Philanthropy New York has announced the appointment of Kathryn O’Neal-Dunham as the organization’s new Chief Operations Officer. O’Neal-Dunham, who is currently Director of the Americas for the Macquarie Group Foundation, will join PNY’s staff in February 2013.
As Chief Operations Officer, O’Neal-Dunham will serve as an integral member of the senior management team and help craft, direct and implement the overall strategic work of Philanthropy New York. She will supervise PNY’s Finance and Administration staff and develop and implement the organization’s administrative and financial policies; guide the work of the organization’s Membership and Learning Services departments; and take responsibility for the smooth running of the organization’s day-to-day activities.
“We are delighted to welcome Kathryn to our staff and to this newly created position,” said Ronna Brown, President of Philanthropy New York. “She has held several roles at PNY member organizations, and has a great familiarity with and respect for our work. Her previous experiences with strategic development, financial management, building collaboratives and strengthening the capacity of her fellow employees will serve us and our members well.”
“As a grantmaker, I have appreciated the enormous value that PNY brings to its members and the philanthropic sector at large,” said O’Neal-Dunham. “I am very excited to be joining their team.”
In her role at the Macquarie Group Foundation, O’Neal-Dunham built innovative employee engagement, programs involving hundreds of volunteers throughout the United States and long-term partnerships with local nonprofits across the U.S. Her collaborations included a partnership with Older Adults Technology Services to launch the nation’s first technology-themed exploration center for older adults and a Clinton Global Initiative commitment to help bring clean water technologies to Sub-Saharan Africa through the Macquarie business BioCarbon.
Capitalizing on worker enthusiasm, O’Neal-Dunham also built a robust pro-bono program to improve nonprofit capacity in Human Resources, Technology, Fundraising and Project Management. In addition, she worked closely with the Taproot Foundation to pilot a unique Financial Diagnostic pro-bono program that widely leveraged the skills of Macquarie employees. Internally, Kathryn worked with Foundation staff and board to re-define the Foundation’s objectives and develop a 3-year strategic plan.
Prior to Macquarie, O’Neal-Dunham worked at the United Way of New York City, where she first served as the Director of the Targeted Impact Fund, and later as the Vice President of Community Investment. O’Neal-Dunham created the Targeted Impact Fund, oversaw a $43 million budget, implemented a major database project to consolidate the agency’s funding streams and provided leadership to the Program Committee of the Board. She played a lead role in executing the organization’s strategic planning process, which engaged leaders from the corporate, foundation, government, academic and nonprofit fields to hone United Way’s focus and programmatic priorities.
Prior to her work at the United Way, O’Neal-Dunham spent six years managing the fundraising and external affairs of Inwood House, an organization that provides sexuality education and maternal health care for New York City teens. She helped to raise more than $7 million in private and government funding each year and supported the development of the organization’s first Corporate Advisory Board. During her tenure, the agency was able to launch innovative programming in HIV peer education and parent/child home visitation and expand critical support programs for homeless and runaway youth. Her earlier professional experiences include the creation and management of mentoring programs for adolescent girls and consulting for nonprofits and foundations.
O’Neal-Dunham has a B.A. in Clinical Psychology from Tufts University and received her Master’s degree in Public Administration and Health Policy from the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Affairs at NYU. She volunteers with the Carter Burden Center for the Aging, the Central Park Conservancy, The Financial Clinic and the Growth Philanthropy Network, and is a trustee of Inwood House. She frequently speaks to graduate and undergraduate students, addressing issues such as nonprofit capacity building, fundraising and the field of philanthropy.