Maddie Gallagher ’12 Takes Philanthropic Angle in Banking Career
Maddie Gallagher ’12 has a career in banking, but her heart is in philanthropy. As a Product Manager for U.S. Bank, she specializes in banking strategies for special segments, overseeing marketing initiatives for products and services for groups including students and military families.
Outside of her professional role, Maddie is passionate about philanthropy and community engagement. She participated in the Pittsburgh Foundation's New Philanthropic Leaders program last year, helping her cohort identify groups and organizations in the City of Pittsburgh that needed assistance and strategizing how they could pool their resources to make a difference.
After graduating from The Ellis School, Maddie earned a Bachelor of Art in Economics and Political Science from Bucknell University and a Master of Science in Economics and Analytics from Johns Hopkins University. But she credits her Ellis education with fostering her curiosity about the world, and for helping her develop strong communication skills that continue to serve her in both her career and philanthropic endeavors.
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After graduating from The Ellis School, Maddie earned a Bachelor of Art in Economics and Political Science from Bucknell University and a Master of Science in Economics and Analytics from Johns Hopkins University. But she credits her Ellis education with fostering her curiosity about the world, and for helping her develop strong communication skills that continue to serve her in both her career and philanthropic endeavors.
Could you share a bit about how you got into your current role as a product manager at U.S. Bank? What does your role on the product team involve? What do you enjoy about your work?
I kind of fell into it. I started with a college internship, and I wasn’t sure about it at first but I ended up liking it. There are a lot of different things you can do within banking. After graduation, I started working for PNC right after college and began a rotational program within the bank, which allowed me to experience different roles. I was hired out of that program as a project manager, and that’s where I started working closely with the product team.
I’m currently on the consumer checking team, and I focus on our youth and special segments strategy. I manage relationships with vendors that provide additional products and services for special groups, like youth banking, student strategies, relationships with campuses, and military personnel. I also work with our family banking strategy, including long-term family financial planning and elder care. I like that I get to do something different everyday. I get to own my own roadmap—doing customer research, deciding what we want to do, and planning how to make it happen.
My cohort decided to focus on supporting mothers of color and their children, specifically ensuring they have access to stable housing. We, as a cohort, donate a pool of money that is matched by the Pittsburgh Foundation and other donors. We talk about which issues resonate with us and which to focus on, which is tough because every issue is important. Then we went out to visit different organizations working on that issue. After meeting with these groups, we selected three organizations to donate to and the Pittsburgh Foundation makes a grant to those organizations.
What were the benefits and takeaways from that experience?
I’m currently on the consumer checking team, and I focus on our youth and special segments strategy. I manage relationships with vendors that provide additional products and services for special groups, like youth banking, student strategies, relationships with campuses, and military personnel. I also work with our family banking strategy, including long-term family financial planning and elder care. I like that I get to do something different everyday. I get to own my own roadmap—doing customer research, deciding what we want to do, and planning how to make it happen.
How did you get involved in the Pittsburgh Foundation’s New Philanthropic Leader Program?
I actually found out about the program through an Ellis info session. Annie Lawson from the Development Office had been through the program, and she spoke about it during a session. It sounded like a really interesting program because it gave you a broad spectrum of awareness about Pittsburgh’s challenges. It’s a little intimidating at first because you spend time looking at the issues and problems facing the City. But then, eventually, you turn the corner and start to talk about which problems we could actually help address and which organizations were making a significant impact. For me, as someone who’s lived in Pittsburgh my whole life, it was an opportunity to learn more about the organizations that are doing a lot of good for the City and discover organizations I hadn’t interacted with before.
My cohort decided to focus on supporting mothers of color and their children, specifically ensuring they have access to stable housing. We, as a cohort, donate a pool of money that is matched by the Pittsburgh Foundation and other donors. We talk about which issues resonate with us and which to focus on, which is tough because every issue is important. Then we went out to visit different organizations working on that issue. After meeting with these groups, we selected three organizations to donate to and the Pittsburgh Foundation makes a grant to those organizations.
What were the benefits and takeaways from that experience?
One thing that really resonated with me was the inequality and disparity that exists across Pittsburgh. You can cross neighborhood lines and find them to be so different, and outcomes vary dramatically based on where you grow up. It made me realize how much work is still needed to bridge those gaps. It also reinforced the idea that sometimes you can’t solve the problem yourself—you have to support the people already doing the work on the ground.
We also talked a lot about collective giving and it was incredibly rewarding to see how impactful collective giving can be. Me, by myself, can only give so much but having 25 of us pool our money and then be matched has a much greater impact. We’re giving something that allows for real change.
Ellis’ mission statement calls for us to be “bold, authentic changemakers.” What does it mean to be bold in your chosen career?
To be honest, banking doesn’t always feel bold to me. It’s more about putting the customer first and making sure that’s what matters. What’s nice about banking is that it offers a good work-life balance, which made it easier for me to make a commitment to New Philanthropic Leaders. That does make you feel bold. It’s backed by the Pittsburgh Foundation, which has been doing so much for Pittsburgh for a long time.
To be honest, banking doesn’t always feel bold to me. It’s more about putting the customer first and making sure that’s what matters. What’s nice about banking is that it offers a good work-life balance, which made it easier for me to make a commitment to New Philanthropic Leaders. That does make you feel bold. It’s backed by the Pittsburgh Foundation, which has been doing so much for Pittsburgh for a long time.
It was encouraging for me to learn what all these great organizations are doing across the City, and it’s made it feel more accessible for me to connect with these organizations. They’ve all improved Pittsburghers’ lives in the past and we know they’re going to use our funding to continue that.
What values did you learn at Ellis that have influenced your interests, your career or personal life?
Ellis taught us to be very curious, to ask a lot of questions, and to be open to all kinds of answers. That has served me well. Ellis also placed a lot of emphasis on being a good writer and being able to communicate clearly, both verbally and in writing. That’s something I still benefit from.
What Ellis experiences (or people!) had the greatest impact on you?
Mr. Gaddess for sure. I took Spanish with him and he was always great and very much encouraged us, which I always appreciated. That, and history classes with Dr. Bedell are the big ones I remember. They always encouraged us to ask questions and engage with the material. I see now how that helped me to learn to process information, think about it, and come up with solutions, which has served me well in adulthood.
It was interesting—with Philanthropic Leaders, one of the things we tried to focus on in talking with different organizations and community groups was that as a group we wanted to not be prescriptive. We didn’t want to come up with a solution for them or tell them what they should do. That was tough for me because I want to jump in and help find a solution, but that’s not always a good way to go about charitable giving. The people who are on the ground every day working with the people they’re trying to help are way better at that than you are. Sometimes your goal isn’t to solve the problem for someone, it’s to enable them to solve the problem in the way they know is best. In some ways that’s a little different from what you learn at Ellis, where you’re taught to jump in and problem solve, but there are some instances where you have to learn not to do that.
Is there any advice or encouragement you’d like to share with current Ellis students?
Is there any advice or encouragement you’d like to share with current Ellis students?
Just try to be open to opportunities as they present themselves, and also understand that in your career path nothing is really linear and you have to be open to seeing where it takes you.
Also, try new things and get involved. I wasn’t involved in too many clubs at Ellis, so I would encourage joining. I was involved in the field hockey and softball teams, and in the EAA (Ellis Athletic Association), and I found that to be really rewarding. I enjoyed being part of the teams. I actually had never played field hockey before I got to Ellis, and since I got there in seventh grade there were only a few new people in the class. It was a way to make friends and a way to learn something about yourself.
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