Catholic Business Network of Montgomery County honors leaders for support of Catholic schools
At a recent gala celebrating business and community support for Catholic schools, Kelly Branaman – the Secretary for Catholic Schools and Superintendent of Schools for The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington – shared what she tells new Catholic school principals and teachers at orientation each year.
“Being a part of a faith community will enrich your life significantly. Be ready for it and open to it,” she said.
Speaking at the 31st annual Catholic Business Network of Montgomery County Gala held on Nov. 22, 2024 at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center, where Branaman received the group’s Community Leader of the Year Award, she described how that message unfolded in her own life.
“I grew up on a dairy farm in Indiana, and I converted to the Catholic faith at the age of 21,” Branaman said. She added, “Never in my life, in my first reaching position at St. Ambrose in (Seymour), Indiana, with 12 fifth grade students in a Catholic school, did I ever imagine that I would be superintendent of (Catholic) schools in the nation’s capital.”