Autumn S. Kurtz

Autumn S. Kurtz is the director of philanthropy for the Peterson Institute for International Economics. She has 16 years of frontline fundraising experience with political campaigns, nonprofit organizations, and higher education.

Previously, Kurtz supported the University of Virginia Center for Politics and its founder, Larry Sabato, in fundraising initiatives. She also managed the Center's advisory board and oversaw major gifts, the annual fund, donor communications, events, and stewardship. Kurtz also served as an executive director of Tech4America (T4A.org), a nonpartisan nonprofit based in San Francisco, CA, pairing technology executives with public officials to incubate public-private partnerships.

She started her career in politics, raising funds over three presidential cycles for President Barack Obama and Senator John Kerry. In 2012, she directed the fundraising effort for President Obama's reelection campaign in Northern California, the Pacific Northwest, and Hawaii, managing the regions' national finance committees. She routinely briefed Obama and other senior administration officials for fundraising events and worked closely with the US Secret Service.

Kurtz holds a bachelor of arts from Purdue University in political science and public relations. She attended Purdue on an athletic scholarship and served as the co-captain of the Women's Swimming and Diving team her senior year. She was awarded the Red Mackey Award by her teammates and named to the Academic All-Big Ten Team each year. She resides in Charlottesville, VA, with her husband Chase, who works for Starr Hill Brewing, and their two sons, Harvey and Woods.