CDC Spiritual Connection November 2025 with Sr. Donna Dodge

Description

Spiritual Connection
with Guest Host: Sr. Donna Dodge

Friday November 7, 2025 - 10:30 AM

Keeping Hope Alive Amid the Darkness

In times of uncertainty and challenge, finding and maintaining hope becomes essential to our resilience and well-being. Join us for an uplifting conversation about how we can support one another, find meaning in difficult moments, and cultivate the inner strength needed to move forward with purpose and optimism.

Sister Donna Dodge, SC, entered the Sisters of Charity of New York in 1966. Over nearly six decades of ministry, she has served with steadfast dedication in education, higher education administration, social services, housing development, and congregational leadership.

Her earliest years in ministry were spent in the classroom. From 1969 to 1974, she taught at Visitation School in the Bronx and St. Joseph School in Yonkers, later serving as a part-time teacher at St. Mary School in Yonkers. Recognizing her gifts for leadership, she pursued graduate studies at Fordham University, completing her degree in 1976.

For the next decade, Sister Donna ministered in higher education. She worked at the College of Mount Saint Vincent as Assistant to the President and Director of Development, and later at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, where she served as Executive Assistant to the President and then as Vice President for Mission and Planning.

Her deep commitment to service and the poor then led her to Catholic Charities of Bridgeport, Connecticut, as Director of Community Outreach. In 2007, she returned to New York, ministering as Assistant to the President of the Sisters of Charity, followed by leadership in affordable housing as Assistant to the Executive Director and later Executive Director of the Sisters of Charity Housing Development Corporation.

On July 1, 2019, Sister Donna began her term as President of the Sisters of Charity of New York, guiding the Congregation with vision, faith, and fidelity to the charism of Saints Elizabeth Ann Seton, Vincent de Paul, and Louise de Marillac.

Throughout her life, Sister Donna has embodied the mission of Charity: to reveal God’s love in service of those most in need. Her leadership continues to carry forward the legacy of her community into a new era of hope and transformation.

About Spiritual Connection: On the first Friday of each month, a featured speaker will lead a 30-minute virtual discussion. Spiritual Connection provides CDC members a brief opportunity to get inspired by topics with a faith-based twist - and to decompress from your busy schedules!

The content will be spiritual in nature, but topics are not necessarily about fundraising, although they certainly may be relevant to development. They may include a current event, a devotional piece, tips about health, a passage from a book, etc.—it is really up to the speaker to decide!

Speakers will introduce a topic in which they are passionate, and lead participants through a 10-15-minute presentation or talk, followed by a facilitated discussion on their topic with the entire group.

We hope participants will feel a little sense of renewal after the 30 minutes, fresh in their thoughts, connected to this community, and looking forward to next month’s Spiritual Connection.