2024
Maryland Young Women Leaders Honoree

Kiera Caffrey was born in Baltimore and lived with her family in a downtown row house until she was 8 years old, when she and her family moved out of the city to a farm in Baltimore County. She attended Calvert School in the city from age 5 through 8th grade, and attends high school at St. Timothy’s School (STT) in Baltimore County. The transition to farm life at age 8 was an exciting pivot for Kiera, as responsibilities caring for raising chickens, ducks, geese, goats, and horses became part of her daily routine. Working so closely with animals, Kiera developed a strong sense empathy, desire to help others, and a servant heart and spirit.

Kiera has a keen interest in finance and investments, and is the founder and president of both the STT Young Investors Society and the STT Investment Competition Team. Her interest in financial literacy combined with her love of giving back to others led her to initiate the Baltimore Teen Giving Circle through the Baltimore Community Foundation in 2023 in order to bring teens together to learn about philanthropy and to make an impact through collective giving. In the group’s inaugural year, teens from seven area schools joined, $2,000 was raised and granted with $1,000 to the Baltimore Hunger Project and $1,000 to Baltimore Reading Partners. Kiera’s service has also included initiating and organizing food and clothing drives for the Maryland Food Bank, House of Ruth, and the Baltimore Hunger Project, with over 4,000 items donated.

Kiera is the recipient of the STT Public Service Scholarship and the Carson Scholarship. She was recognized via the Student Award for high academic achievement in 2022 and 2023, and the American Studies Award in 2022. She is a student ambassador for St. Timothy’s School and an appointed member of the Calvert School Alumni Board of Governors. Kiera serves as her school’s lead facilitator for Narrative 4, an organization that encourages compassion, civic engagement, and strong student community leaders. She was elected class president and class vice president in 2021-22 and 2022-23, she is the captain of the STT varsity squash team and plays on the varsity lacrosse team. Kiera also serves as head of both the Model United Nations and Entrepreneurship Clubs, and she is co-captain of the STT Certamen Competition Team. Kiera was her school’s elected Diversity Captain in 2021 and was selected as school representative for the tri-state diversity conference, Be Seen Be Heard. In 2021 she received the Banner Award – the student who has had the biggest impact on the life and spirit of the school.

Kiera has been accepted to and participated in several competitive extra-curricular programs, including University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Global Youth Essentials of Finance Program, and the Wake Forest High School Entrepreneurship and Finance Program. In 2023, she was a summer accounting intern at NASA, working in project management on the TIGERISS program (Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder for the International Space Station), designed to measure the abundances of ultra-heavy galactic cosmic rays.

In addition to all of Kiera’s leadership and service achievements, she is enrolled in the highest rigor academic courses available in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, including a dual language track for French and Latin, and she has achieved straight A’s as an exemplary student. Kiera is hungry to learn as much as she can while continuing on her path of servant leadership ahead.

“There is an opportunity in everything we do to make the world better, and taking the lead through things we love is the key to making an impact.”