Catholic Charities Executive Director Bill McCarthy will retire in 2025

Catholic Charities of Maryland Executive Director, William J. “Bill” McCarthy Jr. announced May 23 he will retire in July 2025. By that time, he will have led the State of Maryland’s largest private provider of human services for 16 years.

McCarthy joined Catholic Charities in August 2009, succeeding Harold “Hal” Smith, who had led the agency for more than 30 years. Between them, they have led the organization for more than half its existence.

McCarthy announced his decision in a letter to colleagues in which he thanked them for their inspiring commitment and dedicated service furthering the agency’s mission to improve lives.

Before the announcement, he told the Catholic Review that he strives to be a leader with energy, passion and dedication. “I’ve always wanted to make sure that I finished strong with that same passion, dedication, commitment to mission,” he said, noting that handing over the agency to a new leader with his or her own ideas, energy and vision at a time when Catholic Charities is doing so well seems appropriate.

Catholic Charities Board of Trustees will begin a national search for the next executive director, according to a release from the agency. McCarthy said he hopes the new leader is on board for a few months before he departs to ensure an effective transition.

“Whenever the opportunity presents itself, I like to remind people that Catholic Charities of Maryland is the third largest Catholic Charities in the United States,” said Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori, chairman of the Board of Trustees. “It gives people an idea of just how active and present Catholic Charities is in Baltimore and the surrounding region, meeting a multitude of needs in real time. Bill has masterfully led the agency during a period of tremendous need, including those prompted by a pandemic, racial strife and numerous economic downturns.”

The agency, which marked its 100th anniversary in 2023, has 2,000 employees and 5,000 volunteers who serve in Catholic Charities’ 80-plus programs to improve the lives of more than 160,000 individuals and families at 200 locations throughout Maryland each year. 

Pamela W. Gray, who serves as treasurer of the Catholic Charities board, said McCarthy met the challenge, especially during difficult times, or delivering services and cultivating a strong donor base. 

“He works hard and he really puts his heart in it,” Gray said of McCarthy.

“I do audits of lots of nonprofits and one of the struggles is understanding that if you’re not successful financially, then all the things you want to do for the community won’t be able to be accomplished. And I think Bill understands that, which is one of the things that makes him unique,” she said. 

One example of that was launching the “Greater Promise” capital campaign to mark Catholic Charities’ centennial. Coming out of the pandemic was a challenging time for nonprofits, Gray said, but it enabled the agency to get out ahead of other groups with the same goal. 

The board was “a little hesitant to go after it so early after dealing with the struggles of the pandemic, but it turned out to be the right thing to do. Bill did a great job of reaching out to donors and establishing confidence in the agency and the things that the agency wanted to do with those funds,” she said.

The capital campaign included funds for a new center in West Baltimore, for which ground was broken in April. The Intergenerational Center aims to serve as a hub for lifelong learning, support and community engagement, with a diverse range of services and programs.

William J. Stromberg, a former president of the board and co-chairman of the capital campaign, said replacing Smith in 2009 was a huge task, because the previous director had brought an entrepreneurial spirit to 35 years at the helm. 

“Bill came in with this leadership and operating discipline to make it happen, work together more efficiently and to get the best out of each of the organizations that were there. He also did a fair amount of what I would say pruning and growing, pruning things that were less relevant and adding more modern services that were required by the clients of today or of the day,” Stromberg said. The agency’s budget has more than doubled since McCarthy arrived in 2009, currently about $186 million annually.

McCarthy’s focus on the agency’s mission to “cherish the divine within” each person, means that the same caring and compassion the leader has for Catholic Charities’ clients extends to staff, volunteers and board members, Stromberg said. 

“He treats everybody with respect. He’s just an easy guy to be around,” he said, “and he can be absolutely hilarious when he wants to be.”

William J. Baird III, former chief financial officer for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, was at Brown Advisory when he recruited McCarthy to apply for the Catholic Charities role. He said the agency embodies “all that is awesome, true and beautiful about the Catholic Church.”

He said he would defy anyone in the region to find a community partner as engaged with community elements – business, government, academic, health care and education – as Catholic Charities is. That attitude encourages leaders in the community to participate in programs with Catholic Charities. “You can’t look at Baltimore City and look for leadership and not start at Catholic Charities,” Baird said. “That’s a great anchor and it’s been a tremendous gift for Baltimore for generations now.” 

Baird recalled having breakfast with McCarthy one day, and pointing out his friend’s wardrobe combination of a button that said, “Love your neighbor” with a Nike sweatshirt with its trademark phrase, “Just do it.” 

“The picture sums up all of Bill McCarthy in one shot – ‘Love your neighbor. Just do it.’”

Baird said McCarthy brings a lot of passion and commitment to the church to his work. “I think the results speak for themselves, especially when you look at Catholic Charities.”

McCarthy’s willingness to dive into a problem was evidenced in early 2012 when he took up the Maryland Hunger Solutions Food Stamp Challenge. He endeavored to live for a week on the average food supplement at the time of $30 per week, per person. “People don’t realize how little the food stamp allotment is,” McCarthy told the Catholic Review at the time. 

He planned his purchases carefully, shopping at Wal-Mart for white bread, tuna, peanut butter, eggs, rice, carrots and cans of pork and beans. 

Halfway through the week, he said he “realized I don’t have meat and I don’t have fruit.” Not only did he find it hard to eat a balanced diet, but he also had to think about every penny. “You could never buy a bottle of water or a cup of coffee,” he said.

While he expected the food choices to be difficult, he wasn’t prepared for how socially isolating it was. “I call it the fellowship of eating,” he said. “A lot of my work is done at breakfast meetings.” He settled for a cup of coffee at those, but he had to reschedule three business lunches that he couldn’t afford.

McCarthy came to Catholic Charities from a career in banking, most recently at Sun Trust. He earned both law and master’s degrees from the University of Baltimore School of Law and a bachelor’s degree from Seton Hall University. He attended Loyola Blakefield prior to entering college. In 2023, Loyola University Maryland’s School of Business and management named him its Business Leader of the Year. 

McCarthy was the lone American appointed by Pope Francis to serve on an apostolic commission to investigate a church-sponsored university in Jordan, according to a release from Catholic Charities. The yearlong investigation resulted in recommendations made to the Vatican secretary of state, which the pope accepted and implemented.

McCarthy will not be a part of the search committee for his successor, but he said the time allows the board to think about the qualities, skills and experiences the members want in the next leader, much as it did before he was hired. He said the agency will need someone who loves its mission and the community.

He expects to spend the next year before he steps down next July focusing on completing and opening the Intergenerational Center. “The one thing I’d love to do is when the intergenerational center opens, I definitely want to come and play basketball in the dome. I want to watch the kids play basketball,” McCarthy said. 

He also plans to continue working on senior care and behavioral health. “I’m going to enjoy doing what I’ve been doing for the last 15 years,” he said.

Also see this 2009 profile of McCarthy when he was first appointed to Catholic Charities: Faith will guide new Catholic Charities head

Email Christopher Gunty at editor@CatholicReview.org

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