Diane F. Brown of Clearwater, Florida, is the Founder of The Marian Servants of Divine Providence®, a Public Association of the Christian Faithful in the Diocese of St. Petersburg, Florida with 13 affiliate communities nationwide. She also founded Our Lady of Divine Providence House of Prayer® and its Foundation.  Following the tragic death of her oldest son in 1971, Mrs. Brown experienced a dramatic conversion. Through death God brought light and life. Her life’s mission for over four decades is to help those who recognize in themselves a yearning desire to know God more personally, to love God more deeply, and to serve God more generously, and for all people to come to a greater understanding of their personal mission in life. God has given a vision to all of us, and we need to stay faithful and hopeful while putting a radical trust in God.

In 1992, Mrs. Brown founded the Cenacle of Our Lady of Divine Providence School of Spiritual Direction, and the Retreat Ministry of the Marian Servants®.  The School of Spiritual Direction is associated with Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio and the Institute for Priestly Formation.

Mrs. Brown has been honored to receive notable awards including the St. Jude the Apostle Award of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, an honorary Doctor of Christian Letters degree from Franciscan University and a Catholic Education Foundation award. In 2013, she and her husband Herb also received the Pontifical Award “Pro Ecclesia Et Pontifice“, the highest award conferred by the Holy See for distinguished service to the Church. Diane was born and raised in Louisiana. She is the mother of five children, the grandmother of nine and great grandmother of two.

Mrs. Alicia Goodwin currently serves as President of the Board of Directors of Our Lady of Divine Providence House of Prayer® Inc. She is also the Director of the Marian Servants of Divine Providence®, a Public Association of the Christian Faithful of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, FL. Until her recent move to Clearwater, Florida in 2016, she was the Director of the Marian Servants of the Incarnate Wisdom®, the affiliate community of the Marian Servants® in Houston, TX. Under her leadership and with the blessing of Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, the community opened the first satellite campus of the Cenacle of Our Lady of Divine Providence® School of Spiritual Direction in Houston.

Previously, Mrs. Goodwin enjoyed a successful 25 year business career in the technology industry where she held management positions in such notable companies as Xerox Corporation, Compaq Computer Corporation and Hewlett Packard.

Mrs. Goodwin is a native of Havana, Cuba and was raised in South Florida. She and her husband, Lee, raised 3 children and have 4 grandchildren. Mrs. Goodwin holds a Master of Arts in Theology from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, TX. and a B.A. degree in Languages and Linguistics (French and Spanish) from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida and a Certification for Spiritual Direction from the Cenacle of Our Lady of Divine Providence® School of Spiritual Direction in affiliation with Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio.