Holy Cross College is proud to announce Kerry Alys Robinson, President of Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA), as the 2024 Commencement speaker. When she began her tenure in July of 2023, Robinson became only the second lay person and second woman to lead the Catholic Church’s largest charitable network. She is a highly regarded national expert in Catholic leadership and philanthropy.
Catholic Charities USA has 167 member agencies serving more than 15 million people annually at nearly 3900 locations throughout the United States and five US territories. With strategic priorities in affordable housing, immigration and refugee services, and integrated health, CCUSA was founded over 100 years ago. CCUSA is also officially charged by the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops to manage domestic disaster response efforts on behalf of the Catholic Church.
“We are extremely excited and humbled to welcome Kerry Alys Robinson to deliver the commencement keynote at Holy Cross College this Spring,” said Marco Clark, President of Holy Cross College. “As a distinguished leader in Catholic philanthropy and executive director of a large charitable organization, she is an exceptional example of virtuous leadership and what it means to live out the mission of the Catholic Church in our everyday lives. She has demonstrated that advocacy for the most vulnerable is part of courageous citizenship. We are delighted that she has accepted our offer to inspire our graduates as we send them forth to be disciples of hope in the world.”
Prior to her current role at CCUSA, Robinson was the founding executive director of Leadership Roundtable where she served in several capacities for 18 years. Leadership Roundtable is an influential organization composed of laity, religious, and clergy working together to promote best practices and accountability within the management of the Catholic Church in the United States.
Active in Catholic philanthropy, Robinson remains the current director of the Opus Prize Foundation which supports faith-based social entrepreneurship. She is a member of the Raskob Foundation for Catholic Activities as well as Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities. She served for 15 years on the national committee for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Catholic Campaign for Human Development and has been an advisor and trustee of more than 25 foundations, charitable nonprofits, and family trusts.
Robinson is also a writer and a public speaker. She is the author of Imagining Abundance: Fundraising, Philanthropy, and a Spiritual Call to Service and has articles published in a number of prominent journals. She has received seven honorary doctorates and many distinctions including the Cardinal Bernardin Award from Catholic Common Ground Initiative at Catholic Theological Union; the Sapientia et Doctrina Award from the Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education at Fordham University, and the Loyola Medal from St. Ignatius Loyola in New York City.
Robinson has a Bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and a Masters of Arts in Religion from Yale Divinity School. She and her husband have two children, Christopher and Sophia.
Holy Cross College will celebrate its 57th Commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 18, 2024.