Margaret McKenna

Margaret A. McKenna is a lawyer and educator, and a leading expert in educational opportunity and philanthropy. She is the former president of Suffolk University and of the Walmart Foundation. McKenna is President Emeritus and Professor of Leadership at Lesley University, and led Lesley from a small regional college to a nationally recognized university with one of the leading teacher training programs in the country. The Student Center and a Chair in Leadership and Social Change were named to recognize her contributions during her twenty-two years as president. She is also a Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Institute of Politics.

From 2007 to 2011, McKenna served as president of the Walmart Foundation, the largest corporate entity of its kind in the United States. In 2010, the Foundation provided over $900 million dollars in cash and in-kind donations to nonprofit organizations.

McKenna held a previous appointment at Radcliff College, Harvard University, where she served as director of the Bunting Institute and Vice President. Before Radcliff, she worked as a civil rights attorney, eventually becoming deputy counsel in the White House and later undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Education, where she led the education transition team for President Bill Clinton.

The recipient of 10 honorary degrees, McKenna has received awards from a variety of national and regional organizations, including Meals on Wheels, Feeding America, Women’s Equity Action League, Big Sister, Council of Independent Colleges, City Year and the Boston Chamber of Commerce.