Dear Friends,
As we discussed at the last Annual Parish Meeting, it has been a primary objective of the Vestry’s Strategic Plan for St. Bart’s to identify, recruit, and hire a Chief Operating Officer for the parish. The size of our staff and the complexity of our various mission-supporting activities, all of which take place in a National Historic Landmark building, invite us to bring greater focus and care to our facilities management and revenue generation.
St. Bart’s depends upon a variety of enterprises to create revenue for the parish which supplements the charitable giving of parishioners to the church. We oversee the operation of a restaurant, preschool, athletic facilities, (which include a gymnasium and a swimming pool,) and a host of rental arrangements for space within the building. The Vestry, in the hope that the clergy will be able to maintain their focus on the primary ministries of the church, has determined that investing in this position will be rewarded over time. The Chief Operating Officer will report to the Rector, work with the staff leadership team, and oversee the St. Bart's preschool, athletic facilities, building, maintenance, and security staff, as well as our relationship with the restaurant Inside Park.
I am very pleased to announce that we have called Tara Marlovits to take on this significant responsibility. Tara currently serves as the Chief External Officer of Uncommon Schools, a public charter school management organization that operates 53 different K-12 schools serving 20,000 students with the mission of closing the opportunity gap and sending students from low-income communities to and through college.
In her current role at Uncommon Schools, Tara manages fundraising, marketing, communications, media, enrollment, and external strategy for the organization. As a founding team member at Uncommon, Tara previously served as Chief Operating Officer for nine years during which time she was instrumental in growing the organization's scale and impact. She specializes in building high-performing teams, developing systems and processes, partnering with boards of trustees, and creating strong organizational culture.
Before Uncommon, Tara spent years working in direct service to people experiencing homelessness in Anchorage, Alaska and Boston, Massachusetts, served as a campus minister at a university in western New York, and helped to found a high school for urban students in her hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Tara received her Bachelor's degree from the College of the Holy Cross and her Master's in Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School. She holds a Certificate in Business Excellence from Columbia Business School, was a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, and is currently a Pahara-Aspen Fellow. Tara serves as the Chair of the Board of New Jersey Students Succeed, an education reform advocacy organization.
Tara lives in Brooklyn with her daughter, Ella, and goldendoodle, Archie, and enjoys solo travel, conversations over great meals with friends, riding the Peloton, walking Archie in the park, and reading everything from the New York Times to Vogue, classic literature to popular fiction.
I am so glad we have found such a gifted person for this demanding role and I extend my heartfelt thanks to the search group of Miriam Schneider, Craig Simmons, and Bill Fry who gave their time and expertise to the discernment process. I know you will join me in warmly welcoming Tara to the St. Bart’s community. Tara begins her work on October 24 and we will introduce her to the congregation on Sunday, October 16.
Faithfully,
The Right Reverend Dean E. Wolfe, D.D.
Rector