Cooperator Workshop - Hosted by Oakcrest School!
November 15, 2025 | 09:00am - 01:30pm
Oakcrest School: 1619 Crowell Rd. Vienna, VA 22182
Join us for a half-day workshop to be more inspired about the message of Opus Dei and how we can contribute to the good in our community and beyond.
Our keynote speaker will be Rosa Elmetti. She will explore The Sanctification of Your Life & Work: How St. Josemaría’s Message Can Revolutionize Your Life!
Following the keynote, participants will be able to choose between 3 Breakout Sessions featuring the following panelists.
Celine Kinneberg, Patti Mazariegos & Tricia Davern and will speak about Sanctifying Your Friendships.
Ann Marie Presberg-Martinez, Cecilia Escobar & Regina Bethencourt will speak about Sanctifying Your Family Life.
Janaiha Bennett, Jen Kilmer & Brigit Hirsch Berkeley will speak about Sanctifying Your Community.
Optional Mass will be available in the chapel at Oakcrest at 8:30 a.m. The intention of the Mass will be for the deceased Cooperators and Benefactors of Opus Dei. Confession follows for those who wish.
You can also register here and pay at the door.
Our Speakers
Rosa Elmetti
Her career at DOE has been dedicated to promoting the safe cleanup of the environmental legacy of the nation’s nuclear weapons program and government-sponsored nuclear energy research.
Prior to her work at DOE, Mrs. Elmetti worked at the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Appropriations, providing oversight, investigations, and evaluations of issues and programs relating to the federal budget at the request of the Committee Majority and Minority members to support congressional budgetary decisions.
Mrs. Elmetti also contributed to collaborative research at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, WA, as well as Florida International University’s Applied Research Center in Miami, FL.
Rosa earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering with a minor in Mechanical Engineering from Florida International University, as well as a Master’s degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the same institution.
Rosa channels her creativity into her passion for baking, often filling her Potomac, Maryland home with the aromas of fresh-baked goods for her husband and two daughters.
1. Sanctifying Your Friendships
Celine Kinneberg
Celine Kinneberg and her husband have been married for 11 years and have four children. She was born and raised in Los Angeles and now calls Maryland home.
Celine is a former labor and delivery nurse and currently teaches women of all ages and stages about their hormonal health through the FEMM Foundation. She has found that friendships throughout life are the mainstay of women’s happiness.
Patty Mazariegos
Patty Mazariegos serves as part-time faculty at the Catholic International University and as an instructor for the Faith Formation Program in the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis of the Archdiocese of Washington (ADW). She has designed, implemented, and taught comprehensive adult faith formation programs, with particular attention to family catechesis and the systematic study of Catholic catechesis. Her most important work, putting theory into practice, is raising her seven boys together with her wonderful husband, Henry.
Originally from Guatemala, Patty and Henry immigrated to Providence, Rhode Island, before relocating to the Washington, DC area to focus on their children’s education and formation. In 2017, while chatting with other mothers at the school playground, Patty helped found a Mothers Book Club after discovering how much women long for spaces of friendship, support, and sharing so they don’t feel alone. Since then, the group has met monthly to read and discuss books on literature, spirituality, and personal growth. She treasures the gift of friendship in the everyday moments of life—whether sharing a coffee, exchanging ideas, or chatting from the sidelines while cheering at their children’s sports games.
Patty holds a Master’s Degree in Catechesis from The Catholic University of America, a Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Studies from the University of Navarre in Spain, and a Bachelor of Science in Human Development from the University of Rhode Island
Tricia Davern
Tricia Davern is a first grade teacher at the Avalon School. She first attended the Brookewood School and later studied at the University of Dallas, where she majored in English Literature and Italian Language.
When she’s not in the classroom, Tricia can be found doing artwork, adventuring, flower arranging, or chatting over a cup of coffee with a friend.
2. Sanctifying Your Family Life
Ann Marie Presberg-Martinez
A native of the Chicago area and the eleventh of twelve children, Ann Marie grew up surrounded by faith and the teachings of St. Josemaría. As a young girl, she was deeply touched by meeting Mother Teresa, who held her hand during a visit to Kenosha—an experience that, together with St. Josemaría’s teachings since childhood, inspired her lifelong desire to serve others.
That call brought her to Virginia for graduate school in Speech and Language Pathology at Gallaudet University. She and her husband met while volunteering for the tutoring and mentoring programs in DC, PALS and TAP, and are now married 19 years with five lively boys, ages 6 to 16.
