A Conversation with CPG Leadership - 2022

Mary Kate Wold serves as Chief Executive Officer and President of the Church Pension Group (CPG), a $17.5 billion financial services enterprise that provides retirement, health, life insurance, property and casualty insurance, and other products and services to The Episcopal Church. She also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of The Church Pension Fund, CPG’s governing body.

She has served in a variety of leadership positions in the corporate, legal, and government sectors. Prior to joining CPG, she was a senior finance executive and principal corporate officer of Wyeth, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. Before embarking on her corporate career, she was a partner and chaired the tax practice group of Shearman & Sterling, a leading global law firm. Earlier in her career, she served in the Office of Tax Policy of the United States Department of the Treasury.

Her board participation has included both not-for-profit and for-profit organizations. She sits on the board of the Church Benefits Association, a national association of faith-based benefits organizations, and on the steering committee of the Church Alliance, a benefits policy and advocacy group. She serves on the vestry of Trinity Church Wall Street in New York City and on its investment committee, which oversees the institution’s multi-billion-dollar real estate and securities portfolio. She also sits on the boards of Nucleus RadioPharma, The Jackson Laboratory, and Burke Neurological Institute. Her professional affiliations include membership in the Women’s Forum of New York and Women Corporate Directors.

Mary Kate spent her childhood in Bottineau, North Dakota, a small rural community on the Canadian border. She graduated from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, summa cum laude with a BA in English and Theater and was elected a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She later graduated cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School. She holds an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University.

Ms. Favreau is Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer. She is responsible for CPG’s corporate communications, education strategies, event management, client outreach and marketing, and its Research & Data team. She also oversees the Recorder of Ordination functions assigned to The Church Pension Fund by the General Convention. Ms. Favreau joined CPG in 2008.

Prior to joining CPG, she served as president of Redscout, a brand strategy, consulting, and product development firm with clients ranging from not-for-profits to major international companies. Before that, she worked at New York Life, where she managed new market development, product positioning, and customer relationship management as Chief Marketing Officer of its U.S. Life & Annuity business.

She graduated with honors from Amherst College with a BA in English. She later graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law where she was a member of the Virginia Law Review.

The Reverend Clayton Crawley is Executive Vice President and Chief Church Relations Officer of CPG. He is responsible for strengthening CPG’s ties with the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, the General Convention, and other groups and stakeholders around The Episcopal Church. He joined CPG in 1999.

Previously, Fr. Crawley led CPG’s technology program and served as Chief Information Officer. Prior to this, he was the Associate Rector of All Saints Episcopal Church, Palo Alto, California. He has more than 25 years of ordained ministry experience and currently serves as a non-stipendiary priest at St. Bartholomew’s Parish and Trinity Church Wall Street in New York City. 

He holds an MDiv from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific.

Mr. Sayler is Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer. He is responsible for overseeing the investment programs for The Church Pension Fund, The Church Insurance Companies, Church Life Insurance Corporation, and related entities. He joined CPG in 2014.

Prior to joining CPG, he served as Chief Operating Officer at Columbia Management Group. Before that, he spent 20 years at J.P. Morgan Investment Management Inc., where, as Managing Director, he headed such areas as Structured Equity Portfolio Management and Mutual Funds, and served as global head of derivatives.

He holds an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Mr. Armstrong is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. He is responsible for providing strategic leadership and direction for the Church Pension Group's three lines of business. Prior to this, he served as Senior Vice President, Benefits Policy, and Chief Actuary of CPG since 2011.

Before joining CPG, he served as a Managing Principal and Practice Leader for the Eastern Region for Hewitt Associates’ Health Management Practice, where he was the lead consultant to CPG. Prior to this, he was an actuarial consultant for Buck Consultants and an actuarial associate for US Life Insurance Company.

He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. He holds a BA in Mathematics from Rutgers University.

Canon Kathryn McCormick serves as the Chair of The Church Pension Fund Board of Trustees. She is the former Canon for Administration and Finance for the Diocese of Mississippi. She has worked with clergy and lay employees regarding pension, medical insurance, retirement, property and liability insurance, endowments, trusts, and other matters.

As a cradle Episcopalian, she has been active in the Church, both as a volunteer and diocesan staff with a good working knowledge of the Church. She has served as an officer on several interim bodies, as well as The Church Pension Fund legislative committee for five General Conventions, a former CREDO finance faculty member, and as President of Province IV.

She was re-elected to her second term on The Church Pension Fund Board of Trustees in 2018.