We are so happy to announce the promotion of Laura Walker! Members of the Badin Guild have been the lucky recipients of Laura’s stewardship, newsletters, cards, warmth, and prayers since 2014.

Laura has been a dedicated, flexible, and steady member of the development team in her eight years of service. She spent her first seven years as part of the Annual Fund team and moved to Stewardship & Donor Relations just over a year ago so that her role could fully focus on and expand the stewardship programs and efforts for Badin Guild members.

Today, we show the University’s appreciation by announcing her promotion to Program Director, Badin Guild Stewardship. Recently of note, Laura has created new stewardship programs for our benefactors with $10 million+ estate gifts and also widows and widowers. Whether making her monthly visit to the Grotto to pray for deceased members of the Notre Dame Family, planning innovative and meaningful events, deepening relationships with members of the Badin Guild, or selecting just the right photo from the Archives to share with her population, Laura conducts her work with excellence, integrity, and great care. Thank you, Laura, and congratulations!

-Sara Kassen

The newest episode of “The Grace of Giving” podcast is out featuring Annual Giving Program Assistant Director, Dezha Moore! In this episode, recorded in the St. Joe Coffee Company in the newly renovated St. Joseph Country Public Library in downtown South Bend, we talk with Dezha about and her journey to Annual Giving, what keeps her motivated in her work, and what it was like to record her new album. Listen now! Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and fill out this form to appear as a guest.

You can find the photos from this year’s UR Spooktacular at the link below:

https://photos.nd.edu/gallery/CP-10-27-22-University-Relations-Spooktacular/G0000uaQiB5uq89U

password: photos

The Gift and Data Management team will be out of the office on Wednesday afternoon for a service and team building activity. The general phone and email will be covered by Mary Bueno and we’ll respond to outstanding issues on Thursday.

Good day, colleagues!

I’d like to share with you a few organizational updates we’ve made on the Annual Giving team:

Lauren Dolzan has been promoted to Director, Marketing Operations where she’ll continue her leadership of the team responsible for the Department’s content development and marketing, campaign execution, and digital giving experiences. Lauren joined University Relations in 2018 as a Project Manager and most recently served as Senior Associate Director, Marketing Operations.

Katie Kerby has been promoted to Director, Annual Giving where she’ll lead a team responsible for the Sorin Society, Order of St. Thomas More, John Cardinal O’Hara Society, and giving society exclusive member experiences and events. Katie was a second-year member of the UR Internship Program and has spent the last three years in Annual Giving, most recently as Senior Associate Director, Giving Programs.

Kasey O’Connor has been promoted to Director, Annual Giving where she’ll continue to grow the Rockne Athletics Fund team while building and coaching an all-star team of leadership annual giving officers. P.S. we’re hiring two more of these roles now! Kasey, a former Notre Dame student-athlete, has served at the University for four years in Athletics and four years in Development.

Please join me in celebrating these three outstanding leaders within our division. Annual Giving will soon post a few newly-opened roles as a result of these changes. If you have any questions about joining our team, please connect with me our leadership team!

God Bless and Go Irish!
Brandon Tabor

Happy birthday to all our UR employees celebrating their special days in November! We’re so thankful to have you on our team!

11/1 – Sean Cuneo
11/2 – Ling Sun
11/3 – Paul Hernandez
11/4 – Tom Molnar
11/7 – Beth Pritchard
11/7 – Michael Sullivan
11/8 – Laura Ruiz
11/8 – Michelle Joyce
11/9 – Guadalupe Gomez
11/10 – Ernestine Gardner
11/10 – Jennifer Witucki
11/11 – Sarah Forner
11/12 – RaeLee Rea
11/13 – Sean Sharpe
11/14 – Shannon Forry
11/15 – Mitchell Dansky
11/17 – Sara Liebscher
11/20 – Alaine Roberts
11/20 – Sara Kassen
11/23 – Debra de St. Jean
11/23 – Jennifer Odell
11/24 – Susan Morse
11/27 – Vahid Sadrzadeh
11/30 – Angel Hess
11/30 – Ken Camm

It is my pleasure to welcome Michele Berente to University Relations. Michele will serve as Associate Director on the Cavanaugh Council and President’s Circle team. Michele’s first day is Tuesday, November 1.

