The Saint John Leadership Institute is a uniquely challenging place. From our 2-4 day professional workshops to our Rise Above retreats, our participants rise to the challenge and are equipped with a unique formation that combines intense spirituality, the soft-skills necessary for leadership and the hard skills necessary for professional success. All Christians are called to be saints; and if all saints are leaders, then all Christians are called to be saints. This world desperately needs Catholic leaders. We are here to raise them up.
Meet a Graduate
OUR HISTORY
The Saint John Leadership Institute was founded in 2015 in order to give the best formation possible to young people seeking to be leaders with Faith in the world of secular business. Riding upon the spirit and experience of the then 13-year history of Eagle Eye Ministries, the Saint John Leadership Institute sought to extend the power of the Summer Institutes, Excursions, and Retreats hosted by Eagle Eye Ministries to those desiring a formation capable of equipping them for leadership in a professional world.
In 2016, we opened the doors of our first “campus.” We were generously offered a vacant classroom at All Souls Catholic School in Englewood, Colorado. By the end of our first year, we had already purchased our first campus, the former home of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Colorado, just three blocks away from All Souls Catholic School. By God’s grace, steady improvements were made to our campus: a film studio, a guesthouse and student residence, and a renovated cafeteria. For 5 years we hosted graduate students who studied for their MBAs while in formation at the Saint John Leadership Institute and the Community of Saint John.
Today we are hosting professional leadership workshops and our signature Rise Above: What's Holding You Back? retreat for young adults ages 22-35. Click on the events tab for dates and details.
THE INFANT OF PRAGUE
In late April, 2017, the Saint John Institute faced its biggest challenge to date. The parish from which we had leased our space for our first year needed to reclaim the space. Our staffing was facing significant changes, and the promised funding for the purchase of our needed campus fell through unexpectedly. Poised for an entire summer on the road, preaching for the young people of Eagle Eye Ministries, and with little money in the bank, we were left with no easy path forward.
Father Nathan, our founder, turned to the Infant of Prague, begging for his miraculous assistance. He had been introduced to devotion to the Infant of Prague while still a student at his parish grade school and through the influence of his uncle. Others along his path had strongly encouraged him to declare the Divine Infant as the King of the Saint John Institute. Praying the novena prayer from a devotional book, Father Nathan promised that if Our Lord would grant us the grace of the ability to purchase our needed national center, we would honor Him by placing a statue of the Infant of Prague in a place of honor in our new center.
In July, just three months after this prayer, and with the valiant help of a team of dedicated volunteers and collaborators, the Saint John Institute acquired its home. On the occasion of its blessing, we enshrined the statue of the Infant of Prague next to our front door. We desire to publicly give thanks to the Infant of Prague for His miraculous intercession, and encourage you, dear reader, to trust in His power to grant your needs. Indeed, He holds the whole world in His hand!
Our Partners
Whether you are an academic institution like our founding partner Walsh University, or an advisor, mentor, coach or corporate sponsor, our partners help our Innovators reach their potential.
Become a PartnerWALSH UNIVERSITY
OUR PARTNERSHIP
In 2016, The Saint John Institute partnered with Walsh University to offer students a fully-accredited Master's of Business Administration program in entrepreneurial business. Professors at Walsh University offered courses for the Saint John Institute students as a unique class via an online course format. Saint John Institute students completed each course together in a classroom setting on the SJI Denver Campus, with additional, non-accredited Theology and Philosophy classes provided in-person by the Brothers of the Community of St. John.Thus, students received the benefits of a fully-accredited MBA from a top-quality Catholic university while living in a community of their peers in the rich spiritual milieu of the Community of St. John.
Meet our innovators
Why are the graduates at the Saint John Leadership Institute are known as Innovators? Because not only do they come to SJLI to innovate in the Church or in the business world, they also come with missionary hearts yearning to spread the Gospel to those they encounter. SJLI is the place where faith and professional visions meet.
Paco Patag
Paco is an engineer and a poet; a lover of the outdoors and an avid reader; thrives in the world of ideas and hopes and potentials, yet is truly at his happiest seeing the people around him come fully alive in all of who they are. He is proud to count Cincinnati as his home, and is eager to direct the fruits of his growth at the Saint John Leadership Institute (SJLI) to loving and serving the persons in his community ever more profoundly.
Learn more
Paco Patag
Personal Vision Statement
To offer all that I am and all that I have to Jesus Christ, and so use my professional career to love as He loves, leading all those entrusted to my care to Heaven, and participating in the creative work of God by helping build his kingdom here on earth.
My Story
I’m from Cincinnati and have lived there since 2006, but I was born in St. Louis and spent my childhood years near Scranton. Professionally, my background is in Electro-Mechanical Engineering. I’ve been greatly blessed with an incredible community of family and friends in Cincinnati, and amazing opportunities to have grown through organizations like Boy Scouts, the UC Society of St. Paul, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and many more. I think there was a bit of inevitability about me joining SJLI. I’d kind of had the sense that I’d like to start my own venture ever since high school, so when Fr. Nathan started talking about “the MBA for the New Evangelization” at Eagle Eye events five years ago, my ears perked up. It’s been in the back of my mind ever since then, and I felt that unless something drastic were to change in my life, I would end up at the Institute sooner or later. But it was really events over the last two years - of profound experiences of God working in my life, deep friendships helping me discover more of who I am, and finding new ways to give myself and my talents - that helped me finally decide to commit to this course of action. What excites me most about having joined SJLI is the exhilaration of all these different parts of me being called into action. My fascination with science and engineering, love of poetry and music, hunger for community, and love of God all seem to converge in this place. Things I learned in martial arts, with non-profits, through college friendships - all of it is coming into play in ways that I could have never imagined and it’s incredible. I can’t wait to see where God is going to lead me.
Career Goals
The goal of my career is to continue the work of bringing Catholic social teaching to life in the arena of business. Specifically, my goal is to empower individuals to give of themselves by providing the “organizational scaffolding” - vision crafting, personal and team-based formation, business administration, etc. - to support them in launching locally-focused, mission-driven initiatives that respond to the needs they see in their community.
Alumni of The Saint John Leadership Institute
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- Catherine Wurts
Class of 2018
“After many years in full-time ministry, the Saint John Leadership Institute provided me with the opportunity I was seeking for deeper formation and discernment of God's Call. The Brothers of Saint John gave me an invaluable formation in prayer, philosophy, and theology while I worked on my MA degree, and they also connected me with a wonderful mentor. It was through my mentor that God opened the door to my current work with JPII Outdoor Lab and the Altum Institute at Annunciation Heights Catholic Youth and Family Camp, roles in which I regularly draw on all that I learned while at SJLI.”
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- Jeff Yanuck
Class of 2020
“SJLI has given me the opportunity to step back from my career, comfort zone, and the familiar to grow in self knowledge through prayer, coaching, and reflection. Through SJLI, I was also able to connect with apostolates, and explore the opportunities available for how to redeploy my professional skills and God-given talents to assist in the process of revitalizing parishes. Ultimately, this networking prepared the way for my dream job to accomplish exactly what I aspired to do years before attending SJLI.”
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- Paul Spankie
Class of 2020
“The opportunities that I have had at the Saint John Leadership Institute helped me to grow professionally, personally, and spiritually. SJLI has helped me to center my life on Christ and develop a unique perspective and skillset that integrates faith and business.”
- Regina Ramsey
Class of 2018
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- Brianne Schulze
Class of 2018
BOARD OF ADVIRSORS
Board of Advisors
Name Last
Title
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Title
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Title
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Fr. Nathan Cromly
Title
Father Nathan is the Founder and President of the Saint John Institute
