Staff Profile: Kendall Gallagher-King

Some people have a gift for making complicated things feel approachable.

Kendall Gallagher-King in Washington, D.C., for The Riley Institute’s Teachers of Government (TOG) program

For Kendall Gallagher-King, that work began in a biology classroom, where she discovered she loved breaking down difficult scientific concepts into lessons that sparked curiosity instead of intimidation. Today, the subject matter has changed, but the mission hasn’t. At The Riley Institute, she helps students navigate civic engagement, leadership, and public service—ideas that can feel just as out of reach as science once did.

Gallagher-King’s path to becoming a teacher and mentor traces back to her time as a biology major at the University of South Carolina Upstate, where she served as a teaching assistant for BIO-101 courses. She quickly realized that what she enjoyed most wasn’t simply learning science but helping other people understand it.

“I found it to be a challenge,” she says. “Taking these complex topics and breaking them down so that anyone can understand them.”

That challenge followed her into the classroom.

Learning to Teach

After graduating, Gallagher-King became a science teacher at Fisher Middle School, a STEAM-focused school built around hands-on, collaborative learning. She loved designing lessons that encouraged curiosity and invited students to think differently about what they were learning.

“I really loved the curriculum design component” she says. “Figuring out how to teach students in a way that would be interesting and engaging.

Kendall Gallagher-King (right) and Nichole Grant (left)

Although she enjoyed teaching, Gallagher-King sensed that her career would eventually take a different direction. That opportunity came through former colleague Nichole Grant, who encouraged her to apply for an opening at The Riley Institute.

Gallagher-King came on board as an events coordinator, supporting both events and student programming. As her role evolved, one thing became clear: She loved working with students. “That’s what gives me energy and purpose—interacting with students and creating learning experiences for them.”

In 2024, Gallagher-King’s role shifted entirely to student-centered work, echoing her earlier days of teaching. The content had changed from biology to civic engagement, but the work itself hadn’t. Once again, Gallagher-King was helping people approach ideas that often felt inaccessible.

This time, however, she was learning something herself.

Sparking Confidence

Kendall Gallagher-King (left) with South Carolina Supreme Court’s Justice Kaye Hearn (middle) and A-Team scholar Lilly Meyer ’24 (right)

Growing up, civic leadership had always seemed like something reserved for people with titles, influence, or specialized expertise. Through her work at The Riley Institute, she found herself interacting with legislators, policy leaders, and community advocates from across South Carolina. Over time, the image she had built in her mind began to change.

“They’re just regular people like you and me who are passionate about something specific,” she realized. “And they’ve decided they’re going to try to move the needle on a particular issue or set of issues.”

That realization continues to shape Gallagher-King’s work as director of student programs at The Riley Institute, where she oversees the Advance Team, the Community of Scholars, and the RISE Summer Internship Program. To her, each program is an opportunity for students to discover that same sense of possibility.

Kendall Gallagher-King (bottom row, left) with the Advance Team, Jerry Blassingame, and Geniece Monde

“The biggest thing I see is growth in confidence—a change in their understanding of how they might have a positive influence on their community,” she says. The Advance Team is a testament to that growth.

Oftentimes, students join the Advance Team in their sophomore year with ambiguous interests. They may be curious about politics, leadership or public service, but remain uncertain whether those spaces are really for them.

By the time they graduate, Gallagher-King has watched many of those students develop a much clearer sense of purpose.

“We just had our end-of-year celebration, and it was so exciting to hear where the students are headed next, whether it’s going to teach English in France or to work in Washington, D.C.,” she shares. “One Advance Teamer wants to work in D.C. for a few years and then come back to South Carolina and hopefully serve as a legislator here.”

Kendall Gallagher-King posing with 2025 RISE interns

She sees similar transformations through the Riley Institute Summer Experience (RISE) Internship Program, where students work directly with community organizations on projects that continue long after the internship ends. Some have helped launch community initiatives, while others have conducted research that informs local conversations around housing, homelessness, and neighborhood development.

For Gallagher-King, those experiences matter because they give students something more valuable than a line in a résumé: evidence that they are capable of contributing to something bigger than themselves.

” I want students to understand that you don’t have to have some big, influential presence to make a difference,” she says. “It’s about figuring out what you’re passionate about and what you can do on a small scale and then convening others to do the same.”

When asked what legacy she hopes to leave behind, Gallagher-King doesn’t mention programs, events, or professional accomplishments. Instead, she talks about people.

“I would love to step away knowing that I have made a small impact on some students who have then gone out and used their strengths to ignite that spark in somebody else.”