Meet Our Team

Bill Staley is a native of our diocese. Born the second of seven children, he was baptized at Our Lady of the Lake Parish and grew up on Old Hickory Lake. His family attended Saint John Vianney parish where he was an altar boy and his siblings later attended SJV parochial school and Pope John Paul II High School when the schools opened. Bill attended Youth Leadership Workshop in 2003, which was a pivotal moment in his formation. He then made SEARCH 229 in the following November. Both of those experiences shaped his life’s goal to lead people closer to our Lord. He graduated from Hendersonville High School and went on to study Political Science and Marketing at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he was involved with the crew team, Greek life, and was elected president of the Student Government Association and served as Chair of the UT System Student Council. His formal role in ministry began as a Catechist for Saint Jude parish while working for a publishing house in Chattanooga. From there, by the grace of God, he joined the diocesan team in August of 2010. Over the last decade, he’s hosted dozens of retreats, led thousands on pilgrimages (international and domestic), and even took the Nashville delegation to World Youth Day in Poland. Bill is currently in his last few months of earning his Master of Science in Church Management degree from Villanova University.

Fr. Bulso was in the first graduating class of Pope John Paul II High School in 2005. He and Bill Staley actually were at the same SEARCH retreat in November 2003. 

Robert is native to the Diocese of Nashville and a product of 16 years of Catholic Schooling. He grew up attending St. Pius X Parish and School in North Nashville with his family. A part of the third graduating class at Pope John Paul II High School, Robert was heavily involved in the Diocesan Search program and Youth Council. These experiences set on his heart a calling to serve the young Church in Nashville as well as formed several personal relationships that he still holds to this day. He received a Bachelors Degree in Theology from Aquinas College in Nashville in 2012 and started to serve as an adult volunteer for the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry while working in the hospitality industry. Robert married his wife, Alyssa, in 2015 and welcomed his two sons, Andrew and Owen in 2017 and 2019 respectively. Robert has been with the Office for Youth Ministry since October 2016 and has lead multiple small group and pilgrimage experiences, interacting with over 1000 individual students. Robert feels the highlight of his time with the Diocese is the several leadership teams he has built and spent time working with. The relationships built in these situations constantly reassure him of his calling and strengthen his love of Christ and His Church.

Libby Byrnes was born in Green Bay, WI and baptized at Holy Family Catholic Church.  After 1^st grade, her family moved to Lake Zurich, IL where she attended Saint Frances de Sales Catholic School and Church.  Here she made her first communion and was actively involved in the music ministry.  Upon starting middle school, Libby again moved to Alpharetta, GA where she was actively involved in the youth program at St. Peter Chanel until her high school graduation.  Libby attended Vanderbilt University and received a Bachelor’s in English, a Bachelor’s in Secondary Education, and a Master’s of Education.  While at Vanderbilt, she was involved in the Vandy Catholic Awakening retreat and intramural teams.  Libby felt called to serve the youth in the inner-city and took a teaching job at Pearl-Cohn High School.  After three years in the inner-city, Libby moved back to Alpharetta to pursue a teaching job at Blessed Trinity Catholic High School where she taught English and coached volleyball, basketball, and soccer.  During her time in Atlanta, Libby also was actively involved as a Core Member at St. Ann’s in Marietta, GA.  In 2019, Libby returned to Nashville upon accepting a teaching job at Pope John Paul II High School in Hendersonville, TN.  At the same time, Libby also completed her Master’s Certificate in Catholic School Leadership from Creighton University.  After discerning her role in the formation of the youth, Libby started her position of Coordinator of High School Youth Ministry with the Diocese of Nashville in the summer of 2020.  Libby is currently a parishioner at the Cathedral of the Incarnation.