OMS Team
Eric Namee
Eric is the board chair of both OVP and OMS. He is a founder and managing member of Hinkle Law Firm in Wichita, Kansas, and practices in the areas of employee benefits, taxation, tax litigation, and nonprofit law. He serves as President of the Virginia H. Farah Foundation, a private foundation dedicated exclusively to supporting the work of the Orthodox Church. Both as an attorney and a philanthropist, he has assisted hundreds of Orthodox Christian organizations and ministries. He serves on the board of Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry and Orthodox Youth Ministries (OYM), the new youth and young adult Agency of the Assembly of Bishops. He is also a trustee emeritus of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary. Eric is a Certified Public Accountant, a member of the National Advisory Council of the Wichita State University Endowment Association, and a guest instructor on tax procedure at the University of Kansas School of Law. He holds a B.B.A. in Accounting from Wichita State University and a J.D. from the University of Kansas School of Law.
Melissa Kean
Melissa is on the board of both OVP and OMS. Melissa and her husband Steve, who is the CEO of Kinder Morgan, are the founders of The Saint Constantine School, where Melissa is still active as vice chairman of the board. Steve is currently the board chair. Melissa is also on the board of OYM. Melissa has undergraduate degrees from Iowa State, a master's from Creighton, and a doctorate from Rice University, all in history, as well as a J.D. from the University of Iowa. She recently retired after thirty years at Rice, the last fifteen with an appointment as Centennial Historian. She’s still an active researcher and writer in her academic area, the history of American higher education.
Nicholas Chakos
Nicholas is the OMS Executive Director and serves on its board. He is an experienced nonprofit leader and has previously served as Executive Director of FOCUS North America, Director of Development of IOCC, and Founder of the healthcare analytics company PRIMR.co. He is an adjunct professor of organizational development at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School and has trained over 250 nonprofit organizations in strategic planning, fundraising, and organizational infrastructure. He is a certified fundraising executive and a graduate of the Lilly School of Philanthropy, in addition to holding a B.A. from Washington & Jefferson College and an M.N.A. from the University of Notre Dame.
Matthew Namee
​Matthew is the OMS General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer. He has a broad background as a nonprofit and tax attorney with extensive experience representing Orthodox nonprofit organizations. In addition to practicing law, he served as Chief Investment Officer for Black Saber Capital and Grant Coordinator for the Virginia H. Farah Foundation. He founded the Society for Orthodox Christian History in the Americas and is editor of the website OrthodoxHistory.org. As a young man, he was the research assistant to Bill James, the father of sabermetric analysis and an executive with the Boston Red Sox. Matthew earned a B.A. in History from Wichita State University and a J.D. from the University of Kansas School of Law.
Mark Arey
Mark is a senior consultant to OMS and served the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese for more than 30 years as both a parish priest and in a variety of administrative positions: Director of the Office of Inter-Orthodox, Ecumenical and Inter-Faith Relations, Executive Secretary to the Chairman of the Assembly of Bishops, General Secretary of SCOBA, Executive Director of Communications, and Ad Interim Director of the Archbishop Iakovos Leadership One Hundred Endowment Fund. In 2013, he asked to return to the ranks of the laity in order to marry. From 2014 through 2018 he was the Executive Director of The Hellenic Initiative, Inc. (THI), a venture philanthropy effort focused in Greece. He holds a BA from the University of Maryland, a M.Div. from Holy Cross (Brookline), and an M.S. from Loyola College.
Alex is the OMS Project Manager, focused at present on the Effective Parishes Assessment program. He is an experienced Operations leader with a strong background in team development, crafting and executing growth-focused strategic initiatives, and continuous improvement. Alex holds a BS in mechanical engineering and an MBA with a concentration in nonprofit management, both from Northeastern University. He is also a graduate of the Orthodox Pastoral School.
Alex Cooley
Bill is a Stewardship Evangelist helping parishes and individuals to see the blessings of using our gifts to advance God's Kingdom. Bill provides strategic planning across jurisdictions to assist hierarchical governance, parishes and ministry organizations. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Northwestern University, a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Goizueta Graduate School of Business Administration at Emory University and a Juris Doctorate from Emory University School of Law. By day he is a partner in an Atlanta law firm.
Bill Marianes
Bill J. Vranas
Bill provides accounting and financial expertise to OMS. He is president of Bill J. Vranas Accountants, Inc. He has extensive experience with Orthodox Christian organizations, currently serving as the Chair of IOCC’s Chicago Metropolitan, treasurer (and past president) of the Board of The Hellenic Foundation of Chicago, and treasurer (and past president) of The Board of the National Hellenic Museum. He is past president of the Board of Directors of the Saint Iakovos Retreat Center and was a member of the Archdiocese Council of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. He was also the treasurer of The Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago for many years. Bill has a B.A. in Accounting from Graduate University of Illinois (Chicago Campus).