Leadership

Board of Directors

President: Father Christopher Vaccaro

Vice President: Nate Kaczmarek

Scholarship Division: LTC. Michael Rauer

Marketing: Kathy Kupper

  • Father Christopher Vaccaro is founder of the Associates of St. John Bosco and currently serves as the President and Chairman of the Board. He was ordained a priest in 2008 for the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia. Throughout his time as a priest, he has always felt a special call to support young adults in their growth in holiness and love for God and to develop a closer relationship with the Church. Soon after his ordination, the idea of the Associates of St. John Bosco began to develop. After years of behind the scenes work by his dad, Vincent, and older brother, Brian, the ASJB was officially incorporated in 2011 and received nonprofit status on January 31, 2013. That is the feast day of St. John Bosco! The first summer College Night for rising freshman was held in 2013. Father Vaccaro is very proud of the growth of the Associates over the last decade and hopes that it will continue to serve many more young people in the years to come.

  • Nathan Kaczmarek has served as Vice President of ASJB since 2014. He is Vice President and Director of the Practice Groups and Article I Initiative at the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies.

    Nate began his legal career in Detroit representing nationwide clients in all phases of healthcare litigation and complex medical malpractice claims. He has since served as a Senior Legal and Policy Advisor in the U.S. House of Representatives and as Counsel for the Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management in the U.S. Senate.

    Nate is a Liaison Representative for The Administrative Conference of the United States. He holds degrees from Hillsdale College and Thomas M. Cooley Law School. Nate, his wife, and four children are parishioners of St. Rita Catholic Church in Alexandria, Virginia.

  • Lieutenant Colonel Michael A. Rauer, United States Army (Retired) is in a second career at Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria, Virginia where he currently teaches World and European History and an elective course on Military Science. As an Infantry Officer and Military Police Officer, he served throughout the world in tactical, training and garrison assignments from the company level through Headquarters, Department of the Army. On his retirement from military service, he began teaching full-time at Bishop Ireton. He currently serves as the moderator for the Catholic Witness – Pro-Life Club and the Military Service / Support Club.

  • Kathy is inspired and strengthened by her Catholic faith. She is a cradle Catholic and attended Catholic grade school, high school, and college. She was blessed to be surrounded at home and in school by people grounded in Catholicism. They lived the faith and led by example. She continues to use the lessons she learned from them every day. She wants to do what she can to help young people today learn more about their faith and the positive impact it can have on their lives.

Executive Director

Danielle Zuccaro

  • Danielle Zuccaro is a 2016 grad of the University of Mary Washington. During her college years, she was very active in the Catholic Campus Ministry at UMW, which sparked a deep desire to serve other college-aged youth. After graduating, she took on the role as Chair of the College Division, which blossomed into an immense passion of hers. She took on the role of Executive Director of the ASJB in May 2024. She has loved seeing ASJB’s growth through the years serving this apostolate, and is indebted to ASJB’s work which has taught her the true meaning of discipleship in the Church.

Officer

Secretary: Susannah Tombes

  • Susannah Tombes is a 2019 graduate of the University of Mary Washington where she fell in love with Jesus and His Church and met Danielle Zuccaro and Father Vaccaro. She served as a volunteer for ASJB during college and became the Secretary in 2020. 

    She currently works as an elementary school teacher in the Diocese of Arlington. She loves training for marathons and spending time with her many friends and family.

Student Leadership

The Associate Team

Event Planning Associate: Greta Barvick

Outreach Associate: Francesca Copley

Event Planning Associate: Lizzie Zeoli

Social Media Associate: Liz D’Souza

Training Associate: Will Claeys

Social Media Associate: Elsa Curry

  • Greta is a sophomore at the University of Dallas serving her second year in the Associate program. She discovered the Associates of St John Bosco when she attended a college night and was drawn to the mission of helping students not only keep their faith, but also strengthen and deepen their relationship with God while transitioning into college life. She previously served as the outreach Associate before switching to event planning this year.

  • Lizzie is a first-year student at Florida State University. She plans to double-major in Psychology and Philosophy and aspires to pursue a career in law. She is thankful for the opportunity to work as an Associate and eager to share the joy of the Catholic faith with many other college students!

  • Will is the training associate for ASJB and a Junior at Thomas Aquinas College in Massachusetts, double majoring in Philosophy and Theology, and double minoring in Math and Natural Science. Will is a proud graduate of Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria, and a proud parishioner at Holy Spirit in Annandale. Will comes from a strong background in working with other Catholics his age, and is a cofounder of a large teen-led pro-life organization, a cofounder of a virtual youth ministry outlet, and a cofounder of a young Catholic adult group near his college. Will has the privilege to help work to get Blessed Karl of Austria canonized a saint, and credits Blessed Karl for helping to really deepen his faith. In his free time at school, Will enjoys serving the Church in various ways, singing, swing dancing, playing the saxophone, reading great books, biking, playing soccer, driving, and learning from his classmates and professors. Will is very excited to have the privilege of serving as an associate this year, and cannot wait to see what the Lord does with his work towards ASJB!

  • Francesca is a freshman at Wake Forest University, where she plans to major in Engineering. She first learned about the Associates of St. John Bosco through talks at her school and became more involved after attending a College Night. Francesca is very excited to serve with the Associates to contribute to a welcoming community that brings college students together in the Catholic faith.

  • Liz is a sophomore at Franciscan University of Steubenville majoring in Theology and Catechetics and minoring in Catholic Youth Ministry. She is excited to work with ASJB to help share the Gospel with college students through social media!

  • Elsa is a freshman at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, studying Business with a focus in Marketing. She is excited to combine her interest in marketing with her faith, hoping to inspire other students to strengthen their faith by becoming involved on their campuses!