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Boston University (BU) seeks a strategic, inclusive, and intellectually curious Assistant Vice President, School Development (AVP) to lead and maximize fundraising and alumni engagement activities for a portfolio of five renowned schools and colleges, elevating advancement capabilities in support of strategic priorities as the university moves into its next multi-billion-dollar comprehensive campaign.

In partnership with Associate Vice President for School Development Lara Brown de Fuenmayor, the AVP will lead a team of 21 development and alumni relations professionals, including five direct reports who serve as the fundraising leads for the College of Engineering, Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, Questrom School of Business, School of Law, and Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. The incumbent will advance strong partnerships and collaboration among schools and colleges, regional teams, and other Development and Alumni Relations (DAR) staff, encouraging a strategic and integrated approach that taps into the expertise, best practices, and myriad resources of teams, deans, and colleagues across DAR.

DAR’s impact on the University’s mission and legacy is exemplified by the high growth in fundraising and alumni engagement activities, with the AVP’s portfolio of five schools and colleges collectively raising approximately $35-40 million annually. Each school and college’s strategic plan provides ripe ground to be innovative and opportunistic in identifying philanthropic prospects, engaging high-level volunteers, and cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding impactful gifts.

The AVP will build upon a strong foundation to engage leaders of their assigned schools and colleges in strategically aligned development efforts as the university welcomes Dr. Melissa Gilliam, a medical doctor, MacArthur-grant winning researcher, and adolescent health advocate as its new president on July 1, 2024. Founded in 1839, Boston University has grown into one of the largest nonprofit universities in the country, comprising 17 Schools and Colleges. BU has always been a hub for impact and innovation. As a university, it was the first to open all divisions to female students in 1872 and that same year, BU School of Law started admitting students regardless of race, gender, and religion—less than a decade after the end of the Civil War. BU continues to prepare students to thrive in an increasingly interconnected world by promoting an interdisciplinary approach exemplified throughout its schools and colleges such as: the Pardee School of Global Studies’ seven research centers and institutes, which serve as hubs for multi-disciplinary research and knowledge dissemination; the Questrom School of Business’ 2024 Top 20-ranked undergraduate business program in which students are prepared to make the most responsible decisions for their future organizations and society; Wheelock College of Education & Human Development’s focus on dismantling systemic barriers that limit learning and human development; and the commitment of the School of Engineering to create societal engineers . (https://www.bu.edu/eng/about-eng/creating-the-societal-engineer/)

The next AVP will possess a minimum of fourteen years of development experience, a keen understanding of best practices in fundraising and alumni engagement, and experience managing a school- or college-based team ideally across departmental and unit matrices in a complex organization. The successful candidate will have a proven track record of using data-focused and metrics-driven strategies to grow fundraising programs in academic settings. The incumbent must have extraordinary communication skills with a collegial, team- building style and a demonstrated ability to motivate high achievers as well as to cultivate productive, collaborative relationships across campus. The AVP will foster a professional work environment that rewards individual and collective success, builds confidence, and promotes diversity in all its forms. In accordance with its core values and mission, BU is especially interested in recruiting members of diverse communities and individuals who will promote and uphold the values embodied within the University’s Diversity Statement . (https://www.bu.edu/diversity/about/diversity-statement/)

Boston University

Boston University is an international, comprehensive, private research university, committed to educating students to be reflective, resourceful individuals ready to live, adapt, and lead in an interconnected world. Boston University is committed to generating new knowledge to benefit society.

BU remains dedicated to its founding principles: that higher education should be accessible to all, and that research, scholarship, artistic creation, and professional practice should be conducted in the service of the wider community—local and international. These principles endure in the University’s insistence on the value of diversity, in its tradition and standards of excellence, and in its dynamic engagement with the City of Boston and the world.

Boston University comprises a remarkable range of undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs built on a strong foundation of the liberal arts and sciences. With the support and oversight of the Board of Trustees, the University, through its faculty, continually innovates in education and research to ensure that it meets the needs of students and an ever-changing world.

Access and affordability are among the visionary initiatives outlined in the Strategic Plan (https://www.bu.edu/plan2020/) for 2030, which will form the foundation for an upcoming comprehensive campaign. The five guiding university priorities are: ensuring a vibrant academic experience; diversity, equity, and inclusion; producing research that matters; creating community, big yet small; and fostering global engagement.

