SAN CLEMENTE, CALIF. Mark Holbrook, chairman of the Christian Management Association (CMA) board of directors, and president/CEO of Evangelical Christian Credit Union, Brea, Calif., announced today that the board has selected Frank Lofaro (pictured) as the new president/CEO for CMA. Lofaro will be introduced to the membership at the association’s 29th annual leadership and management conference, CMA Colorado 2006, March 13-16, in Denver, Colo. He begins on April 1. [EDITOR’s NOTE: Holbrook, search committee chair, is a member and adult Sunday School teacher at the Grace Brethren Church in Orange, CA, Ed Trenner, pastor]
Frank Lofaro is currently vice president of Dare Mighty Things, Inc. (DMT), in the Washington, D.C. area. DMT is a social service-focused consulting organization committed to addressing the needs of high-risk populations. Frank directs and manages a contract that assists one of President Bush’s high profile faith-based initiatives.
Since 2002, Lofaro has served as program director to the National Resource Center for the Compassion Capital Fund, a federal initiative housed in the Department of Health and Human Services. It’s designed to help faith-based and community organizations increase their effectiveness to better serve those in need. In this capacity, Frank has led a team that has worked with, and provided expert consulting to, more than two dozen of America’s most effective faith-based organizations.
Lofaro also served with Prison Fellowship International and Prison Fellowship Ministries, now based in Lansdowne, Va. As executive director of Prison Fellowship International from 1994 to 1999, Frank worked with prison-serving organizations in dozens of countries worldwide.
During his tenure as senior vice president of programs at Prison Fellowship USA from 1999 to 2002, Frank designed, developed and launched new ministry programs with national scale and effectiveness. His primary contribution was his extensive work with the Angel Tree program which serves the children of prisoners. Under his leadership, the program was redesigned and now serves more than 600,000 children per year.
As a social entrepreneur, Lofaro has a unique blend of both marketplace and ministry experience. His capacity to establish breakthroughs in nonprofit programs stems from his roots in the for-profit sector.
Lofaro began his entrepreneurial career by launching Tiffany Cafes, a successful restaurant chain in New York, overseeing the financing and opening of three locations. When he sold the enterprise in the late 1980s, he purchased a specialty lock and hardware company, growing the company from $600,000 to over $5 million in six years.
Frank received an undergraduate degree in economics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and his MBA from Long Island University. He has also studied law at St. John’s Law School in New York. Frank and his wife, Ellie, have been married for 18 years and they have three children.
John Pearson, 59, told the board in January 2005 that he would be stepping down as CMA’s president/CEO on Dec. 31, 2005, to launch a consulting business. Pearson has served more than 11 years as CMA’s leader. “I will be Frank’s greatest cheerleader,” said Pearson. “His marvelous credentials and his heart for ministries and ministry managers and leaders will be a huge blessing to our association. It’s a pleasure to pass the baton now to Frank who will be just the third CEO for CMA in 30 years. He’ll be a great leader, a great advocate and a great friend to our members.”
From January to March, the CMA team will be led by David Schmidt, president of J. David Schmidt & Associates, a consulting firm in Wheaton, Ill. Schmidt will serve as interim CEO.
Holbrook said that under Pearson’s leadership, CMA has grown to more than 4,000 members from 1,500 Christian organizations and growing churches in North America. More than 2,000 people are expected at the March 13-16 annual leadership and management conference in Denver.
For more information: www.CMAonline.org
