As the Chairs of NETWORK’s Boards of Directors, we are pleased to introduce you to the next Executive Director of NETWORK, Mary Novak. After months of interviews and discernment, the Boards unanimously, and confidently, chose Mary to lead NETWORK into the future.

Mary’s experience as a lawyer, educator, chaplain, and activist, and her passion for justice uniquely position her to build on the historic work of Sister Simone and the entire NETWORK community as we continue to grow. With Mary’s pastoral experience and emphasis on restorative justice, NETWORK will continue to address the pressing issues of polarization, systemic racism, and economic inequality in our country. Read more about Mary.

Mary has worked among Catholic Sisters and Jesuits for decades, most recently serving the community of Georgetown University Law Center and she was also the founding Board Chair of Catholic Mobilizing Network. Mary is well versed in the dynamics of U.S. women religious having served the Leadership Conference of Women Religious as they navigated the Doctrinal Assessment with the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and she is also a Lay Associate of the Congregation of St. Joseph.

We are excited by Mary’s vision for the future and commitment to advancing justice. In her own words, Mary says, “I believe that Catholic social teaching can be a unifying and universal source of inspiration for the moral imagination we need to promote justice, healing, and the common good.”

In this time of challenges, but also new possibilities, we are so glad to have Mary join our work to build anew. Mary will begin serving as NETWORK’s Executive Director on April 1, 2021.

Please help us welcome Mary to NETWORK! You’re invited to share your thoughts with us on Facebook, and be sure to follow Mary on Twitter.

Read NETWORK’s press release.