At Team IMPACT, we believe that the power of a team can change lives—and our new CEO, Krissie Kelleher, has been living that truth for almost her entire life.
A former Division I lacrosse captain at Boston College, Krissie knows firsthand the power of team and the importance of working together to achieve a common goal. But the word ‘team’ has always meant more to Krissie than just a roster. “To me,” Krissie says, “a team is a group of people who selflessly unite under a shared goal to accomplish something greater than any individual could achieve alone.”
Krissie was first introduced to Team IMPACT by members of our National Board, and it did not take long for this mission to resonate on so many levels. “I watched the stories from afar through social media posts, and I was immediately impressed and hooked,” she recalls. “After many years admiring the organization from afar, an opportunity to join the team opened up, and I jumped at the chance to make a difference in the lives of children and student-athletes across the country. In my opinion, our mission is simply irresistible. The goodness our student-athletes put out into the world is awe-inspiring as they fill the hearts of children who are struggling with some of life’s greatest challenges.”
Krissie’s time as an athlete taught her many things, and she gives much credit to competitive athletics for morphing her into the person she is today. “As a Division I college athlete, I learned about perseverance, pushing through exhaustion, and competing at the highest level; how to lose gracefully; the art and skills of leadership; and how to support others,” Krissie says. “The lessons I learned on the field are still shaping me in all of my roles: as a mother, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, and colleague.”
That mentality of taking the things she learned on the field into the real world was tested when Krissie became a mother. “Being a mother is the hardest job in the world,” she said. “Nothing can prepare you for the depth of love a mother immediately has for her children.” She compares some parts of parenting to some parts of being an athlete: like any good teammate—she’s learned to adapt, pass the ball when needed, and always leave it all on the field. “My experience as a college athlete taught me that I wasn’t going to be at the top of my game every day. Sometimes, I had to adjust on the fly…I soon learned that motherhood is the same,” she says. “Sometimes I’m an all-star, and sometimes, well, I’m not. Just ask my kids. I do the best I can, and hopefully, someday, my kids will look back and know I gave it my all — that I left it all on the field. And that I love them more than anything in the world.”
Though Krissie relies on the things she learned as an athlete to push through and continually drive to be a better version of herself, it certainly was not always easy. For Krissie and her family, their entire world was shifted when her daughter got diagnosed with cancer at the age of eight. This was undoubtedly a challenging time, but through the darkness there was light, and often times, that light came from the people surrounding the Kelleher family. Their family members, their friends, their doctors, and their community all came together to form their team, an expansive web that cradled Krissie and her family in unwavering support and unconditional love.
This experience, Krissie says, deepened what being a team means to her. “When my daughter was diagnosed with a tumor in her spinal cord when she was eight, our family was turned upside down,” she says. “Our team, our family of four, immediately grew as family, friends, and our entire community joined forces to support us. Suddenly, our little team had a sideline of teammates ready to get in the game and willing to contribute in any way they could.”
This is what she hopes to continue for children like her daughter and families like hers across the country through her work at Team IMPACT. It’s this lived experience that makes Krissie uniquely suited to lead Team IMPACT into its next chapter. “As a former Division I athlete and the mother of a childhood cancer survivor, I know firsthand how important the power of community can be for children facing serious illness and disability. I also know how formative and empowering my years as a college athlete were and how the lessons I learned on the lacrosse field shaped the person and leader I am today,” Krissie says. This culmination of so many of the things that formed Krissie into the leader she is today, combined with her more than 25 years of strategic leadership experience, feels like so much more of than a passion than it does a new job, she says. “The opportunity to couple these two experiences with my professional background feels more like a calling than a profession. Team IMPACT’s mission is in my DNA, and I could not feel more honored and privileged to be able to serve these two communities to create a tidal wave of goodness across our country.”
Krissie’s vision for the future of Team IMPACT is bold: “It is my hope that someday soon every NCAA team in all three divisions will have a Team IMPACT teammate. That is our North Star, and we won’t stop working until we get there.” And she understands better than most why this is so important and can lead to real change for generations to come. “When hundreds of thousands of vulnerable children gain fierce advocates and future leaders discover their capacity for compassion, the ripple effects reshape entire communities.”
At Team IMPACT, our name says it all—Inspire, Motivate, and Play Against Challenges Together. Under Krissie’s leadership, we are ready to deepen our reach, strengthen our impact, and bring the power of a team to even more children, families, and student-athletes across the country.
Welcome to the team, Krissie. We can’t wait to see where we go together.
