Founders & Board of Directors
Meet the Founders of Chesterton Academy of St. Padre Pio, who comprise the Board of Directors. You can email us at board@chestertonsarasota.org.
Nadia Smith is an award-winning journalist and accomplished executive editor whose career has spanned three continents. She received her Bachelor of Arts in International Relations with a concentration in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She served as a communications and marketing specialist for a nonprofit aid organization in Australia before heading to Rome, Italy to work as a radio host and news reporter for the Vatican Radio. Stateside, Nadia has worked as a correspondent and editor for a number of diocesan and national Catholic publications, and currently serves as the director of communications and marketing for the Catholic Medical Association. As a wife and mother of three children, Nadia feels blessed to help establish a Chesterton Academy in Sarasota. She believes it will form Christ-centered young men and women that will rise up to unleash the cultural renewal so desperately needed today.
Cristin O’Connor is a graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology. She taught middle school science and religion at Sacred Heart School in Winnetka, Ill. for seven years along with religious education at the Church of St. Mary’s in Lake Forest, Ill. She also taught at several grade schools in the Archdiocese of Chicago as a substitute teacher. Cristin’s passion for classical education has grown throughout the past six years as she continues to witness its fruits through the academic development of her daughter. She is excited to help bring Chesterton Academy to Sarasota because it proposes a vibrant path for renewal by producing students that will engage the culture joyfully and offer witness to the truth.
Rhea Tankersley holds a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences in Political Science and International Affairs from University of Colorado, Boulder. Rhea worked for several years in the hospitality industry as an events manager, sales associate, and director of sales and marketing. Currently, Rhea is a home manager, raising her four children ages 6-13 with her husband Patrick in Sarasota. Rhea believes Chesterton Academy will give students a firm foundation not only in academics, but also in truly understanding how much each student is loved by God so that wherever they choose to go after high school, their faith remains a priority and will be unshakeable.
Steve O’Connor is a top-rated sales executive with 20 years-experience in the field, who has received his company’s highest award for sales several times. He is a graduate of Illinois State University with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing. He has a passion for classical education seeing the fruits it has produced in his daughter. Along with his passion for classical education, Steve is especially drawn to the Lay Apostolate Movement of the G.K. Chesterton Society because it is part of St. John Paul II's vision for the New Evangelization. He is also drawn to the parent-led approach of Chesterton Academy and believes it will be a great benefit to the community.
Kathie Carolan earned her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from the University of Texas (UT), Austin and her Masters of Bilingual-Bicultural Studies from UT San Antonio before heading to Spain to teach English as a Second Language (ESL). She lived and worked in Spain for 12 years, where she met her husband and raised their three children before returning to the States. Kathie continued to teach ESL as well as serve in various ministries at her parish of Our Lady of the Angels in Bradenton. One of the reasons that Kathie and her husband moved their family back to the States was to provide them with an education that offered their children excellence in all aspects: academic, faith, character formation and community. She longed for the type of education that Chesterton Academy will provide, which is why she is helping to bring it to Sarasota.
Colleen Roca is a wife, mother, and grandmother, who lives in Venice. She has 26 years of training and practice in classical methodology and pedagogy due to homeschooling her own four children and others using Mother of Divine Grace School classical curriculum. She has worked for the school for 20 years as an educational consultant. In 2017, she founded St. Lucy Homeschool Helpers, an educational consulting service. Colleen worked as youth director at Epiphany Cathedral in Venice for nine years, with the expressed goal of leading teens closer to Christ. To that end, she led groups of teens on many international pilgrimages, youth conferences, and mission trips. She believes Chesterton Academy is the answer for our times, and is thrilled to be part of a movement that brings teens to a deep love of the truth, goodness, and beauty of God and the Catholic faith.
George Leo Smith spent more than two decades working in the fine arts as well as private and nonprofit sectors, before moving into public service as the chief director of operations for the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections. George holds a B.F.A. from Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts, an M.A. in Theology from Holy Apostles College and Seminary, and an M.P.A. from the University of Missouri’s Truman School of Public Affairs. Prior to his experience in local government, George served as director of youth and young adult outreach for the Diocese of Venice, a position which afforded him unique insight into the spiritual needs of young people. He is honored to assist in the formation of Chesterton Academy within Sarasota County and looks forward to the many blessings God has in store for its students.
