Team,

I’m thrilled to share with you that we have hired Caitlin Kleinsmith as Dolly’s Senior Coordinator. She will begin with us on February 12. Caitlin comes to us from Meridian Title Corp. and her career includes experience in customer service, accounting, planning, and administrative processes.

She’s married to Bruno Martinsky has a seven-year-old stepson Caden, and a miniature poodle named Bentley. They reside in South Bend.

Please join me in welcoming Caitlin.

Thanks,

Mark Witucki

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I write to share the news that Vahid Sadrzadeh will be leaving Notre Dame to pursue new opportunities that will allow him to spend more time with his family, including his father in California who is battling Parkinson’s. His last day with the University will be next Friday, February 2nd.

Vahid has been a valued member of the NY Metro team in his nearly three years of service to the University. During his time with Development, he has brought a number of benefactors to closer engagement with the University, and we are grateful for all he has done to advance the mission of Notre Dame.

Please join me in thanking Vahid and wishing him well in his future endeavors.

All the best,

Joe

With almost two weeks of gift processing under our belts, the Gift and Data Management team will be using Friday, January 26th as an opportunity to assess lessons learned, work on individual backlog items, and ensure processes implemented will be sustainable as we ramp up for fundraising initiatives coming in the next few weeks. We will not be processing gifts or pledges on Friday but will have coverage of our 1-5150 phone line and givegift@nd.edu email. We will return to our regular processing on Monday January 29th.

Dear Colleagues,

Yesterday, we started sending our 2023 Giving Statements electronically. The initial send was a subset of the overall population of 22,000+, which was comprised of payroll deduction donors, ND DAF donors, and a small sampling of donors that give through multiple pipelines (ie. stock gifts, IRAs, etc.)

The subject line is 2023 Charitable Giving Tax Statement: University of Notre Dame, and the sender was the University of Notre Dame using the givegift@nd.edu.

We anticipate all electronic copies to be sent by EOD today, January 23. All hard copies will be sent before Wednesday, January 31.

If your benefactors have questions, please encourage them to search by the subject line, sender, and/or send date (1/22 and 1/23).

FAQs and other pertinent information regarding 2023 cumulative giving letters can be found here.

Thank you,
Alyssa Strbjak

Please join me in welcoming Michael Stark to the ND Development team as a Regional Director on the Northwest Team! Michael’s first day will be Monday, January 22.

Michael is a 2009 Notre Dame alumni from the Mendoza College of Business, where he earned a BBA in Marketing. That wasn’t enough for Michael, so he later went on to earn his J.D. and M.B.A. from Loyola University Chicago; remarkably, he completed law school during the day while completing his MBA work at night in 3 years. In doing this, Michael pioneered Loyola’s MBA/JD program. Michael has worked extensively with not-for-profits and tech startups with a particular focus on social impact. In his career as a fundraiser, entrepreneur, investor, and community leader, Michael has championed creative people, ideas, and organizations with the potential for transformative impact globally.

Michael grew up in the western suburbs of Chicago, a 3rd generation Notre Dame alumni on both sides of his family! Michael’s family was one of the first to adopt a child from China when it opened up the West and subsequently took in 50+ foster children from all over the world. Through this experience, he has learned that everyone has a story to tell and something to contribute. Michael is grateful for what Notre Dame has meant to his family and the presence the University has been in his life.

Outside of work and family, Michael’s hobbies and interests include traveling, reading, basketball, legos, art, podcasts, and public speaking. He is, most importantly, a dedicated father to Stella (5) and Jude (2.5).

Please join me in welcoming Michael to the team!

Sean

Welcome, Abi Batkoff!

I would like to welcome our newest regional director, Abigayle “Abi” Batkoff, to the SouthBest team. Abi is a Double Domer, graduating with her BS in Science-Business and Theology minor in 2021 and her MBA in 2022 with a concentration in Business Analytics. While on campus, she was the captain of the Notre Dame Cheerleading team. Since graduating, Abi has worked at FTI Consulting as a Healthcare Consultant in Chicago, where she has worked on revenue cycle management and integration management projects. Abi’s first day will be Monday, January 22, and will be working with families in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties. Please join me in welcoming Abi, her fiance, Charles, and her dog, Lulu, back to Notre Dame!

Best,

Shelby

Please join me in welcoming Morgan Anthony, who will serve as a Regional Director of Development on the Southern team! Her first day will be Monday, January 22nd.

Prior to her arrival at Notre Dame, Morgan served as a Senior Marketing Manager at The Giving Block, a Shift4 company, where she worked to attract younger generations of donors through digital-first giving vehicles. In this position, she had the privilege of working closely with major nonprofit organizations such as Save the Children, Riley’s Children Hospital, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. As a former “Riley kid” herself, she found this experience particularly impactful. Prior to that, she held marketing manager and creative strategist roles in New York City, working for agencies such as The Ricciardi Group and TH Experiential. These experiences sharpened her skills in strategic campaign execution and large-scale event production.

Over the weekends and in her spare time, she built and operated a wedding coordination and consultation company and pursued other creative interests such as acting and stand-up comedy. She began her career at Time Inc., working for HEALTH and Cooking Light magazines on their integrated marketing team.

Morgan is an alum of Saint Mary’s College class of 2015, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies and met her now-husband, Paul Anthony (ND 15′), at the ND vs. USC football game. They were married in August of 2023 and are proud residents of downtown South Bend.

Feel free to reach out to Morgan (MorganAnthony@nd.edu) and welcome her to the team!

Thanks,

Tim

UR Friends and Colleagues,

I write to share the news that Emily Naff’s last day with the University was January 2, 2024. She has decided to focus on her young family at this time.

We are grateful for Emily’s contributions to the DC team, and we wish her all the best in this next chapter of her life. She will always be a member of the Notre Dame Family!

All the best,
Anita Sareen & the DC Team

Please note that due to the construction happening on the 2nd floor of the ESC offices, the elevators are significantly delayed to the 1st floor. Kite is aware of the situation and is periodically resetting the elevators. If you are unable to wait for the elevator, please be advised to take the stairs or to take the Investment Office elevator to the 4th floor, where you can then either take the elevator down to the 3rd floor or use the stairs. Thank you for your cooperation and patience.

Dear UR Family,

It is with bittersweet emotion that I announce the departure of Kat Gardner from the University of Notre Dame.

Kat has been offered an incredible opportunity to serve as the Development Director for the Stanley Clark School in South Bend. She looks forward to leveraging her experience to build a program, contribute to the community, and actively participate in her son’s school and education.

Over the past 8 years, Kat has played a crucial role in University Relations, previously contributing to the Stewardship & Donor Relations team. In March 2023, she transitioned to Associate Director of Leadership Annual Giving, where, in her first 9 months, she successfully raised over $1.9 million in unrestricted cash revenue and closed four leadership gifts (totaling $800,000 in production).

Kat’s determination, leadership, hard work, and wisdom have significantly enriched our collaborative efforts, and her presence will be missed.

Join me in extending the warmest wishes to Kat for joy and success in her exciting new chapter.

In Kindness,

Indi J