Rev. John E. Hurley, C.S.P. is the Executive Director. A native New Yorker, Father Hurley came to the NPLC in 2007. He was ordained a Paulist priest in 1977 after graduating from Catholic University with a B.A. in Religious Education and a Master of Divinity degree from the Washington Theological Union. In 1983, he received his Doctor of Ministry from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. He served as the founding director of the Paulist Center for Catholic Evangelization in Portland, Oregon; Paulist Director of Development and Pastor of Old St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco. In 1997, he was appointed to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, DC where he served as Executive Director of the Secretariat for Evangelization. After eight years at the USCCB, he coordinated strategic planning for the Paulist Community and later became founding director of the Paulist North American Office for Reconciliation. Father Hurley is also a member of the Paulist Fathers General Council and speaks frequently at diocesan and national conferences.

Carl Barnes is Director of Development. A native of Maryland, Carl came to the NPLC in May 2008. In coming to the NPLC, Carl left the corporate sector to work for the church. He has over fifteen years experience in the sales, marketing and promotion of consumer products and services. He is a proven builder of innovative marketing, market acquisition and retention/loyalty programs for the credit card, food and wine, arts, entertainment, and charitable organizations. Prior to coming to the NPLC, Carl worked for a marketing agency that specializes in providing market analysis and creative solutions that build and brand loyalty, customer satisfaction, retention and reuse for a variety of consumer products for major corporations.

Peter Denio is Director for Common Ground and Pastoral Services. A native of New Jersey, Peter was on the staff at the Church of the Presentation in Upper Saddle River, NJ for eight years. Prior to coming to the NPLC, he served at Presentation as Director of Worship and previously had been Director of Youth Ministry. He received a Masters in Pastoral Ministry from Boston College and a Masters in Public Administration from Seton Hall University. In 2006, Peter served an intern year at the NPLC working on the Catholic Common Ground Initiative and the Bernardin Conference. In late 2007, he served as a consultant to the Initiative and in January, 2008 became Director for the Catholic Common Ground Initiative and Pastoral Services.

Liz O'Connor has been editor of CHURCH magazine and director of NPLC publications since 2006. A native New Yorker, she worked for 33 years for her diocesan newspaper, The Long Island Catholic, as, successively, reporter, news editor, assistant editor, and finally, for 13 years, associate publisher and editor. During those years she was able to feed her interest in theology through interviews, lectures and seminars with a broad range of religious figures—clerical and lay, academic and pastoral, Catholic and non-Catholic. In the 1970s and 1980s she also wrote as a free-lancer for such magazines as Sign, U.S. Catholic, and St. Anthony Messenger. Beginning shortly before her appointment as diocesan editor and continuing through the years that followed, she wrote a regular column, "A Different Key," which will soon begin appearing as a blog on the NPLC Web site. A graduate of the Marquette University College of Journalism, she is also a member of the Catholic Press Association.

Mary Good has been Production Manager for CHURCH magazine since 1989. A native of Brooklyn, Mary oversees all the minute details of producing an award winning magazine which she has worked with almost from its inception. She is grateful for the technology that has come a long way from the beginning days of the magazine in assisting her in putting together the magazine. Mary also assists in creating marketing materials for other project areas. Prior to coming to the NPLC, Mary was on the team of the Young Christian Workers and on the staff of Bread for the World and Catholic Relief Services.

Richard L. Maldonado is a native of the Lower East Side of Manhattan. He began working on at the National Pastoral Life Center on a part-time basis in the shipping area while attending school, and joined the staff full-time in 2006. Richard works in the areas of Accounting and Office Management. His current duties include accounts receivable, invoicing, deposits, customer service, inventory, and office equipment. As the youngest staff member, he looks forward to many years working with the NPLC team.

Aida L. Rodriguez is Administrative Assistant to the Roundtable, Conference for Parish Planning, Catholic Common Ground Initiative and Development. A native of Puerto Rico, she received her B.A. in business administration from Lehman College, NY in 2000. Prior to coming to the NPLC, Aida worked at Knight Ridder Financial Information as a facilities manager for 36 years until 9/11. In her spare time, she is a catechist and leads the Spanish choir and prayer group in her parish.

Joëlle Viard-Jackson is Administrative assistant to the Executive Director and assists in coordinating the pastoral conferences. A native of Haiti, Joëlle came to the NPLC in 2002. She is currently a member of the advisory committee for the National Center of the Haitian Apostolate directed by Bishop Guy A. Sansaricq of the Diocese of Brooklyn. Affiliated with the Office of the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees of the U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference (USCCB), its mission is to serve the spiritual needs of a growing Haitian American Catholic community and ensure their smooth and gradual integration into the American Church. Before 9/11, she worked in various sales positions and as a stock broker’s assistant in the Wall Street area.