NATIONAL LEADERSHIP
Board of Directors
Steve Dawson
Founder & President
After a powerful conversion to the Catholic faith in 2006, Steve has been active in various Catholic ministries and in leadership positions in the pro-life movement. Steve also spent time discerning religious life, spending 14 months with the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, before discerning his call to work for the Church as a layman. As Founder and President of St. Paul Street Evangelization, he has been featured on various television and radio programs, and is also the author of several books and articles on evangelization. He resides in Michigan with his wife, Maria, and five children.
Adam Janke
Chief Operating Officer
Adam is a “revert” to the Catholic faith having been born Catholic, raised Lutheran, and became Baptist in high school before returning to the Catholic Church in college. He oversees the day to day operations of St. Paul Street Evangelization, including the development of programs and resources. Adam brings the experience the institute has gained through hundreds of street teams in the form of talks and workshops on evangelization, healing, and hospitality. After converting to Catholicism in 2005, Adam obtained a BA in Theology and Catechetics and an MA in Theology in Christian Ministry from Franciscan University. Adam has been featured on EWTN Television and Radio, Catholic Answers Live, the Radio Maria Network, the National Catholic Register, as well as in several other Catholic news publications. He resides in Michigan with his wife and seven children.
Maria Dawson
Board Member
Maria Dawson is a faithful Catholic and graduated with a degree in humanities and Catholic culture from Franciscan University of Steubenville before getting her master’s degree in teaching from the University of Michigan. After working as an educator at several Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Detroit, she currently works full time as a stay at home mom.
Fr. Charlie Fox
Board Member, Spiritual Director
Fr. Charles Fox, S.T.D., is a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit. Ordained in 2006, Fr. Fox has served in two parochial assignments and as the personal secretary to Archbishop Allen Vigneron. He currently serves as vice rector and dean of seminarian formation at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit. Father Fox holds a licentiate degree (S.T.L.) in the theology of the new evangelization from Sacred Heart Major Seminary, as well as a doctorate degree in dogmatic theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome.
Louis Brown
Board member
Louis received an undergraduate degree from Michigan State University and a Juris Doctorate from Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C. He worked as a private practice attorney for a private law firm, where he practiced labor law and commercial litigation. In 2017, he received a political appointment and joined the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C. where he served until 2019. Louis now works at the Christ Medicus Foundation and serves as its Executive Director. He believes the ultimate mission of the Foundation is to share the healing love of God in healthcare and to help build what St. John Paul II called “a civilization of love and justice.”
Staff
Mark J. Hornbacher
Vice President of Programs, Director of Theology
Growing up nominally Catholic, Mark began reading and studying the Scriptures as a teenager. This journey into a more mature faith led him to theology studies, discernment of religious life, and diocesan seminary, before he recognized a lay calling in service to the Church’s mission of evangelization. As Vice President of Programs and Director of Theology at St. Paul Evangelization Institute, Mark helps develop and implement many of the institute’s initiatives, including new course materials and other publications. He resides in Sterling Heights, MI with his wife Gayle, and their three sons.
Bob Wilson
Director, St. Paul Street Evangelization
Bob Wilson is a life long Metro Detroiter. He grew up Catholic but didn’t start living his faith until 2007. Struggles with panic and anxiety led him to seek the peace that only Jesus can give. He’s been evangelizing ever since. He first started evangelizing with St Paul Street Evangelization in 2012. He’s evangelized at parish functions, college campuses, sporting events, parks, downtown areas, and libraries. He’s also the team leader for the Archdiocese of Detroit Festival team. He has co-led several Basic Evangelization Training events, gives a ’10 Ways to be an Amazing Evangelist’ talk, and trains Sacred Heart Seminary seminarians how to evangelize college students. He worked in the shipping business for over 22 years before joining our staff.
Brian Lee
National Director of Teams, St. Paul Street Evangelization
Brian was born and raised in Atlanta, GA. He earned a degree in Business Management before serving as a FOCUS missionary on the campus of Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis. After two years with FOCUS he spent three years in the seminary where he learned the art of prayer and discernment as well as studied philosophy and theology. Before coming on with SPSE Brian served as the Director of Mission and Discipleship at a major parish in downtown Indianapolis. He completed his Masters in Theology at the Augustine Institute and is excited to share his formation and further the mission of the New Evangelization with SPSE. He and his wife Kristen have two boys and one girl, and reside in Atlanta, GA.
Michael Miller
Marketing Associate
Michael serves as our Associate Marketing Director. Before joining St. Paul Street Evangelization, he was in two different religious orders for a combined 3+ years. Previous to his time in religious life, Michael was a copywriter for an ad agency, wrote for a Catholic website, and served as a youth & young adult minister. He is a cradle Catholic and was born and raised in the Metro Detroit area. He received his BA from The University of Michigan in English. He lives with his wife Kara, in Detroit.
Paul Schlenker
I.T. Support Staff
Paul is a web developer, server administrator, email administrator, source control administrator, and database administrator for St. Paul Evangelization Institute. He is responsible for keeping various websites up to date and running smoothly. Paul is a “cradle Catholic” who loves to share his faith with others. He has been involved in music ministry at several parishes around the country, and has experience as a facilitator in the RCIA program. Paul was born and raised in Flint, Michigan, and currently resides in southern California with his wife, Barbara. They have two daughters and two sons.
Cindy Hasenauer
Office Manager
Born and raised in Flint MI as a Methodist it wasn’t until after graduating from Lansing Community College that Cindy met and married her husband Bob and converted to Catholicism. They raised three children in the catholic faith to learn to love and serve our Lord, Jesus. Before coming to SPSE Cindy devoted 24 years to various catholic churches in the Detroit Diocese as secretary and office manager. In her free time she enjoys gardening, outdoor activities and spending time with her grandchildren.
