Peak Region, direct service to the homeless with Pikes Peak Behavioural Health Group, and ESL teaching (Denver).

Corey has a Master’s in Public Administration and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology.  He is married with two children, and enjoys reading, singing, and studying languages.

Directors

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Rochelle Blaschke Schlortt

Director of Communications

Rochelle joined Catholic Charities in October 2005 and has been responsible for developing the communications programs, literature, press and fund-raising events for the organization. Under her guidance, the St. Patrick’s Day Gala quadrupled in revenue in just 3 years.

Prior to her work with Catholic Charities, she had a career in communications and advertising with Ogilvy & Mather in New York, and then Houston; and Young & Rubicam in San Francisco as a Vice President, Media Director. She guided the media developments on such accounts as American Express, Duracell, Hallmark, Shell Oil, Compaq Computers, Chevron Oil, Lever Brothers, and EDS Financial Services to name a few. She also served on the New Business Team which aggressively courted new clients for the agency.

A longtime volunteer with Junior League, she taught herself publishing & design software and developed newsletters, magazines, and promotional materials for the Junior Leagues of North Little Rock and Colorado Springs. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a BS in Advertising and a Bachelors of Journalism, specializing in Public Relations.

Janet Hutchinson

Director of Development

Janet joined Catholic Charities, for the first time in 1999. She left in 2004 and worked briefly for Goodwill Industries before returning to Catholic Charities in 2006.

She has ten years experience working for non-profits in a development capacity. Through her knowledge of the Raiser’s Edge donor database, she developed a system for recording, reporting, and acknowledging donor gifts (monetary and in-kind) both at Catholic Charities and Goodwill Industries. In addition, she brings a range of experience in office and problem solving skills, bookkeeping, and attention to detail and accuracy learned from co-owning two different franchised businesses, as well as a background in sales.

Janet is board secretary for the Association of Fund-raising Professionals Southern Colorado Chapter and has served on the board since 2006. She is also an active volunteer in the Diocese of Colorado Springs and at her parish, St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church.

Eric Evans

Director of Client Services

Marian House

Eric joined the staff of Catholic Charities in March, 2010 as Director of Client Services.  He has previously worked for various non-profit organizations in Colorado Springs including TESSA and Urban Peak.  While at TESSA, Eric served as the Children’s Program Manager in the Safe House providing case management to battered women and their children during their stay.  At Urban Peak meanwhile, he helped start the program by performing extensive street outreach and case management to homeless and runaway youth aged 15 – 21.

Eric grew up in Colorado Springs and graduated from Colorado State University with Bachelors degree in History in 1996.

James Dixon

Director of Community Outreach Services

Marian House

James has worked for Catholic Charities since 2000 initially as a soup kitchen manager, but in 2002, he began an outreach program for Catholic Charities. The outreach program began as a one-day-a week endeavor, but soon grew to a full-time program, operating five days-a-week with James as the program director.

An experienced outreach provider for nearly 30 years, James previously worked for Peak Vista Community Health Centers for 12 years as Director of the Homeless Medical Clinic and as an outreach provider, visiting people who were homeless in a medical capacity. Prior to that, he worked at Cheyenne Mesa Treatment Facility for Teens, and as a pregnancy counselor for Lutheran Family Services.

He was named the Most Outstanding Provider of the Year by the National Health Care for the Homeless Alliance in 1998 at the National Conference on Homelessness. This award is presented to the outstanding provider serving homeless clients/patients in an office setting as well as providing outreach services.

Carole McConnellogue

Director of Life Support Services

Marian House

Prior to joining Catholic Charities in 1999, Carole was the Safehouse Manager for The Center for Prevention of Domestic Violence for over twelve years. While there she facilitated educational support groups for female victims of domestic violence & started the first group for male victims of domestic violence. She was also responsible for recruiting, training & supervising volunteers & court ordered community service workers, and establishing a 24 hour, seven days per week scheduling structure that facilitated the effective functioning of the center.

She has received extensive Crisis Intervention Training, and has experience in conducting focus groups, providing telephone crisis intervention, victim advocacy, court support, rape crisis, and case management. Carole has 22 years of Human Services experience and attended the University of Illinois.

Paul Konecny

Director of Marian House Soup Kitchen

Paul joined Catholic Charities in August 2007 just in time to provide critical insight into the planning and construction of the New Marian House Soup Kitchen. His prior work experience of spending nearly 20 years at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort in Colorado Springs, holding various positions of responsibility including Director of Food and Beverage for twelve years, allowed him to design the commercial-grade kitchen to meet the very highest restaurant industry standards.

Paul joined Catholic Charities in August 2007 just in time to provide critical insight into the planning and construction of the New Marian House Soup Kitchen. His prior work experience of spending nearly 20 years at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort in Colorado Springs, holding various positions of responsibility including Director of Food and Beverage for twelve years, allowed him to design the commercial-grade kitchen to meet the very highest restaurant industry standards.

He has a degree in Business Administration from Wichita Stare University.

Supervisors

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Jim Benavidez

Lead Operations Manager

Marian House

Jim joined Catholic Charities in February 2008 after spending 20 years in the Food and Beverage Industry. He was a Sous Chef for Tower West Lodge in Wyoming, Room Service Manager, Banquet Manager, and Dining Room Manager at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort, and General Merchandise Manager at Safeway of Colorado Springs.

He joined the staff of the Marian House because he has always wanted to contribute to his community and utilize his work experiences for a greater purpose. Jim says, “While I enjoy serving people, it is much more satisfying to take care of someone who needs my services, instead of a client who wants my services.”

Jeremy Silva

Security Supervisor

Marian House

Jeremy joined Catholic Charities in May 2008, first as a volunteer helping in the volunteer office and with the move into The New Marian House facility, and then as the Marian House Security Supervisor. He is also the security guard for St. Mary’s Cathedral.