+Sister Patricia Daly, OP

The Sisters of Saint Dominic of Caldwell announce with great sadness that Sister Patricia Daly, OP, a member of our congregation for 47 years, entered into eternal life on December 9th. Sister Pat, a woman of deep faith and true compassion, was known to so many within the Dominican Family and around the world as a fierce champion for social and climate justice via responsible investment.

For 45 years as our congregation’s representative for corporate responsibility and impact investing, Sister Pat shared her social justice passion with us all. She began her ministry as a teacher of religion, social justice, scripture, and morality at Saint Mary High School in Rutherford before joining the faculty at Saint Dominic Academy in Jersey City. She then became an associate campus minister, a justice and preaching coordinator, and an adjunct professor at St. Peter’s University in Jersey City. 

The impact of Sister Pat’s ministry continued to grow as she began compelling corporations and investors to reconsider their business practices by taking ecological and human rights issues into account. In 1987, she joined Christian Brothers Investment Services in New York as director of socially responsible investment and corporate responsibility. Sister Pat then ministered as the program director of Genesis Farm in Blairstown while consulting for Food & Water, Inc. In 1994, Sister Pat became the executive director of the Tri-State Coalition for Responsible Investment (now known as Investor Advocates for Social Justice) where she “invited companies to address issues of human rights, labor, ecological concerns, equality, and international debt and capital flows and played a role in positioning the agenda of global warming into the priorities of Corporate America” (CFA Society Boston).

Sister Pat was integral to the development of a collaborative partnership between Morgan Stanley and 16 Dominican congregations, which culminated in the launch of the Climate Solutions Funds initiative in 2020. Today, Dominican sisters from across the country remembered Sister Pat. Sister Pat Siemen, OP, of the Adrian Dominican Sisters, recalled that Sister Pat “led the way for so many in showing us how investment funds can be sources for justice.” Sister Michaela Connolly, OP, prioress of the Sisters of Saint Dominic of Blauvelt, echoed those sentiments, reflecting that Sister Pat “was a blessing, not only to our Dominican family, but to so many other congregations who have benefited from her guidance in making socially responsible investment decisions.” Sister Anne Lythgoe, OP, a member of the Dominican Sisters of Peace Leadership Team, said, “she was a visionary leader in terms of systemic justice, economic justice. She awakened so many of us to a real awareness of the impact of financial wealth and asset management on the poor. Hers was a very special call that she embraced with fierceness and courage in the face of extraordinary opposition.”

Throughout her years of ministry, Sister Pat served on various boards and committees, including: Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility Governing Board; Tri-State Coalition for Responsible Investment Executive Committee; Archdiocese of Newark Justice and Peace Commission; JVC East Board Chair and Member; Oikocredit Ecumenical Development Cooperative Society Board of Directors; Ozone Action Board of Directors; Mustard Seed Communities USA Board of Directors; Columbia University Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory Advisory Board; Jana Partners Board; and the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ Portfolio Advisory Board.

Sister Pat earned her bachelor’s degree from Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, and her master’s degree in theology of justice from Maryknoll School of Theology in Maryknoll, New York. Both William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey, and Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, recognized her work with honorary doctorates in law and business leadership respectively. As Dr. Charles Dougherty, Duquesne’s president at the time, said, “As a woman of prayer, you have shown us that prayers are answered through our individual and collective actions. As a voice for socially responsible investing, you have taught us that a company’s ability to be profitable and its responsibility to be ethical must be harmonious goals.”