RAISE Podcast

About Nico

Nico Karagosian is the President & CEO of the Ohio University Foundation and the Vice President, Division of University Advancement. He brings more than 20 years of experience in fundraising, having previously served in a variety of leadership positions at the University of Cincinnati Foundation. Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Karagosian is a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) who earned his MBA and MS in Health Administration from the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute. He earned his BA in English from Hobart College in Geneva, New York.

Nico and Brent spoke at CASE D5 in Chicago. Read the 3 takeaways from that presentation.

About Keith

Keith Hannon is a major gift officer for athletics at Cornell University. Previously, he was a member of Cornell’s alumni affairs and development’s digital innovation team where he managed online alumni communities and developed digital strategies for major- and leadership-level donor discovery and cultivation. He’s a recovering television/film professional who is quickly approaching 10 years in higher ed advancement.

(Check out Keith’s recent guest post on our blog: The Illusion of Local)

About Glenn

Dr. Glenn F. Kosse was appointed Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations at Bellarmine University in December 2005. During his tenure at Bellarmine, he’s led the University to the completion of a $100M capital campaign, the largest in its history. The highlight of the campaign was the effort to raise $25M for Centro, the largest building project the University has undertaken. Glenn is responsible for all facets of development, alumni relations, athletic fundraising, special events and legislative affairs, leading a team of 18 professionals who work with the campus community, deans, alumni, donors and friends in pursuit of the University’s external goals.

About Elizabeth

Elizabeth Breidinger currently serves as the Director of Institutional Advancement at The Pingry School. Previously, she’s worked in fundraising at the University of Chicago, Brown University, and Bennington College, where she has held leadership positions in alumni relations, development, and major giving. She quickly found that fundraising was a natural fit when she began her career and has transitioned flawlessly from being a direct fundraiser to a manager.

Elizabeth has done it all over the years. She’s created and implemented new metrics, reporting, and donor relations best practices. She’s implemented new advancement services operations, rebranded annual funds and reignited dormant planned giving programs. Her natural passion for the field comes through in everything she does and gets teams and donors excited.

About Patrick

Patrick Lynch currently serves as the Senior Director of Strategic Engagement and Alumni Relations for the College of Engineering at Ohio State. Prior to this opportunity at Ohio State, Patrick spent nearly adecade in Charlotte, North Carolina. He started his career in the for-profit industry managing operations for a natural resource product manufacturing facility and then pivoted to a career in education. He worked at two different public charter schools before joining the advancement team at Queens University of Charlotte.

Patrick is always looking for new and innovative ways to solve problems. In his 10+ years as an advancement professional he has started dozens of new initiatives in both the annual giving and engagement space. Patrick has an undergraduate degree from Miami University, where he met his wife, and a MBA from the McColl School of Business at Queens. He enjoys building LEGOs, reading bedtime stories, and the occasional pillow fight with his two young children.

About Regan

Regan Holt is the former CEO of Uprising and current Senior Director of Product at EverTrue. While working in advancement services at Northwestern, Regan realized that there was a big need for modern, automated search and data aggregation tools for higher ed advancement. After building a reputation in the advancement space as an ultra-capable and collaborative data wizard, Regan founded Uprising, a platform with a Google-like interface for fundraising professionals to search for prospective donors based on their interests. Five years later, Regan’s inner data geek has found a new home at EverTrue, and we can’t wait to work with her to evolve fundraising through data technology.

About Anna

Anna helps amazing people find meaning and impact through their support of the Eastman School of Music. She joined the team in 2014 as the Director of Advancement and has since started pursuing a doctorate in Higher Education with a focus on fundraising at the Warner School of Education at the University of Rochester. Previously, she’s earned her an Masters of Education in Institutional Advancement with Dr. Tim Caboni from the Peabody College at Vanderbilt University and has a B.A. from Loyola University New Orleans in Music Business and Clarinet. When she finds a spare moment between fundraising and studying, she enjoys comedy, jazz, opera, Mardi Gras and any form of caffeine she can get her hands on. She lives in Rochester, NY with her husband and two kids.

About John

John Morris joined the Kansas State University Foundation in 2016, as the Senior Vice President of Development. Morris leads all aspects of fundraising, working with Foundation leadership, campus partners and the KSU Foundation Board to strengthen the Foundation’s overall fundraising capacity. He is the primary architect of the University’s $1.4b campaign and under his leadership annual fundraising production has increased 50%. Morris came to the KSU Foundation from the University of Minnesota Foundation, where he served as a Senior Director of Development. At the University of Minnesota Foundation, Morris led his development team to increase their growth in gift productionby 60%. Prior to his position at the University of Minnesota Foundation, Morris held the position of Associate Vice President of Advancement at Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois. Under his leadership, giving to the Athletics Department increased 300%, and he led the University to an all-time high in annual fundraising production. Education: Morris received his bachelor’s degree from Winona State University in Winona, Minnesota, and his master’s from Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois.