RAISE Podcast

Tom Wamsley joined UIC in 2019. Previously, he served as the Chief Development Officer at Stephen M Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan where his efforts resulted in a significant increase in the school’s visibility and impact, and the fundraising of $415 million for the Business School during the campaign that closed in December of 2018. Tom arrived at UIC with over 20 years of...

Fred Van Sickle is the vice president for Alumni Affairs and Development and the university's chief fundraiser, overseeing the team responsible for building alumni engagement worldwide and securing private support from individuals and institutions for the University through the “To Do the Greatest Good” campaign. Before joining Cornell in January of 2016, Fred served Columbia University as executi...

Dan Peterson joined the University of Washington in 2016 and recently retired from his position as vice president for development for university advancement and president of the UW Foundation. Dan has served in a number senior leadership roles for four leading public research universities, including as Vice Chancellor/CAO at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dan's career focused on f...

As the Vice President of Alumni Engagement at Boston University, Erika Jordan serves as the chief alumni engagement officer for the campus and plays a key role in providing leadership and strategic guidance to the Alumni Engagement, Annual Giving, and Development Events & Communications teams. Prior to this role, Erika served as the Assistant Vice Chancellor, Alumni & Constituent Engagemen...

David P. Bennett serves as the Senior Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations at Howard University. In this role, David provides strategic vision, and leads the critical work of developing campaigns and activities that will enhance philanthropic support and alumni engagement for the University. David is an energetic leader with more than 25 years of experience advancing development str...

Joe Kender serves as Senior Vice President for University Relations at Saint Joseph’s University. In this role, he oversees the strategy and execution of university advancement and government & community relations. His primary aim is to position the university externally among a wide array of constituents ranging from our immediate community to the region and the university’s nearly 70,000 alu...

Jean Kramer Crosby joined Ball State University in 2011. She became President of the Ball State University Foundation and Vice President of University Advancement in 2020, with the Foundation’s 35-member board and 75 employees who are responsible for fundraising, alumni relations, donor relations, and stewardship of the Foundation’s $300 million in assets. Previously, Jean had been the Foundation’...

Dana Cummings serves as Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Franklin College, located in Franklin, Indiana. She has spent the entirety of her 16-year career in higher education fundraising - working for big public institutions, as well as small privates, and all within her home state of Indiana. Dana is also pursing a doctorate in education, and is set to complete her degree in 2024. D...

Jeremy Galvin’s leadership and service have had a profound effect on the ISU Foundation since 2003. His work in fundraising clearly impacts students and faculty across campus as evidenced by the more than 15 named faculty positions and countless scholarships he has helped secure throughout Campaign Iowa State. Galvin’s passion for mentoring and advising students is most impactful in serving the un...

Jennifer Howe, former vice president of advancement at the University of Dayton, was named Georgia Tech’s next vice president for development on August 15, 2022. Howe comes to Tech with more than 25 years of experience in university development, advancement, and alumni relations, including campaign planning, stewardship, major and principal gifts, corporate and foundation relations, athletics capi...

Dan Allenby is an internationally recognized expert on annual giving and the Principal and Founder of Annual Giving Network, the world's leading resources for annual giving programs. Through its training, professional development, and recruiting services, AGN is proud to have supported more than 2,500 colleges, universities and independent schools around the world—including over 700 institutions t...

Birgit Smith Burton is a respected leader in the fundraising profession who has raised more than $500 million during her 33-year career. As the executive director of foundation relations at the Georgia Institute of Technology, she led her team in raising $309 million toward the Institute's most recent successful $1.8 billion capital campaign. Birgit is a well-regarded speaker on the topics of fund...

Armin Afsahi was appointed Associate Vice President of Alumni Affairs and Development (AA&D) and Dean of Development for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) by Edgerley Family Dean Claudine Gay in August 2019. In this key executive leadership role, Afsahi is responsible for designing and executing a fundraising vision that advances FAS’s mission and diverse academic priorities. In this capa...

