Office and Ministry Team

About Our Team

Our dedicated staff of professionals help with the Mountain’s operations, communications and fundraising. Our team works in the beautiful McGinley-Carney Center for Franciscan Ministry on the campus of St. Bonaventure University. They are generally available 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Mike Fenn

Executive Director

My first experience at the Mountain was fall of 1987 as a freshman at Bonas, when I attended a work day, and I’ve been hooked ever since! I spent most of my adult career as a marketing professional with Fisher-Price toys while my wife Julie and I raised 3 daughters. We kept involved with the Mountain on and off while they grew up. I joined the Mountain Board of Trustees in 2007, becoming Chair in 2014. We had spent those years as a board trying to find candidates who could be our first executive director at the Mountain. In parallel to this search, I began thinking about what was next in my professional life, as I was lacking fulfillment in its current direction. Finally one day I was driving home when I had a “road to Damascus” moment. That night we were going to talk about potential candidates for the position, and I realized that I was ready to make this significant step and commit in a deeper way to the Life of the Mountain. I currently am in the role of ED, working with many others to ensure that this way of life and ministry continues to grow and flourish for generations to come.

Michelle Marcellin

Office Coordinator

In 1993, when I was working in Financial Aid at SBU, I was asked to work part-time to help with bookkeeping. Soon the Mountain decided that it needed a full-time employee. In September of 1995 I started as the first official “Mountain employee” as Administrative Assistant. What began as “another job” soon turned into a ministry and a calling. The longer I worked with the friars, students, alumni and friends of the Mountain the more I became committed to this manner of life and ministry. I am truly blessed to be a part of something so uplifting, positive and accepting of all people.

I have been married since 1989 to my wonderful husband Bob and we have two incredible daughters, Aimee and Hannah. They are truly a gift to both of us. Some of my fondest memories with my girls are when they both (at different times) attended the “Women’s Overnights” at the Mountain. It was exciting to see my girls connect with the intelligent, kind and beautiful young SBU women that we have been blessed to meet at the Mountain.

In 2000 I was able (and very blessed) to make a pilgrimage to Assisi with 15 SBU students. It was truly a life changing event for me and after I returned I began the process of becoming a Secular Franciscan. I was professed as a Secular Franciscan in April of 2002. This is yet another group of amazing friends I have counted in my blessings since beginning my time with the Mountain. I truly look forward to many more years of life, ministry and friendship with the friars, alumni, students and friends that come to the Mountain. Thank you, one and all, for all you do for Mt. Irenaeus.

Mary Giardini

Senior Advancement and Communications Coordinator

When I was an undergraduate at St. Bonaventure University, I joined a group of my friends at the Mountain to help clear a small part of the land where the House of Peace now sits and that was my first exposure to the Mountain and friars.

I graduated SBU in 1993 with a BSEd and 2005 with a MSEd and after teaching elementary school and high school Spanish for 15 years, I felt the call to a different kind of life and, as always happens when God leads you, the right person happened to hear that I was looking for a job and I started working for Mt. Irenaeus in a part-time position. Nearly 15 years later I am now a full-time coordinator helping to facilitate communications and advancement efforts for the Mountain. I am also the coordinator for the New York State high school equivalency diploma program (GED) for Cattaraugus and Allegany Counties.

When not working I enjoy volunteering with community groups such as the Friends of the Library where I’m a Board Member; FLS Member-at-Large for the Friends of Libraries Section of the New York Library Association and a member of the Allegany Engine Company Auxiliary. I am very grateful for the love and support that the Mountain community has always shown me, especially when my husband passed away in 2015. I currently live in Olean where I help take care of my parents.

The easiest way to contact me is by email at [email protected]

Natalie Pronio

Ministry Coordinator

I am the new ministry coordinator for the Mountain, and so far it’s been a lot of work and a ton of fun! We’re still figuring out how this position will develop over the year, but for right now one of my biggest roles is student engagement and relationship building. I’m doing my best to meet as many students as possible to build relationships on campus, and working with the friars and Mountain team to lead events at the Mountain for students as well as for our local community.

I wasn’t really looking for a new job; but multiple fellow alumni sent me the ministry coordinator job posting for the Mountain and said, “this sounds like you.” At first I kind of brushed it off but after three different people suggested it to me, I figured I may as well apply and see what happened. Being back on campus and at the Mountain for my final interview was so powerful – it really reminded me of what I love about Bona’s and the Mountain, and I had a deep sense of peace about the possibility of returning. The incredible sense of community and the Franciscan tapestry that weaves through everyone on campus and at the Mountain are some of the wonderful gifts I experienced as a student, and I recognized them immediately when I came back.

Rob Buckla

Campaign Manager

As you know, our beloved Dan Riley ‘64, ofm, founder of Mt. Irenaeus and a nearly 50-year minister to the St. Bonaventure community, died at the age of 81 on July 24, 2024. Since his passing, many have asked the questions, “How can I help the Mountain?” and “What can I do to ensure the extraordinary Mountain ministry continues for many, many years?”

For me, it’s personal. Fr. Dan was an extraordinary friend, mentor, coach, spiritual guide, and, if you will, a companion in ministry (stated with great humility) through our Mountain outreach. While I always thought my relationship with Dan was unique, I know that hundreds were personally influenced by him and thousands of others were inspired by him and the work of the Mountain. While I have done my best to support the Mountain as a Trustee over the past decade and as a volunteer for more than two decades, it never feels like it is enough given the magnificent impact the Mountain has had for the past 40 years on students, faculty, staff, alumni and many friends who happened to stumble upon the Mountain—whether it’s the physical face of the organization in West Clarksville, the homes of many people or via Fr. Dan’s podcasts, social media presence, his book Franciscan Lectio or on the St. Bonaventure University campus.

Given this unique moment in time, I am honored to take on the role of full-time Campaign Director at Mt. Irenaeus. As the Mountain continues to be a place where Friars will work in tandem with a cadre of lay staff, we need to invest in the people and program of the Mountain via a major multi-million-dollar sustainability campaign. This effort will build upon the success of the Mountain Fund and Mountain Auction through an energized gift program.

I’m especially delighted to join the employee community of the Mountain—a place where kindness, love and a commitment “to join with Jesus Christ to make all things new” are not slogans on the wall but a way of life. At this stage of my life, I am thrilled to put my fundraising skills, honed over the last 38 years, to work at an extraordinary, authentic organization to raise the necessary resources to ensure that Dan Riley’s dream — carried out today by four superb Friars, my Bonaventure classmate Karen Halliday Pulaski ’84, Ministry Coordinator Natalie Pronio ‘09, an exceptional office team and hundreds of volunteers—will continue to be available for a world that needs the Mountain more than ever.