Mary Ellen Markowski has handed off the reins of leadership of The Catholic Community Foundation to Tony Nguyen. (Submitted photo)

When you sit down for a conversation with Tony Nguyen and Mary Ellen Markowski, you can tell they share a like-minded relationship, almost like siblings.

Eight years of a shared calling of compassion and empowerment of Catholic impact will mold people like Nguyen, the new president of The Catholic Community Foundation, and Markowski, his predecessor since the foundation’s inception in 2001, into comrades in mission.

“I believe the whole process of him coming and being here was in God’s hands,” said Markowski, who has retired. “I told my chairman from the beginning, ‘This is all in God’s hands. Who’s ever going to replace me? I believe the right person is going to come forward.’ I knew it was Tony. It was just a matter of time.”

“I’m very fortunate to continue the legacy that Mary Ellen has built for the foundation, because when she talks about building it with love and compassion and never having to say no, I’m going to continue to push that our team here is not going to change that,” he said. “We want to continue to have that impact.”

Nguyen, a graduate of Drake University in Iowa and a member of St. Mary, Menomonee Falls, served on the foundation’s board of directors starting in 2017.

He has 10 years tenure as a community bank president for Wells Fargo and led its consumer banking business for Wisconsin, eastern Minnesota and Chicago.

“I had the opportunity to lead, but also to grow a $30 billion deposit and investment book,” he said. “I feel like I can leverage my 21 years with Wells Fargo to drive efficiency, mitigate risk and to grow the foundation.”

Nguyen also has tenures on the boards of directors for Penfield Children’s, Safe and Sound Inc., Local Initiatives Support Coalition Milwaukee, the Teens Grow Greens farming school in Milwaukee and the Wisconsin Bankers Association.

The Catholic Community Foundation is culminating its first quarter-century of helping donors build legacies of support for Catholic causes that they individually champion, along with assisting parishes, schools and other Catholic organizations with managing and expanding their endowment assets.

“It was an exciting challenge, but an opportunity to do this from the beginning, to really grow something and know that we could make a real impact in the community now and, really, forever,” said Markowski.

“If you help one person, it matters. You have to have a heart for that.”

Nguyen’s heart was molded both for faith and compassion from early on, as someone who endured both trauma as a young child and healing through God’s love in caring, faith-filled avenues.

“When my father passed away when I was young, my mom was able to raise three boys. We didn’t miss a Mass. There was never a Sunday where all three of us didn’t attend a Mass, and didn’t have that connection with God,” said Nguyen.

“We would have Marian Days (a gathering for 100,000 Catholics of Vietnamese descent in Carthage, Missouri), so we were always connected, molding that continued connection of faith for me. It all started with that central figure, my mother.”

Nguyen and Markowski both say the goals for the foundation, which uses advisory firms to ensure they follow United States Catholic Conference of Bishops guidelines, include growing yearly distributions to a point where no grant request gets turned down.

Additionally, they want to help all the parishes in southeastern Wisconsin with growing their assets. They currently manage assets for about 55 percent of parishes in the archdiocese — all while adhering to the USCCB’s guidelines for socially responsible investments.

“I think that that’s a realistic future goal that I’d really like for us to be able to achieve,” Nguyen said. “By pooling the assets, we are able to achieve lower investment costs and greater investment opportunities.”

Amidst the family time, relaxation and travel that comes with retirement, Markowski says she will stay close to her brother in compassion and mission.

“I’ll never not be here for Tony, and the foundation will always be a part of me, and I still get excited working on stuff with him,” Markowski says. “When some people retire, they walk away. That’s not me. I’m an emeritus board member, so I’m still going to stay involved.”

“The foundation is built on a lot of love, and Mary Ellen’s leadership and dedication to not just growing the foundation, but doing good work,” Nguyen says.

Those interested in starting a fund within The Catholic Community Foundation can reach Tony Nguyen at 414-431-6402.