It is my pleasure to welcome Kacey Gergely to the Northwest team as a Regional Director. She will be cultivating relationships with members of the Notre Dame Family in the Bay Area and Reno, Nevada. Kacey’s first day will be August 1st.

Kacey is a proud graduate of Notre Dame, a former resident of Lewis Hall, and received a Masters in Public Health from Emory University. Before joining the University, she worked on political campaigns in Georgia and Indiana. Most recently, she served as the Chief of Staff to the Mayor of South Bend.

Please join me in welcoming Kacey!

Shaheen Goldrick

The DC Team is happy to bring new Development Coordinators (DCs) on board to reach full staffing ahead of the Football season. Please extend a warm welcome to Michael Shepard and Dani Wirick, who commenced their Notre Dame journey on Monday, July 22.

Michael Shepard joins us from around the corner at WNDU Channel 16, where he was Account Executive and Multimedia Marketing Consultant in sales. Previously, he was Senior Digital Media Buyer for Ocean Media, Digital Strategist for Assemble The Agency, and Media Planner and Buyer for GPS Impact. Michael has extensive experience working on political campaigns, including Pete Buttigieg’s campaign. Hailing from Indianapolis, Michael earned his Bachelors in Political Science from Indiana State University. Michael and his fiancée, Morgan, are now both working for Notre Dame in staff positions. Michael is a community organizer at heart, an avid reader, an enthusiastic fan of most sports, and a dog dad to his pup, Bonnie.

Danielle Wirick may be known by some of you for her role as Assistant Manager at Roselily, where she helped the restaurant achieve the rare AAA Four Diamond status this year. Dani’s career in the restaurant field focused on guest experience and office administration, drawing upon her earlier roles in Accounts Payable for XPO Logistics and in Administration for Andrews University. Dani is originally from Norfolk, England, and received her Bachelors in English and Linguistics from Roehampton University. When she moved to Niles, Michigan, Dani earned her Masters in Speech Pathology from Andrews University. In her free time, Dani referees Women’s Roller Derby, and relaxes with her fur babies Gimli, a Welsh Corgi, and her feisty cat Rhonda.

Our two newest DC Team members have begun their intensive training and working with fundraisers. Please reach out to them to support their great start in UR!

~The DC Leadership Team

It is my privilege to announce and recognize the following colleagues who have received tier promotions for FY25. Please join me in celebrating and congratulating them — for their willingness to take on the increased goals and responsibilities, and moreover, their steadfast performance over time.

Tier 3: Mitch Dansky, Courtney Mattison, Nick Sorg, and Jess Rizzo
Tier 4: Maureen Dunkley, Ron Linczer, Chris Murphy, and Steve Sollmann

Congratulations Mitch, Courtney, Nick, Jess, Maureen, Ron, Chris, and Steve, and know we look forward to celebrating you in person at the UR Summit!

– Sara

Dear Team,

I am delighted to share that we have a new colleague Megan DePrimio-Faust, who joins the NDAA in a new, part-time/temporary role as the IrishCompass Coordinator. Megan will prepare, launch, and support the 3k+ Wall Street network on IrishCompass. She will work closely with Juliana, Amy, Mike, me, Stu Fortener in Development, and the alumni, students, and parents in this network.

Megan has worked at Notre Dame since 2015 in roles in Development and Athletics. She understands the University’s mission and has excellent project management experience.

Megan is pursuing her graduate degree with Notre Dame’s Executive Master of Nonprofit Administration (EMNA). Her husband, Jeff Faust, also works at Notre Dame and is in the OIT.

Please join me in welcoming Megan!

Sharon

Please keep Sharon Rankert and the entire Demski/Rankert family in your prayers as they mourn the loss of Sharon’s father, Raymond Joseph Demski.

Raymond (Ray) J. Demski, a life-long resident of South Bend, Indiana, passed away peacefully early Wednesday morning, July 17, at Memorial Hospital at the age of 90. You can read Ray’s obituary here.

A viewing will be held at St. Joseph Funeral Home on Friday July 19, from 4:00-7:00 p.m., with a rosary at 3:30 p.m.. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Casimir on Saturday, July 20, at 11:00 a.m. where Ray’s life will be celebrated and remembered by all who were touched by his kindness, generosity, and unwavering love for his family and community.

In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests donations to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, an organization that Ray was passionate about.

Dear Colleagues,

The first fall renewal mailing (renew #1) drops in mailboxes on Friday, July 19 to our unrestricted and giving society benefactors. As a reminder, this mailing is sent to all assigned and unassigned benefactors whose annual giving is less than $25,000, asking them to renew their previous calendar year gift by their respective fund owner. This mailing is being sent to over 24,000 households and will be followed by email reminders in the weeks to come. If you have any questions regarding our renewal strategy, please reach out to the appropriate fund (Sorin, Rockne, Law, etc.) owner on the annual giving team and they can assist.

Thanks!
Annual Giving Team

I am thrilled to announce that Sophie Burke will join our team as an Associate Regional Director starting July 22nd.

Sophie graduated this May from the University of Notre Dame with a major in Marketing and a minor in Studio Art. She grew up in Tunkhannock located in the valley of mountains in Northeast, PA.

