The Development Debrief

Latest Episodes:

130. Marcela Hahn: Women in Development Jun 14, 2023

Show notes

This week, I speak with Marcela Hahn about her role as president of the Board of Directors of Women in Development (WiD). We explore the importance of community and tradition. Marcela Hahn is the Vice President, Development at Bank Street College of Education. For eight years, Marcela Hahn served as the AVP for Strategic Partnerships at CARE, a leading humanitarian organization. In this role she focused on corporate and foundation partnerships. Prior to CARE Marcela was the fundraising lead for Americans for UNFPA, Grand Street Settlement, and Project Reach Youth.

Marcela served as a Peace Corps volunteer and employee for four years in Senegal; she received an MPA from New York University and a B.A. from Cornell University. Marcela is the president of the Board of Directors of Women in Development (WID), NY. She lives with her family and two cats in Brooklyn and loves to hike, x-country ski and read mysteries in her free time.

129. Andy Rathmann-Noonan: Expand Your Mission Jun 07, 2023

Show notes

This week, we learn from Andy Rathmann-Noonan from the perspective of a non-profit CEO. Andy talks to us about changes his organization made to expand their mission and therefore grown their fundraising needs and goals.

Andy is the President of the National Science and Technology Medals Foundation. Over the last ten years, he has been responsible for various leadership and oversight responsibilities, including management of staff and programming, development and fundraising efforts, and ensuring that the Foundation’s mission is evident in all of its work. Andy has a deep personal connection to the foundation and its broader effort to build a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable future in STEMM. He recognizes his privilege and his responsibility as an ally to empower, enable, and serve his team, its mission, and the communities that can be positively affected by the NSTMF’s efforts. Andy earned a bachelor’s degree from Trinity College (Hartford, CT) in 2009. He resides in Silver Spring, MD, with his better half Julia, their son Nolan, and their dog Lulu.

128. Christine Pina: Engendering Pride in People May 31, 2023

Show notes

So far I am loving being back in Connecticut. Let’s learn more about Connecticut and this amazing guest’s career. This week, we hear from Christine Pina, Chief Advancement Officer at Miss Porter’s School. Christine and I talk about admissions, graduate work for fundraisers, building a community with pride, and how to educate your communities early about fundraising (especially at an all-girl's school).

Christine Pina is the Chief Advancement Officer, Miss Porter’s School where she is a member of the school’s senior leadership team. She is responsible for all fundraising and alumni engagement activities and she has more than 25 years of experience in education administration.

See some data about giving to women and girl's here: https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/institutes/womens-philanthropy-institute/research/wgi.html

127. Mike Hoffman: The Power of Proximity May 24, 2023

Show notes

If you follow me on instagram @devdebrief, you saw that I went out to Annapolis in March. There, I met the US Navy development team and learned about their approach to fundraising. Mike Hoffman is an amazing leader who is growing programs, posting new positions, and argues teams are best built in person.

Mike joined the U.S. Naval Academy Foundation in March 2013 and currently serves on the Foundation’s senior leadership team as the Vice President, Development. Mike began his tenure at Navy as a Major Gifts Officer and grew into a series of roles with increasing responsibility before taking the VP position last year.

As the Naval Academy Foundation builds out a team in anticipation of their next campaign, Mike will lead a staff of 15 on the Development team, which includes the Regional Development program, which is comprised of the organization’s major gifts and high-end leadership annual giving initiatives, and the Planned Giving program. In his role, he also works closely with the Foundation’s EVP, Board of Directors and other organizational leaders to play a central role in campaign planning and execution. Additionally, Mike manages a portfolio of top donors across the country with a focus on principal gifts.

Since 2004, Mike has worked in education at both the independent school and higher education levels, with most of that experience in development positions. Prior to joining the Foundation, Mike was at Johns Hopkins University in their Regional and International Programs development office.

Mike graduated from Loyola University Maryland with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. He lives in Annapolis with his wife and three children.

