Sarah Masih has worked in the space of homelessness, poverty, and behavioral health services throughout North Texas for over a decade. She received her Bachelors and master’s in social work from the University of Texas in 2010 and 2011, respectively, and obtained her clinical licensure shortly thereafter. She began her career in homeless services and eventually transitioned to the behavioral health arena with the goal of obtaining clinical licensure. During this time, she worked alongside hospital leadership to [...]

A native Texan, originally from Corsicana, Rachel Roberts-Pickett joins Catholic Charities Dallas as Director of Refugee Services with 25 years of program management, operations, financial management, and community development experience. With a heart for service and passion for people, Rachel Roberts-Pickett is excited to reclaim her nonprofit roots. Rachel’s previous professional experience includes entrepreneurship and roles in private equity, post-Hurricane Katrina disaster and community redevelopment efforts in New Orleans, LA, and on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, public [...]

With over 35 years of non-profit leadership, Steve joined the Community Health Clinic in July 2021 serving as the Executive Director. He is responsible for the leadership and operations of the Clinic providing chronic health care to over 700 uninsured patients. Previously, Steve served in an executive leadership role for 30 years with Boys & Girls Clubs, a highly effective national youth development organization. Most recently, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Boys & [...]

Originally from Harlingen, TX, Gloria Rentería attended the University of Texas at Dallas and joined the ILS team in 2010. She has worked in immigration law since then, including direct client representation as a DOJ Accredited Representative, crime victim advocacy, and program management. She has represented clients in immigration matters ranging from U-Visas and family petitions to naturalization. In her previous position as Victim Program Manager, she focused on program sustainability and collaborative partnerships benefiting survivors in [...]

Sara Blake Jernigan joined the CCD Development Office in November 2022 as the newest Director of Donor Engagement. She brings with her a passion for supporting mission-driven organizations and twelve years of successful advancement, fundraising, and donor engagement experience. In this role, she is excited to build and strengthen relationships with individuals and organizations that match their philanthropy with CCD’s mission priorities. Before joining Catholic Charities, Sara Blake held development positions at both non-profit organizations and educational [...]

A North Carolina native, LeAnn Richburg joined Catholic Charities Dallas as our Chief Financial Officer in October. Graduating from Guilford College with a bachelor of science degree in accounting and the University of North Carolina- Greensboro with a master’s degree in accounting, she started her career in nonprofit and governmental accounting. LeAnn spent 20 years in corporate accounting before returning to the nonprofit industry to serve as Controller at Mercy Ships. LeAnn has held her NC CPA [...]

A Dallas native, Veronica Manriquez has served Catholic Charities Dallas as the Director of Donor Engagement since September 2022. She has spent the past ten years in Development raising money for Ursuline Academy of Dallas, Café Momentum, and the University of Dallas. She attended Dallas College, Southern Methodist University, and is a current MBA candidate at the University of Dallas. She received her Certified Fund Raising Executive certification through CFRE International in 2020 and her Certificate in [...]

With 13 years of experience, Jessica Ramirez has been a noteworthy leader in the world of HR. Jessica is the Director of Human Resources & is responsible for guiding and managing the overall provision of all Human Resources. In addition to supporting non-profit organizations, she has worked with commercial real estate & multi-family industry & provided Human Resources services to manufacturing and leading global security companies.

Kelly joined the team in 2022 as Chief Development Officer. Kelly has been involved in the Catholic community for over 15 years, both in the advancement office at John Paul II High School and through her most recent position as Director of Advancement and Engagement at Prince of Peace Catholic School.  Kelly earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from Texas A&M University and her MBA from the University of Dallas. She earned a Master’s Certificate in [...]

Bradford Parker is an experienced finance professional with over twenty years of experience in the non-profit sector. He began his career with Entergy in New Orleans, Louisiana as a Staff Accountant, then transitioned from the for-profit sector to support various religious and humanitarian organizations. Brad’s faith has led him from local youth ministry to a recent three-year service as Associate Pastor with Seattle’s Sunshine Christian Church, where he remains a volunteer financial advisor. He served as the Director [...]

Anita Chacko comes to us from Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston where she served as Controller in the Accounting/Finance department. Anita and her family relocated from Houston back to Dallas to be near family. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends. Anita holds a Masters degree in Accounting and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) and has more than fifteen years of solid, hands-on non-profit auditing and accounting experience. [...]

Originally from Melbourne, Australia, Kate earned her bachelor's degree in Social Work from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. Kate has been working in refugee programming for the past ten years, including resettlement, matching grants, and refugee support services programs. In those roles, Kate managed programs ensuring agency compliance with federal and state regulations, coordinated training for staff and organizations across Dallas-Fort Worth, and engaged in extensive community outreach across diverse communities. Her overseas work experience includes positions [...]

