News

Executive Director’s Corner with Meg Howley

As the daughter of Nick and Lorie Howley, I learned about the importance of education from a young age. My parents taught me that a quality education is the most significant thing you can give to someone. Not only does education stay with you forever, but it can make all the difference in creating upward mobility and financial stability.

As a product of Catholic schools, the duty to give back was reinforced throughout my education. I didn’t realize how much those values instilled in me influenced my life until I became an adult. But it’s not surprising that I pursued degrees in psychology and started my career as a school psychologist. I worked in that environment until 2013 when I joined the Howley Foundation. It’s here that I can make more of an impact through individual scholarships and hopefully shape the future of education through strategic grantmaking.

I am enthusiastic about some of the changes we’ve made in the last couple of years. As we’ve increased the amount of money in the foundation, we continue looking for ways to touch more students. We’ve expanded our scholarship program to cover select college tuition and non-traditional educational institutions, placed increased emphasis on grantmaking, and started exploring retention initiatives to help attract more students and keep them in school.

There are a lot of worthwhile causes and programs out there. It is tempting to want to support them all. But we’re always mindful of making sure we work within our scope. We picked a lane—education—because that’s where we think we can make the biggest change.

It’s a privilege to be part of a family and a foundation dedicated to helping others receive quality education. I look forward to continuing this work and doing my part to further the Howley Foundation mission. Please feel free to contact me if you want to learn more.

Meg Howley
Executive Director
mmitkus@howleyfoundation.org