Education Alumna Named Director of American Red Cross Chapter

Laura Muriello MAT ’07 was recently named executive director of the American Red Cross Illinois River Valley Chapter.

As director, Muriello leads a team of staff and volunteers who serve 1.1 million people across Grundy, Kane, Kendall, LaSalle, and Will Counties in Illinois.

Prior to joining the American Red Cross, Muriello served as the executive director of the Wood Family Foundation/Pitch In program in Chicago, a nonprofit organization supporting the education of students in underserved communities. She also held leadership positions within OneGoal, a Dominican University partner organization that guides high school students toward success in college; served as manager of teacher leadership development at Teach for America; and taught in Chicago Public Schools.

“My time at Dominican University reinforced the values of compassion, service and leadership—qualities that are essential in my work with the American Red Cross,” Muriello said. “Dominican instilled in me the importance of empathy and community, and I’m proud to carry those lessons forward in my role as the executive director.”

Muriello added that her Dominican experience drove her to lead with compassion and “with a curiosity of how I could best serve the communities in which I worked.”

“What I remember most from my program at Dominican was being in community with so many other like-minded teachers and future leaders, all with similar values of service and compassion,” she added. “That support system was vital to my success in the classroom and beyond.”

Read more about Muriello and her role with the Red Cross here.