Miss Porter's School Bulletin Fall 2023

Maura Reilly Kennedy ’97

Her first visit to Farmington was love at first sight

“I have such fond memories of Farmington laughing so hard my stomach hurt, being challenged and supported to dig deeper into topics, learning without fear of failing and speaking up without hesitation,” said Ms. Reilly Kennedy, who received a scholarship to attend Porter’s as a day student after being home-schooled by her mother for years. Now a managing director at the investment management firm Neuberger Berman and the mother of three young children, she is serving the school as a newly installed member of the board of trustees.

Joining the board means stepping into the “big shoes of the amazing women who have made sacrifices to help the school they love,” she said. Her plan for board service includes doing a lot of homework and using her experience and willingness to help “continue the great work that the board does.”

Because financial aid enabled her to attend Porter’s, she regularly gives to the Annual Fund and to the Class of 1997 Scholarship Fund. “The generous scholarship I received changed my life,” she said. “I met lifelong close friends who are like family and I was able to attend a world-class school with global citizens. I learned from my brilliant teachers and from my interesting peers while also participating in the camaraderie of three team sports.”

But that’s not her only motivation for decades of generosity. “I consistently give because I wish to further the mission of Miss Porter’s School to enable our girls

to shape a changing world,” she explained. “I also give to help girls feel empowered, strong, smart and successful so that they can carry those feelings throughout their lives to become confident, strong leaders.”

Along with friendships that continue to this day, Ms. Reilly Kennedy treasures the many lessons she learned in high school. “I found myself leveraging the learnings and life skills I developed at Miss Porter’s to work smarter, not just harder,” she said of her years at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and Harvard Business School, where she earned an MBA.

And she continues to use that knowledge every day in her very demanding job as a senior member of the private equity investment team. “I still keep coming back to these same concepts critical reading, developing then proving a thesis, and communicating clearly,” she said.

Despite an impressive resume, Ms. Reilly Kennedy says her favorite job title is a simple one: mom. After giving birth to her own children, she served as a gestational surrogate for her sister, Bridget Reilly Regan ’99, and brother-in-law, delivering a healthy baby girl in 2022. “It was hard, but I learned from my first day at Miss Porter’s that I can do hard things, especially when they are worth it,” she said. “So I guess now I’m an Ancient, a wife, a mom and a surrogate.”