Introducing the Newest Alumni Association Executive Committee Members
Since Homecoming 2018, Alumni Association President Sarah Keenan has added several new representatives to the committee, bringing the total number of members to thirteen.
Alumni committee members Steve French and Sarah Keenan, Sarah’s husband Scott, and President Tim Gibson chat at Homecoming 2018.[/caption]
In October 2018, at Homecoming, alumni of King’s elected Sarah (Ferrara) Keenan (’12) as the new president of Alumni Association Executive Committee. At Homecoming, Lynn (Albanese) Mitchell (’86) also began a term as representative, and outgoing president of the Alumni Association Executive Committee Chris Ross (’10) was confirmed as secretary.
Since then, Keenan has added several new representatives to the committee, bringing the total number of members to thirteen, representing ten different graduation years. The newest representatives are Jon Seidl (PPE ’09), Holly Hall Tate (Business Dec. ’10), Christopher Kendall (PPE ’15), and Katherine Thompson (PPE ’17).
Below, read about the newest members and refresh your memory on the other officers and representatives who serve the King’s community. Many of them will be present at 2019 Homecoming this October 25 and 26. Tickets for Homecoming are available now!
Together, the committee seeks:
- To cultivate a vibrant community among alumni of The King’s College
- To promote a continuing alumni interest in the welfare of the College and to strengthen the relationship between the alumni and College communities
- To serve as a liaison between the alumni community and the leaders of the College
- To assist in communicating important news and events to alumni, and
- To recognize excellence among the College’s alumni by conferring annual awards at Homecoming.
If you want to get more connected to King’s or have any thoughts you would like to share, please reach out to the committee president, Sarah Keenan (sarahcferrara@gmail.com).
Officers
Sarah (Ferrara) Keenan (’12), President
Sarah Keenan graduated from The King’s College in 2012 with her degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics. Some of her favorite experiences at King’s were serving as helmsman for the House of Margaret Thatcher, leading The King’s College’s first educational summer trip to Paris, and reading Shakespeare in Dr. Tubbs’s Statesmanship class.
From 2014-2017 she served as a representative on the Alumni Association’s executive committee and led a subcommittee on communications. During a year off from elected work with the alumni association, she partnered with the committee to launch regional alumni chapters in Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.
As Coalitions Manager for State Policy Network, Sarah works with dozens of state and national think tanks across the country to promote ideas that protect individual liberty and help local communities flourish. Originally from St. Louis, MO, Sarah lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband Scott and their pet plants. They attend Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church and enjoy mentoring young people in their spare time. She is passionate about connecting alumni to each other to advance the mission of The King’s College.
Email: sarahcferrara@gmail.com
Emily (Miller) Schatz (’11), Vice President
Emily is the College Historian at King’s and a staff writer for Marketing & Communications. She grew up in Oregon, Michigan, and Ohio, and studied PPE and Literature when the College was located in the Empire State Building. After graduating, she worked for three years in public policy research and communications before returning to King’s in December 2014 to collect and retell the history of King’s for alumni. She is married to Andrew Schatz (’10). They live and attend church in Illinois with their four children.
Email: eschatz@tkc.edu
Chris Ross (’10), Secretary
An Ohio native, Chris graduated from Fordham University School of Law in 2015 and is a litigation associate at Sidley Austin LLP, a law firm in Washington, D.C. He completed a clerkship for the Honorable Alice M. Batchelder of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and served as a Deputy Solicitor General in the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. The son of King’s alumni Bob (’85) and Laureen (Henley) (’86), Chris has been connected to King’s all his life, and has served the Alumni Association as a member of the executive committee since 2011. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, sipping cold brew coffee, and traveling.
Email: chris.ross.87@gmail.com
Shannae Murray (’10), Treasurer
While at King’s, Shannae majored in Business Management and was an active member of the House of Truth and The King’s Dancers. She loved nothing more than calling 34th Street home for those four years and treasures the friendships that were made during that influential time in her life. After graduation she worked for Cornell University for 6 years, during part of which she served as the Assistant Director of Alumni Affairs for the Mid-Atlantic and New England alumni clubs. During this time she realized how important alumni connections were and got involved in the King’s alumni network, joining the committee in 2016 as a decade rep. She and her husband now live in Miami, Florida where she works at the Royal Caribbean corporate headquarters as the Manager of Host Agency relations. In her free time she enjoys exploring South Florida, volunteering with her church, and cruising, of course! Feel free to connect with Shannae over LinkedIn: she is always happy to network!
Contact: LinkedIn
Henry Morriello (’76), Board Representative
Henry G. Morriello is Head of the Structured Finance & Derivatives Practice at Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP. He represents his clients in United States and international term securitization and commercial paper conduits involving residential and commercial mortgage loans, home equity loans, equipment leases, student loans, aircraft loans and leases, auto paper, trade receivables, intellectual property royalties, and esoteric assets.
Mr. Morriello has extensive experience in advising financial institutions on regulatory matters and derivatives transactions. He has represented global financial institutions in groundbreaking governmental financial assistance transactions, troubled financial asset portfolio sales, and liquidations. In Chambers USA 2018, he was recognized as a leader for “Capital Markets: Securitization,” where he was described as a “corporate finance lawyer extraordinaire.” Mr. Morriello is a frequent lecturer at conferences across the country and abroad on topics including asset and mortgage securitization, structured product workouts and restructurings, transportation finance, real estate finance, and alternative investments.
