The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has hired Jean Houghton to serve as its first director of mission advancement, it announced Aug. 1. She begins the new role Sept. 6.

Houghton, who presently serves as president of the St. Paul-based Aim Higher Foundation, will lead efforts to develop and coordinate an archdiocesan-wide development plan and foster a culture of stewardship and generosity, said Bill Lentsch, chief operating officer for the archdiocese.

“We are counting on Jean to unite people and their giving of time and treasure,” Lentsch said in an Aug. 1 statement. “Whether someone has the capacity to give a few dollars or a few million dollars, a few hours or several months of their time, supporters will experience Jean’s love of Christ and love of the people in his Church.”

In a statement from Aim Higher, Houghton said she is “thrilled to have this opportunity to develop this new, important office in service to the archdiocese’s mission and the priorities emerging from the Archdiocesan Synod.”

The Synod was a three-year process of listening to local Catholics to help form parishes in the service of evangelization, forming missionary disciples, and forming youth and young adults. The Synod Assembly was held in June, and a pastoral letter outlining the Synod’s outcomes is expected from Archbishop Bernard Hebda in November.

“I very much look forward to collaborating with Archbishop Hebda, Bishop (Joseph) Williams and the entire Archdiocesan Catholic Center staff,” Houghton said. She will be working with other archdiocesan staff at the Archdiocesan Catholic Center in St. Paul.

Houghton has led the Aim Higher Foundation since 2017. The organization awards scholarships to children from families with demonstrated financial need who wish to attend Catholic schools. Once awarded, the scholarships follow recipients through eighth grade.

She has contributed to several recent archdiocesan initiatives, including helping lead the Access and Sustainability Committee of the Roadmap for Excellence in Catholic Education, which guides the 96 Catholic schools in the 12 counties within the archdiocese. She also participated in the archdiocese’s economic task force, which helped parishes and schools navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Jean’s leadership has been paramount to the recent success of the Aim Higher Foundation, the Roadmap for Excellence in Catholic Education, and our Catholic schools more broadly,” said Archbishop Hebda in a statement. “I am grateful that Jean has committed to bringing her gifts to the Archdiocesan Catholic Center not only to lead the work of this new office, but to draw on her relationships with so many of our pastors and principals to help the archdiocese better serve their needs,” he said. “She has the experience, energy and enthusiasm needed as we move forward as a missionary Church, centered on Christ.”

Under Houghton’s leadership, the Aim Higher Foundation tripled the number of students who receive its tuition-assistance scholarship, and now serves more than 10% of all K-8 students in the archdiocese. In February, Houghton received an award from St. Agnes School in St. Paul, where she served for 18 years before joining the Aim Higher Foundation. Houghton led a $5.8 million capital campaign and secured lead gifts of more than $18 million for new construction. She and her husband, Tom, are members of the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul.

The Aim Higher Foundation’s board of directors named Ricky Austin as the foundation’s new president, effective Aug. 26. Austin joined the foundation in 2017, most recently serving as vice president of advancement and operations. Before Aim Higher, Austin spent nearly 20 years working for Catholic schools, starting his career as a teacher and administrator, and later serving the nationally recognized Alliance for Catholic Education at the University of Notre Dame, and the Partnership Schools, a network of nine urban Catholic schools in New York City and Cleveland.

Austin said he looks forward to expanding the work that he and Houghton started together “to ensure all children, regardless of their family’s financial circumstance, can access a Catholic school.”