LCWR Outstanding Leadership Award

Daughter of Charity Carol Keehan has distinguished herself as an outstanding leader in healthcare for decades, serving in many administrative and governance positions before assuming her current role in 2005 as president and chief executive officer of the Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA). Most recently, she has attained both national and international acclaim for her significant role in working for US healthcare reform.

Margaret R. Brennan, IHM, a member of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary of Monroe, Michigan, has gained renown as an outstanding theologian, educator, and leader.

Born and raised in Detroit, she completed undergraduate studies at Marygrove College in 1945 before entering her congregation. She went on for a doctorate in theology from St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana, and when she finished in 1953, she was among the first women religious in the United States to hold such a degree.

Helen Maher Garvey is a member of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Dubuque, Iowa. She has served in leadership in her own congregation; was the president of LCWR and the US delegate to the International Union of Superiors General; has served on numerous boards; ministered as the director of pastoral services for the Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky; worked as an educator and school administrator; and is now serving as an organizational consultant and director of the Women & Spirit: Catholic Sisters in America exhibit.

Sharon Holland is a member of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary of Monroe, Michigan. A canon lawyer with degrees from the Gregorian University, she served for 21 years at the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life and was one of the highest-ranking women in the Vatican. In this position she offered wisdom and knowledge to congregations of religious all over the globe. She also taught at The Catholic University of America, Regina Mundi, the Pontifical Urbaniana, and other schools.

A member of the Sisters of St. Joseph, Cleveland, Catherine Pinkerton is a well-known leader who has used her keen intellect, passion, integrity, and untiring spirit to bring justice to the world for nearly all of her life.

Joan Chittister, OSB is one of the most articulate social analysts and religious leaders of our age. She is the founder and executive director of Benetvision, a resource and research center for contemporary spirituality in Erie, Pennsylvania, author of more than 30 books, and a regular columnist for the National Catholic Reporter. She serves as co-chair of the Global Peace Initiative of Women Religious and Spiritual Leaders, a partner organization of the United Nations, facilitating a worldwide network of women advocating for peace, particularly in Israel and Palestine.

Mary Daniel Turner, a member of the Sister of Notre Dame de Namur, was raised in Washington, DC where she was deeply influenced by her proximity to one of the centers of world power. Her father, a butcher, and her mother, a government worker, educated her at Catholic elementary and secondary schools. Mary Daniel went on to earn a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy from Trinity University, a master of arts in philosophy from Catholic University of America, and a master of arts degree in theology from St. Michael’s Institute at the University of Toronto.

Theresa Kane was born of immigrant parents who migrated from County Galway, Ireland. Theresa (born as Margaret) is one of seven children and was raised in the Bronx, New York.