Twenty one leaders of the Vincentian Family in North America gathered in New Orleans October 14-15 for their annual Leadership meeting. The goals for this gathering of presidents/elected leadership/provincials/directors were to:

• Continue to develop and deepen relationships among leadership of the branches of the Vincentian Family in North America.
• Explore the gifts that each generation brings to the Vincentian charism and our organizations.
• Feature the 400th anniversaries of Ladies of Charity/AIC and the Vincentian charism plus the 200th anniversary of the Congregation of the Mission in the United States
• Share update about structure and news of Vincentian Family International and North America

Mary Ann Dantuono, president of Ladies of Charity USA,  told the story of the birth of the Confraternities/ Ladies of Charity in 1617. She highlighted the roles of women who heard Vincent’s preaching and put flesh on that preaching by their service of those in poverty.

Sister Patricia Wittberg, Sister of Charity-Cincinnati, described the Catholic Generational Cultures in the United States and explained that there are generational subcultures by class, ethnicity and race.

Sister Mary Johnson, Sister of Notre Dame de Namur, presented on the deepest hungers of the Millennial Generation and suggested ways that the branches of the Vincentian Family can meet those hungers.

Three Vincentian young adults who responded were Mike Van Dorpe and Emily LaHood-Olsen from DePaul University and Marisa Ybarra from Colorado Vincentian Volunteers. The leaders, presenters and young adults continued their conversations around the topic.

At the afternoon session, Father Ray Van Dorpe, Congregation of the Mission, Western Province, described the arrival of 13 Vincentians from Italy who arrived in the United States in 1816 and planted the seeds of the Vincentian Community in the United States.

The leaders continued their planning as a group and within their branches, especially of the 400^th Anniversary of the Vincentian Charism.