Roche Center receives $2.5M grant from Healey Education Foundation

Funding will establish a PreK-12 Catholic school board training program

The Healey Education Foundation has awarded a $2.5-million grant to the Roche Center for Catholic Education at Boston College, along with the learning tools, resources, and expertise to establish a PreK-12 Catholic school board training program.

The Roche Center will use the grant funds for training initiatives to develop school leaders’ executive management skills and build the capacity of Catholic school board members, thereby advancing the foundation’s mission to “Build a Better Board Every Day: For the Future of Catholic Schools.”

According to the foundation, the program will offer the direct, one-on-one board coaching and peer mentoring to interested dioceses and leaders. It will also employ a new online learning system to jumpstart the training of Catholic school board members, which will provide access to both self-paced coursework and real-time conversations with today’s most successful working boards with both responsibility and authority. These boards are mission-driven, data-informed, and equipped to take charge of their schools’ futures.

Christine Healey

Christine L. Healey

“Any Catholic diocese or school in the country that is ready to launch a best-in-class board or strengthen its current board can now look to the online executive leadership training program at the Roche Center for Catholic Education,” said Christine L. Healey, the foundation's president. “The Roche Center is dedicated to developing leaders of the future and equipping them for excellence. This aligns perfectly with the foundation’s mission of expanding that leadership to the lay community that serves Catholic schools as board members.”

In addition to providing funding for the executive leadership and board training implemented by the Roche Center, the foundation will provide all of the developed tools and resources needed for board training. Future programs will be based on the foundation's vision for school board guidance.

Melodie Wyttenbach

Melodie Wyttenbach

“Effective governance leads to stronger, sustainable Catholic schools,” said Melodie Wyttenbach, executive director of the Roche Center for Catholic Education. “Given the depth of work our Roche Center team has done to strengthen leaders, this generous gift from the Healey Education Foundation expands our ability to further advance our shared vision of transforming Catholic schools. With great enthusiasm, we will be able to continue making a difference on the ground, rapidly in keeping with the Healey tradition of ‘walking with’ those addressing the challenges facing our Catholic schools at the local level.”

The two organizations have developed a transition plan to enable the transfer of the knowledge assets for a full buildout of the online learning system, and an extensive resource library for schools and boards. This includes the foundation-supported hiring of two full-time Roche Center staff members to implement the program, who will work directly with school leaders, board members, and diocesan superintendents. The Roche Center plans to launch a pilot for an initial cohort of Catholic school and board leaders in fall 2023.

Through this program, according to the Healey Education Foundation, school leaders and board members will be better positioned to affirm and advance the Catholic school’s mission; deliver on its unique value proposition; ensure financial sustainability, sound business practices, transparency, and accountability; broaden the school’s base of support through development and increased engagement; and drive toward strategic planning and succession planning.

The Healeys established the foundation in 2004 to bring sound business principles to the challenges of revitalizing Catholic schools. Since then, the foundation’s board-building process has grown in reach and measurable results at more than 200 schools and 10 dioceses across the U.S. The Healey team has helped launch 112 boards, has conducted 135 market assessments, and has established 114 school advancement offices.

“I am so grateful for our team, our school alumni colleagues, and our philanthropic partners who have shared this beautiful journey as we’ve together helped realize my dad’s vision,” said Healey of her late father, Robert T. Healey, Sr. “Of course, he loved Catholic schools. He also advocated for both urgency and legacy in this work and talked often about building structures if you want anything to last. Our collaboration with Boston College is just that—an essential framework to continuously evolve board building into the future, beyond our lifetimes.”

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