Our Staff

Jason Simon is the President of The Evangelical Catholic (EC). After working briefly in engineering, he began working in the Church as a parish Director of Religious Education and Youth Ministry. Through this work, he saw the power of evangelization in the Church and his passion to see more lives impacted by the Holy Spirit. In 2007, he graduated from the M.Div. Theology Program at the University of Notre Dame and then began leading the EC. Under his leadership, the Evangelical Catholic has experienced consistent expansion by equipping local Catholic leaders to not only be disciples, but disciple-makers. Jason and the EC’s staff built Reach More™ and Nextstep to equip Catholic lay leaders to fulfill the Great Commission. He lives in Madison, Wisconsin with his wife, Grace, and six children.

Andrew Ochalek first encountered the Evangelical Catholic in 2014 as a parishioner at a Reach More™ On-Site parish, participating in and leading various small groups. He gained ministry experience as a volunteer Catholic Youth Minister from 2011 to 2014, serving the military community in Pensacola, FL and Okinawa, Japan. After graduating from the United States Naval Academy in 2010, with a Bachelor of Science in General Engineering, Andrew commissioned into the United States Marine Corps where he served as an Officer for six years. Before joining the EC in the Summer of 2016, Andrew worked in Leadership Consulting, developing leadership solutions for global Fortune 500 companies across various industries. Andrew lives in Madison, WI with his wife and three children.

Julie earned a B.A. in Humanities and Spanish from Florida State University and an M.A. in Theology from the University of Notre Dame. During her time as a campus minister in the Diocese of Richmond, Julie worked closely with the EC as a Reach More™ Point Person. Her time as a Point Person inspired her to join the Evangelical Catholic in the summer of 2015. Julie lives in Madison, WI with her husband and four children.

Prior to joining the EC, she served in a variety of ministry roles, including parish youth ministry, college campus ministry, and coordinating and leading pilgrimages and immersion experiences since 1999.  She holds a Masters Degree in Pastoral Theology from Ave Maria University.  Kelly lives in San Diego, California with her husband and four children.

Peter has worked in adult formation in the Church since 2003. He holds a Masters Degree in Pastoral Theology from Ave Maria University. His experience includes preaching retreats, priest convocations, teaching theology at the graduate level, instructing adult catechesis courses, being a guest lecturer at seminaries, and giving presentations and trainings for numerous parishes, dioceses, movements, and institutions in the Church. He also has articles published in Notre Dame’s Church Life Journal. Peter currently advises a team that serves over 150 ministries around the world, including dioceses, parishes, and military bases. He lives in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin with his wife and eight children.

Josh Dart holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters of Arts in Theology from the Augustine Institute in Denver. After working simultaneously for several years as both a Project Manager and Youth Minister, he resigned from engineering to be fully devoted to the Church’s evangelization efforts. Josh served as the Director of Catholic Campus Ministry at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), and has co-led and participated in over a dozen international missions in Central America, Australia, and Africa. He was introduced to the Evangelical Catholic through Evangelization Training Camps, and began fully implementing the EC vision when VCU became one of the university ministries in the Diocese of Richmond EC Alliance. This bore great fruit both in the campus ministry and his personal life. As an EC Lead Ministry Consultant, Josh trains parish and campus ministries to be the best at reaching the lost with the love of Jesus. He lives in Madison, Wisconsin with his wife and six children.

Kendra received her Master of Divinity from the Franciscan School of Theology. Prior to that, Kendra worked in corporate leadership consulting for Blueprint Leadership, forming executives and their organizational culture around servant leadership principles. Her ministerial experience includes consulting parishes and campus ministries, coordinating national conferences, speaking at major events and retreats, and forming lay leaders through intentional discipleship. She lives in San Diego, CA with her husband and son.

Mark was introduced to the Evangelical Catholic in 2004 during his undergraduate studies at UW-Madison, where he became involved in campus ministry efforts using EC methods extensively. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy in 2006, Mark worked in sales and management but ultimately felt the call back to ministry through an evangelization team called Spiritus. In June 2013, he began working for the EC equipping campus ministry staff and student leaders to build vibrant and sustainable communities focused on discipleship development and reaching the lost. He received his Master of Arts in Theology from the University of Notre Dame in 2017, and now lives in Madison with his wife and four children.

