Carrying forward a century -old tradition of religious and spiritual inclusion

“The organisation’s mission is directly relevant to my own life,” Breandan says. “Because I was raised Catholic and have a visual impairment, there is a natural overlap.” 

Breandan joined the Xavier Society’s board of directors in 2017 and is currently the board’s vice president. He brings an extensive background in investment banking, education, disability advocacy and leadership coaching to his role. Breandan held management positions at Morgan Stanley in both London and New York, and ultimately rose to executive director level.

Now living in London, he is an adjunct professor at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service where he earned a Master’s in Public Administration. Also a certified leadership coach and trainer, Breandan is dedicated to promoting diversity and inclusion and empowering individuals with lived experiences of disability.

“It’s rare in the disability space to find an organisation that’s dedicated to inclusion specifically in the realm of spirituality,” Breandan explains. “This is a niche area that needs to be more mainstream. It’s what the Xavier Society has been doing for 124 years.”

The charity was founded in 1900 by a blind teacher, Margaret Coffey, and a Jesuit priest, Fr. Joseph Stadelman, SJ, to create religious books and magazines in raised print (now known as Braille). Initially, the Society occupied one room at the College of St. Francis Xavier in New York City. Today, the charity offers a Braille catalogue of over 1,325 titles as well as 1,400 audiobooks, on topics ranging from religious to inspirational. Its vast library includes the Bible, novenas, religious textbooks, The Sunday Mass Propers and selected readings in Spanish Braille. More than 2,500 patrons of the Xavier Society around the world receive these materials free of charge. 

Breandan grew up on a dairy farm in County Monaghan, Ireland, and moved in his early 20s to begin his career in the City of London. While he was exploring the city, he heard bells ringing at Saint Vedast-alias-Foster Anglican church. Curious, he made his way there and quickly found his place among its congregation. When he began experiencing difficulty with his vision a few years later, his faith and the support of his friends at church made all the difference. 

“It was becoming harder to read and to use my computer at work,” Breandan recalls. “It was harder to see the hymn books in church, which was especially frustrating, as I loved belting out my favorite Anglican and Catholic hymns. I was struggling, trying to understand what was happening,” he says about his sight loss, the result of an inherited retinal disease. “Their interest, care, and encouragement helped me cross the threshold to the next stage on my journey toward greater acceptance and adaptation.”

That was 25 years ago. Today, Breandan devotes his career to tackling different challenges to “build capacity in leadership. Instead of just transactions, it’s about policy, leadership development, and navigating discrimination or barriers,” he explains. Breandan is committed to carrying forward the spirit of the Xavier Society’s pioneering founders and leaders and expanding its breadth into new frontiers. 

To that end, the charity is embracing innovative technologies and forging partnerships with similarly minded organisations, including the Jewish Braille Institute, to deliver a broader selection of accessible reading material to a wider audience of blind and partially sighted people of all faiths.  

“It’s really inspiring to be part of an organisation that is not only working in this important intersection that’s underserved,” Breandan says, “but also doing it in a way that’s quite innovative by reaching across boundaries and joining dots across countries and religions.”

If you resonate with Breandan’s journey and wish to access religious and spiritual books in Braille and audio, please visit https://xaviersocietyfortheblind.org , send an email or call +1 212-473-7800 (NEW YORK).