OUR STAFF

Thomas J. Heding

Tom Heding serves as a senior consultant and President of Meitler Consultants.  Tom brings a depth of spiritual background and educational experience.  He was Superintendent of Catholic Schools in the Diocese of San Bernardino from 1991 to 1998.  Tom was also a Catholic school principal, department chairperson and teacher from 1972 to 1991.  He served as Accreditation Commissioner with the Western Association of Schools and Colleges as well as the Western Catholic Educational Association.  For 11 years he was a member of the Society of the Divine Word in education as a religious missionary.  Tom has a BA from Divine Word College in Iowa and an MA in Education Administration from California State University.  He has been a speaker at NCEA in the areas of strategic planning, spiritual development programs for school staff, and crisis management.

Alan G. Meitler

Alan Meitler is a senior consultant and Vice-President, and has been with Meitler Consultants for 20 years.  He has his BS degree from Kansas State University in Economics and MBA from Marquette University.  Over the past 20 years Alan has had a significant consulting role in 120 projects.  He specializes in regional and diocesan planning, parish and school planning, new school feasibility studies and new school start-ups.  Many of the projects were followed by successful capital campaigns.  In recent years, he had a significant role in 41 diocesan or regional studies and has worked in over 50 dioceses around the country.  Alan has been a speaker for NCEA, CACE, and CPPCD on the topics of strategic planning, new school studies, funding new schools and market research.

Sr. Mary Anne Heenan, CSJ

Sister Mary Anne has 30 years of experience as a high school principal and diocesan leader of Catholic Schools.  She was Superintendent of Schools for the Diocese of Syracuse from 1989 to 2003.  She also served as Provincial Treasurer for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, Assistant Superintendent, and Principal of Notre Dame High School, Genesee Campus, in Utica, New York.  Sr. Mary Anne has BA and MA degrees in education and advanced study in educational administration.  She is a full-time senior consultant with Meitler Consultants.

Richard Pendergast

Rick Pendergast serves as a senior consultant and brings more than 30 years of experience in Catholic school education as an administrator, business manager, and teacher.  Most recently he was Principal of Pius XI Catholic High School in Milwaukee.  Rick has been actively involved with a number of educational organizations:  North Central Accreditation Association as an accreditation evaluator, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Design as an international conference presenter, and a Board Member of The Principal’s Center at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee.  Rick has presented staff development workshops for teaching staff and is the author of “Creating a School that is Catholic in All That It Does” (Momentum, Sept. 2008).  He has his M.Ed. in Education Administration and Supervision and his B.A. from Marquette University.

Neal D. Meitler

Neal Meitler founded Meitler Consultants 30 years ago and is currently Executive Director of the firm.  Through the years, Neal consulted almost exclusively in the areas of elementary and secondary education, diocesan and regional planning and church planning.  He has directed comprehensive planning programs for over 400 elementary schools, 250 high schools and 7 colleges.  Neal has worked on over 20 feasibility studies for new schools, involving 50 potential new schools.  His experience has taken him into 60 dioceses across the country.  Over the years, Neal has worked with dozens of religious communities, many foundations and over 30 public school districts.  Neal is the author of two publications by NCEA, the most recent being Catholic School Growth 1985 to 1999.  Neal has spoken at NCEA and CACE on topics including strategic planning, new schools, and school finance.  Neal has a BA and MA in Business Administration and Finance.

Mark C. Kemmeter

Mark Kemmeter serves as a pastoral planning consultant for Meitler Consultants.  Mark brings a long background in parish and diocesan planning as well as parish ministerial experience.  He currently serves as the Coordinator for Parish Mission in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, responsible for pastoral planning, council development, and mission implementation.  From 2000 to 2008, he served as Coordinator of Staff in the Diocese of New Ulm with the responsibility for planning when that diocese became the first in the United States to partner all parishes.  His parish ministry service in Milwaukee includes the positions of pastoral associate, business manager, and DRE.  He also lectured as adjunct faculty at Sacred Heart School of Theology and Mount Mary College, both in the Milwaukee area.  Mark has a Doctor of Ministry degree from the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein in pastoral planning and an MTS in theological studies from St. Francis Seminary in Milwaukee.

James V. Adams

Jim Adams has more than 30 years of experience in Catholic education. He has served as a teacher, principal, an assistant superintendent and as Superintendent of Schools in the Diocese of Sacramento. Jim also has been on the adjunct faculty of the Educational Leadership program at St. Mary’s College in Moraga. For the past six years he has served as the President of Chaminade College Preparatory—a middle school and high school on two separate campuses north of Los Angeles. Jim has a B.A. from California State University, Northridge, and an M.A. in Educational Administration from the University of San Francisco. He was ordained a Deacon in the Roman Catholic Church in 1981. Jim is a permanent part-time consultant with Meitler Consultants, Inc.

Linda M. LaPorte

Linda LaPorte has served as a consultant and project coordinator on over 300 consulting assignments for more than 35 years, working in over 65 dioceses.  She has coordinated financial analysis and development of financial projections for client projects with over 100 parishes, over 300 elementary schools, more than 200 high schools and 7 colleges.  Linda has been with the consulting firm since 1970.

Diane L. Leon

Diane Leon has been a staff member of Meitler Consultants for the past 20 years.  She is presently a full-time project coordinator with responsibilities for client contact, scheduling and logistics, database management, data collection and analysis, financial projections, and report production.  Diane has had a significant role in over 100 projects in 50 dioceses around the country.  Diane has her BA in Management and Communications from Concordia University, Mequon, Wisconsin.

Roberta R. Locher

Robbie Locher is a project coordinator with Meitler Consultants and is responsible for client contact, scheduling and logistics, database management, data collection, and report production.  Robbie has her BA in Mathematics from Grove City College, Grove City, Pennsylvania.