Rev. Logan Nilsen

by Lisa Mladinich | Mar 31, 2026

Coaching matters to me as a priest because it helps to give me a good sounding board and way to get advice when dealing with leadership issues. Most importantly, it helps me to see my own strengths and how I would be able to best use them, not only for myself, but for the good of my assignments.
In addition to part one, it also has helped me to better understand and deal with the challenges I have faced in ministry, and to be coached on how to overcome them, as well as how to best develop my own personal skills to be a better priest and to excel in my own development.
I would recommend [Becky Magnotta] for coaching because you were able to listen as well as give good and practical advice to me, and help me to not only bring out my own strengths, but also use them to best serve the people who have been entrusted to me.

As for the culmination testimony, starting out with me discovering and finding my strengths was a great way to start. We spent a good amount of time going over my strengths and how they shape not only who I am, but also how I can use them to best serve the people entrusted to me in my assignments.

We spent time going over the areas that I was not as strong in, and how I can best navigate them and work with them. I found this to be the most impactful part as it helped me to realize my talents that God gave and how he called me to use them, but also that the “weaknesses” didn’t necessarily preclude me from certain things.

I found my time being coached to be very beneficial and allowed me to have a solid foundation for how to lead as a priest. Meeting once-a-month helped me to reflect on the challenges and opportunities of the previous month, as well as what would be coming up, and helped me to seek out advice that would allow me to grow and improve with every opportunity.

Overall, found the opportunity to be coached to be a very worthwhile endeavor, as well as an advantageous way to spend my time, as I continue both get comfortable and grow as a priest, understanding my own leadership qualities and skills and how they reflect how God has called me to serve, and how to best apply them in the joys and challenges of ministry.

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Margarita Perry

Marketing Team

Margarita Perry has dedicated over 24 years to higher education, serving in various roles at Fresno State, including Marketing, Branding, Social Media, Event Coordination, and Graphic Design. She earned her MBA in 2016 from Fresno State, sharpening her leadership and strategic thinking.
Beyond her professional achievements, Margarita is deeply involved in her parish community, where she actively volunteers. Her dedication includes fundraising efforts to build the parish's physical structure, reflecting her commitment to fostering the growth of the Church. Since 2022, she has been a proud member of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas, further deepening her faith journey.

A Catholic revert since 2014, Margarita has rediscovered her Catholic faith with profound love and devotion. She continuously grows in her relationship with Jesus and the Virgin Mary, striving to align her will with God's and to live as the person she was created to be. Her faith has been a source of strength and healing, especially as she witnessed the restoration of her relationship with her daughters.

Margarita is blessed with two beautiful daughters. Her eldest, married and expecting her first child, is about to make Margarita a proud grandmother. Her youngest is excelling in her studies at Fresno State, a testament to the faith and love Margarita has instilled in her family.
As Margarita looks toward the next chapter of her life, she is excited to embrace her vocation as a Catholic life coach. With plans to retire soon, she aspires to dedicate herself full-time to coaching men and women who have experienced trauma, offering them hope and healing through the transformative power of faith. Her coaching philosophy is rooted in love, collaboration, trust, and truth, guiding individuals toward self-discovery, purpose, and alignment with God’s divine plan.

Margarita believes that by living authentically and embracing our God-given potential, we can fulfill our unique purpose in this world. She is committed to accompanying others on their spiritual journey, empowering them to grow closer to Christ and to live with joy, peace, and grace as faithful members of the Catholic community.

You can connect with Margarita
https://www.linkedin.com/in/margarita-perry-mba/
[email protected]

Donna Ottaviano-Britt

Donna Ottaviano-Britt.

Advisory Board

Donna Ottaviano-Britt is a disciple of Jesus, a loving wife to Joe (her very own St. Joseph), who has coached for 25+ years in multiple environments. She built a breadth and depth of skills and experiences with a global company – serving clients in the US and abroad – before bringing her gifts, talents and expertise to serve the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Camden in 2018. Donna’s areas of expertise are in leadership, coaching, sales, strategic innovation and learning and development.

She is the first director of the Office of Discipleship and Leadership, and is dedicated to exploring, piloting and evolving the many paths of becoming a missionary disciple – so all can live into their baptismal calling. This involves equipping and supporting the co-responsible clergy and laity in their missionary work in the 21^st century.

A critical pathway for discipleship and leadership is creating a culture of affirmation and calling. Donna is creating opportunities for clergy and laity – through coaching – to shine a bright light on the unique and unrepeatable God-given design of each person. These coaching experiences are specifically intended to recognize and celebrate who a person uniquely is. This beautiful gifting remains at the heart of her work in service to the Mystical Body.

In collaboration with key strategic partners, her office has designed, developed and implemented a coaching experience for clergy, the Gifted Leadership Journey. Each priest is provided executive coaching accompaniment to reveal and affirm his uniqueness as a child of God and as a priest of Jesus – uniquely called to the priesthood for his gifts and talents.

Donna is launching a new ‘ministry of accompaniment coaching’ for the laity, so they too can answer their missional calling for which they have been uniquely created. For as St. John Newman said, ‘God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another.’

Advisory Board Service:

Advisory Council Member, Transformative Leadership in Disruptive Times, Seton Hall University
https://www.shu.edu/business/executive-certificate-programs/leadership-in-a-disruptive-time/
Sól Recruiting, Coaching and Consulting, Colorado Springs, CO
https://www.solrcc.com/
Catholic Business Network of South Jersey
https://cbnsj.org/

She also hosts the Talking Catholic YouTube show, Joyful Disciples, a show dedicated to highlighting joyful followers of Jesus.

https://talking.catholicstarherald.org/jd/

Member: The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem

The only lay institution of the Vatican State charged with the task of providing for the needs of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and of all the activities and initiatives to support the Christian presence in the Holy Land.

stephanie-brown

Stephanie Brown

Director of Membership & Engagement

About Stephanie S. Brown and FWD Coaching & Consulting

Stephanie S. Brown is a daughter of God, called to reflect His light by helping others discover who He created them to be. She brings her whole self—faith, purpose, and joy—into her work. A deacon’s wife, mother of three blessings, and “MiMi” to three more, Stephanie is a Catholic coach, mentor, and founder of FWD Coaching & Consulting. What began as a profession has become a ministry rooted in truth, transformation, and the love of Christ.

