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Kassie Davis
Kassie Davis
01:10

Kassie Davis

CME Group Foundation

Santa Fe, NM USA

"I’ve tried to look at every new position as a new learning experience and think about what I can take from past jobs and put into this new job and really see how I can round out my experience and expertise."

Career Roadmap

Kassie's work combines: Business, Non-Profit Organizations, and Helping People

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Day In The Life

Executive Director

I am responsible for the overall operation of a charity foundation.

My Day to Day

Overseeing communications, strategy development, proposal review, grant evaluation, and investment management.

Skills & Education

Advice for getting started

When I was young, women's jobs were limited to things like nursing and teaching. But if you have a passion for something else, as I did with business, don't be afraid to test those waters.

Here's the path I took:

  • Bachelor's Degree

    Consumer Merchandising/Retailing Management

    Stephens College

  • Graduate Degree

    Marketing/Marketing Management, General

    Loyola University Chicago

  • High School

Life & Career Milestones

My path in life took a while to figure out

  • 1.

    When I was young, I knew I wanted to go to school and make a career for myself, but career paths for women felt very limited to fields such as teaching, nursing, and retail merchandising.

  • 2.

    While working for the small business my dad owned during my high school summers, I became motivated to learn more about business.

  • 3.

    In college, I merged my experience in business with my interest in fashion and majored in retail merchandising.

  • 4.

    I earned my bachelor’s degree from Stephens College and started my career at a local department store—while working, I went to graduate school at night for my master’s degree.

  • 5.

    After receiving my MBA in marketing, I worked at the Chicago Tribune as a retail marketing manager, then at Marshall Field’s as the vice president of marketing research and planning.

  • 6.

    When Target bought Marshall Field’s, I took on the job as the director of public affairs and started the corporate philanthropy program—this is how I made the transition from retail to philanthropy.

  • 7.

    During my career, I’ve been out of work and had to look for new jobs a few times, but I’ve loved working in the world of Chicago philanthropy because of how fulfilling it is.

  • 8.

    I now work as the executive director for a private charitable foundation that’s focused on education for low-income students.

Defining Moments

How I responded to discouragement

  • THE NOISE

    Messages from Society in general:

    Women should be teachers or nurses.

  • How I responded:

    When I was young, women's jobs were limited to things like nursing and teaching. But if you have a passion for something else, as I did with business, don't be afraid to test those waters.

Experiences and challenges that shaped me

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  • After six years with a company, I unexpectedly lost my job and didn’t know where to go. It's important to look at every job you take as a way to round out your skills and make connections so that you bring new, more rounded skills to your next job.

  • My parents helped with my undergrad education, but I had to pay my own way through graduate school. I went to night school while working full time and really cut back on my expenses because I knew that it would open more doors for me in the future.