Demographers and news agencies have recently made a pretty big deal about the US population topping 300 million. The ACE population has seen significant growth over the years as well. When the pioneering members of ACE 1 were sent out from ND, they numbered 1 for every 7,000,000 people in the US- talk about one in a million!
Today, with the ACE population nearing one thousand strong, we represent 1 in every 300,000 people in this country. In just over ten years, the odds of running into an ACEr moved from being pretty much the same as getting struck by lightning to just around the chances of the Cubs winning another World Series! Doc Doyle would call that “statistically significant”!
What does this growth mean for our Alliance’s growing movement? We are truly building a national presence. ACE teachers, ACE Leadership administrators, and graduates now cover almost every state in the country. To harness the power of this network, Fr. Tim Scully issued a challenge to our community. At the ACE 10 Year Celebration, he declared that that any lasting and significant impact of ACE would depend on our graduate community staying active and engaged in the ACE mission.
Soon after, ACE took steps to propel graduates toward new levels of participation, founding the ACE Fellowship in 2004. Its mission: to engage and inspire graduates toward lasting support of and service to ACE and Catholic schools. Soon after, the Fellowship launched the ACE Fellows Initiative, inviting grads to submit innovative ideas that deepen the impact of ACE.
In the spring of 2004, a group of graduates settled in Seattle submitted an “ACE Fellows” proposal to build up a social and faith-based community dedicated to supporting Catholic educators and serving Catholic schools in their area. The ACE Fellowship funded the “Seattle Catholic Action Network,” which was led by a core group of ACE 7 graduates and Fr. Lou DelFra. ACE graduates, spouses, and friends were invited to take part in the social, spiritual and service activities of this community.
Over the past two years, the Seattle group has helped the ACE Fellowship create a model for ACE Catholic Action Networks in other regions. In the spring of 2006, The Kellogg Foundation awarded the ACE Fellowship funding to expand the initiative.
We had an outstanding response to the Kellogg invitation. This fall, nine regions submitted successful proposals based on the Seattle model! In each region, ACE graduates and others engaged in our mission have outlined action steps to build a faith community that supports Catholic educators and Catholic schools. We are thrilled to be partnering with these regions and are hoping for continued growth in the future!
To read about what is taking shape and how to get connected, click any of the nine funded regions to the left of this page.