RAISE Podcast

About John

John Feudo is Vice Chancellor for Advancement at UMass Lowell, leading a team of 46 staff members through the university’s first-ever fundraising and engagement campaign.

He formerly served as SVP of development and Chief Development Officer for United Way of Massachusetts Bay. Prior to arriving at United Way, Feudo spent eight years at his undergraduate alma mater, Boston College, as well as University of Connecticut Alumni Association, the UMass Amherst Alumni Association.

John’s expertise has been sought by more than 200 colleges, universities and organizations around the world. He is also an award-winning speaker and author, having published six books in the field of advancement.

About Mark

Leveraging over twenty years in higher education advancement, Mark has extensive experience in the development and utilization of fundraising best practices. This includes employing analytics to increase fundraising efficiency and effectiveness, and developing and measuring the return on investment for engagement. Most recently, he’s been leading the OSU Foundation’s efforts to digitally transform the organization (and industry) by driving innovation and change, ultimately leveraging technology, talent and strategies to create a sustainable and scaleable best-in-class approach. In 2018, Mark led the OSU Foundation’s successful adoption of a new customer relationship management system, Ellucian CRM Advance, after taking part in extensive alpha and beta testing with colleagues nationwide.

About Janzell

Janzell Tutor’s long career at the University of Utah started with 10 years in student affairs before she started managing the College of Nursing’s alumni relations over five years ago. Through these years, Janzell has directed the launch of a renewed Alumni Weekend, including a Half Century Society; Distinguished and Young Alumni Awards; and an annual spring gala, Honors for Nursing which she and her team said goodbye to while celebrating its 25th anniversary last year. Not surprising with her roots in student affairs, Janzell strives to ensure current students have a great experience while in their program in hopes they will continue to be engaged alumni. Janzell was born and raised in Hawaii, received her bachelor’s degree in Business, moved to Utah, received her master’s in public administration and enjoys singing and performing around town. As a part Hawaiian, Chinese, Korean and Norwegian woman, she proudly proclaims her multi-racial identities and is invested in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work. Though she does not seem old enough, she has been married for more than 18 years and adores her two “mediums” (as she calls them), while trying to find the right balance as a working mom. She says the best part of her job is reconnecting with College graduates from the 1940s, 50s and 60s, many of whom have been disengaged for decades.

About Chris

Chris Barragan is the Director of Advancement for the University of Utah School of Medicine. Previous to this role he was the Sr. Development Director for the Goddard School of Business at Weber State University. He is a dedicated husband and father and loves baseball, surfing, cooking and eating tasty food, and walking his dog who’s name is Mucho Gusto.

About Paul

Paul J. Clifford is the chief executive officer of the Penn State Alumni Association and associate vice president for alumni relations for Penn State. He is the organization’s 11th chief executive in its 146-year history and began his tenure in January 2016.

With 174,074 members, the Penn State Alumni Association is the largest dues-paying alumni association of its kind worldwide. The Alumni Association’s mission is to connect alumni to the University and to each other; provide valued services to members; and support the University’s mission of teaching, research, and service.

Clifford guides Penn State’s alumni relations strategy; oversees engagement initiatives with the Alumni Association’s 174,000+ members and 315 affiliate groups; leads a 70-member staff; and manages the Alumni Association’s broad range of programs, benefits, services, and resources, including a $12.5 million annual operating budget.

A Pennsylvania native, Clifford joined Penn State after serving as the University of Oregon’s associate vice president of advancement and executive director of the University of Oregon Alumni Association. While at Oregon, Clifford directed all programs, events, communications and services for the University’s 190,000 alumni and led a team of 40 professionals across four locations. He was responsible for increasing membership by more than 8 percent; implementing an alumni scholars program; and leading the University’s Philanthropic Relationships and Engagement Team, an innovative model that cross-functionally integrates traditional alumni relations, annual giving, and other engagement strategies.

Clifford has spent his entire career in the alumni relations field and has broad national experience. A 12-time CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) Award winner, Clifford has served on or chaired myriad CASE committees and is a five-time faculty member for the organization’s Summer Institute for Alumni Relations.

Clifford earned his bachelor of arts degree in History from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania in 1996. Prior to his service at the University of Oregon, he was associate vice chancellor for alumni relations at East Carolina University and the president and CEO of the East Carolina Alumni Association—positions he held from 2004–2014. Previously, he was director of alumni outreach at the University of Connecticut Alumni Association, director of alumni affairs at SUNY New Paltz, and assistant director for alumni communications and student programs at James Madison University.

A native of Conyngham, Pa., Clifford and his wife Jennefer have three children: Aidan, Avery and Abbey.

On this episode of the RAISE podcast, Brent sits down with Cindy Fredrick, AVP of Alumni, Parents and Friends at the University of Virginia, to talk about increasing the size of your network and scaling 1:1 experiences.

About Cindy

Cindy Fredrick is a respected leader with 35 years of administrative experience in higher education and community-based organizations. Cindy currently leads the University of Virginia’s central engagement office for alumni, parents, and friends. Cindy oversees the central annual giving team, including creating The Virginia Fund which raises financial support for Presidential priorities. Cindy serves on the University Advancement senior leadership and $5 billion capital campaign team.

She previously served as President and CEO for Madison House, UVA’s award-winning volunteer service non-profit organization. Before her time at UVA, she held leadership positions with Virginia’s coalition of sexual assault crisis centers, a professional touring theatre for children, and long-term care facilities. Cindy is a graduate of Luther College, with a degree in social work and California State University, with a master’s degree in educational administration.

About Jane

Jane DiFolco Parker has contributed to institutional success from various levels of service during her 45-year higher education career.

For the last 25 years, Parker has led high-impact fundraising and operations in the university setting. Since March 2012, she has served as vice president for development at Auburn University, and as president of the Auburn University Foundation and the Auburn University Real Estate Foundation, Inc.

During her tenure, Auburn celebrated several record-setting fundraising years; launched the university’s largest campaign with a goal of $1 billion; and achieved this goal more than a year ahead of schedule, ultimately raising $1.2B.