I am an American fundraiser with a 25-year career in fundraising and alumni relations in both the US and the UK. I’ve worked for and had leadership roles at some of the best brands in the world – Harvard University, London Business School, Kew Gardens. My LinkedIn page provides an overview in more detail of all the various organisations where I’ve worked. I have my BA in French and International Relations and an MBA from the US, and sit on the boards of Barnardo’s (the largest children’s charity in the UK), the British Friends of Harvard Business School, and am a Commissioner for the Crown Estate Paving Commission.

I’ve learned from some of the very best Americans in the fundraising and alumni sectors, and I brought all this learning to the UK in 2010 when I was recruited as the Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving at London Business School. I was later promoted to oversee the Major Gifts team as well as sit on the leadership team to plan and execute LBS’ first-ever comprehensive fundraising campaign, which raised over £125m in three years. This was off the back of the $160m raised at Hollins University.

Wishing to branch out beyond higher education, I left LBS to take up the role of Director of the Kew Foundation, at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. There I led a team of 65 with responsibility for Kew’s membership programme and fundraising. In my six and a half years there, we grew the income to over £25m annually and began to plan the quiet phase of Kew’s second fundraising campaign.

Then, in May 2022, my world shattered. My husband of nearly 20 years died unexpectedly of a heart attack on our daughter’s 11^th birthday. While she and I learned how to pick up the pieces and move forward, that experience completely changed my life view. I didn’t feel that I could continue to do what I had always done before and, after much soul-searching, I decided to do what my late husband always thought I should do – start my own business.

Prompted by my 50^th birthday in the autumn of 2024, I launched Atheneum Consulting to utilise my global fundraising experience for UK-based charities. To see how I can help you or your affiliated charity, click on Services

Listen to this episode on The Creative Adventure to learn more about me.