Kerry Alys Robinson, the president and chief executive officer of Catholic Charities USA, has been selected to receive the University of Notre Dame’s 2025 Laetare Medal — the oldest and most prestigious honor given to American Catholics — at Notre Dame’s 180th University Commencement Ceremony on May 18 (Sunday).

Founded in 1910, CCUSA is a national membership organization that supports and represents 168 Catholic Charities agencies across the United States. Collectively, the Catholic Charities network each year serves more than 15 million vulnerable people, regardless of their faith or background, through food and nutrition programs, affordable housing, disaster relief and a variety of other humanitarian services.

“Kerry Alys Robinson has dedicated her career to serving the Church, standing in solidarity with those on the margins so that they may experience the abundant love of God,” said University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C. “In awarding her the Laetare Medal, the University celebrates her boundless compassion, visionary leadership and inspiring example of faith-filled service. By her example, Kerry inspires us all to dedicate our lives more fully to answering the Gospel call.”

Prior to joining CCUSA in 2023, Robinson spent nearly two decades at Leadership Roundtable, a nonprofit organization that brings laity, religious and clergy together to help the Church heal and move forward in the wake of the abuse crisis.

She served as founding executive director when the organization was formed in 2005 and later as its global ambassador and executive partner. Leadership Roundtable, which seeks to build a leadership culture that is responsible, transparent and accountable, has impacted more than 75 percent of dioceses across the U.S. and influenced actions at the Holy See, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and other bishops’ conferences abroad.

“I have always loved the Church and held its potential in the highest esteem,” Robinson said. “The Church’s explicit religious mission has formed the person I am. That it is the largest humanitarian network in the world renders me forever committed to its health and vitality.”

Robinson is also a lifelong advocate for women, youth and laity to take on greater leadership roles in the Church. In 2012, she was invited by the Vatican to advise on how to empower and engage women leaders.

“I have worked to strengthen the Church and its myriad apostolates and ministries all of my adult life, from the age of 14,” Robinson said. “Promoting the role of women in positions of meaningful leadership in the Church and at the tables of decision-making, as well as being an advocate for young adults, has been a consistent commitment of mine. We are all myopic in our own narrowly defined groups. We need a diversity of perspectives and experiences to be healthy, whole and better informed.”

The great-granddaughter of renowned philanthropists John and Helena Raskob, Robinson was born to a family with an 80-year history of serving the Church at the local, national and international levels. She became a member of the Raskob Foundation for Catholic Activities as a teen.

“Five generations of our family have served as volunteers in the foundation, and through that experience, we are exposed to the very best of what the Church does through the example of our applicants who are women and men, ordained, religious and laypeople,” she said. “Their commitment to helping, healing and caring for those in need rendered them compelling role models whose example deepened my faith and inspired me to study theology and Catholic social teaching. I am grateful for so much of what our faith offers.”

Robinson, who began her career as director of development for the Saint Thomas More Catholic Chapel & Center at Yale University, is also the author of “Imagining Abundance: Fundraising, Philanthropy, and A Spiritual Call to Service.” She earned a bachelor’s degree in English literature and theology from Georgetown University and a master of arts in religion with a concentration in ethics from Yale Divinity School.

In recognition of her servant leadership and impact on the Catholic Church in the United States, she has received 10 honorary degrees and numerous awards, including the 2024 Spirit of Saint Francis Award from Catholic Extension Society and the Cardinal Bernardin Award from Catholic Common Ground Initiative at Catholic Theological Union.

The Laetare (pronounced lay-TAH-ray) Medal is so named because its recipient is announced each year in celebration of Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday in Lent on the Church calendar. “Laetare,” the Latin word for “rejoice,” is the first word in the entrance antiphon of the Mass that Sunday, which ritually anticipates the celebration of Easter. The medal bears the Latin inscription, “Magna est veritas et praevalebit” (“Truth is mighty, and it shall prevail”).

Established at Notre Dame in 1883, the Laetare Medal was conceived as an American counterpart of the Golden Rose, a papal honor that antedates the 11th century. The medal has been awarded annually at Notre Dame to a Catholic “whose genius has ennobled the arts and sciences, illustrated the ideals of the Church and enriched the heritage of humanity.”

Previous recipients of the Laetare Medal include Civil War Gen. William Rosecrans, Governor of New York Alfred Smith, operatic tenor John McCormack, President John F. Kennedy, Catholic Worker founder Dorothy Day, novelist Walker Percy, Vice President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House John Boehner (awarded jointly), Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, labor activist Monsignor George G. Higgins, jazz composer Dave Brubeck, singer Aaron Neville and actor Martin Sheen.

Contact: Carrie Gates, associate director of media relations, 574-993-9220, c.gates@nd.edu