126. Making Moves with Christopher Haight May 15, 2023

Show notes

About one year ago, Christopher Haight started the process of moving from Director of Development, Discovery Team at Cornell University to now Associate Dean for Development at Stanford University. Today, I will start at Yale University as Director of Parent Gifts. In this episode, I explain my journey and move to New Haven, Connecticut. Hopefully our stories will inspire you to take the leap you've been dreaming about!

125. Paul Sullivan: You Just Ask Mar 22, 2023

Show notes

Hello All, this is the final episode of Season 10! I am closing with this conversation because it offers a fresh perspective on wealth both as a writer and as a donor. Paul Sullivan has had and continues to have an exciting career that we can all learn from. Sit back, relax, and listen to Paul reflect on his journey to date and what money has had to do with it!

Paul is the founder of The Company of Dads, the first platform dedicated to creating a community for Lead Dads. Its mission is to help Lead Dads feel less isolated and more confident that they have made the correct choice to take on the bulk of the parenting and family duties - or at the very least not embrace stereotypes around who does what at home. As a Lead Dad himself, Paul understands intimately the joys, frustrations, isolation and reticence around talking about being a Lead Dad. It’s a role that is growing in numbers but is far from normalized.

Before starting The Company of Dads in 2021, Paul wrote the Wealth Matters column in The New York Times for 13 years. He also created the Money Game column in GOLF Magazine. As a journalist for 25 years, his articles also appeared in Fortune, Money, Conde Nast Portfolio, The International Herald Tribune, Barron’s, The Boston Globe, and Food & Wine. From 2000 to 2006, he was a reporter, editor and columnist at the Financial Times. He got his start as a reporter at Bloomberg and Institutional Investor.

He is the author of two books Clutch: Why Some People Excel Under Pressure and Others Don’t and The Thin Green Line: The Money Secrets of The Super Wealthy.

Paul has been interviewed on podcasts, radio and television programs across America, including NPR, Marketplace, CNN, and Fox News. He has also given key-note talks to audiences from 50 to 500 people in the United States, Mexico and Chile.

Paul lives in New Canaan, Connecticut, with his wife and their three daughters and three dogs. He received degrees in history from Trinity College and the University of Chicago. When not running The Company of Dads or being a Lead Dad, he is an obsessive golfer.

124. Jan Abernathy: Building Your Personal Brand Mar 15, 2023

Show notes

Last week, I went with several of my colleagues to the NYSAIS advancement conference at Mohonk Mountain House. NYSAIS stands for the New York State Association of Independent Schools. At the conference, I had the opportunity to speak about building your personal brand for career success with today’s guest, Jan Abernathy. Before we did our talk, we recorded it to share with all of you!

Jan Abernathy is the Chief Communications Officer at The Browning School, a K-12 boys’ school in New York City. Formerly the director of marketing and communications at The Elisabeth Morrow School in Englewood, NJ. At Browning, she is a member of the Health & Safety Team, responsible for managing COVID response, and co-chaired the school’s successful search for its new director of equitable practice and social impact.

She is president of New York City Independent Schools Communications Professionals, a professional association of over 100 members from schools throughout the tri-state area, and the co-founder of Black Advancement Networking Group, which works to gain further representation and greater professional growth of Black professionals in advancement roles in independent schools. Jan is chair of CASE-NAIS 2022, the most prominent international advancement conference in the independent school sector. A journalist by training, she has written for NAIS’ Independent School Magazine on crisis communications (Winter 2019) and the “Black at” movement (Winter 2021).

She is a trustee of Grace Church School, a K-12 school in New York City, and was on the board of Stevens Cooperative School in Hoboken, NJ, for 13 years, spending six years as chair. Her consulting firm, Jan Abernathy Strategic Communications, provides communications and DEI counsel for educational institutions and non-profits.

