Joseph F Duffy, LLD
Joseph F. Duffy retired as the President of Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Paterson which serves all of Morris, Passaic and Sussex Counties in New Jersey. He also served as the Executive Director of Straight and Narrow, Inc., the largest comprehensive drug and alcohol treatment program in New Jersey. Joe served as President of the Boards of Trustees of the three Catholic Charities Agencies in the Diocese which included Catholic Family and Community Services, Department for Persons with Disabilities and Straight & Narrow. He was also responsible for the Diocese’s Migrant Ministry, and Catholic Charities Development programs. Catholic Charities serves nearly 70,000 people annually and administers a budget of $57 million with a paid staff of over 800 and as 1000 volunteers. Prior to working at Catholic Charities, Joe worked for 21 years at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson where he served as Vice President for Ambulatory and Long-Term Care.
Joe has a Masters degree in non-profit management from Regis University in Colorado, a Masters degree in public administration from Rutgers University, a Masters degree in rehabilitation counseling from Seton Hall University, a Masters degree in special education from William Paterson University, and a Bachelors degree with a major in sociology from Seton Hall University. He is a member of Alpha Sigma Nu, the Jesuit National Honor Society. In 2008 Joe received an honorary doctor of laws degree from the College of St. Elizabeth in Convent Station. In 2011 Joe received the United Way’s Cornerstone Award for outstanding community service. In 2012 Joe was recognized by Catholic Relief Services as an outstanding Diocesan Director. Joe received a Lifetime Caring Award from HomeCare Options in 2015 and was selected as Person of the Year by Catholic Charities’ Department for Persons with Disabilities (DPD) in 2017.
Joe taught as an adjunct faculty member at Ramapo College of New Jersey and the College of St. Elizabeth College on both the graduate and undergraduate level. He has served in the past as a field instructor for Ramapo College, Farleigh Dickinson, Fordham, William Paterson, Montclair State University, Bethlehem (Palestine), and Rutgers Universities and the University of Pittsburgh.
Joe has served on numerous non-profit Boards of Trustees on both the local and national level. He has conducted board training for other nonprofits across the country. In his capacity as President of Catholic Charities, Joe was responsible for developing a legislative advocacy manual that has been made available to parishes and schools. He is well known for his legislative advocacy work concerning issues affecting the poor both locally and nationally. In that capacity he is one of the founding members of the statewide advocacy group, the Catholic Coalition for a Just Budget.
Joe is a volunteer expert for Catholic Relief Services’ (CRS) Farmer to Farmer program travelling for three weeks at a time, three times a year to Africa providing board and management training and consultation to agriculture businesses. He is a peer reviewer for the Council on Accreditation (COA) travelling about the US as a peer review team member conducting accreditation visits for human service organizations.
Joe served as the Paterson Diocese Director for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development and for Catholic Relief Services. In the former capacity Joe helped to raise money for anti-poverty programs across the US and recommended funding decisions. In the latter capacity, he helped to raise funds for the development work and emergency assistance program of CRS in over 100 countries around the world. He has traveled with CRS to countries in South America and Africa to learn of CRS’ efforts to alleviate poverty, provide disaster assistance, economic development, and peace-building. Joe has assisted local parishes in setting up international twinning programs. Joe has also authored a manual on how to obtain donated supplies for groups going on national or international service trips.
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