The Follow to Lead Podcast

Faculty, Staff, Students and their families at Catholic Schools are among new targets for online scamming as scammers focus on elder and religious fraud. Join Fr. Randy Sly and Theresa Payton, the first female White House Chief Information Officer under President George W. Bush and known as one of the nation's top advisors on cybercrime, in talking about this issue. We will discuss a new nationwid...

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Over the last 25 years, there are more people in therapy and more people receiving medication for mental health struggles than ever before, with nearly every metric indicating downturns as it pertains to suicide, gender dysphoria, and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Join us on this episode of “Follow to Lead” as Dr. Greg Bottaro, Founder and Director of th...

You won’t want to miss this episode of “Follow to Lead!” As we celebrate the election of Pope Leo XIV on May 8, please join Dr. Brett Graham Fawcett and Fr. Randy Sly in a retrospective on the late Pope Francis’ impact on Catholic Education. As a Jesuit educator, the pope spent his early years as a teacher of Literature and Psychology in Jesuit Schools. He later taught theology and served as a sem...

The communications mission of a Catholic school is often ignored or underutilized. On today’s edition of “Follow to Lead” we’ll be joined by Kate Sell, Founder and Managing Partner of Mission Advancement Partners in a discussion on this vital aspect of our Educational mission. Today we will be focusing mostly on external communications, what needs to be said to families, friends and stakeholders t...

This week on an Encoure Edition of “Follow to Lead” we will be talking with Matthew Sanders, Founder and CEO of Longboard, whose focus is developing Artificial Intelligence products for the mission of the Church. This is, perhaps, one of the most fascinating interviews we have ever had on our podcast. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is here to stay. It can be daunting, challenging and can sometimes e...

On this ENCORE episode of Follow to Lead, we will be talking with Jimmy Mitchell  about the amazing “culture of conversion” that exists at Jesuit High School, Tampa, Florida. Students are encountering the Lord and being transformed as they experience the beauty of the Gospel in word, deed and visually. We will also talk to Jimmy about his book: “Let Beauty Speak: The Art of Being Human in a Cultur...

On March 3, Kyle Pietrantonio announced that he would be transitioning out as Executive Director of Duc In Altum Schools Collaborative, in order to move to a different position in Christ’s vineyard of Catholic Education. On today’s program, we want to give Kyle an opportunity to share his heart and continued vision for the work of DIA as we endeavor to move forward into the future God has for us....

This is the final episode of “Beyond Faculty Faith Formation,” a special four-part series of podcasts looking at ways that Catholic educators can enhance their own spiritual growth and development, deepening their faith in Christ and strengthening their life in the Church. Dr. Brett Fawcett, who just finished defending his doctoral dissertation on Faith Permeation, will join us to discuss how our...

This is the third episode of “Beyond Faculty Faith Formation,” a special four-part series of podcasts looking at ways that Catholic educators can enhance their own spiritual growth and development, deepening their faith in Christ and strengthening their life in the Church. In this episode Deborah Nearmyer, Vice-President of Faith and Mission and Austin Krause, Director of Campus Ministry at St. Ja...

This is the second episode of “Beyond Faculty Faith Formation,” a special series of podcasts looking at ways that Catholic educators can enhance their own spiritual growth and development, deepening their faith in Christ and strengthening their life in the Church. In addition to talking about spiritual renewal, on today’s “Follow to Lead” Betsy Orr will share about her background, her conversion t...

In this podcast we are beginning a special series entitled “Beyond Faculty Faith Formation,” giving those in Catholic Education some ideas to spur individual growth both spiritual and intellectually in their Catholic Faith. Today we are talking with Dr. Roger Nutt, Provost and Professor of Theology at Ave Maria University about a new university initiative called “The Wisdom Papers.” The Wisdom Pap...

ACS Technologies examined the theological beliefs of 15,000 Americans with their ground-breaking “American Beliefs Study: Religious Preferences and Practices,” originally conducted in 2013 and then repeated in 2017 and 2021. Out of this survey, Terry Poplava observed, “In the American Beliefs Study, newcomers reported that ‘warm and friendly encounters’ were highly important to them. We were speci...

