The Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota (CCF) is honored to welcome three exceptionally accomplished women to our board of directors. Cynthia Bailey Manns, Monique (Trusclair) Maddox, and Margaret (Sarazin) Murphy, bring a wealth of knowledge, experience, and expertise that will advance CCF’s mission and benefit our community.
Cynthia Bailey Manns, D. Min., describes a background that’s a study in contrasts. Raised in a military family in the 1960s, she recalls the disparity between life on integrated army bases and the segregated town in Alabama where her grandparents lived. She was a social worker at a drug rehab center after college but became weary with the system after three years, so she took a job in banking. She grew up Baptist, but later converted to Catholicism, her husband’s religion.
All those experiences ultimately led Cynthia to her current positions as the Director of Adult Learning at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Minneapolis and a member of the theology faculty at St. Catherine University, where she coordinates the Spiritual Direction Certificate Program. Her focus now is to invite people to deepen their relationship with that which is sacred.
Cynthia is excited to help CCF live out its mission and Catholic identity. “These are challenging times,” Cynthia says. “Yet when we come together as a community, we remember that we are all children of God.”
Monique Maddox is an electrical engineer whose consulting business advises companies on IT issues, but financial matters have always interested her, too. As a trustee at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church in Edina, Monique oversees the parish endowments managed by CCF. As an angel investor for the last seven years, she’s prioritized putting her money into women-owned businesses.
Monique was raised Catholic in a small town in Louisiana. In 2016 she learned a meaningful piece of her ancestry; she is among the descendants of the more than 272 named enslaved men and women that Maryland Jesuits and Georgetown University sold to plantation owners in Louisiana in 1838. She’s become active in the GU272 Descendants Association and serves on the board of the Descendants Truth and Reconciliation Foundation.
“In reconciling, we are sharing the truth, empowering, and uplifting,” says Monique, who sees parallels between the work of the Descendants Truth and Reconciliation Foundation and CCF. “When you look at their missions and how funds are distributed, in many ways, they support the same people on the margins.”
Margaret Murphy, MBA, brings the hard-earned wisdom that comes with a 40-year career in commercial banking, along with a strong commitment to education and social justice shaped by deep roots in our Catholic community. She is a graduate of Holy Angels High School and the University of St. Thomas and an active member of St. Thomas Becket.
She generously shares her time and expertise as a board member for numerous nonprofits, such as the Northside Economic Opportunity Network (NEON) in Minneapolis where she applies her banking expertise to help Black entrepreneurs secure capital for their businesses. “People of color face big obstacles to access financing,” Margaret says. “I’m applying my technical skills to try and make a difference.”
Margaret anticipates similar opportunities at CCF. “CCF pairs community outreach with Catholic values to create strong grantmaking programs. It’s a unique organization.”
“Each of these women brings important perspective and talent to the CCF Board of Directors,” says CCF President Anne Cullen Miller. “I’m so grateful to Cynthia, Monique, and Margaret for generously sharing their wide range of skills, talents, and experiences — as well as their passion for serving our Catholic community.”