{"id":1247,"date":"2026-05-07T14:19:04","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T19:19:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/after-macalester\/?page_id=1247"},"modified":"2026-05-08T12:53:52","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T17:53:52","slug":"kate-d-gallagher-16","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/after-macalester\/alumni-pathways\/kate-d-gallagher-16\/","title":{"rendered":"Kate D. Gallagher \u201916"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \"Kate\n <\/div>\n
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Mac fosters a self-propelled sense of curiosity about the world: if I don\u2019t know something, I can learn about it.<\/blockquote>\n Kate D. Gallagher \u201916<\/cite>\n \"\"\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n

Women\u2019s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Major<\/strong>
\nSenior Systems & Stewardship Specialist, Augsburg University<\/i>
Higher ed \u2022 Curiosity \u2022 Community \u2022 Work-study<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My time at Mac showed me how to be responsible in a social way and to navigate and mitigate systems and institutions in ways that are both functional and joyful, relieving and liberating. My first full-time job after college was as an Advancement Administrator at Minnesota Jewish Community Center, where I provided administrative support for the fundraising and marketing teams. At a community nonprofit, this work included donor relations, gift processing, data entry, and writing acknowledgement and tribute cards. I started at the JCC after it turned out that graduate school was not for me, and was fortunate to have been at the J long enough to gain a lot of institutional knowledge that enabled me to help out periodically in multiple areas. I recently started at a new position in higher education, in the Institutional Advancement Division of Augsburg University, a position that has narrowed and elevated my responsibilities in fundraising services. What started as a job has, ultimately, become my career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am not sure that anything I learned in a textbook is what I have done<\/em> in my work life, but Mac honed my writing, and I think being a thoughtful and well-practiced communicator is what I have used the most. I finished the requirements for my major pretty early as an undergraduate, and then I turned to art as a more, literally, creative use of my credit hours. On a technical level, all the graphic arts classes I took taught me how to use Adobe (creative suite) software, how to format documents, and think about the utility of image, which are all skills I still use. I also spent all four years of student employment at the Mac Fund doing administrative work, and now I have over ten years of experience in Advancement administration, even though I\u2019m only thirty-one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have so many alumni friends who have jobs you wouldn\u2019t think of, like landscaping or puzzle-room design. People might scoff at someone who got this world-class education doing those jobs, but I really believe that a job is just a job, and it can be what provides for whatever the center of your life really is. I learned amazing things that changed my life at Mac. And I know that even if the work you do in classes never comes up in your job, you\u2019re so much better off in your life having gone to Mac and being surrounded by that community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was super involved in extracurricular activities\u2014choir, identity collectives. I started the Disability one. That skillset of being a community leader and organizer has served me well. I also learned from my experience on Mac\u2019s Alumni Board how to help an organization make goals, redistribute responsibilities, and navigate between the different interests of the voting members. In all of those Mac spaces, I was both a participant and a leader\u2014facilitating discussion and being part of it\u2014and I learned how to be a steward of the ethos of an activity and also be a beneficiary of it. Mac made me a person who can create comfortable spaces where people feel like they can be their whole selves, which can sometimes be hard to find at a workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last updated: November 2025<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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