President-elect, Boston University

BU’s President-elect, Dr. Melissa L. Gilliam , (https://www.bu.edu/articles/2023/boston-university-names-melissa-gilliam-president/) is a national leader in faculty recruitment and student success and a champion of diversity and inclusion. Dr. Gilliam is a professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and pediatrics; her scholarship focuses on developing interventions to promote adolescent health and well-being. Dr. Gilliam graduated from Harvard Medical School and earned a Master of Public Health from the University of Illinois Chicago. In addition to her deep background in the sciences and medicine, she studied English literature at Yale University and earned her Master of Arts in philosophy and politics from the University of Oxford.

Before her appointment as BU President, Dr. Gilliam served as the executive vice president and provost of The Ohio State University. Dr. Gilliam succeeds Robert A. Brown, BU’s 10th president who served from 2005 until 2023. During his 18-year tenure, BU quadrupled its endowment, opened its doors to a more diverse student body, and established itself as a leading private urban research institution and a global leader in fighting infectious diseases. Kenneth Freeman, BU president ad interim since Brown’s departure, will remain in the post until Dr. Gilliam begins her tenure on July 1, 2024 and will help her transition into the position.

Lara Brown de Fuenmayor

Associate Vice President, School Development

Lara Brown de Fuenmayor joined Boston University as Assistant Vice President for School Development in March 2022 before being promoted to her current role in July 2023. As the Associate Vice President for School Development, she oversees, manages, and develops the fundraising strategy for all 17 Schools and Colleges by partnering with the college- and school-embedded DAR teams and by developing and managing relationships with the Deans. In addition to division strategy, Lara is directly responsible for managing the fundraising performance of the College of Arts & Sciences and the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine.

Prior to joining BU, Lara was assistant dean for advancement for North Carolina State University’s College of Natural Resources and president of the NC State Natural Resources Foundation. She previously served for 10 years as assistant dean for external relations in the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, College Park. She has also held development positions at Johns Hopkins University and INSEAD. Lara earned her B.A. in French Interdisciplinary Studies from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, and her Master’s in International Economics and Management from SDA Bocconi School in Milan, Italy.

Development & Alumni Relations at BU

With an endowment valued at approximately $3.4 billion, BU has a legacy of endowment giving in support of faculty chairs and student scholarships. The university is currently raising approximately $270 million in annual philanthropic support, and there are more than 350,000 BU alumni around the globe.

BU’s Board of Trustees (https://www.bu.edu/trustees/boardoftrustees/members/) and the university’s executive leadership team are invested in the future of BU and are mobilizing for a comprehensive fundraising campaign, which is currently in the quiet phase. The last campaign for BU, Choose to Be Great , closed in 2019 and raised $1.85 billion for the university.

Development & Alumni Relations (DAR) comprises a team of 277 professionals in principal, international, and major gifts, foundation relations, annual giving, alumni engagement, talent management, and advancement information systems, including stewardship, database management, and prospect research. As BU prepares for another campaign, DAR is reinvigorating its approach to prospect management and analytics. DAR has added a Prospect Information Strategies team that is incorporating prospect analytics and predictive modeling, which includes information and process flows around prospect, portfolio, and pipeline development. They have also added resources to the leadership annual giving and donor experience teams, underpinning the major gifts pipeline with growth in the breadth and depth of the donor base. These are just a few of the exciting areas of investment in staff and resources aimed at supporting the ramp up into the next campaign.

DAR harnesses the power of philanthropy to make an excellent education accessible and welcoming to all, and to advance BU’s global leadership in research, scholarship, artistic creation, and professional practice. To support their work, DAR has built—and is continuing to build—an outstanding team of dynamic, mission-driven advancement professionals who constantly strive to create an environment where everyone belongs. It’s not just a job, but a career and a community.

DAR values:

• Teamwork, transparency, and mutual respect, because we value every member’s contributions and know that leadership can come from anywhere

• Diversity, equity, inclusion, and a commitment to ensuring that each of us knows we belong here

• Integrity in how we work and how we treat one another

• Strategic thinking and curiosity in the relentless pursuit of fresh approaches and measurable results

• Continuous growth and improvement, both as individuals and as a team

• Joy and shared appreciation for working hard toward goals that matter To learn more about DAR at BU, visit: https://www.bu.edu/dar-talent/ .

  Assistant Vice President, School Development

  Reporting to the Associate Vice President for School Development, the Assistant Vice President, School Development oversees and manages a portfolio of schools and colleges in their direct fundraising and alumni engagement efforts, with the goal of maximizing philanthropy in support of strategic priorities and core activities. The Assistant Vice President leads a team of 21 staff members, comprising the development teams at the College of Engineering, Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, Questrom School of Business, School of Law, and Wheelock College of Education & Human Development.

