CCL Embarks on Search for Next Leader
Executive Director Michael D. Manhart, PhD, has announced his upcoming retirement, seven years after graciously taking on the role “temporarily” to help the League while it transitioned to a new leader.
In 2009 Mike was recently retired from a long career at Procter & Gamble and had been serving as a CCL board member when a search was launched for a new executive director. His offer to fill an interim role rather quickly moved to a permanent one and CCL has reaped many benefits from his seven years of leadership and insights.
In the ensuing years we witnessed a steady stream of initiative launches all focused on bringing the good news of God’s plan for marriage and NFP to as many couples as possible. These include a streamlined and improved online teacher training, the publication of the 2nd edition English main course, the launch and expansion of online live classes, deployment of our mobile charting app CycleProGo®, the release of our 2nd edition postpartum and pre-menopause classes, and most recently, the launch of our Self-paced Online course as part of our overall English main course lineup.
During Mike’s tenure we also invested considerable effort in reaching out to diocesan and lay organizations in order to find places where we can collaborate to bring NFP to a wider audience. CCL played some small role in the decisions in the last seven years of five dioceses to make a full course of NFP a requirement for marriage (Covington, Little Rock, Sioux City, Bismarck, and most recently, Ft. Worth). Finally, we have also worked with other NFP providers and like-minded organizations, sometimes publicly, sometime privately, so we can combat together the much bigger problem of the contraceptive mindset while still holding to our closely held convictions.
Now eager to move into a more traditional retirement, Mike has blessed CCL again with his desire to keep serving the League in a manner close to his heart – conducting professional research related to our method and its impact.
Positioned well, focus will be on growth
As the Board identifies future needs of the organization, we search for an individual impassioned about the Church’s teachings on marriage, Theology of the Body and NFP, but also with a solid track record of leadership in a marketing/sales environment. Although we have made wonderful strides in the last several years and have one of the best NFP programs, the need for an even wider recognition remains a priority. CCL’s new executive director will have the responsibility to foster this recognition, increase our ability to serve dioceses and lead us in new ways to reach more couples and supporters to achieve our mission.
We thank Mike, along with all of our volunteers and members, for your continued support of CCL and our mission to build joyful marriages through teaching NFP, couple to couple. We are doing this in a challenging culture, and yet strongly believe that our message remains vital.
If you, or someone you know, is enthusiastic for this mission and eager to grow CCL’s reach in new ways, you are directed to the CCL Executive Director job description on www.CatholicJobs.com. Your prayers for us to find the right candidate are appreciated.
– Mark Kummer, M.D.
CCL Board Chairman