Our Story

We know that the story of ministry to and with young adults, as well as their formation as leaders, is inextricably linked to the landscape of the church in each moment. Therefore, the story of ESTEEM begins long before the program took flight.

In the wake of the sexual abuse crisis of the early 2000s, Leadership Roundtable was founded following a series of roundtable discussions aimed at addressing the crises of governance and accountability in the church. Focused on promoting best practices and accountability in the management, finances, communications, and human resource development of the Catholic Church in the United States, Leadership Roundtable engaged in partnerships with organizations and entities interested in addressing the same concerns.

A few of those concerns included the question of retention of young adults. Why do young people disaffiliate from the church, or simply let it fade away as a factor in their lives? How could young people engage their myriad gifts in service to the church, especially while working in secular fields? Leadership Roundtable founder Geoff Boisi and founding executive director Kerry Robinson collaborated with the Rev. Robert Beloin, the longtime chaplain to Catholic students at Yale University, to imagine ways to stem the tide of attrition of young leaders.

In the 2010-2011 academic year, ESTEEM was founded as a partnership between Leadership Roundtable and Saint Thomas More Catholic Chapel & Center at Yale University to develop the next generation of Catholic leaders to serve in roles of meaningful leadership in the church.

The project was also piloted at five other campuses across the United States, and over time expanded to dozens of campuses. While factors such as resource scarcity, declines in campus ministry staffing, and the COVID-19 pandemic caused ebbs and flows in the programmatic offerings of ESTEEM, the value of such a leadership formation opportunity for students preparing to transition from campus ministry to parish life remained constant.

In 2026, after more than a decade as a partnership project of two impactful organizations, ESTEEM moved to its new administrative home at Sacred Heart University’s Center for Catholic Studies. ESTEEM’s work aligns seamlessly with Sacred Heart’s mission, its Vatican II formation as a lay-led institution, and its commitment to preparing students to “lead with heart” in a global world. With ESTEEM, the center continues to promote cutting-edge, innovative programming. ESTEEM demonstrates the University’s mission and reinforces its leadership in Catholic thought and service. All stakeholders are confident that this new relationship will be the conduit for ESTEEM’s continued growth and impact on the faith lives of young people.

Leo M. Cooney Jr., MD, mentored Marysa Leya through Yale University’s ESTEEM program. Read more about their experience in this New York Times piece on ESTEEM.