Representatives
Steve French (NBC ’80)
Since 2000, Steve has led Lifework from a local organization in Orlando to one that now has global impact and influence. A New Jersey native, Steve holds his degrees from Northeastern Bible College/The King’s College (BA) and Wheaton College (MA). The King’s College honored Steve as their Alumnus of the Year for his work in leadership development. Prior to joining Lifework, he pastored Meadowbrook Church in North Haledon, New Jersey and served on several church staffs including Willow Creek Community Church (IL) and Discovery Church (FL). He serves on several non-profit boards, including Centra-Care/Advent Health, Open Door Haiti/US, DMH Ministries, and is the Chairman of Sonlife Ministries. Steve and his wife Sharon live in Orlando and have been married since 1981. They have two adult children and welcome the opportunity to show you pictures of their grandchildren.
Email: steve@lifeworkglobal.org
Rick Veit (’83)
Following studies at Pace University Law School, White Plains, NY, where he won awards for writing, research, editing and his work in taxation, Mr. Veit worked as a tax attorney for Deloitte, Haskins & Sells, specializing in taxation and financial planning. Mr. Veit went on to become nationally licensed as a Certified Financial Planner. Mr. Veit has also served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at The King’s College.
Since beginning his own practice in the early 90’s, Mr. Veit has served as legal counsel and consultant to many local businesses, public corporations and national, non-profit organizations. He is a frequent writer and lecturer regarding legal, financial and tax matters for churches and clergy, nonprofits and businesses, having lectured in over 50 cities nationwide.
Mr. Veit has managed a varied client caseload during his years in private practice. Mr. Veit’s particular areas of expertise include business and estate planning; charitable, wealth succession and business planning with life insurance; financial planning; residential and commercial real estate transactions and development; charitable fundraising and development; churches, clergy and non-profit organizations.
Email: fcveit@aol.com
Lynn Albanese Mitchell (’86)
Lynn earned her MBA in accounting from Montclair State University in 2001 and is a practicing Certified Public Accountant. She was a principal in the firm of Campos & Stratis, CPAs, which specializes in forensic accounting, until June 2014, when she founded her own firm, Mitchell Semsel Callen, PC, with two partners. Lynn and her husband Michael (’87) married in 1988 and have two children: their son Michael is a West Point graduate who recently joined Lynn’s firm, and Hannah is in high school. They live in Ridgefield Park, N.J. The family attends Grace Redeemer Church in Teaneck, N.J. where Lynn serves as the treasurer and a deaconess. She has served the Alumni Association’s executive committee continuously since 2007 in the roles of president, vice-president, secretary, and representative.
Matthew Kaal (’09)
Matthew works as the Development and Fundraising Manager at Spence-Chapin Services to Families and Children, one of the United States’ oldest adoption organizations. Prior to working at Spence-Chapin, he worked as a public policy analyst at The Institute for American Values, studying the health effects of gambling and casino development, and prior to that as a fundraiser at multiple New York City private Christian schools. Matthew is a President Emeritus of the House of Bonhoeffer. He has been a member of Christ Church NYC (Anglican) since 2007. He is an avid reader, Broadway enthusiast, and architecture and urban planning nerd. He proudly serves as the chairman of the The King’s College Alumni Association Fundraising Committee and would love to talk with you about your interests in the future of King’s and how to get involved as a member of the alumni community. You can connect with him on LinkedIn or through the TKC Alumni Facebook group.
Jonathon Seidl (’09)
Jonathon M. Seidl (Jon) is the managing editor of Kirk Cameron’s TheCourage.com and also oversees production and development for Cameron’s online courses and subscription service. During his tenure he’s been responsible for nearly $1 million in gross sales of digital material.
Before TheCourage, he served as the editor-in-chief of I Am Second, a Christian non-profit that tells stories of incredible life transformation. From 2010-2015 he worked at TheBlaze, starting as the news outlet’s first writing hire and ending as its managing editor. Under his leadership, the site became one of the top 50 websites in the country, reaching over 35 million unique visitors. His writing has appeared in WORLD magazine, online with the American Spectator, at FoxNews.com, and in nearly 6,000 posts at TheBlaze.
He is an ardent supporter of mental health awareness, especially regarding how the Christian church can better handle the issue, and has a forthcoming book on the topic. Although a Wisconsin-born Green Bay Packers fanatic, he and his wife live in Dallas, Texas, with their daughter Annie Rose, son Jack Lewis (who is named after C.S.), and dogs Gus and Lulu.
Holly (Hall) Tate (Dec. ’10)
Originally from Nashville, TN, Holly Tate has called Houston, TX home for the last seven years where she is Vice President of Business Development at Vanderbloemen, an executive search firm that helps faith-based organizations with hiring and succession planning. At Vanderbloemen, Holly leads partnerships, brand growth, sales and marketing alignment, and new industry initiatives for the company. Holly holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from King’s where she graduated in December 2010. Holly is a member of the Forbes Communications Council where she contributes thought leadership on marketing and communications to Forbes online. She was named on ThomRainer.com’s Young Influencer List in February 2016 as a leader under 40 who is making a Kingdom difference. In her spare time, Holly runs Statesman Beverage Company, which she co-founded in 2017, and spends time with her husband Elliott and their dog Scraps.
Christopher Kendall (’15)
A native Texan, Christopher Kendall graduated from The King’s College in 2015 with a degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics. He then studied at New College, Oxford University, before serving as a Senior Policy Advisor in the Texas House of Representatives. He managed policy research and then prospect research for a multi-million dollar non-profit foundation in Washington D.C. before moving back to New York to take over as the Director of Development at the National Association of Scholars. In his spare time, Christopher enjoys reading Wendell Berry, biking, and spending time with his wife and their two animals.
Katherine Thompson (’17)
Katherine Thompson currently serves as legislative correspondent for Senator Mike Lee in Washington, D.C. Her work covers issues from defense, to foreign policy, to commerce. She previously worked at The Heritage Foundation as executive assistant to the vice president of policy promotion. At King’s, she served as scholar in the House of Margaret Thatcher and was Student Body President during her senior year.