Empowering vulnerable people

Mary Kate Battle ’10

Business Development Specialist, Catholic Relief Services

MAJORS: POLITICAL SCIENCE, PEACE STUDIES, AND SPANISH

After graduating from Notre Dame, Battle served at Farm of the Child, a Catholic home for orphaned and abandoned children in Honduras. There, she taught math and served students with special needs, co-managed an after-school support program, and provided tutoring.

During her second year in Honduras, she took over as manager of the adolescent girl program, managing the overall program and serving as the primary caretaker for three Honduran teenage girls attending high school. When the program faced fundraising gaps, Battle started a local baking business to assure full funding.

After earning a graduate international economics and international relations degree from Johns Hopkins, Battle joined Catholic Relief Services (CRS). At CRS, she has supported programming in Uganda, Jordan, Egypt, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Sierra Leone. Her work ranges from village microfinance initiatives and supporting refugees from the Rohingya and Syrian crises, to supporting vulnerable children and youth and inter-religious and inter-ethnic peacebuilding projects. Battle’s work has allowed her to help build a brighter future for some of the world’s most vulnerable people, including refugees.