Excellence recognized and endorsed: John (Jack) Babbitt has assumed the position of chief operating officer at Catholic Charities following a successful interim period.
John (Jack) Babbitt has been appointed chief operations officer (COO) of Catholic Charities Diocese of Norwich, Inc., by Bishop Michael R. Cote. As COO, Babbitt will be responsible for managing internal functions for Catholic Charities’ four offices, which support the case management and emergency basic needs of individuals and families in New London, Windham, Middlesex and Tolland counties.
A past member of the Board of Directors, he has been a grant writer since January 2019. A resident of Windham, he is a longtime member of Corpus Christi Parish’s St. Joseph Church in Willimantic. Babbitt had served as interim COO since May 2023. Bishop Cote thanked him for his dedication to the mission of Catholic Charities.
When asked about his future goals, Babbitt replied, “The bishop has entrusted to me the responsibility to carry on the mission of Catholic Charities of ‘Providing Help & Creating Hope.’ This will continue to be the primary goal for the agency. We will review and refine our delivery of services in order to provide continued help and education for our sisters and brothers in need.”
He added, “We serve people who have many different life challenges; they represent the poor, the sick, the elderly, the uneducated, those in prison, immigrants and the homeless — just to name a few. As Jesus did, we see every one of them as needing our love and assistance. It is here, at Catholic Charities, that they will continue to find help and hope through the compassionate work of our dedicated staff and volunteers.”
He brings more than 45 years of leadership and management experience to his new role at Catholic Charities. He retired in 2013 from the University of Connecticut as director of computer/networking infrastructure and as interim executive of the Connecticut Education Network. During those years, he was manager of network engineers and of voice communication.
Prior to his work at UConn, he was senior training and programmer analyst at General Dynamics Corporate Data Systems Division. He was a training analyst, senior programmer/payment systems and a quality assurance analyst at Hartford National Bank.
Since 1921, Catholic Charities has responded to a call to serve the needs of people of all faiths affected by poverty and to provide professional social services with dignity and respect in Eastern Connecticut.
Be a Beacon of Hope: Visit CCFSN.org to Play a Vital Role in “Providing Help and Creating Hope.”
By Jacqueline Keller