Abigail “Abbie” Kauffman brings more than a decade of diverse experience in nonprofit and higher education to Catholic Charities Dallas. She began her full-time career as a Development Officer in the University of Texas System in Odessa, Texas, and found in her passion in social services as Development Director for Centers for Children and Families in Midland/Odessa. Abbie returned home to Dallas in 2015, where she joined the staff of Jewish Family Service of Greater Dallas as Director [...]

Kaylee started in Refugee Services and moved to the Disaster department after helping with several Disaster deployments in Dallas and at the border. She is thankful to continue her career and growth with Catholic Charities Dallas as the Director of Homeless, Housing and Disaster Services. In her previous position as Sr. Program Manager for the Disaster program, she assisted the team in setting up programs and processes to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in early March 2020 and [...]

With over 38 years of accounting experience (17 years as a nonprofit executive), Molly Jester is currently the CFO at Catholic Charities of Dallas. She began her career in public accounting and became a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Texas. Prior experiences included roles as controller at TDIndustries, The Episcopal School of Dallas, and Ann and Nate Levine Academy. Then Molly became a missionary for 3 years in Costa Rica, the Rio Grande Valley and [...]

With more than 40 years in the service, hospitality, and non-profit industry, Dave Woodyard leverages his extensive experience and long-time commitment to social welfare as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Catholic Charities Dallas. He oversees the organization’s nearly $35 million budget for 10 missions and over 37 programs serving more than 150,000 children, families, and seniors every year. The position taps his deep service and organizational growth expertise, as well as ongoing board and trustee [...]

A Dallas native, Lacy de la Garza currently serves as Director of Parish & Community Relations for Catholic Charities Dallas. As a member of the CCD team, she focuses on facilitating relationships between parishes, community entities and the agency to better serve those in need within the diocese of Dallas. Her express goals are to build Catholic Charities fluency at all levels of leadership within the diocese, Catholic or not, and facilitate learning opportunities for the community [...]

Angela M. Fox is a graduate of Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana where she majored in Psychology and double minored in Social Justice Education and Religious Studies. In 2005, her journey led her to a year of volunteer service with the Catholic Charities Volunteer Corps in Minneapolis/St. Paul. During her year, she lived in intentional community and worked in the agency's refugee resettlement program, where she quickly became a refugee advocate. She worked for Catholic Charities Twin [...]

Brenda is currently Catholic Charities’ Chief Operations Officer. She began her career in HR for a local grocery chain, then later worked for BMC, where she served in a variety of capacities and expanded her knowledge of human resources, safety and operations. Brenda also owned her own human resources consulting firm, where she assisted small companies establish their HR departments and compliance practices. She is a member of the Society of Human Resource Management and Dallas Human [...]

Meredith McPhail is a Licensed Social Worker and Licensed Child Placing Administrator with a Bachelor of Social Work from The University of Texas at Arlington. She also holds an MBA from Baylor University, bringing nearly 20 years of experience working directly with children and families. As the Director of Family Stability and Disaster Services at CCD, she oversees a comprehensive range of programs, including pregnancy support, parenting resources, adoption services, financial stability initiatives, career development programs, hunger relief [...]

A sixteen-year veteran of Catholic Charities of Ft. Worth, Jari has worked as a Case Worker, Supervisor, Program Director and for the last eight years as VP of Programs and COO. Prior experiences included roles as a Vice Principal, a Translator, Program Manager and Job Developer both here domestically and abroad. Jari holds a B.A. in French from the University of Tirana, a Master of Divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Master of Business [...]

Michael (Mike) J. Murray was raised in Dallas, attending St. Paul the Apostle School and Jesuit College Prep. Mike graduated from the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. Mike taught, coached and served as the Admissions Officer at Jesuit before attending SMU law school. Upon graduation he worked for the Collin County District Attorney as a prosecutor and then in private practice for 13 years. In 2010 Mike opened the Dallas-Ft. Worth office of Heroic Media, a [...]

Ana Schaller earned her bachelor’s degree in biology with a minor in Psychology from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio. She earned her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the University of Texas at Dallas. For the last 25 years, Ana has been dedicated to working with families with young children in the Dallas-Forth Worth area. As Director of Educational Services, she is committed to providing high quality early learning and adult education programs to families in underserved areas. [...]

Mary Vares serves as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Catholic Charities of Dallas (CCD). She received her BBA in Accounting from University of Texas at El Paso. Mary began her career in real estate accounting working for companies, Trammell Crow Company, Crow Holdings, and Invesco Realty Advisors.  Mary has over 20 years experience in not-for-profit and has held various leadership roles in finance and operations.  She has served as CFO for Texas Women’s Foundation and Woodall Rodgers [...]