Ricardo Ramirez, C.S.B.
Bishop Emeritus of Las Cruces
I am writing on behalf of Mr. Koren Ruiz, a friend whom I have known for five years. He was part of a team from the O'Meara-Ferguson consultants for a Capital Campaign conducted in the Diocese of Las Cruces while I was bishop.
It is my understanding that Mr. Ruiz is creating a new organization that will provide programs and service to enhance stewardship education and planned giving within the Catholic Latino community. I am convinced that Mr. Ruiz has
the experience, the skills and the vision to create such an organization that will be a blessing for the Catholic Church in the United States.
From his resume it is apparent that he has the following qualifications: a solid academic background, experience in capital campaigns, thoroughly bilingual in Spanish and English, and commitment to the mission of the Church.
Mr. Ruiz has worked in Mexico and his work in the United States has also been with the Hispanic community. His bilingual and bicultural background makes him uniquely qualified to provide the services he envisions.
It is without hesitation that I recommend Mr. Ruiz to you as a person who will assist you in your stewardship and planned giving services.
Rev. Donald F. Hanchon
Auxiliary Bishop/Central Region
Archdiocese of Detroit
I am happy to write this recommendation of Koren Ruiz as a consultant on Christian Stewardship, based on my personal experience with him.
Before becoming an Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of Detroit in May of 2011, I was the Pastor--for just more than twelve years--of Detroit's Most Holy Redeemer Parish, its largest parish serving the Hispanic Community.
In that capacity, the parish conducted a Stewardship-themed Program conducted at all archdiocesan parishes, known as "Changing Lives Together", with the help of O'Meara Ferguson, a national firm with Christian Stewardship principles.
Because of ease in speaking in both English and Spanish, and because of his own personal experience as a bilingual/bicultural Catholic, Koren was assigned as the O'Meara Ferguson representative to work with Most Holy Redeemer as well as other English-Spanish speaking parishes in the Archdiocese of Detroit.
Our parish leadership was itself bilingual, or composed of individuals for whom either English or Spanish was their first language. All of Koren's presentations were bilingual, and used culturally-sensitive examples that people easily understood. The response was impressive: Most Holy Redeemer eventually surpassed its target...and a new group of parish leaders learned to understand the importance of Christian Stewardship. This understanding has helped the parish in its regular Sunday Offertory Collection following the conclusion of "Changing Lives Together." Koren took a huge challenge in communicating Christian Stewardship to a culturally and linguistically diverse group of leaders in a most enjoyable, prayerful and successful way. It was easy to convince other pastors with similar demographics to successfully work with him.
As Koren seeks to extend his experience in Christian Stewardship to other parishes nationally as a private consultant, I can confidently recommend him to you. He uses his considerable musical gifts as a distinct and valuable additional asset in his presentations.
Once again, it is a pleasure to recommend Koren Ruiz to you in your attempts to communicate the roots and importance of Christian Stewardship among the faithful of your parish or diocese.
Daniel Conway
Senior Vice President, Marian University
"I am very pleased to write a letter to provide a reference for Koren A. Ruiz, a man of many remarkable talents and deep faith".
"I know Koren both as an employee and as a colleague in the ministry of stewardship education. I recommend him highly for his professional skills and for his personal faith and character."
"Koren works hard, is customer/client focused, and always maintains a professional attitude in his approach to Church ministry, fundraising and stewardship education, leadership training and campaign management. He is friendly, approachable and yet serious about the importance of his work."
Pedro Rubalcava
Director of Hispanic Ministry,
Oregon Catholic Press
It is an honor to write this letter of recommendation for Koren Ruiz. I have known Koren for more than eleven years in my capacity as Director of Hispanic Ministry at OCP (Oregon Catholic Press) and consider him a trusted friend. He is a man of deep faith and dignity, who is completely devoted to his family. His entrepreneurial spirit and genuine curiosity complement his thirst for knowledge and search for advanced learning opportunities. Koren is an excellent communicator in English and Spanish languages, both written and verbal. Furthermore, I am extremely impressed with his knowledge and use of new media technology as a vehicle to engage and promote what he believes in.