As a student, Sophie worked for ND Listens for 3 years where she had the privilege to connect with alumni, friends, and family of the University, hear their ND stories, and share her own. This deepened her appreciation for Notre Dame and the privilege of belonging to this community. As an Associate Regional Director on the Annual Giving Team, she is excited to give back to the place that fostered her growth and strive to live forth the mission of growing good in the world.

-Indi Jackson

Get to know Sophie:

• After graduation, she road-tripped out West with stops in The Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Lake Tahoe, San Francisco, San Diego and Manhattan Beach.
• She grew up with two dogs: Boo Radley and Jo March. In July, her family just added a 3rd, golden retriever puppy, Mr. Darcy. (Is it obvious my mom is an English teacher?)
• 22 is her lucky number. She celebrates the 22nd of every month accordingly! Only fitting that her first day is July 22nd. Destined to be a great day!
• She loves to create and travel with a sketchbook. Mostly 2D, but she is most proud of the semester she learned to weld in metal sculpture.

I write today to share that our friend and colleague Claire Brown will be leaving her role with the Stewardship & Donor Relations team in the coming weeks. Claire has accepted a position at Saint Mary’s College that will take her career in an academically-facing direction. Given her educational background (Ph.D. in Anthropology) and interest in academic research, as well as her long-term professional goals, Claire is very excited to serve as Saint Mary’s new Director of Grants & Sponsored Research. Claire’s last day with the Stewardship & Donor Relations team will be Monday, August 5th.

Since April of 2023, Claire has served as the University Stewardship Initiatives Program Director partnering on stewardship with the College of Arts & Letters and Notre Dame Global, and she has managed the Professorships Program within Stewardship. Claire also served as a front-line supervisor within our unit. Claire has done excellent work during her time with the S&DR team and she will be missed. Please join me in thanking Claire and congratulating her on this exciting new opportunity!

We will begin a search for Claire’s replacement immediately. If you have any questions, ideas, or interest please reach out to me right away.

Sincerely,

Cristi Ganyard
Senior Director for University Stewardship Initiatives

Please join us in celebrating the promotions of several colleagues who are now aligned to serve the whole DC Team and Regional Development fundraising in crucial new ways:

Congratulations to Kimberly Bakle on her promotion to Regional Associate (RA), Development Administration. Kimberly’s appointment has expanded the DC Team’s capabilities to partner with Tier 4 and Tier 5 fundraisers as well as share her subject matter expertise more broadly. Many of you know Kimberly from her excellent contributions toward fundraising in her 3 years in UR, and some of you knew her during her Mendoza tenure. Did you know she also worked for the Robinson Community Learning Center? Altogether, Kimberly has 8-½ years of invaluable University experience. We are grateful to have her on the team!

Congratulations to Rebecca Lane, who has been promoted to Regional Associate (RA), Development Administration. This new role is envisioned to increase our capabilities in specialty programming areas and to leverage her expertise in design and media for maximum impact. Rebecca will partner with Cat Edmonds, Kari Tarman, and Pablo Martinez. Additionally, she will serve as the Design Trainer for the DC Team. During her 3 years at Notre Dame, Rebecca has created countless Spark cards, itineraries, videos, biographies, and event invitations for the entire Regional Development team. In the new role, she will train others and help ensure all materials comply with University standards.

Congratulations to Michelle Jones for her promotion to Associate Director (AD), Development Administration. Michelle has assumed the responsibilities of the recently vacated role, contributing immediately to the hiring efforts for our growing team. Along with the 4 other ADs, Michelle now serves on the DC Leadership Team and will manage 5-7 direct reports in addition to partnering with 2 fundraisers. Michelle joined the University in July 2021, applying her former direct fundraising experience to the DC role. Her skills in working in Tier 5 fundraising support, serving as Sara’s backup, and helping the team earned her a promotion to the RA position in 2023. This promotion will utilize her former management experience in helping to craft an excellent experience for DC Team members and their fundraising partners for sustainable high performance.

Thank you for your support and congratulations!
The DC Leadership Team

Please give a warm welcome to Aubre Bragg, who has joined the Storytelling and Engagement team as a marketing specialist. She will work closely with Storytelling and the Office of Gift Planning to help drive the University’s expansion in planned charitable contributions among other responsibilities. Aubre brings a wealth of experience with marketing tools and analyses, including as a consultant with Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits in St. Petersburg, FL, the nation’s largest wine and spirits distributor, where she managed 98 accounts, consistently hit monthly sales targets, and generated over $1 million of revenue in 9 months. Aubre comes to Notre Dame from a successful year with Young & Laramore in Indianapolis, where she assisted national and regional accounts across all stages of their media campaign cycle – research, planning, execution, trafficking, maintenance, measurement, and account management. She was responsible for day-to-day campaign needs including pacing, optimization opportunities, and performance reporting.

Aubre graduated summa cum laude from Ball State University, with a major in marketing and a minor in strategic communications. She is also a 10-year trained professional dancer. Originally from Fishers, Indiana, Aubre looks forward to living in South Bend where she can enjoy all of her hobbies—baking, cycling, and weight training—and perhaps in colder times, to vacationing in her favorite getaway of Key West, Florida. Welcome, Aubre!

-David Chaudoir