Kathleen M. Hickey
Chief Communications Officer
Kathleen M. Hickey
Kathleen Hickey, Chief Communications Officer, leads Beacon Institute’s communications, marketing, media relations and public outreach initiatives. She collaborates with academic and industry partners to create and deliver compelling content and programming to broaden the Institute’s constituency base and name and brand recognition. Beacon Institute has received national and international recognition with features in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor and Scientific American, among many other publications and through close alignment with IBM’s Smarter Planet initiative.
Kathleen joined the staff of Beacon Institute in 2007 after several years as an independent science writer and communications consultant for a variety of clients including Columbia University Medical Center, the American Museum of Natural History and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. With S2N Media, she authored a series of six “Discoveries” features for the National Science Foundation website, and wrote and edited significant portions of the museum exhibit website, RACE: Are We So Different?, for the American Anthropological Association and the Science Museum of Minnesota. On the technical side, she served as project lead for a team that developed and produced three Hooked on Phonics software products.
Also a skilled a fundraising professional with broad knowledge of the arts, human services and higher education sectors, Kathleen launched her dual career in communications and fundraising at the Hudson Valley Philharmonic in Poughkeepsie, NY. As a grant writer at The Juilliard School, she was rapidly promoted to interim director of corporate and foundation relations. At the Association of Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, she managed a campaign feasibility study and established a new foundation relations program that raised millions for West Point’s Bicentennial Campaign. At Occupations, Inc., a large multi-corporate human services agency in Orange County, NY, she reinvigorated fundraising efforts to achieve 200% growth annually for three consecutive years.
Kathleen holds a bachelor’s degree in music from Ithaca College, and a master’s degree in not-for-profit arts administration from New York University. She is an avid contra and swing dancer, and performs occasionally as a piano accompanist for Hudson Valley brass students.
