KEARNEY — Katie Rickard moved to Kearney in 2001 from Nevada, and she’s never left.
“I just absolutely love Kearney,” Rickard said about the community she calls home.
Rickard recently was named the Kearney Catholic High School Foundation director of operations. In April, Sara Homan took on the role of director of advancement at the foundation.
Cindi Richter served as the director of development for 15 years before leaving the position in December. The KCHS Foundation Board did extensive restructuring of the position to redefine the role before moving forward, explained KCHS Foundation Board President Cory Kruse.
As the director of advancement, Homan will focus on fundraising for the school and working closely with school administration and the school board to meet the needs of KCHS. In Rickard’s new role as director of operations, she will focus on day-to-day operations and oversight of fundraising events.
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Before settling in Nebraska, Rickard moved frequently across the U.S. with her family for her father’s job with Union Pacific. She graduated from high school in Nevada, and she was drawn to attend college in Nebraska.
“Nebraska was always home base. My grandparents, aunts and uncles lived here. Whenever we would move around, we’d always come back here for family events, Christmas, that kind of thing. It just made sense to come here,” she explained. “My dad was going to retire around that time, and they too were going to retire here. So I was just getting a jump start.”
Rickard received her bachelor’s degree in interior design from the University of Nebraska at Kearney, and she worked in interior design for 10 years. She volunteered at Make-A-Wish Foundation before taking on the role of project coordinator at Make-A-Wish. When the opportunity at the KCHS Foundation opened, Rickard couldn’t pass it up.
“It’s something I didn’t want to miss. It’s just really exciting to be a part of this foundation with the great history that they have, and then also with the advancement and programs to where we’re moving forward in the future,” she said.
Rickard is active in Leadership Kearney, and she often works with students from KCHS and Kearney Public Schools.
“I just love working with the high school kids. They are just great,” she said.
Kruse said Rickard’s background working with nonprofits was one of the reasons she was chosen for the job.
“She understood the nonprofit world. She came in as someone you can tell who is a highly-organized, driven individual. She could see projects through to completion and is a natural fit for what we are needing,” he added.
Rickard is looking forward to planning the KCHS fundraisers and taking part in the strategic planning process for the school. She is the mother of three daughters, and her oldest will be a seventh grader at KCHS in the fall. She is excited to connect with KCHS families as a parent and in her new position at the foundation.
“I’m just really excited. I’m grateful for the opportunity. The board has been really great to work with. ... It has been really great,” she said.