INFINITE IMPACT
Igniting a Spirit-Led Entrepreneurial Movement
American entrepreneurship drives culture globally with a scalable impact. Imagine if that impact were defined by entrepreneurs building with a Catholic lens. Meet our team at SENT who are dedicated to supporting your need for talent, capital, and strategy while also guiding your faith journey.
In the Press
Our values at SENT
We embrace dependence
Our joy comes from loving and being loved, so we build cultures where everyone is valued and known, living in loving dependence on God and each other.
We strive for excellence
We embrace challenges and pursue excellence, believing that co-creating with God requires living in the tension between speed and perfection.
We live integrated lives
We break down barriers between business and faith, letting our faith inform our actions and prioritizing family, community, and personal wellness.
We tell the truth
We value honesty and healthy conflict, seeking honest feedback, addressing problems at their root, and speaking the truth with love.
We put God first
We prioritize God, trusting in His providence and seeking Him in prayer, knowing our true strength comes from Christ.
About the FOUNDER
Before his profound conversion, John earned degrees from The University of Notre Dame, Oxford University, and Harvard Business School, excelling in investment banking, consulting, and as a Policy Advisor to the Governor of Alabama. A spiritual awakening led him to join a Carmelite monastery, where he immersed himself in prayer, teaching, ministry, and pursued advanced degrees in Philosophy and Theology. Inspired by his renewed faith, John founded SENT—a network for Spirit-led founders dedicated to fostering transformational change.
Want to learn more about John’s story?
Meet the team
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Before founding SENT, John got degrees in Finance, Political Science, and Business from Notre Dame, Oxford, and Harvard. He was an investment banker, boutique management consultant, and Policy Advisor to the Governor of Alabama.
He then became a Carmelite Brother for 7 years where he pursued advanced degrees in Philosophy and Theology, delving into the study of founder Saints.
He eventually discerned out to found SENT and help Catholic founders and execs take their ventures and lives to the next level.
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JCK is a faith-driven entrepreneur who is passionate about ecumenism, moonshot entrepreneurial ideas, and bridging the gap between faith and work.
Prior to joining SENT, JCK studied Philosophy, Theology, and History at Covenant College and Oxford University, founded multiple ventures, was a start-up operations consultant, and led operations for SURV, a growth-stage company based in RI. He is a pianist, composer, poet, outdoorsman, want-to-be chef, and an endurance athlete.
You will find JCK and his lovely wife, Josefa, sipping espresso, singing hymns, and savoring homemade pizza at their home in Greenville, SC.
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Ana is an accomplished international business professional, graduating summa cum laude from one of the top universities in Mexico and Latin America. With a background in logistics, market research, and entrepreneurship, she has cultivated her skills through academic journeys across Asia, Europe, and North America.
Passionate about integrating faith and business, she now works at SENT, where she helps Catholic business leaders pursue their ventures and virtues, striving to foster integrity and excellence in the business world.
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Nick is a faith-filled entrepreneur with a passion for building community.
He leads Red Door Escape Room as CEO with a focus on delivering refreshingly human connections to guests across the country. With his guidance, Red Door has grown to 16 locations, served well over 1,000,000 guests and earned over 30,000 5-star reviews.
While he loves building businesses, Nick’s top priorities are his faith and his family. He lives in San Diego with his wife and children and loves gamifying life, telling stories and learning jujitsu.
HEAD OF CONTENT
CEO, Red Door Escape Room: scaled from 1-16 sites
2-year SENT member
Harvard University
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Ruben de Noronha is Head of Community Success at SENT Ventures, distinguished by a diverse background that spans analytics, digital strategy, and entrepreneurship. By age 23, his insights on entrepreneurial subjects had already graced TEDx stages and informed strategic advice to the UK Prime Minister's team and the Mayor of London. His career includes impactful roles at Bain & Company, Virgin Media O2 and Bloomberg LP. Ruben is dedicated to cultivating a thriving community at SENT Ventures, steering our mission forward.
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Matthew manages SENT’s systems and data-analysis. He graduated with a dual major in Finance and Entrepreneurship from the University of Dayton, where he led multiple organizations and started a Rosary bracelet business. Following his undergraduate, he gained valuable experience in the energy industry. Matthew currently lives in Columbus, Ohio with his wife, Kelly, where they have cherished getting involved with the vibrant local Catholic community.
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Jan started his career as an ER Trauma nurse at a hospital in rural Ohio while serving as an Operations and Human Resources Technical Sergeant in the Air National Guard.
After experiencing a call to entrepreneurship in 2019, Jan left the hospital and founded a marketing agency. Since then, he has empowered his staff to serve clients nationally while drastically reducing his time at the agency, assisted in guiding startups from ideation through acquisition, and developed a passion for consulting with founders focused on building community.
