By Thea Jarvis

Sister Joan McCann is a teacher. The former assistant superintendent of schools for the archdiocese of Atlanta may have switched gears two years ago when she began management consulting career, but she still considers herself very much an educator.

"I'd like to stay in the consulting mode, but it is teaching," said Sister McCann, whose work with commercial businesses and religious communities reflects her personal values. "Where there is honesty and people want to work toward including people, recognizing the talents of others, trusting ... That that can happen anywhere in society is good."

Sister McCann's path to a mid-life career change included an extensive background in Catholic education as a student, classroom instructor, and principal. The oldest of five children who grew up in what she terms "the Catholic ghetto" of Chicago, Sister McCann was taught by Sinsinawa Dominicans through elementary school and continued a relationship with the Dominicans who staffed her parish.

Entering the order one year after graduation from high school, she received an undergraduate degree in elementary education and history from Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin. After completing her novitiate in 1963, Sister McCann taught in Washington, DC for three years, a formative period in her life.

"It coincided with changes that were happening in the Church," she remembered. "About half of the (Dominican) house were studying at Catholic University. It was a wonderful time and did a lot to form me and my involvement in the things I'm interested in."

Following her years in Washington, Sister McCann taught junior high and elementary education in Wisconsin and Illinois. She moved to Baltimore and during her tenure as principal of an elementary school there received a graduate degree in management and supervision from Loyola University.

A sabbatical year in Philadelphia, where she worked on research projects at Temple University, enabled Sister McCann "to reflect on Catholic schools -- where they were going -- at a time when numbers were going down and funds were not adequate."

In 1982, she was appointed Atlanta's archdiocesan assistant to the superintendent of schools and held that post for six years.

"In Atlanta you knew everybody," Sister McCann said, citing the relatively small size of the archdiocese and her mandate to visit local schools for curriculum planning.

With Adrian Dominican Sister Mary Beth Beres, Sister McCann began a management consulting service in 1988. Together the women work with not-profit and for-profit groups, suggesting ways such organizations can move from "hierarchical to collegial" modes of operation, Sister McCann explained.

"We show them strengths they already have," she said. "Companies want a common mission, just like religious communities, where everyone can identify with a common goal. We help them work more collegially with their staffs."

Sister McCann's own community of Sinsinawa Dominicans has offered strength and support throughout her career. She and other area Dominicans gather regularly for prayer and study.

"The Dominican charisms of contemplation and action are very important to me and the group that meets in Atlanta," said Sister McCann, who counts on these communal gifts to help her discern any future work she may undertake.

"The number of unskilled, unemployed workers is growing. Our congregations are committed to the materially poor," she acknowledged. "We have the skills ... to teach adults. We have to watch this trend. Maybe that's where we're called to be."