Women of Grace® Event Details

Johnnette Benkovic Williams is Founder and President of Women of Grace®, a Catholic apostolate for women featuring a number of outreaches including conferences, media, study groups and more.

After years of being a non-practicing Catholic, Johnnette experienced a deep conversion back to her Catholic faith in 1981. Her conversion sparked a new vocation: sharing the Gospel message through the utilization of media. She has been an inspiring and consistent presence on Catholic radio (1987) and in Catholic television (1988) ever since.

Fr. Philip Scott is the Founder of Family of Jesus, a family of priests, brothers and sisters dedicated to Christ and His Church, bound by private vows of obedience, chastity, poverty and martyrdom, praying to be healed and formed into a family by the Divine Family (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) in order to live out in a prophetic manner our baptismal calling to follow Jesus Christ and to be his instruments of healing for families, including not only the individual domestic family, but also the broader family of the Church and of society.
    
They were founded by Father Philip Scott in 1998 under the auspices of Bishop Robert Lynch of the Diocese of St. Petersburg.  They have been missionaries in Peru, since January 10, 2003.

Singer/songwriter and inspirational speaker Kitty Cleveland began her professional career as a lawyer, university instructor and career counselor.  But in an adoration chapel one day in 1998 during a devastating family crisis, she clearly heard the Lord call her to become a "music missionary."   
 
Kitty enthusiastically heeded the call and has since released 11 CDs of music and prayer--including two CDs with Lighthouse Catholic Media.  She has appeared numerous times on television, on the radio, in concert and as a keynote speaker throughout North America and in Europe sharing her message of hope, healing and encouragement. 
 
Kitty is currently working on her first book and enjoying the adventure of homeschooling.  She makes her home in the New Orleans area with her musician husband and young daughter, whom they adopted from China in 2005 and who frequently accompanies Kitty on her travels.

Sue Ellen Browder is a freelance writer who has appeared on Oprah, the Today Show, Women of Grace, and hundreds of radio talk shows.  Her work for Cosmopolitan, New Woman, Woman’s Day, and other magazines has given her a lifetime of experience with the women’s movement as it unfolded in the media, both on the public stage and behind the scenes.  Trained at the University of Missouri School of Journalism to be an investigative journalist, Browder unwittingly betrayed her true calling and became a propagandist for sexual liberation. She did not realize until much later that propagandists higher and cleverer than herself were influencing her thinking and her personal choices as they subverted the women’s movement. Her most recent book Subverted:  How I Helped the Sexual Revolution Hijack the Woman’s Movement sets the record straight.  She will be speaking on “Why the Prolife Movement Is the Authentic Women’s Movement of the 21^st century.” 

Carol Marquardt has worked for many years in lay ministry in the Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg, Florida. Before beginning the development of the Our Fiat materials and Mantle of Mary Association, she served as adult education director, catechumenate director, retreat house director, and charismatic prayer group leader. Along with these positions, she has worked in inner healing ministry and spiritual direction. She has also lead pilgrimages to Marian shrines such as Medjugorje, Lourdes, and Guadalupe, as well as Rome and Assisi. She has participated in evangelization missions to Eastern Europe with Renewal Ministries from Ann Arbor, Michigan USA.

Formerly a nationally ranked tennis player, Carol converted to Catholicism in 1966 after marriage to her husband Mark. She has two married sons and eight grandchildren. She attributes her interest in spirituality to an experience of the presence of Jesus in 1971, which she saw as a call to follow Him and serve Him. Shortly after, she experienced the charismatic anointing of the Holy Spirit. Ever since, her interest and focus has been the spirituality of the lay apostle in the modern world.
A graduate of Duke University, Carol holds Masters Degrees in Education from the University of Illinois and in Pastoral Ministry from St. Thomas University in Miami, Florida. She also received a certificate in Spiritual Direction from the Benedictine Monastery in Pecos, New Mexico.

Susan Potvin, worship leader of Living Praise Worship Team, has led and directed music ministry groups for over 30 years. As a conference and retreat speaker, she has a passion to encourage others toward a deep and personal relationship with the Lord.  Susan and her worship team have produced six worship CDs which are designed to encourage sustained worship and to lead worshipers into the heavenly throne room.  Susan is an advisor to Magnificat – A Ministry to Catholic Women and serves as their chairperson for Praise and Worship.  She travels nationally and internationally to lead worship and provide worship workshops for leaders in the church worldwide.  Susan also partners with Women of Grace providing worship for their regional and national retreats.  Married for 34 years with 4 children and one grandchild, Susan also enjoys working as a school counselor at a K-12 Christian school.