Today, Jan is passionately dedicated to assisting Catholic business owners and executives through the process of discerning their place within the SENT network. He wholeheartedly believes that SENT will change the world, and feels privileged to have a small part in that process.
FELLOWSHIP GROWTH
Entrepreneur and Investor
4th Degree Knight of Columbus
Amateur Boxing Belt Holder
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Aline Vargas has always been passionate about innovation and creative recombination. At MIT, she designed her own interdisciplinary concentration, blending Chemical and Biological Engineering within the Mechanical Engineering department. Throughout her time at MIT, Aline immersed herself in startups and innovation challenges, preparing herself for a future in entrepreneurship. Aline is driven by a love for bringing communities together to break down barriers and solve problems. Her career includes diverse roles at Procter & Gamble, serving as an innovation catalyst at the OSV Institute for Catholic Innovation, and being on the parish council at St. Leonard of Port Maurice in Boston.
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A finalist of Mexico's National Design Award 2023, Diana has collaborated with top brands as a freelancer. Specializing in captivating designs that elevate businesses, she ensures seamless alignment with client goals for success.
ADVISORY BOARD
Andreas Widmer
Director of the Arthur & Carlyse Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship, CUA
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Andreas E. Widmer is an Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship and the director of the Art & Carlyse Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship at The Catholic University of America’s Busch School of Business. Previously he co-founded The SEVEN Fund, a philanthropic organization promoting enterprise solutions to poverty. Widmer is a seasoned business executive with experience in high-tech, international business strategy, consulting and economic development. He served as CEO of the business strategy firm OTF Group (formerly part of the Monitor Group) and helped lead web content management pioneer Eprise Corporation, speech recognition pioneer Dragon Systems, and internet pioneer FTP Software. He has worked extensively in the United States, Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America, has brought more than 100 leading-edge technology products to market, and was an executive in residence at Highland Capital Partners.
Andreas is the author of The Pope & The CEO: Pope Saint John Paul II’s Lessons to a Young Swiss Guard, a book exploring leadership lessons that Widmer learned serving as a Swiss Guard protecting Pope John Paul II and refined during his career as a successful business executive. Widmer served as a Pontifical Swiss Guard from 1986-1988, protecting Pope John Paul II. He holds two business degrees from Switzerland, plus a B.S. in International Business from Merrimack College and an M.A. in Ministry from St. John’s Seminary in Boston.
Dcn. Charlie Echeverry
Founder Black//Brown Collective
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Deacon Charlie is founder & CEO of Black//Brown, a strategic advisory & impact studio. Prior to launching his own firm, he held senior executive roles at media companies ranging from digital start-ups like mitú, to global blue-chip brands like The Walt Disney Company, Univision & AOL.
He is Vice Chair Emeritus of Catholic Answers, and sits on the boards of the Catholic Association for Latino Leadership; Guadalupe Radio; Sent Ventures and is Chairman of SOFESA, a non-profit founded by his wife, that accompanies homeless children and their families.
Deacon Charlie has degrees in Communications and Film & Television production. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Jessica of 22 years and is the father of 5. He’s fond of motorcycles, British comedy, polymaths, functional fitness, 80s synth pop and discovering cultures through travel.
Karl Wirth
Founder of Evergage (acquired by Salesforce)
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Karl Wirth is a business leader and entrepreneur. He co-founded Evergage in 2010 and, as CEO, led the company from startup to the leading personalization platform on the market to successful acquisition. He is now leading and scaling the business for Salesforce, which acquired his company. Prior to Evergage, Karl had a variety of leadership roles in general management, product management, and marketing for Red Hat (now IBM), RSA Security (now EMC), and Sentillion (now Microsoft).
Steve Milligan
Former CEO of Western Digital
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Stephen Milligan has more than 30 years of executive operational and financial leadership experience. He was CEO and a Board Member of Western Digital Corporation from 2013 until March 2020. As CEO of Western Digital Corporation, he led a workforce of approximately 70,000 employees and was responsible for maximizing the company’s investments, while delivering long-term value to customers and sustained growth for the company.
David Mann
Managing Partner and co-Founder, Firefly Group
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David Mann’s career has spanned a number of leadership, operational, and investing roles. Currently, David serves as the Managing Partner and co-Founder of The Firefly Group, a holding company focused on investing in lower-middle market businesses. He currently serves as the board chair of Dealers Wholesale, EOS Worldwide, and Sales Xceleration. In addition, David co-founded Spring Mill Venture Partners, a venture capital firm, in 2002. David is an adjunct faculty member at Indiana University, Kelley School of Business (Indianapolis). Previously, David worked with ServiceMaster Ventures and served as a founding member of the ServiceMaster Home Service Center, a joint venture between Kleiner Perkins and ServiceMaster. Earlier, he served as a summer associate with Invesco.