We are excited about the impact Michele will have on our team. Michele’s experience in non-profit fundraising, events, and accounting along with her commitment to the mission of Our Lady’s University will help advance our team’s work and culture. Michele and her family moved to South Bend four years ago to join the Notre Dame family when her husband, Nick Berente, began his role as Professor of IT, Analytics, and Operations, in the Mendoza College of Business.

Please join me in welcoming Michele to the UR team!

Mary Jane Añón

It is my pleasure to welcome Steve Horstmann to the Gift Management team as the Gift Management Program Coordinator. Today is Steve’s first day, and his primary role is gift preparation. He will also be assisting colleagues and donors with questions through the departmental phone line and email.

Steve earned both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Central Michigan University. Steve comes to us with experience in sports ticketing, business sales, mortgage lending, and real estate.

Please join me in welcoming Steve to UR!

Alyssa Strbjak
Program Director, Gift Management Communications

Team,

It is with great excitement and enthusiasm that I share two new hires within the Regional Development team, both reporting directly to me.

First, I would like to congratulate and welcome Pablo Martinez as the new Global Advancement Program Director. In this role, Pablo will lead our fundraising efforts with our international donor population. He will carry a portfolio of international leadership prospects, as well as build a comprehensive program to identify, cultivate and steward donors around our international needs and priorities. He will also work closely with Notre Dame International and the Keough School of Global Affairs.

Pablo has been a valued member of the Development team for 11 years, leading many initiatives and programs within Annual Giving. Starting in the Phone Center, and spanning Undergraduate alumni giving, matching gifts, reunion giving and Notre Dame Day, Pablo most recently served as a Leadership Annual Giving fundraiser prior to leading the Sorin Society and a team of fundraisers this past year and a half to record years in unrestricted production. Pablo is a 2011 Notre Dame graduate.

Next, I am thrilled to welcome back to my team Mary Fisher, who will serve as the Senior Director of Operations and Strategic Initiatives. In this role, Mary will work to improve operational efficiencies throughout Regional Development. She will manage a variety of internal and external communications, as well as ongoing and emerging strategic initiatives, while serving as an advisor and thought partner to me. Additionally, she will assume responsibility for all communications, events, and activities associated with the Hesburgh Women of Impact program after a thoughtful transition with Grace Prosniewski.

Prior to joining Development as my administrative assistant in August 2010, Mary had spent two years working in employer development within the University’s Career Center. She joined the team now known as Stewardship & Donor Relations in October 2011, and has served in numerous capacities during the past 11 years, including managing the University’s endowment reporting and acknowledgment processes, planning and executing a variety of stewardship and cultivation events, and serving as the interim leader of the team for the 18-month duration of the Notre Dame Trail. Most recently, Mary partnered with frontline fundraisers to develop and execute individualized stewardship plans for the University’s top benefactors, and collaborated further with RDs to create strategic engagement touchpoints for other key donors and prospects. Mary is a 2008 Notre Dame graduate, and subsequently earned her MNA from Mendoza in 2015.

Please join me in congratulating both Pablo and Mary on their new roles!

Sara Liebscher

Good Afternoon,

The room numbers on the 11th floor Grace Conference rooms have been updated in Google calendar. The room to the right as you exit the elevators previously listed as1101, will now show up as 1100. The conference room on 11 north which was previously numbered 1100 will show up as 1160.

If you have future/recurring meetings scheduled in either of these rooms, you don’t need to do anything, the room numbering was automatically updated in Google Calendar.

Signage has been added to 1100 and 1160 with the new numbering.

Thank you!