April 14, 2025
Kerri Murray ’95
President, Shelter Box USA
Honorary Doctor of Humanitarian Services
Kerri Murray ’95, based in Santa Barbara, California, is a tireless advocate for victims of disasters and conflict. For the past 10 years, she has been president of the global humanitarian relief organization ShelterBox USA, a nonprofit that provides customized emergency and vital supplies to displaced people around the world.
Ms. Murray grew up in Naugatuck, Connecticut, in a Catholic family that valued service to others. She studied political science at Providence College and was involved in the community beyond campus, working for the Rhode Island Public Defender, teaching English as a Second Language courses, serving women in prison, and becoming the first lobbyist for Save the Bay. She interviewed with the Peace Corps for a position following commencement, but to pay her student loans accepted a job with the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline. As senior marketing director, she worked in the U.S. and Europe on vaccines, women’s health, anti-infectives, and cardiovascular disease management. When the company piloted its Pulse Program, which sent volunteer executives to nonprofits, she traveled to Haiti in the wake of the 2010 earthquake. It was a life-changing experience, leading her to leave the corporate world determined to leverage her skills to help the most vulnerable.
ShelterBox USA has assisted more than three million people left homeless by natural disasters and wars. It distributes customized survival kits with essentials including water purification systems, solar lanterns, blankets and bedding, tools, and hygiene products. Ms. Murray has served on the front lines in the war in Ukraine, in Morocco following the earthquake, in Japan after the catastrophic tsunami, across the Philippines, in Los Angeles during the wildfires, and in other disaster zones. She has led ShelterBox through a significant expansion of its humanitarian efforts. Under her leadership, the organization has been nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize, including a nomination in 2025 for its humanitarian efforts in the world’s worst conflict zones.
In 2024, Providence College honored Ms. Murray with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Vision Award, recognizing her commitment to the values that exemplified Dr. King’s teaching and mission. She is a member of the Montecito Rotary Club and for six years served as board president of GIRLS ROCK, a music education nonprofit for young girls. She is the mother of a daughter, Sofia.
