Saint Martin, Network Leaders Educated at the Kellogg School of Management

President Rich Clark, Executive Vice President Tom Bennett, and Principal Mary Ann Vogel participated in a week-long program at the Center for Nonprofit Management at the Kellogg School of Management this June. The three school leaders studied financial statements, participated in case studies, and discussed strategy, benchmarking, and metrics alongside peers from other Cristo Rey Network schools.

The Kellogg School of Management is consistently ranked as one of the top business schools in the world and this partnership reflects the Cristo Rey Network’s commitment to effective and efficient leadership aimed at impacting the lives of our students and our communities. Presenters included Dean Emeritus, Don Jacobs, and author and lecturer, Jason Saul.

Jacobs, who is an expert on corporate governance and issues of risk, drew on the words of Napoleon in reminding his audience that “a leader is a dealer in hope.” Saul is the author of Benchmarking for Nonprofits: How to Manage, Measure and Improve Performance, which was awarded Best Business Book of the Year in 2005 by the Independent Publishers Association. He called on school leaders to focus on impact, outcomes, measurement, and data in measuring performance.

Saul also provided the Saint Martin team with a new framework for understanding our current world and market conditions. The world is VUCA – volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. Given this current state, institutions such as Saint Martin must be led accordingly – with vision, understanding, clarity, and agility. Additionally, this framework affirms the approach to education that Saint Martin takes. Our students are being educated to develop habits such as critical thinking skills, curiosity, an ability to collaborate, and an ability to adapt to change that are necessary for success in the VUCA world that awaits them.

The Cristo Rey Network plans to continue this partnership with the Kellogg School of Management, and Saint Martin will continue to send leaders to participate as we maintain our commitment to developing a team that is preparing students for college and life success.