About kite founder, dr. maria gallo

Maria is passionate about alumni potential.

Dr. Maria Gallo is a researcher and practitioner who established KITE, a social enterprise to support philanthropy research and alumni education —Keep in Touch Education.

Maria has almost 20 years of experience in academic, management and alumni professional roles in higher education. She was recently appointed as a Visiting Research Fellow at the Trinity Business School - Trinity College Dublin and is also a Research Fellow with the Community Knowledge Initaitive at the National University of Ireland, Galway.

Prior to working with KITE, Maria worked as the Director of Lifelong Learning and Engagement with St Angela’s College, Sligo (A College of the National University of Ireland, Galway - NUI Galway) and established seven academic programmes at postgraduate and undergraduate level in leadership and management. She served as the founding Programme Director for the MA in Leadership and Management for the Community and Public Sector and established the island of Ireland’s first Postgraduate Certificate in Volunteer Management and Leadership.

She obtained her doctorate in higher education from the University of Sheffield with her thesis focusing on alumni relationships in higher education. Her research on an innovative alumni relationship building cycle, was awarded the HS Warwick Outstanding Research Publication Award from CASE (Council for the Advancement and Support of Education). Her research interests are in philanthropy, in particular volunteering and advancement (alumni relations, communications and fundraising). As alumni relations and advancement becomes increasingly popular across the globe, Maria has received requests for her insight and alumni relations research models from institutions worldwide. She is a regular speaker with CASE, EAIE (European Association on International Education, as part of the Alumni Relations Expert Community) and ICARe (International Conference on Alumni Relations). She has one of only a handful of TEDx talks on alumni you can view here: https://bit.ly/2MhmopA

Maria also worked in alumni relations and advancement both at University College Dublin and the University of Toronto. She also established the alumni associations at Letterkenny Institute of Technology and the research to establish the alumni association for the School of Public Administration, University of Victoria, Canada.

Maria is a proud and active member of her multitude of alma maters. She graduated from the University of St Michael’s College- University of Toronto and is the alumni representative for Ireland for the university. She completed a Diploma at the University of Victoria and MA from the Institute of Public Administration (National University of Ireland). Following her doctorate with University of Sheffield, Maria also completed a postgraduate certificate in teaching and learning in higher education with NUI Galway. From Junior Achievement to Toastmasters, Google RISE Awards to Encounters with Canada, Maria has maintained an affinity with so many special alma maters.

With several academic publications on alumni relations and philanthropy, Maria also maintains an active research portfolio. As an active member of ERNOP (European Research Network on Philanthropy), Maria is part of the steering group bringing the ERNOP conference to Ireland in 2021.

Previously as Chair and Vice-Chair of the Sligo Volunteer Centre, Maria was involved in the successful bid for Sligo’s designation of European Volunteering Capital in 2017. Maria lives with her husband and two children in County Donegal, Ireland named in 2017 National Geographic’s coolest location to visit.

I would love to hear from you!

Connect with Maria: LinkedIn
Email: maria@keepintoucheducation.com