Scott Mory is Carnegie Mellon University’s vice president for University Advancement. He is responsible for overseeing the university’s overall advancement efforts and for building partnerships with all of CMU’s philanthropic and volunteer communities, including university alumni, parents and friends; charitable foundations; and corporate donors. Appointed in 2015, Mory works closely with administ...

Steven founded Fundriver in March 2006, and serves as President and CEO. He launched Fundriver because he recognized a gap in non-profit financial management. Always being an innovator and having an entrepreneurial mindset, he saw the potential that Fundriver had even before it was fully developed. The initial concept began as a custom project for a client and has since grown to a robust endowment...

Michael Felberbaum is the co-author of Focused Fundraising with Chris Cannon of Zuri Group. Michael co-leads the Advancement technology effort at Yale University. He is on the Board of Solar Youth, and he is a long time teacher and practitioner of mindfulness meditation. Chris Cannon’s areas of expertise include fundraising strategy and systems, resource and database management, business intellige...

Floyd Akins joined The University of Toledo in February 2022 as a fundraiser with 25 years of experience in higher education advancement, public relations and admissions ready to move UToledo forward through philanthropy and increased engagement of alumni and friends. Akins came to UToledo from Michigan State University, where he served as associate vice president for advancement, overseeing const...

Cindi Roth has been leading the private philanthropic efforts of WVU and WVU Medicine as the president and CEO of the WVU Foundation since 2014. Cindi, with her 30 years of experience in leadership, fundraising, finance, and strategic planning, helped guide and direct the Foundation’s historic and successful $1 billion+ “State of Minds” comprehensive campaign for the University, which concluded in...

Troy Finn leads campaign and fundraising efforts for the University of New Hampshire across 13 colleges and schools, athletics, centers, and institutes. He joined UNH in 2017 from Development Guild DDI where he provided campaign and fundraising counsel to institutions ranging from large, research-intensive public universities to private liberal arts colleges, schools, and non-profit organizations....

Todd founded Pledgemine, a marketing technology company, in 2009. With a diverse background in brand strategy, database marketing and digital print technologies he has developed a highly effective, personal approach to business communication. As Founder and Principal of Strategy One for twelve years, Todd led creative teams serving Motorola, AT&T, AstroTurf and Wheaton College. He has consulte...

Rodney M. Grabowski is Vice President for University Advancement at the University at Buffalo (UB), a position he assumed in December 2017. Rod has more than 30 years working in higher education advancement, and he is passionate about raising funds to supporting education. Prior to beginning his tenure at UB, Rod was the President of the University of Cincinnati Foundation, as well as Vice Preside...

Terri Goss Kinzy Ph. D. serves as the 20th President of Illinois State University. She started her career at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) rising to professor in the Departments of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Pediatrics. At Rutgers, Dr. Kinzy served as Vice President for Research. Dr. Kinzy then joined Western Michigan University in 2018 as Vice President of Researc...

Rod Kirsch, Senior Vice President, brings a wealth of experience in alumni relations and higher education fundraising to the firm. Over his 34-year career in university advancement, he has provided executive leadership in raising more than $5 billion of philanthropy. Rod is currently Senior Vice President Emeritus for Development and Alumni Relations at The Pennsylvania State University after serv...

Mike Goodwin joined the OSU Foundation in 2004. With Oregon State President Ed Ray, he launched the university’s first capital campaign in 2007 with a goal to raise $625 million. The Campaign for OSU concluded in 2014 after raising $1.14 billion from 106,000 donors. “Mike Goodwin is a remarkable champion for Oregon State University,” President Ray said, reflecting on Mike's leadership. “The univer...

Bringing over 20 years of successful fundraising experience to Cranbrook, Eileen’s expertise includes development leadership for complex organizations in higher education and the arts. As Chief Advancement Officer, Eileen directs campus-wide fundraising efforts designed to achieve Cranbrook's institutional priorities for the next decade. Eileen joins Cranbrook most recently from the J. Paul Getty...