Patrick Brennan, MBA

Patrick Brennan is named as Diocese’s new Chief Finance Officer
 
CLIFTON — Bishop Serratelli announced the appointment Jan. 20 of Patrick Brennan of Glen Rock as the Diocese of Paterson’s new Chief Finance Officer (CFO).

“I am happy to welcome Patrick as our new Chief Finance Officer. The heart of our diocese is evangelization. We cannot spread the message of Jesus without the wise administration of our temporal resources. I know that Patrick will help us continue to invest wisely, manage prudently, and focus best practices in every area of our diocese’s financial life,” the bishop said. “Patrick’s reputation as a collaborative leader should be an asset to our entire diocese.”

According to the bishop, at their last meeting members of the Diocesan Finance Council “spoke with great approval on the positive strides that have been made in the financial management and practices of the diocese. Challenges, which might have seemed insurmountable in the past, have now been turned around. With Patrick, I know that we will continue to make great progress. Our forward direction is a tribute to the work of our diocesan staff, pastors, administrators, agencies, and offices.”

Brennan brings to the diocesan post extensive management and leadership experience and best practices knowledge in non-profit administration, finance, accounting, planning and budgeting, communications and reporting, advancement, operations, facility management, and information technology.

“Being named the CFO of the Paterson Diocese,” Brennan said, “is a capstone of my life-long vocation to serve the Church and its people. It’s a terrific and unique opportunity to contribute my financial and management experience to help build up and sustain the Kingdom of God in the Paterson Diocese now and for future generations.”

He comes to the diocese from KIPP NYC, a non-profit network of free, public charter schools that prepare students for success in college and life. It is comprised of five middle schools, five elementary schools, one high school, and KIPP Through College, a comprehensive support program for alumni. KIPP NYC currently serves more than 5,400 students and alumni; 88 percent are from low-income families in the South Bronx, Harlem and Crown Heights and 97 percent are African American or Latino. KIPP also employs more than 600 professionals, and has a combined operating budget of more than $80 million. In the non-profit field, he has also worked for the Newark public school system, and the international Jewish humanitarian fund, which manages compensation for victims of the Holocaust.

Brennan, who earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from New York University and his MBA in general management from the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H., spent several years working with PricewaterhouseCoopers in its CFO practice. He has also worked for Mellon Asset Management as Chief Financial and Administrative Officer and for Morgan Stanley as Chief Administrative Officer.

His wife of 27 years, Ann Marie (O’Malley) Brennan, whom he met at the Newman Catholic Center at NYU when they were students, is a mathematics teacher at St. Joseph Regional High School in Montvale. They are active at their parish, St. Catharine’s in Glen Rock, and its inter-parochial grammar school, Academy of Our Lady. Brennan has served as chair of the parish’s technology committee; as co-chair of Renew; as a member and chair of its buildings and grounds committee, and as vice president of the school advisory board. They have four children, three boys and a girl, ranging in age from 26 to 17.

In addition to their work at the parish, both he and his wife have been active leaders with Christian Life Community (CLC) in the New York area and nationally since they were engaged. CLC is a worldwide Ignatian lay association, formerly known as the Sodalities of Mary, whose members pray, discern and act to live out gospel values in their daily lives. He has served as national secretary of CLC-USA and he has led strategic planning and new community formation and worked with CLC Kenya to help fund education for Kibera AIDs orphans.

According to Msgr. James Mahoney, vicar general and moderator of the Curia, the diocesan search committee for a new Chief Finance Officer was able to select 10 candidates to interview from a pool of 105 applicants.

“The search committee, composed of persons representing various segments of diocesan life and boards, became quite comfortable with the fact that a number of the final candidates could have done the job,” said Msgr. Mahoney. “This made the ultimate decision very difficult in terms of choosing, but very comforting in terms of knowing that great people were available.” He said the committee focused on four areas: breadth and depth of financial experience and administration; technical competency; emotional intelligence with a clear record of collaboration and team building; professional employment with non-profit organizations and volunteer work with non-profit organizations.

Msgr. Mahoney said, “Patrick should be an outstanding Chief Finance Officer for the diocese. His background includes a very unique mix of job experiences: Chief Operating Officer for non-profit charter schools serving the poor; CFO and COO for major financial firms; global administrator for a major consulting firm’s CFO consulting practice. “
The bishop added “I am very grateful to Jolanta Londene, our Diocesan Controller, who has assumed the responsibilities of Acting Chief Finance Officer until Patrick actually begins his responsibilities on March 15.”