Alongside her vocation as a wife and mother, Ann Marie is a speech-language pathologist. She is the founder of FirstSTAGES Feeding Specialists and the creator of the Nurtured Feeding Approach™, a holistic and responsive framework for helping families overcome pediatric feeding challenges for children from birth through the teen years.
With more than 25 years of clinical experience across hospital, NICU, early intervention, and private practice, she has become nationally recognized for her evidence-based tools—the FirstSTAGES Age & Evidence-Based Guide and the Feeding Calculator—that support both parents and professionals.
Cecilia Escobar
Cecilia Escobar is a Maryland native, proud mother of four, and grandmother of three. She began her career teaching English, French, and History before choosing to stay home and dedicate herself to raising her growing family.
When she returned to the workforce, Cecilia joined Oakcrest School, where she served for 18 years as a Theology and History teacher and later as Middle School Director. Today, she works in communications for a defense contractor.
In her free time, Cecilia enjoys baking, quilting, reading, and cherishing time with her beloved husband, Jimmy.
3. Sanctifying Your Community
Janaiha Bennett
Janaiha Bennett is a nonprofit leader committed to serving young people and families through character formation and mentorship. As Executive Director of the Youth Leadership Foundation, she focuses on program impact and lasting community relationships, building upon her experience in youth development through roles at the University of Maryland's MentorCorps and George Washington University's Campus Ministry Outreach.
Janaiha brings a steady, service-driven approach to helping communities flourish. She and her husband have six children and enjoy participating in parish life near their Northwest, DC home.
Jen Kilmer
Jen Kilmer earned her Bachelor of Science in Education from Northwestern University, and taught at Oakcrest School from 1993 to 1997, teaching math and coaching soccer, basketball and softball while serving as the athletic director. She has also taught at The Willows Academy in Chicago, Montrose School in Boston, and Portsmouth Abbey in Rhode Island. After raising her 11 children, Jen returned to teach at Oakcrest in 2014 and currently serves as the Master Teacher of the Mathematics Department. Jen also is the moderator of the Pro-Life club at the school. She brings in inspirational speakers who draw large crowds of teachers and students who come to be more informed about the sanctity of human life during their lunch breaks once a month.
Jen helped launch Camp Kittimaquundi for girls in 2000 and remains active in all aspects of running the camp. Guided by the teachings of the Catholic Church and the spirit of Opus Dei, Camp Kitti helps young people get to know their faith on a deeper level, so that they can find God in their daily life long after leaving the campsite.
During the COVID crisis, Jen was on the founding team of the St. Stephen's Food pantry at her parish, St. Judes in Rockville, MD. She gathers teenagers to volunteer with her on a bi-weekly basis to help the needy in her community. Jen and her husband organize fundraiser dinners for World Villages for Children, an organization whose mission is to end child poverty through education and care by supporting the charitable programs of the Sisters of Mary.
Brigit Berkeley
Brigit Berkeley is a media relations strategist advising corporations, nonprofits, and government agencies throughout Europe and the United States on their media presence. She directs campaigns that measurably change the national conversation about the environment, emerging technology, healthcare, law, free speech, economics, and education. While studying philosophy and English literature at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland, Brigit was a student leader for the Irish Pro Life Campaign, where she met her husband, Roger.
Detailed Flow of the Day
8:30 a.m. Mass in the Oakcrest Chapel (optional) Confessions available following Mass.
9:00 a.m. Sign in upstairs in Walsh Hall
9:30 a.m. Welcome remarks
9:45- 10:45 a.m. Keynote Speaker Rosa Elmetti: Sanctification of Your Life & Work: How St Josemaría’s Message Can Revolutionize Your Life!
10:45- 11 a.m. Shift to break-out sessions.
11- 12 noon Breakout Sessions. Three simultaneous sessions featuring panelists will be held. Choose the one you wish to attend.
Sanctifying Your Community:
Jen Kilmer
Brigit Hirsch Berkeley
Janaiha Bennett
Sanctifying Your Family Life
Ann Marie Presberg
Cecilia Escobar
Regina Bethencourt
Sanctifying Your Friendships
Celine Kinnenberg
Patti Mazariegos
Trisha Davern
12 noon -1:30 p.m. Luncheon
1:30 p.m. Goodbye!
Questions? CONTACT TERRI
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