It is my pleasure to welcome Laura Ruiz to the Gift Planning team as our newest Gift Planning Officer. Laura is an alumna of St. Mary’s College where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science, and then earned her Juris Doctor from Loyola University in Chicago. Following her graduation from law school, Laura was a member of Northwestern University’s Development Department, where she drafted all gift agreements and interfaced directly with benefactors to explain gift agreement acceptance terms and limitations. Most recently, Laura served as an Associate at KPMG in Chicago, where she provided tax counsel to non-profit organizations.

Laura and her husband Bob are currently house hunting and are looking forward to calling South Bend home. Please join me in welcoming Laura to the team!

-Rich Naponelli

Colleagues,

I am writing to alert you of two updates to our Athletics Advancement & SRD Teams:

• Earlier this month, Kim Borza Donaldson and her husband, Adam, moved to New York City where Adam started a new role leading Business Development at a media startup. After two years of leading the Athletics Advancement team, Kim will be transitioning out of her current role at the end of the Fiscal Year.
• Please join me in celebrating the promotion of Riley Koval to Senior Director, Athletics Advancement. Riley started in Development in 2016, working as a Major Gifts Officer on the Annual Giving Team, before transitioning to Regional Development and serving benefactors in Phoenix, Denver, and San Francisco. Riley is a 2016 graduate of Notre Dame’s Law School, where during his tenure he worked for Notre Dame Football, the Minnesota Vikings, and the Athletic Department of the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.

Kim will be working closely with Riley to transition this role prior to June 30th. Congratulations to Kim on her move, and to Riley on his new position!

Sara

Dear Colleagues,

It is my pleasure to welcome Kate Strieker to the Sorin Society team in Annual Giving as the new Giving Society Service Coordinator. Kate’s first day will be Tuesday, April 19th, and we are excited to welcome her to the team the week of Notre Dame Day!

Kate is joining the OnwardND team after serving as the client service associate at a boutique wealth management firm in the Chicago area for the last year. A graduate of Wheaton College, Kate also has a passion for the Young Life mission which is an organization she worked for following graduation. We are excited that Kate will bring with her a contagious enthusiasm for the Notre Dame mission and through her leadership, join us in serving our students through the thoughtful engagement of our giving society members.

In her free time, Kate enjoys the outdoors – either running, walking, or playing yard games – meaning she is sure to enjoy campus in the coming months! Also, and most importantly, congratulations are in order as Kate’s relocation to the South Bend area is coupled with the news of her engagement to Wynn Brown, a Notre Dame graduate, and former UR intern! Welcome, again, Kate!

With gratitude,
Pablo

Bernadette Suzanne Witous was born Saturday, April 9th. In January we learned that baby was a carrier of the same double dominant gene as Margot, so we regret to share that our time with this little bundle will be short. We are all home now, settled with “Bernie” under Hospice care.

Bernadette, “brave bear”, is proving to be just a strong and we hope she has a long fight in her before she joins her sister, Margot, in heaven.

Thank you for the continued support, we could not do this alone.

-Jessica Witous

Colleagues,

I write today with bittersweet news. Our wonderful colleague, Shayne Murphy, has accepted an exciting position as VP of Operations with Tosca managing 19 plants and over 1,000 employees.

It has been my great privilege to work alongside Shayne as a member of the East Coast team. During his time with our team, Shayne was disciplined and dedicated to the families he’s served in the DC/Baltimore area and we are grateful for his efforts and commitment to furthering Our Lady’s University over the past 2.5 years.

I know I speak on behalf of the entire team when I share he will be deeply missed. Due to the start date of his new position, Shayne’s last day with UR was yesterday. I encourage you to reach out to Shayne with your well wishes.

Thank you,
George

We’ve got some new things cooking over in the team formerly known as Resource Strategy and Administration. First, our new name: Organizational Strategy! Here, you will find a team of dedicated people, working with you to get to Yes! We’ll partner with you to manage your operating budget, get your benefactors the best tickets to football (and other events), find you an office space, and help you recruit wildly talented team members!

It is in this final charge that we have big news to share. Please join me in welcoming Adria Logan as our first-ever Associate Director of Resource Operations and Strategy. Beginning Monday, April 11, Adria will lead our Talent Acquisition team by partnering with managers to find the best talent, clarifying and streamlining our hiring process, and analyzing our hiring/people data to position UR best to reach our goals.

Adria earned a Master of Public Administration degree from Western Michigan University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Grand Valley State University. Adria joins us after a decade of service at Goshen Health where she gained a wealth of experiences through roles as Physician Recruiter, process improvement Coach, Business Manager, and most recently, Director of Revenue Cycle. In our reorganized team, Tara Gilchrist, Sheri Egendoerfer, and Nancy Cole will report directly to Adria.

Adria’s new “home” is 1108 Grace Hall, so please feel free to stop by or drop her a note (alogan3@nd.edu) of welcome!

In addition to this change, a huge congratulations is in order for Sheri Egendoerfer. Sheri has been promoted to Talent Acquisition Associate. In this role, Sheri is taking on additional consulting responsibilities for more roles. Go Sheri!

Tara Gilchrist, Sr. Talent Acquisition Consultant, will spearhead the ever-important sourcing for development positions. Nancy Cole will continue to provide critical coordination for the talent acquisition team as well as manage the assignment of office space and support a variety of financial and position management matters.

Please visit us in 11S Grace Hall! We’d love to see you!

Kathryn Valenti
Sr. Director of Organizational Strategy

Happy birthday to all our UR employees celebrating their special days in April! No fooling!

4/1 – Jessica Rizzo
4/1 – Kathleen O’Friel
4/1 – Steven Sollmann
4/1 – Tara Reilly
4/3 – Michael Connaughton
4/5 – Margriet Kapluck
4/6 – Austin Gammage
4/6 – Cindy Karpovs
4/6 – Ken Johnson
4/8 – Amanda Mckee
4/11 – Matthew Rombalski
4/12 – Joe Dietz
4/12 – Katy Orenchuk
4/15 – Amy Mason
4/16 – Michelle Jones
4/16 – Steve Orsini
4/18 – Dean Ernzen
4/18 – Jeff Faust
4/19 – Kristina Machalleck
4/19 – Rose Michalski
4/20 – Mark Helmke
4/22 – Rachel Parks
4/23 – Kat Gardner
4/24 – Angie Dennig
4/25 – Sarah Wodrich
4/27 – Katie Kerby
4/27 – Marie Labosky
4/27 – Ryan Brennan
4/27 – Sheila McMahon
4/29 – Pete Hlabse
4/30 – Andrew Frye