Patrick J. O'Connell

Patrick O'Connell is Executive Director of Practice at Exponential, leading the Reproducing Networks Accelerator (RNA) toward 12,000 healthy, multiplying networks worldwide. For over two decades, he's helped churches multiply through collaboration rather than competition. A former U.S. Army servicemember and Vice President of an investment firm, Patrick left the corporate world to plant Restore Community Church in Kansas City. From 2013–2024, he served as Global Director of NewThing, leading collaborative church planting initiatives across nearly 60 countries. He is co-author (with Jon Ferguson) of The End of Leading Alone (Zondervan) and author of Together: The Great Collaboration. Patrick holds degrees from the University of Illinois at Chicago and Wheaton College, and lives in the Chicago area with his wife, Nancy.