Through FWD Coaching & Consulting, Stephanie’s mission is clear: to help people move forward in faith, work, and purpose. She walks alongside leaders, coaches, and professionals as they discern God’s call in their lives and step into it with confidence and clarity. Whether navigating career transitions or leadership challenges, her approach is grounded in the belief that true growth comes from knowing one’s identity in Christ.

Stephanie draws deep inspiration from the witness of Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman, whose radiant faith and bold voice encouraged others to live with dignity, joy, and purpose. Like Sister Thea, Stephanie seeks to be a joyful voice in the world—inviting others to stand tall in their identity as beloved children of God. She lives by Sister Thea’s call to “walk, talk, and live with Jesus,” and brings that spirit into every coaching conversation and consulting engagement.

Following a rewarding career in federal service—including roles as Chief Learning Officer and senior HR leader—Stephanie answered the call to merge her faith and her work fully. Her work is now a sacred space where the Holy Spirit leads, transformation occurs, and leaders rise—not only in skill, but in soul.

For Stephanie, coaching is a ministry of accompaniment. Just as she was mentored with patience and prayer, she now walks beside others as they grow into the fullness of their God-given potential. She believes, as Sister Thea did, that our stories, struggles, and gifts are meant to be shared—for healing, for unity, and for the building up of the Body of Christ.

This is not just her work. It is her joyful “Yes” to God.

Connect with Stephanie

Patrick-Molyneaux

Patrick Molyneaux

Advisory Board

Patrick (Pat) Molyneaux is a devoted husband to Andrea and father to Therese. He is co-owner of Molyneaux Tile Carpet Wood, a chain of flooring stores in Western PA. Over the past 30 years Molyneaux has grown from $2 million in revenue to nearly $30 million. Pat’s Christifideles Laici inspired vision is to help renew the temporal order by bringing beauty and joy to all that Molyneaux touches.

He is a cofounder and catalyst for several ministries and lay apostolates. One of Pat’s callings is helping Catholic CEO’s live out their Catholic faith in the marketplace. Responding to this call, in 2010 Patrick and Andrea founded the Pittsburgh Chapter of Legatus, an organization that helps Catholic CEO’s learn and live their faith.

In 2015 Pat was inspired by the writings of St. John Paul II in Pastores Dabo Vobis section 43 on Human Formation and started helping Catholic pastors and their lay leaders improve leadership and team effectiveness in context of Human Formation. In 2017, Pat teamed up with Craig Cozza to create the Human Formation Coalition (HFC), an ecumenical 501c3 that awakens a robust understanding of the integration of all four pillars of formation (Human, Spiritual, Intellectual, Pastoral-Vocational) within leadership development contexts, but with a special emphasis on Human Formation.

Since 2017 HFC has catalyzed Human Formation coaching and learning opportunities for hundreds of clergy and thousands of lay leaders globally. Furthermore, HFC has trained hundreds of Human Formation coaches globally. In 2020 HFC launched Leadership Circles for faith-based leaders to come together and discover a leadership vision that is aligned with their unique Ephesians 2:10 workmanship/vocational callings. Beginning in 2021 Pat has more actively catalyzed Christian leaders to cultivate personal vocation inside their organizations which (in collaboration with others) included a Leadership Retreat for the Franciscan University President’s Council. In 2022 Pat was inducted into the Leadership Institute Advisory Board for Franciscan University.

Sarah Dao-Bai

Vanessa Denha-Garmo

Advisory Board

Vanessa Denha Garmo is an ICF-certified life and leadership coach and a certified Strengths Coach; she works with clients on leadership, career, and professional development as well as on communications strategies and team building. Her programs and resources focus heavily on a growth mindset and developing emotional and positive intelligence. She uses a brain science approach to coaching when helping clients get unstuck, which often centers around mindsets and beliefs. She helps people and organizations reach their goals, lead with strengths, and build strong teams. She works with clients to create a leadership style focused on communication and strengths. Through coaching, Vanessa's clients have Epiphany moments where they grow deeper self-awareness.

She is the founder of Epiphany Communications: Coaching & Consulting. She and her team serve as communications evangelists, strategists, consultants, and content writers. Vanessa has more than 25 years of experience in communications. Vanessa is the host of Epiphany on Ave Maria Radio. She was a full-time reporter for WJR 760 for 10 years. She hosted the show It's Your Community, which was heard on WJR 760 AM, 96.3 FM, and 93.1 FM for 30 years.

As an award-winning journalist, Vanessa can guide clients on how to tell their stories using various platforms. As a speaker, facilitator, and consultant, Vanessa tells her audiences that "everyone has a story to tell, but if you don't know how to tell your story, no one will care about your story. She co-founded the Chaldean News and served as Co-publisher and Editor in Chief for nearly 16 years.

She has a bachelor's degree in journalism and a master's in communications. She wrote her thesis on Bullies in the Workplace. She is an award-winning journalist and an Emmy Award-Winning Documentarian. Her eBook Conversations That Create the Culture: 14 Insights Leaders Gain from a Communications Audit, is available on Amazon. You can follow Epiphany Communications on Facebook and Vanessa Denha Garmo on X, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn.

Contact: https://epiphanycommunications.com/