Tom Mlada has been a mayor, nonprofit executive director, parish development director, athletic director and high school quarterback.
As he begins his new role as president of Pius XI Catholic High School, Mlada sees those varied experiences as part of a path that led him to where he is today.
“You sort of pinch yourself each day and think, ‘How blessed am I?’” said Mlada, a former mayor of Port Washington.
“I’ve had so many opportunities in my professional career where I think it’s so interesting and circuitous that I got here today, and yet I look at each one of those experiences and I can see how it helped position me for the here and the now in this moment.”
Mlada became the school’s fourth president July 1, succeeding the retired Jack Herbert. An installation Mass will be celebrated Thursday, Aug. 27, at St. Vincent Pallotti Parish, followed by a reception at the school.
His career has included leading development and marketing at St. Monica Parish in Whitefish Bay, serving as athletic director at Dominican High School and holding leadership roles in public service and environmental protection with Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership.
Through those experiences, Mlada said, his Catholic faith has remained a constant.
“Looking back a little bit on kind of how all these things played in — ups and downs and all around the peaks and the valleys — he’s with us every step of the way,” Mlada said. “I genuinely believe that he guided me here and that’s his doing, not mine.”
Pius XI Principal Ryan Krienke said Mlada’s faith and enthusiasm have quickly become apparent to those around him.
“It’s been very clear to those of us who are closest with Tom. He is sincerely just a very faith-filled person,” Krienke said.
Mlada’s commitment was evident even before he officially arrived. While finishing his tenure at Dominican, the husband and father of three daughters spent evenings and weekends meeting Pius XI leaders and stakeholders.
“We all feel that the Holy Spirit brought Tom to us,” Vice President of Advancement Michelle Pape said.
For Mlada, that faith is central to Pius XI’s call for students to “Be More You.”
“Your journey here is going to include your own faith journey, and we’re going to be able to support you in that as you go,” he said.
“We as a school community are able to instill in them these lifelong faith and moral values and then connect to an outstanding education positioned for success. That to me is really a higher calling. We’re really stewards of that, and it’s a real privilege.”
Tom Mlada became the fourth president of Pius XI Catholic High School on July 1, bringing experience in Catholic education, public service and nonprofit leadership to his new role. (Submitted photo)
