The Catalyze Conference

Father Bartunek received his BA in History from Stanford University in 1990. He comes from an evangelical Christian background and became a member of the Catholic Church in 1991. After college, he worked as a high school history teacher, drama director, and baseball coach. He then spent a year as a professional actor in Chicago before entering the religious Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ in 1993. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 2003 and earned his doctorate in moral theology in 2010. He provided spiritual support on the set of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” while researching the 2005 Catholic best seller, “Inside the Passion”—the only authorized, behind-the-scene explanation of the film. Fr. John has contributed news commentary regarding religious issues on NBC, CNN, Fox, and the BBC. 

Peter Freissle is CEO of Polydeck, guiding its growth into a successful multimillion-dollar company with over 400 employees in the U.S. and Latin America. Passionate about innovation and care, he founded the Polydeck Caring Culture to support employees’ physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. His vision to ‘care for people in a way that honors God’ inspired His Way at Work (HWAW), a nonprofit training CEOs to develop caring cultures in their company. HWAW is expanding nationally in the US through Catholic parishes that host Consecration Masses for business owners, joining the hundreds of business owners who have gone before them around the world.

Larry Ryan grew up in a large Catholic family on a farm in central Kansas. After pursuing a forestry degree, Larry worked in Wichita, Ks for a private tree company. He then spent almost 10 years in the restaurant business in Wichita and Kansas City. That was where he became really excited about business. He started Ryan Lawn & Tree in 1987 and it has grown to 500 mostly full time, full benefit associates and 100% employee owned. This is very unique as this industry that makes money off of seasonal/no benefit employees. Ryan Lawn & Tree value adds and value prices all of their services. Now retired after the turning the reins of the company over to his capable team, Larry continues to invest heavily in other business leaders as they consider integrating their Christian/Catholic faith into their businesses.