Deputy Principal (Advancement) at the Royal Academy of Music

Kirsty MacDonald has enjoyed a career encompassing director level positions in leading educational and cultural institutions over thirty years in the UK and Canada. Since 2016 she has been Deputy Principal (Advancement) at the Royal Academy of Music and in summer 2022 was awarded an Hon FRAM for her achievements there. A member of the senior management team, she leads strategic planning and is responsible for external relations including fundraising, marketing, communications, audience engagement and alumni relations. She devised and launched the largest fundraising campaign for a music college, outside the US, with a target of £60m.

Kirsty has delivered transformational outcomes in every role she has taken on, which includes fundraising leadership roles at the universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh and Oxford (Wadham College). Her previous experience across higher education and the arts includes London Business School, English National Opera, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Glyndebourne.

A mentor to several fundraising leaders, she is well known throughout the UK Advancement sector, often invited to speak at national higher education conferences. She is engaged with CASE, the global membership body for
advancement professionals. Kirsty is the proud recipient of a CASE Crystal Apple for excellence in teaching, a CASE Laureate and Chair of the CASE Europe Trust. Kirsty has an Honours BA from the University of Toronto and an MA Oxon.