Mari Pablo grew up in a devout Hispanic Catholic family in Miami, Florida. She holds bachelor degrees in theology and psychology from the Franciscan University of Steubenville, as well as a master’s degree in theology from the Augustine Institute. Mari has worked in youth ministry for over fifteen years, both as a youth minister in New Orleans and as a Catholic high school theology teacher. Mari is well known for her dynamic presentations at the annual Steubenville Youth Conferences and other national outlets. Mari is a presenter in several Ascension presents programs including YOU- Theology of the Body for teens, the 99, Ascension Presents and most recently Connected- Catholic Social Teaching for this generation. Mari has a deep love for food but an even greater love for Christ and is dedicated to helping others encounter Him.

John has nine years of parish and diocesan ministry experience, focusing on creating parish cultures in which one can encounter Christ, give their life to Him, and embrace their identity as a missionary disciple. He encountered the Evangelical Catholic in 2017 while working in a parish in Anchorage, AK and immediately saw the fruitfulness of implementing the EC’s vision for evangelization.  He currently resides in Winter Haven, FL with his wife and two children.

As a Senior Ministry Consultant and Content Writer, Andre advises parishes in implementing the Reach More™ mission process, delivers parish missions and training events, and continually works to expand the EC’s formation and training materials. He has worked in Catholic ministry and education since 2003 and holds a master’s degree in theology from Marquette University. Andre lives near Milwaukee, Wisconsin with his wife and their four children.

Andrea first experienced The Evangelical Catholic as a member of an evangelization small group at Harvard University where she studied English Language and Literature. She trained as a missionary through the EC’s Campus Ministry Training Program after college. After two years of equipping student leaders for evangelization on campus, she pursued her Master of Divinity from Boston College. Andrea worked in the parish context in the Archdiocese of Boston where she was a pastoral associate and EC Reach More™ point person for four years. In 2018 Andrea and her husband moved from Massachusetts to Wisconsin to allow her to work more fully with the EC as a Ministry Consultant.

Krista Ewing graduated from UW-Madison with a Bachelors of Science in Education. She worked for 13 years as a teacher in public schools, including 4 years as a certified Spanish-English bilingual teacher. She has also been a ministry leader with Intervarsity on campus, International Teams in Mexico, and a Stephen Minister in her local church community. Today, she lives in Madison with her two daughters. She is passionate about using her skills as an organized teacher, administrator, Spanish-speaker, and disciple of Jesus to help the operations of the Evangelical Catholic run efficiently and effectively so that more people in the world can come to know Jesus and live in a way that witnesses to Him.

Beth Anne graduated from Belmont University with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Business Management. She worked in non-profit development and medical sales for six years prior to joining the Evangelical Catholic. Since 2020, Beth Anne has served as the EC’s Reach More^TM Live event coordinator and business specialist assisting with a variety of tasks related to the EC’s annual conference and internal operations. She volunteers as a catechist for middle school faith formation classes at her parish and enjoys working to spread the Good News. She lives in Madison, WI with her husband and daughter.

As a Senior Mission Advancement Officer, James is a key driver of fund development and new ministry expansion. He also works with the campus team leaders as they continue strengthening campuses to raise up disciples. He served as a campus minister at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for a decade before joining the Evangelical Catholic. As a campus minister, James led various successful outreach initiatives. With expertise in small group outreach and discipleship development, he has assisted parishes and campus ministries nationwide to launch vibrant, fruitful, and self-sustaining evangelistic ministries. He holds a Master in Music and a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin, and lives in Madison, Wisconsin with his wife and eight children.

A missionary at heart, Dcn. John has been active sharing the good news for over thirty years. In 1986, he worked on the streets of New York City with Covenant House. In 1989, he founded Emmaus Ministries, an outreach to men involved in prostitution on the streets of Chicago, and served until 2011. Dcn. John lives in Stow, OH with his wife and four children. He serves as a permanent deacon at Holy Family Parish.

After helping to launch evangelizing small groups and one-on-one mentoring at his alma mater, Iowa State University, Cody joined EC’s team full-time as a ministry associate, consultant, coach, and operations specialist. His current role is in visioning with new ministries and helping them navigate common obstacles in the way of mission. Cody lives in Madison, WI with his wife and four children.

Sarah has studied Theology and Catechetics at the undergraduate and graduate levels at Franciscan University of Steubenville. She is passionate about helping others encounter Jesus and equipping lay people to be missionary disciples in their day-to-day lives. In 2019, she joined the EC’s Mission Advancement team. Sarah enjoys time with friends and family, traveling, and hiking.

Caitlin has over ten years of multimedia production experience in various disciplines, including filmmaking, multimedia design, and digital communications. She has served in ministry for three years as a parish staff member and an EC point person. Caitlin graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in telecommunications and film studies. She lives in Gainesville, FL with her husband and daughter.