Archdiocese of Chicago Announces the Appointment of Three Senior Officers
Chicago, (July 29, 2020) The Archdiocese of Chicago today announced it has appointed three senior officers. James Geoly, J.D. was appointed general counsel, Vincent Gerasole was appointed director of multimedia content and Justin Lombardo was named interim chief human resources and staff development officer.
“We are pleased to have attracted three such accomplished and committed individuals to serve the people of the archdiocese,” said Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, archbishop of Chicago. “We look forward to working with them to strengthen our operations and broaden the impact of our programs.”
James Geoly was most recently a partner at Burke, Warren, Mackay and Serritella, which he joined in 1997. He was previously with the Mayer, Brown law firm. He has broad litigation experience representing religious, social services, health care, and commercial organizations and has represented the Archdiocese of Chicago in various matters since 1986.
Geoly has represented many religious denominations including the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Evangelical Covenant Church and several Roman Catholic dioceses. He was a member of the team defending Joseph Cardinal Bernardin in Cook v. Bernardin. Geoly is admitted to the Bar in Illinois, and before the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal courts. He has handled cases in state and federal courts at every level and before administrative agencies and has extensive appellate experience. He has filed numerous briefs in the Supreme Court of the United States.
In addition to his work on litigation matters, Geoly has counseled clients in risk management and other issues and has extensive experience managing crisis situations and conducting mediation and other alternative dispute resolution proceedings, especially in highly sensitive and confidential matters. He is a frequent speaker at conferences and commentator in the media. Geoly, a native of Great Neck, N.Y., earned an A.B. degree magna cum laude from Columbia University and was elected Phi Beta Kappa. He holds a J.D. degree from the University of Chicago Law School.
Vincent Gerasole comes to the archdiocese from CBS Television in Chicago. During his 19 years there, he anchored and reported for various station newscasts. His honors for excellence in broadcast journalism include 14 Emmy Awards for his work at CBS 2 Chicago. He was named the Best Broadcast Reporter in the state by the Associated Press of Illinois in 2002 and Best News Writer in 2006 and 2007. He has been honored by civic and Italian American organizations for his community involvement and commitment to integrity in journalism.
Gerasole is a three-time James Beard Award nominee for Excellence in Broadcast Food Reporting, losing once to Martha Stewart. Prior to working at CBS 2 Chicago, he was a general assignment reporter at WSB-TV in Atlanta and an anchor and reporter at KHNL-TV in Honolulu. He has served as a Capitol Hill and White House correspondent in Washington, D.C., for Cox Broadcasting, and as an anchor and reporter at WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh and KCRL-TV in Reno, Nev.
Gerasole, who is fluent in Italian, began his broadcasting career as a New York-based field producer for the Italian Network RAI. A native of Pittsburgh, Vince graduated from Northwestern University with a B.A. in Political Science and Italian and attended the University’s Medill School of Journalism.
Justin Lombardo currently works with the archdiocese on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. He has worked for decades as an award-winning human resources executive focused primarily on workforce learning and development. Lombardo served as chief learning officer and vice president for three health care organizations, working to improve clinical quality, patient satisfaction, and employee/physician competency through an integrated systems approach to organizational development and performance management. He spent 15 years at Motorola where he managed various global functions for Motorola University with a focus on emerging markets.
Lombardo has served on advisory boards at the national, and international level, including a Task Force of the United Nations; the Center for Creative Leadership; the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University and the Center for Nursing Excellence. He was appointed by the Governor of Illinois to the state’s Task Force on Workforce Development and has held adjunct faculty appointments at Northwestern University, University of Alabama-Birmingham, Illinois Institute of Technology, and Johns Hopkins University. Justin began his career in higher education as a classroom instructor and in administration as associate dean and director of core curriculum for two Catholic Benedictine colleges. He is a graduate of St. John’s University, Collegeville, Minn. where he also completed graduate studies in theology and the history of western thought. He also holds a graduate degree in Theater and Criticism from the Catholic University of America.
