Leadership

Caroline L. Cunningham
President, Trust for the National Mall

Caroline L. Cunningham, a seasoned strategist in the public and nonprofit sectors, is the President of the Trust for the National Mall, the official partner of the National Parks Service in preserving and restoring the National Mall.

As president of the Trust, Ms. Cunningham serves as the liaison to the National Park Service and manages the organization's fundraising, board relations and operations. She brings her nonprofit experience to help the Trust achieve its mission of restoring and improving the National Mall, one of the Nation's most recognizable and well-known public spaces.

Previously, Ms. Cunningham was Vice President for Regional Partnership for The Greater Washington Board of Trade, where she was responsible for building regional partnerships and directing the Board of Trade's Potomac Conference. The Potomac Conference is an invitation only CEO-level leadership forum that brings together public, private and non-profit executives to improve the region's economic health and quality of life.

In her capacity as Potomac Conference Director, Ms. Cunningham was responsible for developing and managing model programs in the areas of Emergency Preparedness, Technology Transfer and Health Care. Homeland Security Secretary, Tom Ridge used programs developed by the Potomac Conference to educate communities on how to establish effective public/partnerships in preparedness.

Ms. Cunningham served as Executive Director of the Collis-Warner Foundation founded by high-tech entrepreneur and former Virginia Governor Mark Warner and his wife Lisa Collis. The foundation focused on children and family issues and bridging the digital divide. Ms. Cunningham was responsible for running "TechRiders" a free computer literacy program that trained more than 14,000 Virginians. She is also responsible for establishing a college scholarship program in early childhood education that incentivized employees and rewarded employers for professionalizing this critical stage in children’s education.

Cunningham is a seasoned fundraiser having spent fifteen years in political and non-profit development. She served as National Finance Director for the Democratic Governors' Association and raised funds for several members of the House and Senate. As the Development Director at the Women’s Campaign Fund, she built successful events and direct mail departments. She started her career at Catholic University’s Annual Fund.