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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Yesterday, the much-anticipated Philanthropy 50 by The Chronicle of Philanthropy went live. This list profiles America’s 50 largest donors including their location, wealth source, and top cause. Previously, I thought this list was for principal gift officers and Vice Presidents. Luckily, I was able to interview the reporter, Maria Di Mento and quickly learned that this list is for all of us. Maria has been writing about wealthy philanthropists and key trends and insights related to high-net-worth donors for nearly two decades and leads the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual Philanthropy 50. I hope this interview inspires you to think bigger and more broadly than ever. There is so much opportunity in our industry. 

To learn more about The Development Debrief, connect with us on Linkedin or on instagram @devdebrief. I would love to hear from you! I’ll be back, same place, same time next week.

(Special shout out to Bob Lasher who made this interview possible!) 

Here is the list: https://www.philanthropy.com/article/the-philanthropy-50/?cid=gen_sign_in#id=browse_2022

If you are listening to this—it is likely you either have access to ThankView through your organization or have at least seen their unicorn logo. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, it’s the cloud-based platform that lets you easily create and send personalized videos to raise awareness, promote events, update stakeholders, and thank those who matter most.

Today, we will talk with JD Beebe, ThankView’s  co-founder and CEO. JD tells us how and why he became an entrepreneur and shares the story of how ThankView was originally created to make completing his wedding thank you notes more enjoyable. ThankView now works with over 1,000 annual partners, including The Boys & Girls Club, Boston University, Cornell, Pepperdine, Miami University and Colorado State University. In November of 2021, ThankView merged with EverTrue, the top-rated data, software, and services solution for fundraisers. He now serves as President of EverTrue (www.evertrue.com).

Before founding ThankView, JD founded New Antisocial, a digital marketing agency, and Beebe's Buttcamp, a fitness studio that was named "One of the 9 Best New Studios in NYC" by Racked.com. He and his team built everything with no outside investment and have successfully generated millions of dollars while staying cash positive. New Antisocial worked with top global brands including Intel and Spartan Race as well as fledgling startups.

Prior to founding New Antisocial, JD was Creative Director for Noise, a digital advertising company in NYC. His work has appeared on CNN, NBC, AdAge, Fast Company, MTV and has won accolades including the Platinum Cannes Lion and top One Show awards.

Today’s episode marks the beginning of Season 10! If you’ve been here from the beginning, thank you for sharing this journey—if you are new to The Debrief, we have been running for just over three years and have content with industry experts in nearly every corner of the fundraising profession.

One thing I have always been curious about is the dynamic between the Chief Development Officer and the Board Chair. How do they talk to one another? Who ultimately makes the call?  But those conversations are often had in private. I am honored to open this season with Bob Lasher, Senior Vice President for Development at  Dartmouth College and Laurel Richie, Marketing, Communications, and Management Executive as well as former Dartmouth Trustee and Board chair.

In the following 45 minutes, we will talk about wins, stalls, pain points, and women in philanthropy all during a multi-billion dollar campaign.

To Learn more-- follow us on instagram @devdebrief and connect on LinkedIn, I can't wait to hear from you!

Hello! I want to close out this season with a heart-warming episode. Today’s guest, Katy, tells us about how she went for her dream job-- and got it. We talk about her rise to Vice Chancellor for Advancement and how this affected her career, family, motherhood, and leadership. She gives great tips for working professionals who are parents, and leaves you feeling inspired.

As Vice Chancellor for Advancement for the University of Colorado Boulder, Katy Herbert Kotlarczyk (cut-lar-chick) oversees all campus efforts related to private fundraising, philanthropic outreach, and alumni engagement. Under her direction, the CU Boulder Advancement team identifies and partners with constituents who contribute their time and talent to advance the university’s mission.

With CU Advancement since 2010, Katy previously served as Assistant Vice President for Central Advancement and led CU’s gift planning and annual giving efforts. Prior to her time at CU, Katy led fundraising for a scholarship program at Georgetown University that supported first-generation, low-income, and diverse undergraduate students. She also served as a director of Orr Group, a fundraising and strategy consultancy for nonprofit organizations.

A life-long learner, Katy is currently pursuing her Doctor of Education degree in leadership in educational equity, with a focus on higher education. She completed her MBA at DePaul University. She has both an undergraduate and master’s degree from Stanford University, where she served as captain of the women’s gymnastics team.

When she’s not working, Katy serves as a Boulder County court-appointed special advocate for youth struggling with truancy. She and her husband enjoy exploring Colorado with their three children.

Today’s episode is nostalgic I sit down with an old friend and fellow fundraiser, Maddie Hansen. We share a few memories from our time singing together in our College a cappella group and analyze what skills we learned there that we can apply to fundraising. We then learn from Maddie about her grateful patient fundraising and how she has built an authentic voice and path finding meaning in her work.

Madeleine Hansen is a Senior Associate Director of Development for Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center. In this role, Maddie works closely with physicians, scientists, and grateful patients to support diverse research and patient care programs for women’s cancers. This includes Penn’s Breast Cancer Program, 2-PREVENT Translation Center of Excellence (TCE), Ovarian Cancer Research Center (OCRC), and Gynecologic Oncology Clinical Research Unit. Maddie also serves as a point person for fundraising for diversity, health equity, and inclusion (DEI) within the Division of Hematology Oncology.

Maddie is a graduate of Trinity College in Hartford Connecticut where she received her BA in American Studies.