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 for 19 years. He served as Accreditation Commissioner with the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and 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 B.A. from Divine Word College in Iowa and an M.A. 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 16 years. He has his BS degree from Kansas State University in Economics and MBA from Marquette University. Alan has had a lead consulting role in 112 projects. He specializes in diocesan planning for Catholic schools, pastoral planning for parishes, new school feasibility studies and market research. Many of the projects led to successful capital campaigns and more recently restructuring of parishes and schools. Alan has had a significant role in 41 diocesan or regional studies and has worked in over 50 dioceses around the country. He has directed new school studies in over 20 different cities. Alan has been a speaker at NCEA and CACE on the topics of strategic planning, new school studies, funding new schools and market research.

Sr. Mary Anne Heenan, CSJ

Sister Mary Anne has 27 years of experience as a high school principal and diocesan leader of Catholic Schools.  She served as Superintendent of Schools for the Diocese of Syracuse from 1989 to 2002.  She also worked as Provincial Treasurer for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, Assistant Superintendent, and Principal of Notre Dame High School in Utica, NY.  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, Inc.

Neal D. Meitler

Neal Meitler founded Meitler Consultants, Inc. and is currently a senior consultant and 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, more than 225 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 been a speaker at NCEA and CACE on topics including strategic planning, new schools and school finance. Neal has a B.A. and M.A. in Business Administration and Finance.

Richard Pendergast

Rick Pendergast serves as a senior consultant and brings more than thirty 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, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and The Principal’s Center at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee.  He has his M.A. in Education Administration and Supervision and his B.A. from Marquette University.

Sr. Kathleen Carr, CSJ

Sister Kathleen, a senior consultant, has 21 years of experience in a variety of Catholic education leadership positions.  Initially an elementary school principal, Sister Kathleen’s primary work has been at the diocesan level where she served as Regional Director for Schools, Director of Marketing and Public Relations and most recently as Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of Boston (2000 to 2006).

Sr. Kathleen has an M.Ed in Administration and Supervision from Boston College and a Ph.D in Educational Administration from The Catholic University of America.  She has conducted research on Catholic School leadership participating in the Future of Catholic Schools Project, funded by the Lilly Foundation and author of “Leadership Given the Religious Mission of Catholic Schools”, a chapter in The Catholic Character of Catholic Schools, (2000).  University of Notre Dame Press.

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 more than 300 consulting assignments for more than 25 years, working in 65 dioceses. She has coordinated financial analysis and development of financial projections for client projects with more than 100 parishes, more than 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 17 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 more than 50 projects in 30 dioceses around the country. Diane has her B.A. in Management and Communications from Concordia University, Mequon, Wisconsin.