David began his career as an officer in the U.S. Navy, serving as a White House Liaison on the staff of the Secretary of the Navy, holding leadership positions on board a nuclear guided-missile cruiser, and working in information systems. David received his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and B.S. from the U.S. Naval Academy. He serves on a number of corporate and non-profit boards.
David Mount
Partner, G2VP
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A seasoned investor at the forefront of the Internet of Things, energy and industrials markets, David Mount has spent his career advancing the ‘Industrial Awakening’ by supporting companies at the intersection of connectivity, advanced processing and traditional industry.
Over the last decade, David led a number of successful investments as a Partner at Kleiner Perkins’ $1B Green Growth Fund, and, more recently, founded and incubated Element Analytics, a high-growth industrial software company. David has invested in OSIsoft (shares sold to SoftBank), ServiceMax (acquired by GE), Opower (acquired by Oracle), SilverSpring Networks (SSNI), UpWind Solutions (acquired by Vestas) and Choose Energy (acquired by Red Ventures).
Prior to Kleiner Perkins, David developed his principal investing expertise at Bain Capital Credit, a $20B structured finance unit of Bain Capital. There, David helped manage a traditional energy portfolio, which included exploration, production, refining, field services and specialty chemicals. His involvement in the firm’s consumer portfolio included investments in multinationals within the food, health and sustainable business sectors.
David holds a B.A. degree from Yale University, an M.S. in environment and resources and an M.B.A. from Stanford University, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar. He remains involved at Stanford as a guest lecturer and as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board at the Stanford School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences.
Valerie Pletcher
Senior Director of Philanthropy for the Fellowship of Catholic University Students
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Valerie Mullen Pletcher is a nonprofit innovation specialist with over two decades of professional fundraising and management experience. Her knowledge of systems thinking, ethics and standards of excellence have enabled her to raise over millions of dollars to help organizations thrive. Valerie currently serves as the Senior Director of Philanthropy for the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), advancing major financial support in the Mid-Atlantic region and developing an overseas philanthropy program. Valerie holds a B.A. in speech communications from West Chester University, and multiple certificates in grant writing, annual fund development, leadership management, and sponsorships. She is a licensed consultant for the Nonprofit Standards for Excellence Institute™ and a graduate with distinction of the International Advanced Fundraising Diploma (IADF) of the U.K. Institute of Fundraising (IoF) in collaboration with Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). Her experience and training have made her a frequent guest speaker and educator at fundraising conferences and workshops. Valerie served multiple terms as chair of the AFP Youth in Philanthropy program and was selected to present the youth philanthropy model at the 2017 Japan Association of Fundraising Conference in Tokyo. Valerie is a member of the John Carroll Society and the AFP Washington D.C. chapter. She lives in Northern Virginia with her family where she is a member of Saint Mary of Sorrow’s Parish and teaches 6th grade CCD.
SPIRITUAL ADVISOR
Fr. Corwin Low, OP
Evangelist and Business Director at Dominican Friars
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Fr. Corwin Low, O.P. was born and raised in the greater Seattle area. He studied electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Washington and worked in software development, computer network infrastructure design, and computer network security. He is also a successful author of several technology books.
The beauty of the Catholic Church attracted him, especially the richness of sacred music, art, architecture, and most importantly liturgical worship. While on a work sabbatical in Rome, he met the Dominicans. In 2001 he converted to the Catholic Faith and in 2006 he joined the Dominican Order to be ordained in 2014.
In 2022 Fr. Corwin’s superiors offered him the opportunity to return to business to evangelize, particularly to Big Tech. He continues this mission in Silicon Valley, the very heart of Big Tech.
Bryan Grane
Founder of East Orchard Capital (EOC)
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Bryan F. Grane is the Founder of East Orchard Capital (EOC) and previously served as Owner, Chairman, and CEO of CST, leading it to become a top intermodal logistics company before its sale to Forward Air Corporation (FWRD) at a record valuation. In 2017, he became Executive Vice President of Development and Acquisitions for Forward Air. Before CST, Bryan was an investment banker at William Blair & Company. He has led or advised over 25 M&A transactions across various industries. Bryan is also a minority investor and Co-Owner of the Nashville Predators Hockey Team, Founder and Director of the St. Rita Mercy Foundation, a Board Member at Leadership Roundtable, and a YPO member. He holds a BBA in Finance and Business Economics from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from Kellogg School, Northwestern University.
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