When RIT began building its Regional Advancement program, the intention was a team of Rochester-based major gift officers deployed nationally on a regular basis. The pandemic and opportunities for strategic hires shifted that thinking, but brought unexpected challenges. This session, and subsequent conversation, will discuss ways to keep the remote team engaged in the life of the institution, help them learn the institutional culture, and develop close collaboration with their institution-based colleagues. The positive outcomes for the institution, advancement team, and constituents will also be discussed, as will some lingering challenges.

While women hold the majority of professional staff roles in higher education advancement, their voices are largely absent from the literature describing talent management practices and individual career journeys of professionals in the field. This presentation will describe the findings of a research study that explored the lived experiences of women in fundraising and alumni engagement roles. By centering women’s stories, this research highlights the relationship between gender and advancement work, the factors influencing job-related decisions, and challenges to gender equality in the field. Following a discussion of this study’s findings, participants will have the opportunity to engage in a dialogue about actionable strategies to create a more inclusive and supportive work environment in the field.

Leading a division through a major project requires implementation of change management. Learn how Johns Hopkins recently moved their entire division to a new CRM - a big undertaking. It was successful through stakeholder management, tailored messaging and equipping leaders and users with the necessary skills to adapt to the change. Learn how they became emotionally ready through storytelling, and becoming partners in driving the change. And...they also will highlight the importance of embracing the unknown and learning from failures. Karen Latora and Caroline Chang will serve as moderators in this session with Teresa and Liz leading the discussion and providing the content.