St. Rita Announces New Marketing Director
CHICAGO – Deacon John Donahue, J.D., Ed.D., President of St. Rita of Cascia High School, has appointed Mary Larkin Cunningham as Director of Marketing.
Cunningham comes to St. Rita from the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park. At the Harris Theater since 2014, she held several roles including Marketing Associate, Marketing Manager, Senior Manager of Marketing and Content and, finally, Director of Marketing. Cunningham is an expert in marketing strategy and innovative, data-driven campaign development. She brings with her to St. Rita a wealth of knowledge in organizational branding, advertising, and project and team management; in addition to extensive experience identifying and executing large-scale institutional projects that strengthen and solidify organizational values.
“St. Rita is entering a new era—an era of growth,” Deacon John said. “This path forward is primarily driven by people who love St. Rita and have a passion for our mission like Mary. We are pleased to welcome Mary to campus, as her skillset and loyal support of the St. Rita community make her the ideal person to lead our marketing efforts as we grow our enrollment and engage alumni.”
“I’m excited to bring my experience in non-profit marketing management and the arts to a school that means so much to me and my whole family,” Cunningham stated. “I look forward to working with our strong Augustinian leadership, and our admissions and advancement teams to grow enrollment and raise funds to help families afford a world-class St. Rita education for their sons.”
A lifeline Chicagoan and Southsider, Cunningham has been cheering for the Mustangs her entire life. Mary is a proud alumna of Mother McAuley High School, from the class of 2008. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English and Creative Writing from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Mary has extensive experience of civic and non-profit volunteerism, including serving on the Board of Directors at the Beverly Arts Center and volunteering at the Chicago International Film Festival, Michael J. Murphy Music Scholarship Fund, and GirlFoward.
Mary and her husband Quin live in Queen of Martyrs Parish with their three children, Rosie (5 years), Petey (2 years), and Fiona (9 months). Mary is sister to Danny ’04, and Jimmy ’20 Larkin, daughter of Dan ’82 Larkin, and granddaughter of Joseph ’55 and beloved, retired St. Rita employee Dorothy Larkin.
