After working in the financial services industry for many years, Mary Ellen switched career paths in 2000. Serving in various pastoral settings at colleges, hospitals, and parishes, she strives to cultivate a lived discipleship of Jesus. She was the Pastoral Associate at St. Thomas More in Chapel Hill for 17 years before joining the staff at St. Francis in 2025. Her husband, John, is a cabinetmaker and they have two teenage sons. Mary Ellen is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry in Spirituality at Fordham University, and she also likes to bake, cook, hike, and read.