Mrs. Karen Trainor- Director of Advancement

dev@saint-peter-school.org

Karen began her career as the Advancement Director in 1996 at Saint Peter School in Cambridge.  A graduate of Salem State College with a degree in Early Childhood Education, she loves working in a school.  Karen is a strong advocate of Catholic education.  All three of her children, Stephanie, Billy and Thomas attended Saint Peter School and Arlington Catholic High School and now her grandsons Jake and Nolan attend Saint Peter.  Two of her children are now teachers.  The Catholic tradition continues. 

When she was a parent, she became involved in volunteering and performing duties as suggested by the Principal, primarily in the area of development.  Karen was hired on a part-time basis and took on the challenge of creating a formal advancement program for Saint Peter School.  Karen immersed herself in learning all that she could as fast as she could.  

She has a lot of help achieving her fundraising goals through the years from wonderful knowledgeable Saint Peter Parents especially a Past Parent and Parishioner, and this years School Board Chair, Ms. Kathleen O’Connell, Head of Stewardship at the Harvard Law School.  Ms. O’Connell has been Karen’s mentor for many years.  Karen has attended several Advancement Counsel Conferences and now, she is a motivational advancement speaker at many of these conferences and a mentor to new advancement directors.

Karen has been full time as of 2000 and is responsible for directing the advancement program at Saint Peter School, but not limited to, constituent relations, constituent records/database management, prospect research, communications, and volunteer involvement.  She is also responsible for leading the school through a comprehensive Annual Fund Campaign each year.  Karen accomplished this task by designing and executing a systematized database driven Annual Fund program that secures Annual Fund gifts, increases participation and increases yield.  During her past 16 years, some of her highlights are as follows:

• Successfully established a formal Advancement Program at Saint Peter School
• Created and implemented a successful Annual Fund Program, raising over $3,000,000.00 to date.
• Provides leadership and is instrumental in implementing the annual special events: Annual Golf Classic and Auction/Gala “Dare to Dream” to name a few.
• Received ACAAP’s Rising Star Award
• Cambridge Citizen of the Year Award because of her volunteer service to youth of Cambridge.
• Past ACAAP Board Member
• Mentor for new Catholic Elementary Advancement Director

Karen currently resides in Cambridge MA, with her family in the house she was born in.