Institute Staff
Dr. Jared Ortiz, Executive Director and Co-Founder
Jared Ortiz hails from Hopewell Junction, New York where he was a wayward and impious youth. He entered the University of Chicago in 1996 as a confused agnostic and through the reading of Great Books and under mentorship of wise professors he slowly returned to his childhood faith. After college, he spent two years living in a faith-based community in voluntary poverty while teaching in an inner-city Chicago Catholic school. He received a Masters degree in Liberal Arts from the St. John's College Graduate Institute and a PhD in Early Christian Studies at the Catholic University of America. He is author of You Made Us for Yourself: Creation in St. Augustine's Confessions and editor of Deification in the Latin Patristic Tradition. Currently, he is a full professor in the Religion Department at Hope College. He is happily married to Rhonda, a writer and graphic designer. They have six mischievous children: Benedict, Miriam, Joseph, Leo, Magdalene, and Matthias. Dr. Ortiz can be reached at jared.ortiz@saintbenedictinstitute.org.
Dr. Jack Mulder, Assistant Director and Co-Founder
Jack Mulder is a native of Grand Rapids and a Hope College alumnus. He studied Philosophy and Religion at Hope College before pursuing an MA and PhD in Philosophy at Purdue University where he wrote his dissertation on Kierkegaard. Dr. Mulder was received into the Catholic Church while at graduate school. He is author of several books, including Kierkegaard and the Catholic Tradition,What Does it Mean to Be Catholic? (Eerdmans, 2015) and Civil Dialogue on Abortion (Routledge, 2018). Currently, he is chair and associate professor in the Philosophy Department at Hope College. He is happily married to Melissa, an instructor in Spanish at Hope, and father to two adorable children, Luke and Maria. Dr. Mulder can be reached at mulderj@hope.edu.
Fr. Nicholas Monco, O.P., Chaplain
Fr. Nick Monco was born and raised in Chicago. He went to Claremont McKenna College in California where he majored in Philosophy and Business. He then pursued the priesthood with the Dominican Order of the Midwest Province. He received a Master of Theology and Master of Divinity degree from the Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, MO, where he also earned a Certificate in Thomistic Studies. He was ordained in 2013 and has taught Theology at Fenwick High School in Oak Park, IL, for the past four years. Fr. Monco can be reached at nicholas.monco@saintbenedictinstitute.org.
Dcn. Brian Piecuch, Development Director and Program Coordinator
After graduating from college, Brian Piecuch served for two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica working with “campesinos” practicing subsistence farming. This experience reoriented the path of his life to one of serving the needy both here and abroad. His overseas projects included a five-year stint in the Central African Republic with Christian Blind Mission International and a decade in Peru with Medical Ministry International (MMI). Brian and his wife of thirty-five years, Carmen, are the proud parents of five children, who range in age from 18 to 33. In January 2022, Brian was ordained a permanent deacon for the Diocese of Grand Rapids and assigned to his home parish, St. Francis de Sales in Holland. Brian can be reached at 616-392-6700, ext. 8981, or at brian.piecuch@saintbenedictinstitute.org.
Rhonda Ortiz, Communications Manager
Rhonda Ortiz is an award-winning novelist, nonfiction writer, editor, publicist, and graphic designer with experience in both print and web design. In addition to her work for the Saint Benedict Institute, she is a founding editor of Chrism Press and the editor in chief of Dappled Things, where she has also served as art director and webmaster. Rhonda is a fully professed lay member of the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans). A native Oregonian, she attended St. John’s College in historic Annapolis, Maryland before she and her husband Jared (see above) followed the academic trail to Hope College. The Ortizes have six children who do their best to keep them on their toes. Rhonda can be reached at rhonda.ortiz@saintbenedictinstitute.org.
Michelle Pohlman, Assistant Program Coordinator
Michelle Pohlman earned a B.A. in Spanish and Theology from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids in 2011. During her time at Aquinas, she spent a semester abroad in Salamanca, Spain, and was an active member of the Insignis honors program. Beginning as a summer intern in 2010, Michelle worked with the Programs and Education department at the Acton Institute for 8 years. During her time at Acton, her primary responsibilities included administration for their annual summer conference, Acton University. Outside of her professional career, Michelle has volunteered with the liturgical environment team at the Cathedral of St. Andrew, has served as both retreat director and chapter director for Veritas, and has been a member of her church choir. Michelle lives in Holland with her husband Ben and their children Steven and Claire and are members of St. Francis de Sales parish. Michelle can be reached at michelle.pohlman@saintbenedictinstitute.org.
Theresa Asselin, Accountant
Theresa Asselin was born in Pennsylvania and lived in Texas for ten years before finally settling down in West Michigan. She graduated from the University of Michigan in 1992 with a Bachelor of Business Administration and started her career in public accounting to earn her CPA license. After three years as an auditor, Theresa moved into the corporate world of financial reporting, where she spent the next six years. Once her kids came along, she spent over a decade helping small business owners with their finances. She has also been very involved in all aspects of the Catholic community in Holland, from working at Corpus Christi Catholic School for four years and volunteering there for nineteen years while her kids attended, to serving on the Corpus Christi Foundation board as treasurer, to chairing the Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church finance council. Theresa has been a part of the Saint Benedict Institute for many years as a donor and volunteer and is now on staff as the accountant. She has been married to her high school sweetheart, Eric, for 29 years. They have four amazing, mostly adult kids (Sydney is a Hope alum), one son-in-law, and two dogs! Theresa can be reached at theresa.asselin@saintbenedictinstitute.org.
Nicholas Fornarotto, FOCUS Missionary
Nicholas Fornarotto grew up in Pocatello, Idaho. He graduated from Hope College in 2022 with a degree in mechanical engineering. During his time at Hope, Nicholas encountered Christ in the Eucharist through a friend. He went on to join the Catholic Church his senior year. After experiencing the love of God in the Church, he had a desire to share this love with others. With some prompting from friends, Nicholas looked into FOCUS and went on to become a missionary. He served his first year at Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and is now in his second year at Hope College. He can be reached at nicholas.fornarotto@focus.org.