The Catholic Higher Education Collaborative (CHEC) is committed to fostering effective partnerships that generate innovative responses to the critical current condition of Catholic schooling. Beginning in 2008, national CHEC conferences were organized by member institutions to energize the movement and begin a national conversation aimed at problem solving. Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles opened the conference series with the topic of immigration and the shifting demographics of the American Catholic church affecting Catholic schools. In October 2009, Loyola University Chicago sponsored the next CHEC conference on school leadership, followed by the 2010 conference on academic excellence sponsored jointly by Boston College and Fordham University. Fall 2011 marked the next CHEC conference, hosted by The Catholic University of America and jointly sponsored by St. John's University in New York. The theme, Catholic identity, was apropos to the national university created by American bishops and dedicated to the ecclesial mission of education. Catholic identity provides the raison d'etre for Catholic education. According to Church doctrine, the purpose of a Catholic school is to assist parents in their transmission of the faith--to help form an identity that is Catholic within the child. Attendees shared in sessions dedicated to a variety of scholarly, personal, policy, and leadership aspects of Catholic identity for educational institutions from preschool through university studies. The conference on Catholic identity made clear both the importance and the challenge to shape a faith community within an educational institution. The conversation, commentary, and experiences of the conference affirmed capabilities and commitment to meet the challenge.