Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Alumni
  • Login
  • Volunteer
  • Clubs
  • Reunions
  • Magazine
  • Class Notes
  • Help
  • Give Now
  • Stories
  • Alumni Directory
  • Lifelong Learning
  • Careers
  • Programs & Events
  • Giving
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Alumni→
  • Stories→

Stories

Stories

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 EducationLeadership-Leading ChangeOrganizations-Organizational Change and AdaptationFinance-Financial Strategy
ShareBar

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)

Support the next generation of leaders Make a gift now
ShareBar

Featured Alumni

Brendan Kennealey
MBA 2006
Login to send a message

Post a Comment

Featured Alumni

Brendan Kennealey
MBA 2006
Login to send a message

Related Stories

    • 17 Dec 2024
    • Skydeck

    Solving the Underemployment Crisis

    Re: Stephen Moret (MBA 2001); Joseph B. Fuller (Professor of Management Practice); William R. Kerr (Dimitri V. D'Arbeloff - MBA Class of 1955 Professor of Business Administration Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Research)
    • 25 Aug 2021
    • Making A Difference

    Reimagining Chicago’s Schools

    Re: Melissa Megliola (MBA 2000)
    • 24 Jul 2020
    • HBS Alumni News

    Reimagining Chicago’s Schools

    Re: Melissa Megliola (MBA 2000)
    • 07 May 2020
    • HBS Alumni News

    Ensuring Student Equity

    Re: Jennifer Grumhaus (MBA 1994); By: Jennifer Gillespie

More Related Stories

Stories Featuring Brendan Kennealey

    • 01 Sep 2023
    • HBS Alumni Bulletin

    Case Study: The Home Team

    Re: Brendan Kennealey (MBA 2006); Needham Hurst (MBA 2016); Reed Benet (MBA 1991); Charlie Andersen (MBA 2014); DJ DiDonna (Senior Lecturer of Business Administration); By: Jen McFarland Flint
    • 01 Mar 2010
    • Alumni Stories

    Rwanda Provides Students with Hands-On Learning

    Re: Brendan Kennealey (MBA 2006); By: Margie Kelley
    • 01 Dec 2009
    • Alumni Stories

    Robert Goodwin

    Re: Robert Goodwin (GMP 3); Sam MacHour (GMP 3); Brendan Kennealey (MBA 2006); By: Deborah Blagg

More Stories Featuring Brendan Kennealey

 
 
 
ǁ
Campus Map
External Relations
Harvard Business School
Teele Hall
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
Phone: 1.617.495.6890
Email: alumni+hbs.edu
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
  • Terms of Use
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.