The executive director of Vermont Business Roundtable will address the next virtual gathering of Vermont Catholic Professionals.

Mary Anne Sheahan of St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Shelburne will speak on “Vulnerability: It Takes Courage” at the online Zoom meeting beginning at 8 a.m. on April 28.

“Our 3-person office is steeped in faith-based relationships of trust,” she said, noting her large network of business relationships and willingness “to be my authentic self.”

Vermont Catholic Professionals works to foster community, inspire discussions and spread the faith.

The purpose of Vermont Catholic Professionals — founded in 2018 — is to join Catholic men and women and others with shared values from the business and professional communities to encourage intellectual discussions, to foster professional and faith-based relationships and to inspire service and charity to the community in Vermont. The group has quarterly events which offer networking and a professional development speaker that is relevant to the business and professional communities in Vermont.

Sheahan has attended previous Vermont Catholic Professional meetings and likes “the honesty of people sharing about themselves and putting that in context of their work life,” she said.

The meetings — which began in person but have moved online because of the pandemic —remind participants that they are not alone and that they need to continue good works.

Sheahan served on the St. Catherine of Siena Parish Social Concerns Committee for 10 years and is currently on the Parish Renewal Committee that recently completed a parish hall addition and renovation of the 125-year-old church.

She and her husband, Chris, have been married for more than 25 years and have three college-age children. She enjoys boating, hiking and yoga, and during the pandemic, she picked up Pickle Ball.

For more information on Vermont Catholic Professionals and to register for the next Zoom meeting, go to vermontcatholic.org/vcp.

—Originally published in the Spring 2021 issue of Vermont Catholic magazine.