Chief Advancement Officer

The Taft School (Taft) is pleased to announce the appointment of Kathleen Cleary as the next chief advancement officer, effective September 1, 2025. Reporting to Peter Becker ’95, head of school, and serving as a key member of the senior administrative team, Cleary will bring leadership and strategic vision to all aspects of Taft’s constituent relations and fundraising activities through the broad and comprehensive work carried out by the alumni development team. In doing so, Cleary will continue to strengthen and grow relationships with Taft’s more than 10,000 alumni, current and former parents, trustees, and friends and keep them actively engaged in the life of the institution. 

Cleary brings significant advancement leadership experience to Taft, most recently as director of major gifts at Phillips Academy (Andover) where she oversaw the major and principal giving operation for a decade. Her work and leadership were integral to Andover’s $400 million Knowledge & Goodness campaign, and to the growth and elevation of their advancement operation. Cleary distinguished herself through her work on a women’s philanthropic initiative, metric development and implementation, philanthropic mentorship, and strategic programming. She was instrumental in progressively increasing Andover’s philanthropic success, as she and her team were responsible for nearly half of Andover’s annual fundraising goal. 

Prior to her arrival at Andover, Cleary served The Nature Conservancy (TNC) as director of philanthropy. In this role, Cleary led a robust team across major, annual, and planned giving; operations; and prospect management. She played a key role in recruiting new members to the regional boards of trustees, developing and executing a $50 million regional fundraising endeavor, and contributing to the planning and strategy of an organization-wide $4 billion comprehensive campaign. Cleary also served in a consultative role for global advancement initiatives.

Cleary started her more than 20-year career in advancement at the Mayo Clinic in major and principal gift officer roles. During her tenure there, she learned the fundamentals of moves management strategies, major gift fundraising, planned giving and bequests, and charitable annuities. 

Cleary earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of South Florida. She has also participated in numerous certificate programs through the Harvard Division of Continuing Education. 

To learn more about this announcement, please visit: https://www.taftschool.org/news/featured/~board/news/post/taft-appoints-kathleen-cleary-as-new-chief-advancement-officer 

Jack Gorman led this search with Nicole Poe, Maureen Perry, and Ryan Cheung.