LUMINARY

“Luminary,” is a Catholic Executive Leadership and Management (CELM) Professional Certificate and Leadership Support Program developed by JAG Consulting and Sovereign Global Solutions for young professionals serving the Catholic Church, related ministries and non-profits. This Professional Certificate and Leadership Development Program develops the inspired young professional – who feels called to serve the church — into a leader. We refer to the program participants as Luminaries because they will indeed “light the way” forward.

The Inspiration

Nowadays, it is common for corporations to provide sophisticated management and leadership training to their employees to arm them with the proficiencies they need to contribute at optimal levels for that company. The investment in this personnel pipeline is critical because it successfully carries the company’s mission, image and business forward for the years to come; increases knowledge, productivity, and profitability; and enhances growth.

While successful companies help to support thriving communities, it is clear that there are other things that matter even more. The pursuits of eternal significance and virtue – those pursuits which satisfy the soul, fortify the spiritual life, strengthen relationships and family and by extension our community and culture; these are what matter most. Therefore it seems like the right use of our time and talents for my partner, Jennifer Gutierrez and I, to invest in those institutions which help people do just that – fortify what is most important in our lives, families and community.

Before becoming CEO of Sovereign Global Solutions, I spent a good portion of my professional life serving in non-profits, both as an employee and as a consultant. These days, I spend all of my volunteer time with faith-based ministries and financially support those ministries which impact others in their faith while helping strengthen individuals, their marriages and families.

My other inspiration is my husband Greg, who has spent his entire 30+ year career serving the Catholic Church, in work that directly protects and preserves the dignity of innocent lives and works to transform the culture. In all of his of years of service, he never had the benefit of a mentor to meet with, a personal coach to guide him, or a leadership training program to provide tools that would help him succeed in his day to day tasks. He hopes that others will be able to be strengthened earlier in their career and enjoy the confidence that he struggled to attain. Both Jennifer and I feel that for those who serve in the important work that faith-based ministries offer, we are able to contribute to the most important work there is– impacting and changing hearts and lives.

If you sense your calling is working in a non-profit ministry or you are hoping to work for one soon, we believe that your career of service will benefit in a way that will encourage you, empower you, and fill you with confidence that you can indeed do the work that you have been called to do. For this reason we are pleased to introduce LUMINARY –a Catholic Executive Leadership and Management Certificate Program – an initiative that Jennifer Gutierrez and I have developed as a result of our combined experiences, to meet the need of our faith based institutions.

We provide the LUMEN training to institutions which seek to provide this training to their employees or prepare them for their next steps. Primary partners include faith-based colleges and universities, seminaries, and leaders for the Catholic Church.

More About Luminary

Like many young leaders in the workforce, they have not yet had the opportunity to acquire “boots-on-the-ground” experience in organizational management and leadership in areas like strategic planning, fiscal management, public relations, board governance, assessment, and managing a staff. On the other hand, young professionals entering the private sector receive this training from companies with the resources to invest in their professional development. Young leaders of Catholic and other faith-based organizations do not have the same access or resources to support their own professional development, and have to “white-knuckle” their way through these positions. They lack the needed mentorship and training to help themselves and their organization flourish.

JAG Consulting and Sovereign Global Solutions offer an educational approach to leadership formation that blends the following elements:

Leadership formation steeped in the Catholic faith, integrated with Mass, prayer, reconciliation, and adoration;
Expert Instruction of eight modules with guest lectures by expert practitioners;
Access to professional consultants to discuss and innovate around real-time leadership and management opportunities and challenges;
A cohort-to-cohort connection that builds the Catholic leadership network of alumni throughout the nation

Learn More
For an introduction into the courses and the particular training that this program provides, please contact Sovereign Global Solutions through our contact page.