Katie McDowell PostDirector of Development for Strategic Partnerships, The Lovett School
Katie McDowell is the Director of Development for Strategic Partnerships at The Lovett School where she is responsible for creating, implementing and evaluating a development plan designed to obtain philanthropic support for Lovett’s partnership programs which include Breakthrough Atlanta’s (BTA), Lab Atlanta and Siempre Verde. She leads the fund-raising efforts of the Advisory Boards of both BTA and Lab Atlanta. Working with the Assistant Head of School for External Affairs and in close collaboration with Breakthrough Atlanta’s Executive Director, Siempre Verde’s leadership team, and Lab Atlanta’s Founding Director, board members and others, Katie plans and execute fund-raising strategies to bring resources to Lovett’s programs that serve the greater Atlanta community.
Before joining the team at Lovett, Katie was the Executive Director of the Office of Partnerships and Development for Atlanta Public Schools (APS). In this role, Katie founded the office and served as the key liaison between the district and partners including non-profits, corporations, foundations, community agencies and more. Responsible for leveraging existing resources and bringing significant financial support to APS for unfunded strategic priorities, Katie raised over $37M in grants and donations from foundations and corporations including the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, W. K. Kellogg Foundation, NoVo Foundation, Walton Family Foundation, Arthur M. Blank Foundation, Cousins Foundation, Chick-fil-A Foundation, Delta Air Lines, SunTrust Banks, Georgia Power, Equifax, and many more. Under her leadership, the district launched the Achieve Atlanta scholarship program, acquired 260 new partnerships, and funded a comprehensive social-emotional learning program in 75 traditional schools.
Prior to her experience at APS, Katie served for ten years as the co-founder and Executive Director of the Atlanta Families’ Awards for Excellence in Education (AFAEE) a nonprofit focused on teacher and school-leader quality in Metro Atlanta. Previously, Katie also worked at McKinsey & Company in New York City as a communications specialist where she collaborated on The War for Talent published by the Harvard Business School Press.
Katie holds a B.A. in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. An experienced philanthropic leader, Katie is passionate about improving the quality of education for all in Atlanta and serves on the Board of Trustees at the Atlanta Speech School, The Michaels Family Charitable Foundation, and AFAEE. She also sits on the advisory boards of Lovett’s Lab Atlanta, the Hollis Innovation Academy on Atlanta’s Westside and the mission committee of Peachtree Presbyterian Church. She is also a past Trustee of the Lawrenceville School in Princeton, New Jersery, and the proud mom of two current Lovett students.