Kathleen Murphy Toms supports social good leaders in imagining and building new worlds.
Kathleen has spent the past 15 years working in within nonprofits, philanthropy, and the solidarity economy, and is passionate about supporting the radical infrastructure that supports radical movements. Her work and interests lead her to ask “What’s beyond the horizon?”
Kathleen has coached thousands of social impact leaders and grassroots organizers from nearly every continent on how to not only generate funds for their causes but to inspire and mobilize groundswell movements that create systemic change.
Kathleen studies the use of digital tools and social media within movements, particularly their use in shifting power, mass mobilization, behavior change, and achieving global equity. She is an adjunct faculty member at The Heyman Program for Fundraising and Philanthropy in The Center for Global Affairs at New York University where she teaches social changemakers how to develop innovative content marketing and digital strategies to activate and engage new audiences. Previously, she was the global director of digital strategy for GivingTuesday, the world's largest philanthropic social movement.
A frequent international public speaker and trainer, Kathleen covers social media, digital innovation, and storytelling for changemakers. Past speaking engagements have included: International Fundraising Congress (IFC), The Fundraising Online Conference (#FRO2021), YouTube for Nonprofits, King Baudouin Foundation, TechSoup Asia, WorldChicago, the U.S. State Department, AdWeek, Social Media Week, McCormick Foundation, Kenya Association of Fundraising Professionals, Chicago Foundation for Women, Women’s Philanthropy Institute, Ghana Giving Summit, Georgia Center for Nonprofits, and Stanford Social Innovation Review’s Nonprofit Management Institute.
Organizations she has advised include the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, 92Y Belfer Center for Innovation + Social Impact, Vote.org, the Obama Foundation, and others.
Kathleen is a Webby-nominated digital director and a member of Brand Innovators’ 2022 40 Under 40 Class. She was an inaugural juror for the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences’ new Anthem Award.
Before joining the GivingTuesday team, Kathleen was Director of Communications at Forefront, Illinois’ statewide social impact membership association where she co-founded the statewide giving day, #ILGive. She’s an alum of the Obama for America 2008 campaign team and a long-time community organizer and mutual aid practitioner on Chicago’s south side.
This work that she does combines everything she loves and everything that breaks her heart and that’s a really exciting place to work in.
