Kelly Kener, Director of Development for Catholic Charities – Atlanta

Kelly Kener had never heard of Opportunity Knocks until her husband waged a bet with her about the number of development jobs outnumbering sales job openings. One night, Kelly opened up the local Atlanta newspaper and searched the employment section and only found sales job openings. Thinking she won the bet, Kelly showed her husband.

“I opened the local Atlanta newspaper and pointed to all the sales job openings listed. My husband told me I wasn’t looking in the right place. I needed to look to an industry specific job board,” said Kelly.

That’s when Kelly remembered a friend mentioning Opportunity Knocks. That very night, Kelly pulled up the Opportunity Knocks website, created a job seeker account and searched for development job listings in Metro Atlanta. Low and behold, Kelly’s first job she previewed was Director of Development with Catholic Charities of Atlanta.

“On Opportunity Knocks, I found a number of development job openings. I viewed the Director of Development job description with Opportunity Knocks. My husband was peering over my shoulder as I read the job description and told me I should apply for it.

“I received a quick response from the employer, which impressed me because the job posting was fairly recent. I found that Opportunity Knocks has an extremely user friendly web interface, which makes navigation easy and straight forward. I was called in for an interview and the rest is history,” said Kelly.

Kelly is certainly not new to the nonprofit sector. Receiving her Bachelors of Arts in Public Communication with concentrations in Psychology and Television Production from the College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY, Kelly began her nonprofit career at the American Red Cross Onondaga-Oswego Chapter where she worked a Development Associate.

After the American Red Cross, Kelly worked for Cazenovia College as Annual Fund Director and State University of New York at Oswego as Research Associate. In 2007, Kelly relocated to Atlanta and became Prospect Research Specialist with Habitat for Humanity International at their offices located on Peachtree Street.

Having worked 10+ years in the nonprofit sector, Kelly has worked for three out of the Top 10 Nonprofit Powerhouse Brands. A recent study conducted by Boston-base marketing firm Cone LLC and British-based brand consultancy Intangible Business, ranked the Top Nonprofit Powerhouse Brands. The American Red Cross is ranked 4th, Atlanta’s Habitat for Humanity International is listed in 7th place and Kelly’s current employer, Catholic Charities, is ranked 6th.

Asked what Kelly loves about Catholic Charities, she answers “Catholic Charities Atlanta offers a wide range of services that touch a broad spectrum of those individuals in North Atlanta needing help. In particular, I am impressed with the quality of our accredited services.”

Catholic Charities – Atlanta services include everything from life skills education, social justice advocacy, counseling, family stabilization, refugee resettlement and immigration legal services. Catholic Charities has over 1,700 local Catholic Charities agencies and institutions nationwide. Catholic Charities USA provides strong leadership and support to enhance the work of local agencies in their efforts to reduce poverty, support families, and empower communities.

To learn more or take advantage of Catholic Charities - Atlanta’s services, access http://www.catholiccharitiesatlanta.org/