CHICAGO
SENT VENTURES
R E G I O N A L C O N F E R E N C E
Catholic founders and C-Level Execs
W H O
Thursday, Nov 2nd
All day
W H E N
St. Alphonsus Church: for Adoration, Mass, Confession
W H E R E
Dignity, Solidarity, and Equality
Building High Impact Companies Founded on Catholic Social Teaching
Join us for the opportunity to connect with Catholic Founders, entrepreneurs, and forward-thinking innovators who are shaping the Catholic world. Engage in thought-provoking discussions on ethical business leadership rooted in Catholic Social Teaching. Discover how the Catholic faith can help you integrate a culture of compassion and service, and ultimately drive sustainable success.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
Catholic CEOs, founders, investors, mission leaders, and other growth-minded business leaders
If you feel too Catholic for your business friends, and too driven for your Catholic friends
Want to take your business and spirit to new heights
WHAT WILL I GET OUT OF IT
Meet and interact with the leading Catholic founders and investors in the US
Get strategy guidance for your business from other top CEOs
Refuel and be inspired for the next stage of your business and spiritual life
TESTIMONIALS
“The Summit was one of the best conferences I’ve ever been to. I got a number of new friends, people who will likely be lifelong friends. I also received new coaching clients who share my faith and values.”
Mike Del Ponte
Founder & CEO, MDP Consulting
“John appeared providentially one day and invited me to consider joining a community. My first inclination was that I was “too busy” but soon realized that was exactly why I needed it—to have a community with like-minded professionals striving for like-minded goals.”
Eric Dooley
Executive Director, Catholify
Jimmy Coleman
Founder, LeadBaller
Bryan Murdaugh
Founder & Owner, Fivable
Sponsors
Promotional Partners
Speakers
Jim Perry
Co-Founder and Managing Director of Madison Dearborn Partners
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Jim Perry is a co-founder at Madison Dearborn Partners (MDP), a private equity firm that has raised $28 billion and completed investments in more than 150 companies. At MDP, Jim oversaw the firm’s investments in the telecommunications, media and technology services industries. In 2020, after a 36 year career with MDP, Jim moved to a senior advisor role with the firm.
Jim and his wife, Molly, focus their philanthropic effort on supporting Catholic education, entrepreneurial approaches to assisting the poor and vulnerable, and promoting Catholic culture, evangelization and the Catholic intellectual tradition in the public square.
Jim was a founding funder of Bishop Robert Barron’s Catholicism documentary series, and sits on the board of Word On Fire. Jim served as one of the first lay board members of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and also serves on the boards of the Institute on Religion and Public Life, which publishes First Things magazine, and the Lumen Christi Institute, affiliated with the University of Chicago. He also made early impact investments in Hallow, Numinar, Exodus, and Tilma.
Jim currently is a member of the boards of directors of Asurion Corporation, the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunity at the University of Notre Dame, and Seton Education Partners. He serves on the Finance Council of the Archdiocese of Chicago and the executive board of directors of Catholic Charities Chicago. He is the Chairman of the Board of Empower Illinois, a school choice advocacy group and scholarship granting organization.
Matthew Petrusek
Senior Director of the Word on Fire Institute and Professor of Catholic Ethics.
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Matthew R. Petrusek, PhD is the Senior Director of the Word on Fire Institute, as well as Professor of Catholic Ethics. He has authored/edited several books, including Evangelization and Ideology: How to Understand and Respond to the Political Culture (forthcoming); Jordan Peterson, God, and Christianity, The Search for a Meaningful Life; Ethics and Advocacy: Bridges and Boundaries; and Value and Vulnerability: An Interfaith Dialogue on Human Dignity. Petrusek lectures broadly in both English and Spanish on moral philosophy/theology, politics, social issues, and the Catholic intellectual tradition.
Neal McNamara
Co-Founder and CEO of Virtas Partners
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Neal McNamara is the is the co-founder and CEO of Virtas Partners, a boutique consulting firm providing CFO advisory and M&A advisory services.
Prior to co-founding Virtas, Neal led KPMG’s Accounting Advisory Services business, and over 20 years personally served clients including ABB, Abbott, BP, Caesars, Credit Suisse, Delphi, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, Swiss Air Group and United Technologies.
Neal is currently on the board of Relevant Radio.
Sally Blount
CEO of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago
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Sally Blount is the CEO of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago.
She is also the Michael L. Nemmers Professor of Strategy at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, where she is also a proud alumna and former dean.
An internationally recognized thought leader in management and business education, Blount is a highly rated professor and sought-after speaker on leadership development, board governance and organizational transformation.
A prolific writer, she is internationally recognized as a thought leader in management and negotiation. Her academic research and unique, risk-taking perspective on business have been featured in prestigious academic journals and leading business media.
From 2010-2018, Blount served as dean at the Kellogg School of Management. Prior to that, from 2004-2010, she served as dean of the New York University’s undergraduate College of Business and vice dean of the Stern School of Business.
