Pastoral Associate/Director of Parish Administration
732-741-1714 x4
claireh@nativitychurchnj.org

As Pastoral Associate and Director of Parish Administration, Claire oversees all ministries and splits the job of business manager with Fr. Chris. She coordinates all baptisms and weddings that take place at the church and fosters the faith life of the community as a cantor and an Extraordinary Minister. She previously taught Religious Ed for nine years.

Claire has a BA in history and music from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA in marketing from Monmouth University. She is certified in Social Marketing, Nonprofit Management, the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, and Catechesis – the Methodology component. She is a member of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians.

Prior to joining the staff at Nativity, Claire held executive marketing and project management positions in the financial services and healthcare communications industries for 30 years. She is past president of the Little Silver Schools Parent Teacher Organization, the Red Bank Regional High School Buc Backers Foundation, and the Notre Dame Club of the Jersey Shore.

Claire lives in Little Silver with her husband, Matt Izzo. They are the proud parents of three adult children and they both sing with the Monmouth Civic Chorus.

For 20 years, Claire ministered as a cantor alongside her father, Deacon Jay C. Harbeck, at Holy Cross Church in Rumson. Jay was ordained a permanent deacon in 1978 and served in that capacity until his passing in 2013. (Fun fact: Before being assigned to Holy Cross, Jay was Nativity’s first permanent deacon!)