  The Assistant Vice President, School Development plays a primary role in developing, implementing, and assessing the efficacy of strategies that will result in gifts of six figures and higher in support of the schools and colleges in their portfolio. Through the ongoing identification, qualification, cultivation, and direct solicitation of leading prospects, the AVP is responsible for significantly growing fundraising results in support of the strategic plans of their assigned schools and colleges. The AVP is responsible for driving and tracking performance-based metrics and progress toward these goals in partnership with unit-based fundraising leaders, deans, and DAR senior leaders. Additionally, the AVP will carry a small, select portfolio of major and principal gift prospects and will be required to meet annual KPIs related to fundraising and team performance.

  The Assistant Vice President, School Development is a member of the School Development senior leadership team and a thought leader and partner across DAR. In doing so, the AVP collaborates regularly with other fundraising unit leaders, including those in Major Gifts, Planned Giving, Annual Giving, Foundation Relations, and Special Initiatives and understands how to amplify value by partnering with colleagues across donor relations, strategic communications, alumni relations, and prospect research and analytics.

  Essential Duties

• Planning and Management: Provide professional leadership for the assigned portfolio of schools and colleges and all fundraising staff therein. This work includes working closely with assistant deans and development officers to ensure productivity in identifying, qualifying, cultivating, soliciting, and closing gifts from the respective schools’ top prospects. Additionally, the AVP should—together with the assistant deans—provide close counsel to Deans on fundraising strategies, maintain substantive relationships with the Deans’ Advisory Boards, and help to create and implement strategies to advance the overall fundraising goals of each assigned school and college.

• Fundraising: Provide ongoing cultivation and direct solicitation of high-level university prospects within the assigned portfolio of schools and colleges. Build, manage, cultivate, and solicit a small portfolio of major and principal gift prospects and achieve fundraising targets as determined by the Associate Vice President, School Development.

• Campaign and Team Strategy: Work with DAR’s SVP, VPs, and AVPs on strategy for Boston University’s next campaign. Serve as an ongoing thought partner to direct reports in schools and colleges and across DAR. Uplift best practices and pilot innovative ideas and strategies to advance the School Development team, its fundraising results and outcomes, and overall performance across schools, colleges, and DAR.

• Budget, Human Resources, and Operations: Manage the budgets and personnel matters, including performance management, for all reporting staff within the assigned portfolio of schools and colleges.

Required Skills

A cover letter is required for consideration.

• A Bachelor’s degree is required; advanced degree preferred

• At least fourteen years of directly related experience in development and alumni engagement as a fundraiser partner with academic leaders, with eight years of demonstrated leadership experience

• Outstanding and successful experience as a fundraiser, including comprehensive management of major and principal gift prospects

• Strong development credentials with campaign leadership/management experience; including proven track record of building and developing a high-level portfolio

• Successful track record of managing a fundraising team

• Effective experience in enlisting and interacting with senior-level leadership volunteers and committees

• Excellent written and oral communication and presentation skills

• Superb judgment and the sensibility to adjudicate wisely among competing priorities

• A disposition to listen and circulate widely

• Outstanding interpersonal skills

• Exceptional reasoning, problem-solving, and analytical skills, including an ability to translate ideas and concepts into clear, actionable steps

• Superb organizational skills and the ability to multi-task

• Ability to work independently as well collaboratively with team members

• Energy and stamina, self-confidence and humility, a strong sense of purpose, a tolerance for ambiguity.

• Extensive travel, nights and weekends required.

  Location and Schedule

  BU’s campus is located in Boston’s Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood. Nestled between the beautiful Charles River and historic Fenway Park (home of the Boston Red Sox), BU’s location is ideal for a healthy contemporary lifestyle. Boston is a vibrant city steeped in history with diverse neighborhoods, a rich arts and culture scene, and a legacy of education, innovation, and ideas.

  DAR provides a hybrid work schedule, offering employees the opportunity to work two days per week from home, if circumstances allow. More information about the university’s remote work policy is available here . (http://www.bu.edu/hr/lifebu/remote-work)

  Compensation

  Compensation is highly competitive and budgeted in the range of $240,000 - $260,000 annually, depending on experience. Boston University offers a comprehensive benefits package , (https://www.bu.edu/hr/employee-resources/benefits/) which adds significantly to the employee’s total compensation package.

  Interested in Learning More?

  Boston University has partnered with Talent Citizen to assist in this recruitment. Please contact President Tracy D. Welsh, Managing Associate Rachel K. Partin, and Associate José Cisneros to share your resume and cover letter via email at: bu-avpsd@talentcitizen.com.

  Boston University is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, natural or protective hairstyle, religion, sex, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, military service, pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition, or because of marital, parental, or veteran status. Boston University is a VEVRAA Federal Contractor.

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Required Experience