Kathleen Loehr has thirty-five years of experience in partnership with university and nonprofit leaders, as well as philanthropists. Through individual and facilitated group work, she helps institutions blend their aspirations to serve the common good with their commitment to create effective and sustained impact. Trained in the change management model of Appreciative Inquiry, Kathleen combines nonprofit and fundraising expertise, coaching, and strategy to help leaders and groups navigate change.
Kathleen is a thought leader regarding the role of women in modern philanthropy. Women are more frequently in the philanthropic driver’s seat, given the increased money being earned and inherited, and their influence on household giving. Kathleen translates the research on how women give into practical actions fundraisers can take in her book, Gender Matters: A Guide to Growing Women’s Philanthropy (2018). Her women’s philanthropy expertise results from strategic designs to engage more women at universities (Cornell University, University of San Francisco, Duke University, The College of William Mary), nonprofits (American Red Cross, Women Moving Millions, the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, the National Women’s History Museum), sororities (Alpha Chi Omega Foundation, the Alpha Phi Foundation) and girls’ schools (Louise S. McGehee School). She is also a regular speaker for CASE conferences on women’s philanthropy.
As a leadership coach, certified through the Strozzi Institute, Kathleen is pragmatic and relational. Clients value that she is committed to their goals and brings empathy, honesty, practical experience and powerful questions to help them make choices that support their visions.
Kathleen was a C-suite leader of fundraising for the American Red Cross, Save the Children, the International Crisis Group, and key departments at Cornell University. Kathleen holds a BA in Government from Cornell University’s College of Arts and Sciences. She sits on the board of the Center for Disaster Philanthropy and is the chair of the Advisory Council for the Women’s Philanthropy Institute at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.
More than work has shaped Kathleen’s experiences. Growing up in a family of 10, she learned to effectively build relationships up, down and out. Her humanitarian focus came from living abroad in Bolivia and Italy, as well as extensive travels in Africa, Europe and Central and South America, where she witnessed human dignity in the face of extreme poverty. She keeps her curiosity alive by paying attention to the questions and passions of the Millennials, Generation Z and children in her big, blended family.