Staff & Board

Larry Couch, Director

Larry Couch has served as a lobbyist for the National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd since 2009.  In this capacity, he has advocated in favor of programs serving people living in poverty, protecting people who are victims of human trafficking, prevention of domestic abuse, and compassionate immigration reform. While maintaining his ongoing lobbying activities, as of April 2014 he has assumed the responsibilities of Director of the National Advocacy Center.
 
Prior to his work with the National Advocacy Center, Larry served as the Legislative Liaison for the Archdiocese of Washington.  In addition to federal and state advocacy work, Larry helped create Justice and Advocacy Councils in four Maryland counties to advocate at the local level for the needs of people living in poverty.

Contact Larry.​

Fran Eskin-Royer, Staff Associate

Since April 2014, Fran Eskin-Royer has served as a staff associate at the National Advocacy Center of the Good Shepherd.  She provides administrative support to the director, sharing responsibility for the daily operations of the office.  In addition to bookkeeping and related accounting tasks, Fran assists with budget preparation and oversight; manages the database, sending weekly communications to the Good Shepherd constituency; assists with outreach via the website and other forms of social media; and provides administrative support to the Center's Advisory Board.

Contact Fran.

Advisory Board

The National Advocacy Center Advisory Board provides guidance with respect to the organization's overall direction, goals and objectives.  The all-volunteer board consists of members of the RGS community, advocates from like-minded partner organizations, and other friends of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd engaged in issues of justice, peace and creation care.
  • Monte Abbott, MA, RPA – Director of Province Center Operations, Sisters of the Good Shepherd, St. Louis, MO 
  • Millicent Carvalho-Grevious, PhD, LSW -- Social Worker and Professional Mediator, Philadelphia, PA
  • Sylvia Casaro Dietert -- Program Coordinator, AFL-CIO, Germantown, MD
  • Sr. Marge Clark, BVM – Retired Lobbyist, Washington, DC
  • Matthew Cuff – Policy Associate, Jesuit National Advocacy Office, Washington, DC
  • Brian Grevious – Project Manager, Darby, PA
  • Sr. Dolores Kalina, RGS – Provincial Councilor, Province of Mid-North America, Cincinnati, OH
  • Sr. Brigid Lawlor, RGS – NAC Founder, Religious Assistant for the Vatican Office of the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (CICLSAL), NAC Liaison to the US Good Shepherd Provincials, Silver Spring, MD 
  • ​Annie Minguez – Director of Government and Community Relations, Good Shepherd Services, New York, NY
  • Sr. Claudia Palacio, RGS – Social Worker, Sisters of the Good Shepherd, Philadelphia, PA
  • Sr. Carol Pregno, RGS – Social Worker, Former RGS Provincial, Wheeling, WV  
  • David Steenburg – Lawyer, Washington, DC
  • Rev. Andre Towner – ​Community Engagement Coordinator, District of Columbia Baptist Convention, Washington, DC
  • Claudia Villarreal – Compliance Officer, Hyattsville, MD