Blount sits on the board of Abbott Laboratories, Joyce Foundation. Blount holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Organizational Behavior from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University and a
B.S. in Engineering Systems and Economic Policy from Princeton University.
Alessandro DiSanto
Co-Founder at Hallow
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Alessandro is one of the Co-Founders at Hallow, a Catholic prayer and meditation app. Raised in a large Italian-American family, Alessandro is a proud product of Catholic education from kindergarten through college, ultimately graduating summa cum laude from the University of Notre Dame with degrees in finance and economics. Alessandro began his career on Wall St, at Goldman Sachs in New York City before becoming a private equity investor in Chicago. After a series of life-changing experiences in prayer, Alessandro left his career in finance to join his friends in building Hallow. Along with the other co-founders of Hallow, Alessandro was recognized as a member of the Forbes 30 Under 30 class of 2021. He lives in Chicago with his wife, Sam.
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.
Mass Celebrant and Homilist
Rev. Francis Joseph Hoffman, JCD (Fr. Rocky)
Chairman and CEO of Relevant Radio® Board Director, Relevant Radio, Inc.
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Rev. Francis J. Hoffman (Fr. Rocky) has been serving as CEO of Relevant Radio® since 2010 and Chairman since 2021. Relevant Radio broadcasts on over 206 AM & FM stations reaching 41 states and a potential 270,000,000 persons. Four million persons listen to Relevant Radio. The Relevant Radio app is the number one FREE Catholic radio app, with over 1 million downloads in all 50 states and 192 countries around the world. The monthly Relevant Radio audience through social media platforms is 4.6 million unique persons with 30 million impressions.
Ordained as a priest for Opus Dei in 1992, Fr. Hoffman is a noted author and speaker and has appeared on the major radio and television networks. He is the author of six books, including “Mary at the Crossroads of History”, “The Memorare Moment”, “Marriage Insurance”, and “Treasures of the Rosary”, with hundreds of thousands of copies in circulation. His “Lenten Lessons on the Mass” and “Catholic 101” videos have been viewed millions of times. Fr Hoffman is the host of the “Family Rosary Across America” which gathers tens of thousands of the faithful each evening to pray the rosary. It is known as the “Happiest Half Hour of the Day.” He has a BA in History from Northwestern University, an MBA from the University of Notre Dame, and a doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross.
Prior to his assignment at Relevant Radio, Fr. Hoffman was chaplain of Northridge Prep School in Chicago, and served in the rural highlands of Michoacan, Mexico for fifteen summers. Before the priesthood,
Fr. Hoffman worked in Sales for Inland Steel Company, and later in tax and audit for Crowe, Chizek and Company, CPAs.
Schedule
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8:30 AM Check In
8:30 AM Holy Collisions & Networking w/coffee & light bites
9:20 AM Opening Remarks/ Intro from John
St. Alphonsus Church (Across street from Athenaeum)
9:45 AM Confession, Adoration
10:15 AM Mass
11:30 AM Session 1 - Panel: Dignity, Equity, and Solidarity, a Catholic Alternative- featuring Matt Petrusek
12:40 PM Lunch
1:30 PM Small Groups Strategy Session
2:30 PM Break
3:15 PM Session 2 - Jim Perry- Guidance on Entrepreneurship and Catholic Social Teaching
4:15 PM Closing Remarks
4:30 PM Wine, Beer, Cheese Reception/ Expo
5:45 PM Dinner
Event Space
The Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood was established by the Redemptorist Fathers of St. Alphonsus as a space for intellectual, physical, and social engagement among parishioners. Since opening in 1911, it has remained a cherished venue for beauty, community, and the arts. It holds the distinction of being Chicago's oldest continuously operating Off-Loop theater.
Register
Members, check your email for the discount code or email hello@sentventures.com
Non-Member
$299
Member
$150
Ticket sales have closed. If you would like to be added to the waitlist, please contact hello@sentventures.com
Interested in sponsoring?
If you are interested in sponsoring the Chicago Regional, please email please email Ana Baltazar at ana@sentventures.com
F A Q
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Registrants may receive a 100% refund if requested by September 29th. After this date, no refunds will be issued. To request a refund, please email hello@sentventures.com before September 29th with subject line “Chicago Regional Refund Request.”
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Dress code is business casual. All events will be indoors.
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Breakfast: Coffee, fruit, and light breakfast fair
Lunch: Boxed lunches
Reception: Drinks from 4-6pm.
Dinner: Included in ticket price -
Join SENT Ventures - We are actively taking new members and would be happy to share the details of our different program options.
Join Our Roster of SENT Mentors - Want to mentor emerging entrepreneurs and business leaders? Join our Mentor Roster
Join Our Talent Pool - Send us your resume if you’d like to work or intern
Email us at Hello@sentventures.com
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Yes, free parking is located in the lot behind the building on Oakdale and in the lot south of the building on Southport.
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The venue is located about a 13 minute walk from the Wellington Brown Line Station, 7 minutes from the Belmont & Southport 77 bus stop, and a 7 minute walk from the Ashland & Wellington 9 bus stop. For more CTA information please visit www.transitchicago.com.
