Josephine Bailey is an active community volunteer and currently serves on the boards of the Hill Museum and Monastic Library of St. John’s University, Como Friends, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the HE Foundation. She holds an Associate degree from the St. Cloud Hospital School of Nursing. She and her husband Gordon Bailey, co-owner of Bailey Nurseries in Newport, are members of St. Thomas Aquinas parish in St. Paul Park.

Paul R. Knapp, Sr. is president and CEO of Space Center Ventures, a venture capital fund focused on emerging Twin Cities companies. He currently serves on the boards of Venture Bank and Town & Country Club, and is active in the Guthrie Business Council. Knapp is a graduate of the University of St. Thomas and William Mitchell College of Law, and lives in St. Paul with his wife Alison and their three sons. They are members of Nativity of Our Lord parish in St. Paul.

Now retired, Edward J. Kocourek served as Executive Vice President and CFO of The Egan Companies, a specialty contracting company. He currently serves on the board of Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis. He and his wife Julianne are members of St. John the Evangelist parish in Hopkins.

Reverend Peter Laird, ex officio, is Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, a role to which Archbishop John C. Nienstedt appointed him in November 2009. Prior to his current appointment in the Archdiocese, Rev. Laird served as Vice Rector and Director of Seminarians at the Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity.

Jessie R. Nicholson is CEO of St. Paul-based Southern Minnesota Legal Services, Inc., a nonprofit offering free legal assistance for low-income people. Nicholson earned her degree from William Mitchell College of Law in 1985, and has a variety of professional and volunteer affiliations including the Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers, Minnesota State Bar Association, and the National Legal Aid and Defender Association. She serves as a concilitator for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, and on the Board of Trustees at St. Thomas Academy. She is a member of the Cathedral of St. Paul.

Mary E. Schaffner is Senior Company Counsel and Assistant Secretary for Wells Fargo in Minneapolis. A graduate of the University of Michigan and Notre Dame Law School, Schaffner has spent her 29-year career in law specializing in securities, finance and corporate law, and served as primary counsel for the Wells Fargo Foundation. She serves as lay trustee and Treasurer for the Cathedral of St. Paul, where she and her husband, Robert L. Lee, are members. Schaffner also is active with the Cathedral Heritage Foundation, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and Alliance Françoise de Minneapolis – St. Paul.

Dr. Michael F. Sullivan is Chief Investment Officer and an Associate Professor of Finance at the University of St. Thomas. Prior to being elected to the board, Dr. Sullivan served on the Catholic Community Foundation’s Investment Committee, a position he will continue to hold. Dr. Sullivan is past president of the Minnesota Association of School Business Officials, and is currently on the Archdiocesan Investment Board and the Board of St. Thomas Academy. He earned his B.A. from St. John’s University and a Ph.D. in Education Administration, with a concentration in Finance, from the University of Minnesota. He and his wife Lori live in White Bear Lake, and are members of the University of St. Thomas chapel.

ABOUT THE CATHOLIC COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

The Catholic Community Foundation (www.ccf-mn.org) was established in 1992 to support financially the spiritual, educational and social needs of the Catholic community in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The Foundation currently manages assets in excess of $154 million and has distributed more than $67 million in grants to the community since inception.

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