Leading Schools that Change Lives

23 Sep 2019

Leading Schools that Change Lives

Brendan Kennealey (MBA 2006) brings an EMT’s mindset to the work of starting and running schools that help underserved kids beat the odds

Re: Brendan Kennealey (MBA 2006)

Topics: Education-Secondary Education Leadership-Leading Change Organizations-Organizational Change and Adaptation Finance-Financial Strategy

Brendan Kennealey (MBA 2006) studied business at Harvard and has a psychology degree from Boston College. But in a career spent leading schools that transform students’ lives, he also draws regularly on his training as an EMT.

“It’s all about triage,” says Kennealey, the first non-clergy president of Salesianum School, the Catholic boys’ prep school he graduated from in Wilmington, Delaware. “You have to be laser-focused on what’s most important and not get distracted by the chaos and noise.”

Kennealey’s résumé includes teaching in and launching Jesuit-affiliated middle schools in low-income neighborhoods, starting nonprofits to support education for girls in Rwanda, and guiding strategy in Boston’s Catholic schools.

When he stepped into his current job in 2011, the chaos and noise included several recently settled sexual abuse lawsuits against priests in the Oblate order that started Salesianum. “I wanted to help the school navigate to a place of firmer footing,” says Kennealey, who has focused on reversing declining enrollments and budget deficits while reinforcing Salesianum’s historic tradition of serving low-income families.

Progress during his tenure includes several major building projects, a 200 percent increase in financial aid, and meaningful progress on diversity. “Some of our kids have been first-generation high school students who go on to be first-generation college students,” he says. “Working with families to make that happen is the best part of my job.”

(Published September 2019)

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Brendan Kennealey

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