Father Kevin Kennedy, a veteran priest of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and a former chief financial officer and Wall Street administrator, is now serving as senior leadership director of Leadership Roundtable, an organization of lay, religious and clergy that promotes best practices and accountability in the management, finances, communications, and human resource development of the Catholic Church in the United States.

 In a statement, Michael Brough, executive partner at Leadership Roundtable, said, “Father Kevin is the ideal person to take on the role of senior leadership director due to both is experience as an educator and his pastoral ministry. We are fortunate to have a priest with his background and skills joining our team to help expand our services to Catholic leaders and institutions across the United States.”

Father Kennedy, who assumed his post in July, said his new appointment has fostered in him “an incredible sense of renewal of my call to the priesthood.”

 “I came to the priesthood after a career in business and believed that the Lord called me out of that career for a specific purpose,” he said. “I have been able to use my leadership experiences in various ways in the last 26 years (as a priest), and now I believe my transition to Leadership Roundtable is a natural progression of my vocation.”

Leadership Roundtable, in a statement announcing the appointment, said Father Kennedy “will be an integral part of Leadership Roundtable’s growth and development, particularly by providing leadership formation services and working to develop national partnerships.”

“We at Leadership Roundtable endeavor to be partners with Catholic leaders to be even more effective agents of transformation,” Father Kennedy said. “My personal goal is to help Leadership Roundtable expand our services to Catholic leaders and increase the number of our partnering relationships.”

Right now, the Leadership Roundtable has been working with the Vatican and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to develop a process for use in the United States for implementing the synod. Pope Francis has called for a 2023 Synod of Bishops, and synodal processes are now underway at dioceses and archdioceses around the world. Parishes and dioceses are holding listening sessions inviting Catholics to pray, dialogue and discern together about their lives and their faith.

“Leadership Roundtable consists of incredibly dedicated and talented people who love the Catholic Church and are dedicated to assisting dioceses and Catholic institutions to fulfill their mission more effectively,” Father Kennedy said. “While we already partner with many Catholic leaders, there are so many other leaders who are looking for ways to be more effective. My colleagues and I want to respond to their needs as well.”

A native of New York City, Father Kennedy grew up as the youngest of eight children of Veronica MacGuire and Matthew Kennedy.

After earning a finance degree from Baruch College in New York in 1982, he worked as a supervisor for NASDAQ on a new electronic, inter-market trading system, and later worked for an investment firm. 

When he was studying for his master’s in business administration at Purdue University in Indiana, a friend invited him to attend Mass at the parish on campus. At that point, he had stopped going to Mass for about 10 years.

He later moved to the Washington area as a partner in a medical research firm that was using new technologies to advance the development of cardiovascular medicines, and attended Mother Seton Parish in Germantown, Maryland, where he volunteered teaching religious education classes and serving as a Eucharistic minister.

After reflecting on how much he enjoyed parish life, he decided to enter the seminary. As a seminarian, he spent summer months in Mexico in 1990 and later in 1995 just before his ordination to the priesthood, he spent a month visiting a parish and refugee camp in Guatemala on the border with Chiapas, Mexico.

At The Catholic University of America, he received a bachelor’s degree in Sacred Theology and a Doctor of Ministry Degree. After his ordination to the priesthood, he served as a parochial vicar at Holy Redeemer in Kensington and St. Martin of Tours in Gaithersburg and as an administrator at Our Lady of Mercy in Potomac. 

In his first two assignments as a pastor, at St. Paul’s in Damascus from 2004-08 and then at St. Ambrose in Cheverly from 2008-16, Father Kennedy drew on his pastoral abilities and his business experiences. At St. Paul’s, which had a new church building but faced financial challenges and construction problems, he worked with parishioners to get the church finished and the parish on a sound financial footing. At St. Ambrose, the parish and its school were struggling financially, but that community likewise rallied and solidified its resources. 

Until his appointment to Leadership Roundtable, Father Kennedy served for five years as pastor of St. Gabriel Parish in Washington. He also spent 12 years, teaching two graduate seminar courses at The Catholic University of America’s School of Religious Studies as an adjunct professor.

In the statement from Leadership Roundtable about Father Kennedy’s appointment, Lt. Gen. (Retired) Jim Dubik, a member of the organization’s Board of Directors, said, “I have observed Father Kevin in his leadership seminars for seminarians over many years and been impressed at how he applies strategic planning and adaptive leadership principles to pastoral ministry.”

Father Kennedy in an email interview with the Catholic Standard said, “It is precisely the combination of my life experiences in business, academia, and pastoral ministry that have led me to my new ministry at Leadership Roundtable. I am extremely grateful to Cardinal Wilton Gregory for his encouragement to me in this new form of pastoral ministry.”

He said that while he is “very happy to be part of a mission-focused and spirit-filled team of colleagues at Leadership Roundtable,” he will miss “not leading a faith community, nor accompanying people in their daily journey of faith.”

“So much of my own spiritual enrichment comes from celebrating sacraments and sharing life experiences in a parish,” he said. “On the bright side… I will be helping at parishes in the archdiocese on weekends.” 

Outside of his priestly ministry, Father Kennedy has trained and fostered rescue dogs for adoption. He has traveled to more than 50 countries, enjoys biking and the visual and performing arts.