In August of 2023 we interviewed Dr. Brett Salkeld about his new book, Educating for Eternity: A Teacher’s Companion for Making Every Class Catholic. Since that time, the book and Brett’s message has become a major topic in schools and dioceses across North America. A natural outgrowth of the interest in this subject is an online community that just launched, “Making Every Class Catholic Online Co...

On this episode of “Follow to Lead” we will be talking with Dr. Joseph McInerney about a new eight-part video series he has written, called “The Leadership Virtues Series.” This series can be inspiration to all but can be especially important for administrators, staff, department heads, coaches and teachers in our schools who exercise various expressions of leadership.  Produced by the Knights of...

On today’s Follow to Lead, Elizabeth Simutis will share with us about a new groundbreaking online estate planning platform call Catholic Legacy. This platform allows Catholics to establish, free of charge, funeral plans, wills, planned giving, and healthcare choices that reflect the Catholic understanding of the dignity of the human person. Not only is this a great personal planning tool for admin...

Michele Sagarino, of Cross Catholic Outreach, is back with us on Follow to Lead to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Box of Joy, a ministry that sends small tokens of love and hope to some of the world’s poorest children. Each year, parishes and schools nationwide host Box of Joy events, packing shoebox-sized boxes with small gifts such as toys, coloring books and school supplies, as well as treat...

This week on “Follow to Lead” we will be talking with Matthew Sanders, Founder and CEO of Longboard, whose focus is developing Artificial Intelligence products for the mission of the Church. This is, perhaps, one of the most fascinating interviews we have ever had on our podcast. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is here to stay. It can be daunting, challenging and can sometimes even bring fear as we s...

Jonathan Doyle is from Australia and travels the world talking to Catholic educators and organizations. His global view of Catholic Education will be the focus of our discussion, as we look at what is happening in our area of the world as well as other nations. Join us for this episode of “Follow to Lead” learn more about the work of Catholic Education in places not like home.

Up until this summer, Tom Carroll was serving as the Superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Archdiocese of Boston and created what the National Catholic Register has called a “renaissance of Catholic education.” He has taken one of the facets of his work there - in the recruiting and training of new Catholic educators and offering it on a greater scale to participating dioceses. Join us on thi...

On this episode of "Follow to Lead" we will be talking with Kyle Pietrantio, Executive Director, about current happenings and developments in the DIA Schools Collaborative. He will be sharing more details about the upcoming Fall Summit as well as highlighting some of the other benefits, offerings and resources available.

A surprise episode of “Follow to Lead!” We were planning on talking to the Duc In Altum Schools Collaborative Executive Director Kyle Pietrantonio about upcoming events. What happened instead was an unplanned and interesting discussion about current trends and values in Catholic Education.

Our guest on Follow to Lead is Mark Brumley, President of Catholic publisher Ignatius Press. Ignatius united with the Augustine Institute to complete the Word of Life K–8 curriculum. These two apostolates combined their expertise to craft a curriculum in which students, parents, and teachers learn the truths of the faith alongside each other while deepening their relationships with Christ. Emphasi...

On this episode of Follow to Lead we’ll be talking with Fr. John Riccardo and Mary Guilfoyle of ACTS XXIX about their video series “The Rescue Project.” The Rescue Project seeks to proclaim the gospel clearly in a compelling and attractive way over eight weeks in a small group format. This experience is imbued with beauty, authentic humanity, and accompaniment. We will also explore ways in which t...

For the past ten years, “Symbolon,” a video series on essential Catholic teachings, was an important resource for RCIA, general faith formation and even spiritual direction. In Catholic schools it was a great source of information for religion classes as well as Faculty Faith Formation. On today’s “Follow to Lead,” we’ll be talking with Taylor Kemp, of the Augustine Institute, about the new editio...

It is rare for a Catholic with a smartphone to be unaware of the devotional app “Hallow.” Hallow is a simple, easy-to-use mobile app that helps us foster a relationship with God and the peace of prayer through guided prayer and meditation. You can pray with millions around the world alongside Mark Wahlberg, Jonathan Roumie, Sr. Miriam, Fr. Mike Schmitz, and more on Hallow. Recently, their Super Bo...