Ethnic Ministries April 2021 Caritas

Kathleen A. Merritt is the Director of the Office of Ethnic Ministries for the Diocese of Charleston, South Carolina. She specializes in diversity and inclusion and facilitates workshops and training initiatives in schools, parishes and missions locally and nationally. This Greenville, South Carolina native earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of South Carolina and a master’s degree in Clinical Counseling from Webster University in St. Louis, Mo. She is the Past President of the National Black Catholic Congress Catholic Education Foundation. Kathleen co-authored the book; Catholic Education in and for the Black Community (2007). She also served as Secretary for the NBCC Board of Trustees (2008-2010). Kathleen is the immediate Past President of the National Association of Black Catholic Administrators; Served as a consultant for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church Committee on African American Affairs (2008-2011); Consultant to the USCCB Office of the Pastoral care of Migrants and Refugees(2006-2007) Past President of the South Carolina Council of Catholic Women Piedmont Deanery; Board Chair for Greenville Mental Health Center Board of Directors, South Carolina Department of Mental Health( 2006-2008); and a member of the Knights of Peter Claver, Ladies Auxiliary. In 1999, she was inducted in The Order of the Jessamine in recognition of her outstanding contributions to her local community. Kathleen was the 2002 recipient of the Baha’is Human Rights Award for her outstanding work in teaching sensitivity and diversity appreciation to over 1000 youth in the state of South Carolina. In 2007, Kathleen was presented the Caritas award by the Most Reverend Robert J. Baker, S.T.D. She was honored as the 2012 SCCCW Piedmont Deanery Woman of the Year.