The Provincial Team is happy to announce the appointment of Mr. James R. (Jim) Orso as the new Director of Public Relations and Communications for the province, effective September 1, 2007. Jim has had a 25-year career as a journalist, public relations executive and communications strategist in the business and not-for-profit sectors, some based in the St. Louis area and others national. Seventeen of those years were with Fleishman-Hillard, a leading private public relations firm, where he served as senior vice president and partner. He was the executive director for communications of the Archdiocese of St. Louis from 2002 to 2005, and since then has had his own communications firm.

Jim is married and the father of three. He is a member of the parish of St. Gabriel the Archangel in St. Louis where he is an active member of the ACTS retreat team. We look forward to having Jim as an important member of our staff.

“We are very pleased that Jim has accepted this position. He brings a commitment to gospel values and a breadth of experience in communications and public relations to help us shape the ways we share our mission in the world of today.” - Kathleen Conan, RSCJ, Provincial

“It is a distinct honor and a special grace to be associated with the Society of the Sacred Heart. I particularly look forward to begin living the charism of the Society, particularly where its focus so admirably and realistically points to improving the lives of those who subsist in the margins of the society -- in the gap between what is directed by the Gospel and where society has failed its most vulnerable people.” - Jim Orso