Courtney King Murphy '98

After Loyola, Courtney studied at Georgetown University where she majored in English and minored in French and art history. She was accepted into Georgetown’s Baker Scholars Program, which empowers students to learn about the world of business with a focus on social consciousness. Today, Courtney is honored to serve on the program’s board of trustees, mentoring undergraduate liberal arts students as they navigate their career paths with a focus on business and social impact. 

In addition, Courtney is involved in a variety of schools and organizations in her home community in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, where she lives with her husband, Chris, who also went to Georgetown, and their three young children. Courtney and Chris recently joined the board of the 1789 fund, a nonprofit that works in some of the world's most vulnerable nations to decrease the number of mothers and newborns dying in pregnancy and childbirth.

We caught up with Courtney just weeks before her 20th reunion as she reflected on her four years as a Rambler and the impact of her Jesuit education at both Loyola and Georgetown.

Catch us up on what you've been up to since graduating from LA.
I’ve been fortunate to have a variety of interesting professional and personal experiences on my path since graduating from Loyola. For the last 10 years, I’ve worked at CECP, a nonprofit consultancy based in NYC that is a coalition of over 200 CEOs and companies focused on how business can be a force for good in society. CECP provides these companies with networking, events, data, strategic counsel and insights. At CECP, I recently led an inquiry supported by the WalMart Foundation focused on how companies can address diversity and inclusion through their corporate social engagement strategies, and coordinated a separate group of 13 companies dedicated to affecting systemic change in equity, talent and tech. I found my way to this work after several years in the fine art world, serving in the press office at Sotheby’s New York. Previously, I served as a researcher at ABC News Nightline with Ted Koppel in Washington, D.C., where I was fortunate to work alongside some of broadcast journalism’s greatest producers. 

The common thread in my somewhat circuitous career path has been a desire to make an impact on the lives of others, inspired by Loyola’s motto of being women and men for others, which was reinforced during my time at Georgetown, as a Jesuit university. I’ve always looked for ways to get involved in the community and give back, and it’s been a great privilege that I have been able to incorporate a social mission more directly into my work at CECP, as well.

To me, the motto is a reminder that we all have talents that should be used not only to further our own self-interest but, first and foremost, in service to others. As a mom of three children six and under, my life is currently very focused on some very little others! But, I hope that as time goes on, I’ll be able to share this motto with my children and, together, find ways to give back as a family. In addition, the friendships I forged during my time at Loyola are lifelong, and I am so grateful for the support we are able to provide to one other throughout each life stage.

I had a number of great teachers and mentors during my time at Loyola. Michael Heidkamp taught history and went on to the Cristo Rey school in Pilsen, where I volunteered with a group of Loyola students during our senior year. He was a particularly influential teacher for his encouragement to question facts presented to us and to identify structural inequity and seek to address it. My English teachers including Mr. James M. “Jim” O’Loughlin ’62and Mr. Daniel Seeberg ’75 set me on a path of writing, leading to my English major in college, and Mr. Robert Austin instilled a zest for languages as my French teacher. Mr. ChrisJon Simon ’86, a cross country coach, along with Ms. Lauren Gatti and Coach Frank Amato were influential in the many miles logged after school, always pushing us to do our best and reach our full potential. Mr. John E. Dwyer III ’67, who began the girls’ lacrosse program while we were at Loyola, has led the program to nine state championships. And, of course, Brother James Small, SJ, was an inspiration through his humble leadership and creative talents. It’s the Small Things, by G. R. Kearney ’95, encompasses him so well. Finally, Mr. Donald Sprague and Sr. James Jeffers spent countless hours with us on student council matters, developing our leadership capabilities.

I’m currently focused first and foremost on my family, with three children (the youngest only two months old). There is nothing to bring you into the present moment like babies and toddlers, who teach me daily lessons in problem-solving, multitasking, mindfulness and how to make the seemingly impossible, possible. They also teach me to be compassionate with myself, as no one is perfect and we can always do better. I’m very focused personally on health and nutrition. While I’ve always been a runner and into fitness—I’ve run seven marathons for charities including Memorial Sloan Kettering—nutrition and health have grown in importance since becoming a mother, since I want to instill good habits on my children and set them on the path to live healthy, happy lives.