Sister Janice Vanderneck
Founding Director, Casa San José
2023
Sister Janice Vanderneck is the Founding Director of Casa San José. She is a Catholic religious sister with the Sisters of St. Joseph of Baden, and she has worked in Latin America, educating and organizing community members to think critically about power structures, oppression, and political engagement. In the U.S., Sister Janice worked for decades as a religion teacher and principal at Catholic elementary and high schools in the Dioceses of Pittsburgh and Altoona-Johnstown in Pennsylvania and the Archdiocese of Miami, Florida.
Sister Janice has received numerous awards for her extraordinary service. They include: the Michael McGrady Award for Service at the Art Rooney Awards Dinner in 2017, the OHTLI Award for 2017 given by the Secretariat of the Mexican Government for service to the Mexican community in the US, the 2016 El Sol Award from the Hispanic Attorneys Committee of the Allegheny Bar Association and the 2021 Volunteer Preceptor of the Year (IPPE) awarded by the School of Pharmacy of the University of Pittsburgh. In November of 2022 she was recognized as one of the recipients of the National Catholic Association of Diocesan Directors of Hispanic Ministry 30th Anniversary Regional Recognition Awards.
The inaugural Eradicate Hate Summit was a truly impressive gathering of leaders dedicated to finding lasting and effective solutions to violent extremism. I was particularly moved by the prominence given to survivors and family members of victims of hate and violence throughout the event. Their stories and those of so many others must be at the center of what we do and why we do it.
