On December 3, 2024, Kerry Alys Robinson was the honoree of an event is benefiting a cause close to her heart, and one that she has always supported: women’s leadership and ministry in the Church.
Robinson received Catholic Extension Society’s 2024 Spirit of Francis Award, which recognizes an individual or group who has made a significant impact on the mission of the Catholic Church in America through service or philanthropy.
Proceeds from the dinner will support ministries led by Catholic women, lay and religious, in regions served by Catholic Extension Society. The funds raised will also support the formation of new parish and diocesan women leaders in the Church.
Our president, Father Jack Wall, and Sister Carol Keehan, DC, our 2022 Spirit of Francis Award recipient, presented Robinson (below, left) with the award.
Father Wall said,
Kerry, tonight we are here to recognize you as a great mentor of faith, hope, love and leadership. You are clearly one of the most articulate and inspirational voices in the Church today. And you’re giving continual witness to the transformative power of the risen Christ at work right here, right now.”
Father Wall continued by describing Catholic Extension Society and Catholic Charities’ missions as “linked together,” saying, “Catholic Charities dedicates itself so beautifully and impactfully with the Gospel call to eradicate material poverty. At Catholic Extension, we are about the corporal works of mercy. Catholic Extension Society is dedicated to the eradication of spiritual poverty.”
Robinson brings a unique perspective to the topic of philanthropy as a lifelong member of the Raskob Foundation for Catholic Activities. This foundation has supported the good works of the Catholic Church since 1945. It was established by Robinson’s great-grandparents with the intention that their children and descendants would be stewards of the foundation’s resources. She grew up in an environment of appreciation and respect for the far-reaching charitable work of the Church and the hardworking, faith-driven people who carry it out.
“The Church’s explicit religious mission has formed the woman I am,” she said. She and her husband, Michael, are passing these same values on to their two children, Sophie and Chris.
Investing in women
Robinson (far right, below) has a long and storied career that builds upon her family’s strong support of the Church. Last year, she was selected as the new president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA—which supports the network of Catholic social service agencies around the country.
She has always encouraged aspiring leaders, especially women. At the invitation of the Vatican, she has advised the Church on how to empower and engage women leaders.
Upon receiving the award, Robinson said, “My work on behalf of the Church, for which I am profoundly grateful, has always included work to promote the role of women in meaningful positions of leadership in the Church and at the tables of decision-making. It has always been a matter of managerial and moral urgency, not for women’s sake, for the Church’s sake. For without the leadership, expertise, judgment, participation, generosity, and talents of women, along with men, the whole Church is impoverished.”
She believes that generous support of organizations like Catholic Extension Society is a step toward recruiting, training, promoting and investing in the formation of women leaders.
Catholic Extension Society supports the ministries, education and formation of women in the Church through strategic initiatives and partnerships such as university scholarships to young adult women. Valeria Flores, below, graduated from Fordham University through our program and is now the director of catechetical events in the Diocese of Yakima, Washington.
This support also includes ministerial development programs for women in marginalized communities; degree programs for religious sisters from the Global South who come to the U.S. as missionaries; and support for women-led parish ministries and pastoral outreach.
The Church’s spiritual mission “would not be possible without strong women,” said Father Wall. “Women of faith, women of bright intellect, women of passion, and women who are assuming leadership throughout our country and throughout our world.”
Funding a strong Church for the future
Robinson inspires others to think big and aim high. She is the author of the book “Imagining Abundance: Fundraising, Philanthropy, and a Spiritual Call to Service,” in which she describes how fundraising is a transformative ministry that challenges all people to realize their own gifts and how they can be used for the benefit of the Church.
Robinson previously served as the director of development for Saint Thomas More Catholic Chapel and Center at Yale University; in this role, she led a successful $75 million fundraising drive to expand and endow the chapel’s intellectual and spiritual ministry and to construct a Catholic student center on Yale’s campus.
She is also the executive director of the Opus Prize Foundation, which awards grants to ministries that alleviate human suffering. Additionally, she served as the founding executive director of Leadership Roundtable, an organization of laity, religious and clergy working together to promote best professional practices of the Catholic Church in the United States.
In Robinson’s closing remarks, she said, “As Father Jack mentioned, Catholic Charities has a special affinity and affection for Catholic Extension Society. You are truly our partner in serving the poor in Mission Dioceses, and I want to acknowledge and thank the extraordinary women who are with us tonight from across the country who work tirelessly to serve the poor.”
“Thank you, special guests and supporters of Catholic Extension Society for being a reminder of all that is best and most noble about life,” Robinson said. “And thank you especially for being the reason for my hope.”
Kerry Robinson is one of eight women featured in our special Winter 2024 issue of Extension magazine showcasing the courage and conviction of women in the Church. Read more here.
Catholic Extension Society works in solidarity with people to build up vibrant and transformative Catholic faith communities among the poor in the poorest regions of America. Please support our mission!
