Peggy has 20 years of fundraising experience, most recently as chief advancement officer at Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn, where she raised $27.2M for the school’s annual giving, capital campaigns, and endowment; increased annual giving by 300% and annual giving participation by 30%; and secured a $5M+ lead gift to build a new athletic complex. She spearheaded a multi-million-dollar campaign to build a new arts center, which opens in January 2024, created a planned giving program, and launched Poly in Bloom, the school’s annual financial aid fundraiser. 

Before her work at Poly Prep, Peggy oversaw annual giving at Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences in Santa Monica and served on the annual giving parent leadership team at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles. Prior to entering the world of fundraising and philanthropy, Peggy worked in business—merchandising, sales strategy, corporate relations, international product launches, and marketing—in roles as diverse as regional manager/business development at Brook Furniture Rental, vice president of small business initiatives at The World Trade Center - Chicago, and founder/CEO of The Good Karma Collection, a national clothing and accessory brand, in Los Angeles.

Peggy holds degrees in French Literature and German Literature from Georgetown University, where she met her husband and Loyola Academy alumnus Charles A. Cook ’76, and a master of science in global marketing from Thunderbird School of Global Management. She currently serves on the board of the Industrial Archives & Library in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. She is the 2017 recipient of the Gold Prize in the Brilliance Awards Competition by Inspired School Marketers and was awarded the honor of distinguished alumna at Moravian Academy in 2022.  

“I’m excited to support Fr. Greg and his inspiring vision for the Academy’s next chapter,” Peggy shares. “As a Jesuit-educated, Catholic woman, I am particularly drawn to Loyola’s mission of educating women and men to help others and to lead meaningful lives of leadership and service.”  

Peggy and Charles have two adult sons, Gavin and Conor, and resided in Chicago for many years before their careers took them to Los Angeles and New York. “We’re thrilled to be coming home,” she says.  

Peggy will assume her position as vice president of institutional advancement on Monday, January 8, 2024. She replaces Bob Miller P ’13, ’25, who departed in April 2023.