123. Taylor Wood: Vanderbilt's Regional Hubs Mar 08, 2023

Show notes

The tale is as old as time- do you have regional major gift teams based in the cities they manage, or on campus? Vanderbilt University is rolling out a new initiative they are calling Vanderbilt Regional Hubs. Through these hubs, prospective students, current students, parents, alumni and friends will connect with Vanderbilt through professional opportunities and custom programming. This week, we will learn about how the program has been launched from the leader himself, Taylor.

Taylor Wood joined Vanderbilt’s Development and Alumni Relations team in November 2018 to manage fundraising for the School of Medicine, including Basic Sciences, and the School of Nursing. In October of 2022, his portfolio has expanded to include oversight of development for the School of Engineering and DAR’s new regional development initiative. He previously served in development leadership at the Syracuse University School of Architecture, one of the top architecture programs in the country, as well as the College of Design at the University of Kentucky. Wood is a native Kentuckian and earned his bachelor’s degree in English at the University of Kentucky and master’s degrees in business administration and sports administration at Ohio University.

**Special shout out to Becca Jensen for suggesting this episode and making this episode possible.

122. Lisa Alvarez-Calderón: The Golden Ingredient to Recruiting, Talent, Retention Mar 01, 2023

Show notes

In this week’s episode, we talk talent, recruiting, and, retention. Lisa Alvarez-Calderón is the founder of Shine Consulting, dedicated to advising leaders on people strategy, global organization effectiveness, leadership development and building high performing, inclusive cultures. Lisa is an executive coach who helps people connect, share and accomplish big things so we can thrive and shine.

Lisa is a dynamic leader with extensive global human resources experience working across diverse sectors and geographies. Lisa was Chief Human Resources Officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation, where she worked closely with the foundation’s executive leadership team through the COVID-19 pandemic. Lisa lived in Chile serving as HRVP for BHP in the mining sector and Academic Director for the University of Chile ́s Center for Organizational Engineering. She developed her career in the pharmaceutical sector as HRVP for Johnson & Johnson in the United States and Asia, including living in Singapore and leading HR across 14 countries; and with Bristol-Myers Squibb as HRVP for Research & Development, and HR and talent roles in Latin America and US commercial operations. Lisa began her career as a leadership trainee with CIGNA and spent the first decade of her career as an HR business partner and talent management specialist in the insurance industry.

Lisa serves on the Board of Trustees of Trinity College and on several Advisory Boards including Enspira, a strategic human resources consulting firm; Untapped Potential, a social enterprise dedicated to attracting professionally trained women caregivers (i.e., Moms) back into the workforce; and The Company of Dads, a community platform for Lead Dads and an advocate for more open and productive work environments for parents. Lisa is an active member of the International Women’s Forum, a global network of accomplished women dedicated to advancing women’s leadership and championing equality worldwide.

Lisa is known for building trust and connecting with people to help them perform, learn and grow. She brings passion, courage, authenticity, integrity, asense of adventure and joy to all she does. Lisa knows that If it’s not energizing, it is probably not worth doing.

Lisa received an MBA with Distinction from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. Lisa and her husband have raised two grown sons and divide their time between Seattle, Washington and Chincoteague, Virginia.

121. Eric Almonte: A True Partnership Feb 22, 2023

Show notes

This week, my guest Eric and I talk about Reunion and Annual Giving, portfolio optimization, engaging the next generation of donors, and what to say when people ask you why a wealthy institution needs their support. Ultimately, the team at Princeton is building what they call, a true partnership with their donors.

Eric R. Almonte serves as Assistant Vice President for Capital Giving at Princeton University, Princeton, NJ. In this role, he supervises an extremely dedicated and professional staff including; three frontline fundraising teams and the support staff for Leadership Gifts, International Development and the Office of Gift Planning. The Capital Giving team focuses on fundraising to increase access and affordability opportunities, endowed professorships, and research funding to intensify innovation, curiosity and intellectual risk taking at Princeton University.

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