Faithfully Woven: Sister Jeanette Braun, SNDdeN
August 17, 2026
Our archives are alive with the fascinating stories of our Sisters who established our presence in California. Our dynamic Sister Jeanette Braun, SNDdeN is one who took her skills and talents in education to the small screen, using TV and video technology to make known God’s goodness.
Sister Jeanette Braun, SNDdeN was a gifted teacher with a knack for creating inviting spaces
for young children to learn. She is the co-founder of the San Francisco Mission Reading Clinic, where she nurtured immigrant students from many different cultures.
Because of her background in special education, Sister Jeanette was asked to lead a project at Catholic Television Network. Using live, interactive broadcasts, she built a community of special-education teachers from Catholic and public schools. Later, she applied this experience, along with her creativity and communication skills, as a producer at KGO-TV in San Francisco. Her Sunday morning TV program focused on issues of peace and justice.
In the 1980s, Sister Jeanette became immersed in the Sanctuary movement. Her knowledge of Spanish was an asset as she accompanied individuals and families through the sometimes-agonizing process of gaining political asylum. The bonds made with these people she welcomed into her home and supported have endured. She worked at Hewlett-Packard Company during this period, coordinating worldwide training broadcasts via a video network.
Sister Jeanette welcomed the first Notre Dame AmeriCorps volunteers to California during the 1990s to work in San Francisco and Redwood City, California. Some volunteers helped staff Kids in Partnership, a non-profit cross-generational tutoring program directed by Sister Jeanette.
For another 10 years, Sister Jeanette directed Table of Plenty, a non-profit organization that provides a weekly supper for the elderly, struggling families and homeless members of the Half Moon Bay Community. In March 2022, Sister Jeanette received the Jefferson Award for Public Service for her work at Table of Plenty.