He pays great attention to detail and is multi-talented. I know Koren to be proactive, well-organized, efficient, and more than competent as a presenter in public settings. He is confident, while remaining humble. He is a true collaborator and is able to take direction well, asking assistance when needed. His suggestions are insightful and realistic, but he is not afraid to dream big and present innovative ideas or approaches. I have experience in sharing the stage with him as a performer, as well as, leading people in sung prayer, and I have always felt comfortable and assured in this collaborative role.
Koren has a sound grasp of the biblical principles of stewardship and can effectively and convincingly communicate these to individuals or large audiences, whether young or old. I have no hesitation in recommending him to assist you in your venture in this regard. He has the training and experience to provide you excellent service. I value highly my relationship as a mentor and friend to Koren Ruiz.
Sharon Mainero
President, Mission Advancement Services
O'Meara, Ferguson, Whelan, and Conway
Mr. Ruiz worked with O’Meara Ferguson as a Senior Executive Consultant for close to six years between the years of 2008 and 2014. During his time with our firm, he led and managed multiple capital campaigns with primarily bilingual parish communities in several Archdioceses.
Mr. Ruiz was a great asset to our organization and provided stewardship education and capital campaign management services to communities that had no previous experience and or history of the concept of planned giving, especially within Latino communities. His bilingual/bicultural skills were well known within our company and well appreciated by our clients. Koren’s natural ability to relate to people from different backgrounds, and to be able to teach the concept of Christian Stewardship to parish communities in very practical ways resulted in levels of participation that our company had never seen with Latino communities.
David J. Kelly
Director of Development and Stewardship
Archdiocese of Detroit
Koren Ruiz has a remarkable gift of being able to connect with people from different backgrounds and help them gain a profound appreciation of, and commitment to, Christian Stewardship and Discipleship.
Koren was a valuable asset to us in the Archdiocese of Detroit’s Changing Lives Together capital stewardship campaign and was instrumental in guiding many of our parishes to successfully accomplishing not only their financial objectives, but also to a greater sense of community and stewardship. He worked hard and extremely well with our pastors, parish leaders, and parishioners.
He is an outstanding Catholic gentleman and a man of deep faith and integrity. I am delighted to commend him to you.
Rev. Bernardo Cruz
Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish
Detroit Michigan
I had the pleasure of working with Mr. Koren Ruiz about four years ago when he managed and lead the Archdiocesan campaign “Changing Lives Together” at our parishes St. Stephen and Our Lady Queen of Angels, that later merged into what is known today as Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Detroit Michigan.
The initial challenges included being able to conduct the process of a capital campaign with two parishes that were in the process of merging, and had their regular offertory and an Archdiocesan Annual Catholic Appeal running at the same time. In addition, parishes in the inner city had been severely affected in both an economically and demographically manner in recent years; and finally, the majority of our parishioners were Latino, which is a community that has minimal understanding about the concept of Christian stewardship and planned giving.
One of the qualities about Mr. Ruiz that gave us confidence in the beginning was his natural ability to work with culturally diverse groups in presenting and guiding them through the process of the campaign; but what I valued even more was his ability to inspire and communicate in practical ways, the concept of stewardship as a way of life, to the Latino community in a culturally sensitive manner. Many times, materials for various programs are simply translated, or sometimes there is nothing available in Spanish; but for this campaign, we had a bilingual/bicultural expert that guided and explained to us a clear plan to be successful in this endeavor.
After six months of working with Koren, both parishes surpassed their benchmarks, but most importantly, the process allowed our communities to work better together, unify their leadership, and create more awareness in the Latino community about stewardship as a way of life. Koren is one my trusted friends who is very passionate about his Catholic faith; it is without hesitation that I recommend him to work with you in the areas of stewardship and development within the Catholic Church, especially with the Latino community.