Please join me in welcoming our newest CFR team member, Dr. Kara Primmer, who started with Development on October 18 as a Director of Foundation Relations reporting to FR Senior Director Amanda Retartha. Kara comes to our department from Notre Dame’s Environmental Change Initiative where she was the Program Director. Prior to that role, Kara served as a Research Technology Program Director and Grants Program Manager for Notre Dame Research. Kara earned her Ph.D. in cell and molecular biology at Notre Dame. We are grateful that Kara has brought her technical expertise, grant experience, and campus relationships to the CFR team, and she is excited to be joining University Relations.

-Michelle Joyce

Please join me in welcoming Sara Kassen back to Development as our new director for stewardship communications. Sara is excited to return to her work family, as she was previously part of the Stewardship & Donor Relations team from 2007-16. During that time she was involved in acknowledgments, reports, financial aid stewardship, public recognition, and events. Most recently, she split her time between freelance communications consulting and stay-at-home mom activities. Sara has a knack for editing, loves creative communication pieces, and is excited to call upon her days in broadcasting to help further connect benefactors to the mission of Notre Dame. She and her husband, Sean, live in Granger with daughters Lydia (12) and Neve (10) and a gigantic dog named Nebula. Sara joins us on Monday, October 25.

In Notre Dame,

Katherine Lane

Dear UR,

It is our distinct pleasure to bring Megan Hale to the role of Development Coordinator (DC) reporting to Angie Dennig, effective October 18, 2021. Megan’s professional background includes multiple customer service roles in the healthcare industry. Most recently, she worked as a sales consultant for Rodan and Fields. Megan hails from Boston, Massachusetts and has lived in Granger for the past nine years. She is the proud mother of three children: Jack (11), Brady (9), and Savannah (6). Megan volunteers for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and loves the outdoors. Megan is looking forward to meeting many new colleagues at the upcoming USC Development tailgate, so please stop and say hello!

Sincerely,

Angie and Lori

The October Matching Gift Email was sent Tuesday, October 19, to this list of assigned entities who work for matching gift companies, have made a gift since July 1, and as of October 13 have not yet matched their gift. These gifts represent over $337K in potential matches.

Please note that individuals on the second tab of the excel file (“Fundraiser Outreach”) have not received the matching gift email message (all gifts exceeding $25,000) but may be eligible to match their gifts totaling over $872K. You are encouraged to reach out to your assigned benefactors directly to discuss the details and answer questions related to the matching gift process.

If you have any questions regarding this matching gift communication, please reach out to Leslie Curry.

We are excited to host our Shake Down the Thunder! Tailgate for our giving society members this weekend! Please find a list of registrants with fundraisers here.

This week, the tailgate will be located on the Irish Green, just to the west of the Development tailgate. It will run from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the Donor Experience team at donorexperience@nd.edu or 574-631-5198.

It is with great joy that we share that Amanda and Jonathan Retartha’s little girl, Tessa Jane, was born on October 13 at 5 lbs 4 oz and 16.5 inches long. Congratulations to Amanda and Jonathan and warm wishes for much happiness for this beautiful family!

-The Corporate and Foundation Relations team

I’m excited to announce recent growth in our Prospect Research team!

Megan Andedo is joining the team as a Research Analyst. She moves from her role as the Gift and Data Management Analyst, on October 18th.

This move is the perfect next step for Megan! Over the past year, she has assisted our team in identifying leadership prospects from the DTR and completed some wealth evaluations. Prior to joining Notre Dame in 2019, Megan worked in Development at St. Mary’s College. She also spent nine years with Target as a logistics team member. Megan graduated from Indiana University South Bend with a Bachelor degree in General Studies and she is currently working towards a Masters in Liberal Studies.

Megan has two sons who keep her super busy. Ezra is 7 and Eli is 4 years old. She enjoys writing and a fun fact about Megan is that she has submitted works to Michiana Monologues and even performed other writer’s stories. We’re excited to have an accomplished writer such as this join our team!

Christina Ryan joined the team as a Research Analyst on August 16th and was immediately immersed in Development during her first week at Summit. Fundraisers are now beginning to receive wealth evaluations from her – she’s spent time with Ben to learn from the best!

Christina previously worked in the Notre Dame Department of History. She left Higher Ed to experience life in the corporate world and comes to us most recently from Great Lakes Forest Products in Elkhart IN, where she was an Inside Sales Coordinator and Graphic Designer. Christina graduated from Indiana University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and a minor in Photography. She received her Masters of Arts in History from DePaul University, Chicago.

When Christina is not at work or home, she is mostly likely at the “best gym in the Midwest” – East Race Muscle. Christina is a competitive powerlifter and bodybuilder. We look forward to Christina contributing to getting our Research work and the entire team in shape!

Please join me in welcoming Christina and Megan!

Cindy

Dear Colleagues,

On Saturday, October 23, 2021, the Badin Guild will host our USC Tailgate from 2-5 PM on Debartolo Quad North, east of the Law School. We are over capacity for this event and registration is closed.

Please see the list of registered attendees for detail on benefactors who will be attending this event.

If you have questions regarding this event or have Badin Guild you would like added to the waitlist, please contact Laura Walker.

If your team is interested in participating in the annual Spooktacular decorating contest and have not yet reached out to Grace Prosniewski at gprosnie@nd.edu, please do so by the end of the day on Monday, October 18th. We need to have a final count of teams before we can allow decorators to pick their spots in the tent. Please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns.

Stay Spooky!
-Spooktacular Falloween Team

Tenants of the Eddy Street office who will be working the USC gameday and need parking in the ESC garage, make sure to submit your BEAT request before Tuesday 10/19 at 1:00 pm EDT. Please Note: we will be unable to add parking requests after the deadline.

To request gameday parking in the ESC garage (you must have an ESC garage card), enter your name into BEAT, choosing “Parking” as the activity and “ESC – Staff” as the parking preference.

There is an identifying dashboard sign that will need to be displayed by anyone requesting parking for gameday. The dashboard signs are available at the ESC front desk. If you have a 2021 dashboard sign from an earlier game, you can use the same sign for any other games this season.

Please note – all access cards will be inactivated for Saturday,10/23 except for staff who have submitted a BEAT request.

If you have any questions, contact Lana Taylor.