CCUSA honors outgoing President and CEO Father Larry Snyder with Vision Award

General

October 7, 2014

Alexandria, Virginia (October 7, 2014) – Honoring a decade of dedicated vision and a legacy of servant leadership, Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) honored Rev. Larry Snyder, the organization’s outgoing president, with a CCUSA Vision Award at its 2014 Annual Gathering, currently taking place in Charlotte, N.C.

Father Snyder, a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, has served as the president of CCUSA since 2005. He was selected by the CCUSA Board of Trustees for the award, which is a rare honor presented to individuals whose extraordinary body of work personifies CCUSA’s vision and mission of serving those in need. The award was presented by Sister Linda Yankoski, CSFN, chair of the Catholic Charities USA Board of Trustees.

“Thanks to Father Larry’s vision and example, Catholic Charities USA is leading the national movement to bring about systemic change to help our brothers and sisters out of poverty and achieve self-sufficiency,” said Yankoski in presenting the award. “Throughout his years of faithful
service and inspiring leadership, Father Larry has led the Catholic Charities movement, and it is my privilege to present him with this well-deserved recognition.”

During his tenure at CCUSA, Father Larry led the organization in shaping the national conversation on bringing systemic change to the way our nation addresses poverty. His leadership following both natural and man-made disasters helped create a network of first responders within the Catholic Charities network, ready to help communities in their time of greatest need. And his vision and guidance led to the creation of a ground-breaking alliance with the University of Notre Dame, which will harness the power of academic research and business best practices to develop the next generation of anti-poverty initiatives.

Prior to joining CCUSA, Snyder served as executive director of Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the largest private provider of social services in the Twin Cities. Snyder earned a bachelor’s degree from Illinois Benedictine College in Lisle, Ill., and holds a master’s degree of divinity from Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity and a master’s of public administration from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was appointed by President Barack Obama to the President’s Advisory Council of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, has been recognized in The Non Profit Times “Power and Influence Top 50,” and has received honorary doctorates from St. Francis and DePaul Universities. He recently announced that he will be leaving CCUSA in January 2015 to take the position of Vice President for Mission at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Previous recipients of the CCUSA Vision Award include Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, Joseph Cardinal Bernardin of the Archdiocese of Chicago, and the late Bishop Joseph Sullivan of the Diocese of Brooklyn-Queens, among others.