Mark Nemecek
Social Media & Design
Mark earned a BFA in Graphic Design from College for Creative Studies in 2011. The following year, he started freelance work for SPSE. For several years, as a contractor, Mark managed SPSE’s Facebook page as well as most graphic design projects. Nemecek joined SPEI full-time in the spring of 2019. His day-to-day responsibilities include managing all social media platforms, editing videos for the online school, and completing all graphic design projects. Prior to joining SPEI, Mark worked at several technology firms over the course of a decade with a focus on User Interface Design.
Lexa Davis
Video Production Specialist
Lexa Davis graduated from the University of Central Florida with a B.A. in Film and a Creative Writing minor. With experience working on over 150 short productions, Lexa travelled north in 2021 to work as Video Production Specialist for St. Paul’s School of Evangelization. She partners with the team on various projects and directs the production process from start to finish. Lexa was born in Ohio and raised in a strong Catholic family. She grew tremendously in her faith and relationship with God through her involvement in UCF’s campus ministry, Saint Paul’s Outreach, RCIA mentorship, and live-streaming work for the Brotherhood of Hope. These experiences set her heart on fire for mission, personal growth, and relational evangelization.
Edgar Din
Shipping Associate
Edgar is a retiree who was born and raised Catholic in Manila, Philippines. He finished his High School in 1966 in an all boys San Sebastian College run by the Augustinian Religious Order. He then went to the University of Santo Tomas, also in Manila and earned his Bachelors Degree in Literature in 1970. Edgar put up his own homebased Medical Billing business in 1990 and had home visiting physicians as his main clients. He operated his business for ten years before being employed by Henry Ford Health Systems in 2000 and Infinity Primary Care Corp in 2006 and retired in 2012. During his retirement, Edgar became active in the Our Lady of Fatima house to house Prayer Ministry and joined SPEI in 2020. Edgar currently lives with his retired wife in Berkley, Michigan.
Lea Wojciechowski Ross
Advancement Project Manager
Lea is a cradle Catholic who loves how the Catholic Church is perfectly characterized through both intellectual richness and authentic encounter with Christ. She earned her BA in Environmental Science and teaching certification in secondary math and science from The University of Michigan, and her MS in Professional and Technical Communication from Lawrence Technological University. She taught undergraduate technical communication at Lawrence Tech for many years and has tutored high school and college students in math, writing, resume building, and more. In the nonprofit world, Lea has served as Director of Advancement at Chesterton Academy of Our Lady of Guadalupe, President and current Board member of Young Catholic Professionals (Detroit chapter), Board member of Protect Life Michigan, Educational Development Facilitator for literacy/K-Job Pipeline initiatives at UAW-GM Center for Human Resources and The Engineering Society of Detroit, and intern at Americans United for Life (Washington, DC). Lea and her husband Josh co-own the J-RO School of Music in Troy and enjoy philosophical discussions about business, leadership, politics, faith, and education. They live in Troy with their young sons Xavier and Simon and are parishioners at St. Anastasia.
Anthony Evich
Marketing Technology Administrator
Anthony was born and raised in Leelanau County, Northern Michigan along with his large Catholic family. Anthony earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications with a minor in Marketing from Ave Maria University. Prior to coming to SPSE, He served in various inbound Marketing capacities at two other Catholic companies. In his spare time, Anthony can be found spending time with his children and family, or with a camera in his hand. He resides in Bloomfield Township, MI with his wife Anastasia and two children.
Andre Siefker
Head of IT
Andre has lived in Southern Indiana his whole life. After graduating highschool he spent two years studying in seminary for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis while discerning a vocation to the diocescan priesthood. In 2018, he married his wife Sarah, and they now reside in Mount Vernon, Indiana, along with their two children.
Board of Advisers
Episcopal Board
Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke
Prefect Emeritus of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura
Most Reverend Allen H. Vigneron
Archbishop of Detroit
Most Reverend Earl Boyea
Bishop of Lansing
Most Rev. William J. Waltersheid, VG, STL
Auxiliary Bishop/Vicar General/Episcopal Vicar for Faith Initiatives for the Diocese of Pittsburgh
Theological / Canonical Advisory Board
- Dr. John Bergsma, Professor of Theology, Franciscan University of Steubenville
- Jeff Cavins, Founder of The Great Adventure, Director Emeritus of the Catechetical Institute
- Nicholas El-Hajj, Catholic Apologist
- Dr. Robert Fastiggi, Professor of Systematic Theology, SHMS
- Marcus Grodi, The Coming Home Network
- Dr. Mary Healy, Professor of Sacred Scripture, SHMS
- John Martignoni, Catholic Speaker and Apologist
- Rev. Mitch Pacwa, S.J. EWTN Live Television Host
- Steve Ray, Catholic Writer, Speaker, and Apologist
- Sr. Ann Shields, Renewal Ministries
- Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers, Catholic Evangelist and Speaker
- Michael Trueman, Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Detroit
Industry / Business Advisory Board
- Peter Lamporte, SPSE Collaborator / Fisher of Men
- Dave Mahoney, Direct and Digital Marketing Adviser
- Tom Monaghan, President of the Ave Maria Foundation
- Teresa Tomeo, Catholic Media Expert and Host of Catholic Connection
- Brandon Vogt, Catholic Blogger, Writer, Speaker
- Stephanie Whittier, Morgan Stanley, Board Chair