We are pleased to welcome the Institute for Leaders in Development Class of 2020! This cohort represents the program's 12th class. Class members will meet one day per month between September 2019 and May 2020.
Anna Bishop
Development Manager
Colorado Outward Bound School, Denver
Anna is responsible for the annual fundraising gala, stewarding major and annual donors, grant writing and reporting, and managing corporate relationships and in-kind gifts at COBS. She is passionate about expanding access to transformational experiences in the outdoors for all students, regardless of ability to pay, to develop their leadership, confidence and compassion. Originally from Michigan, Anna graduated from Grand Valley State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing and minor in Nonprofit Administration, and has made Denver her home for the past four years.
Jazmin Brooks
Associate Director of Development
University of Colorado Boulder
Jazmin has worked at University of Colorado Boulder for four years, beginning as a development assistant, then successfully transitioning to a major gift officer role as an assistant director of development. Currently, she is responsible for securing gifts of $25,000 and above, primarily for the College of Arts and Sciences at CU Boulder. Prior to joining CU, Jazmin worked in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the Clark County School District’s School-Community Partnership Program. She lives in Arvada with her husband, daughter, and two dogs.
Kendra Burrell
Executive Director
National Kidney Foundation serving Colorado and New Mexico
Kendra has been with the foundation since 2013 and has had the opportunity to serve in many different roles. She took on the role executive director in January 2019. Kendra believes that forming strong relationships is the foundation for success for everything she does both professionally and personally. Outside of work Kendra enjoys spending time with her family (2 daughters, husband and dog), exercising, and listening to a good podcast!
Katie DePoy
Development Director
Voices for Children CASA, Boulder
Katie leads fundraising efforts, manages donor relations, and plans fundraising events and campaigns for Voices for Children CASA in Boulder. Katie recently graduated from the Boulder County Leadership Fellows, a leadership group focused on educating a diverse and inclusive cohort of local leaders. She also serves on the board of A Child's Song, a small non-profit music school focused on the benefits of early childhood education in childhood development. She holds a MA in public administration and nonprofit management from University of Colorado Denver and a BA in choral & general music education from Arizona State University.
Mary-Kate Doyle
Director of Development and Communications
Karis Community in Denver
Mary-Kate Doyle comes to ILD with five years of experience in the health and human services areas. Originally from New Jersey, she worked at a homeless shelter for families in Cleveland, Ohio, before moving to Denver in August 2018 and beginning her time at Karis Community, a therapeutic program for adults living with serious and persistent mental illness. She has experience in many areas of development and enjoys juggling different types of tasks, which has proven to be a must at the nonprofits she has worked for.
Megan Fevurly
Associate Director, Individual Philanthropy
Denver Center for the Performing Arts
Megan has spent the majority of her development career fundraising for the performing arts. Currently, her chief focus is on entry and mid-level gifts raised in support of theatre education, the resident theatre company and general operating, as well as overseeing an endowment fund for women playwrights and directors. Megan is currently on the board of directors for id Theater, a new play development theater company working chiefly in McCall, Idaho, and New York City, and has served on the advisory board for the Denver-based theatre company Athena Project Arts.
Ben Fiscus
Donor Relations Manager
Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver
Ben has built his career in the social sector focusing his efforts on supporting Boys & Girls Clubs. In 2010, after completing his capstone thesis on positive outcomes of Boys & Girls Clubs, he began working for Boys & Girls Clubs of the Rogue Valley as an assistant site director. He then joined AmeriCorps, moved to Denver, and began his work with Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver as a volunteer coordinator. After his year of service, he continued to work for BGCMD as an athletics director, and for the past three years has been a donor relations manager focusing on individual giving. When Ben is not serving Boys & Girls Clubs, you can find him and his wife, Adria, walking their dog, riding bicycles, or hiking.
Sarah Grosh
Development Manager
Make-A-Wish Colorado in Denver
At Make-A-Wish, Sarah’s main responsibilities include managing a student-led fundraising program, Kids For Wish Kids. She is extremely proud of this program and encouraged daily by the students she works with. To date, Make-A-Wish Colorado has the most successful kid's program across all other chapters’ nationwide, raising over $1.2 million in FY19 and working with about 175 schools across the state. Prior to this position, she worked in Lansing, Michigan, as the membership director for the Greater Lansing Association of REALTORS. Born and raised in Ann Arbor, MI, Sarah obtained a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Michigan State University, and moved to Colorado in 2015.
Beau Kelly
Associate Director of Development
University Colorado Colorado Springs
Beau Kelly is a director of development at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. He started at UCCS in 2015, primarily doing major gifts fundraising for the athletic programs. Over time, he has spearheaded fundraising for community scholarships in addition to athletics support. Beau led the capital campaigns to build the new baseball and indoor track facilities that opened in 2018. He attended Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he played baseball while majoring in business administration and history. He recently received his MBA from UCCS. Prior to UCCS, Beau worked for two years at El Pomar Foundation as a program associate in the Fellowship Program.
Nathan Mackenzie
Director of Development
The GrowHaus in Denver
Nathan leads The GrowHaus' development and communications efforts. He is a proud, born-and-raised Denverite, went to East High School, and graduated from Wesleyan University with honors in government. After graduation, he moved to Nairobi, Kenya, where he spent a year-and-half working with Shining Hope for Communities, a nonprofit that addresses gender inequality and extreme poverty in urban slums. There he learned the power of local communities to develop dynamic, locally-based solutions to community challenges. After coming back home to Colorado, in 2014 he was selected to join El Pomar Foundation's two- year leadership and professional development fellowship program in Colorado Springs. He started at The GrowHaus in the fall of 2016. When he's not at The GrowHaus you can find him enjoying the mountains, cooking, or reading.
Jaime Marston Cook
Development Director
NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado
Jaime moved to Denver from Minneapolis in 2004, and started fundraising for progressive causes around Colorado and throughout the United States during a critical election year. One of those organizations was Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains (PPRM), where she raised $20,000 to send a busload of advocates from Denver to Washington, D.C., for the March for Women’s Lives. Shortly after, Jaime started working for PPRM, first in the health centers, then managing the affiliate’s internship and volunteer program, and ultimately joining the development team. Following a few years of working in personal finance in the private sector, she came back to the nonprofit community, joining Colorado Health Network as the development manager, and then joining NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado as development director. Jaime also serves as vice president of the board of directors for PFLAG Denver in support of the LGBTQ+ community. She is an avid reader, a gardener, and an intuitive cook.
Rachel Newnam
Corporate Partnerships Manager
Project Angel Heart in Denver
Rachel Newnam has been the corporate partnerships manager at Project Angel Heart since June 2017. She has over seven years' of professional fundraising experience with past positions including Community Engagement Manager, Annual Fund Manager, and Senior Development Associate at ForKids, Inc. in Norfolk, Virginia. Rachel is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals Colorado Chapter and former board member and education chair of the Association of Fundraising Professionals Hampton Roads Virginia Chapter. She holds her bachelor of arts in global affairs with a concentration in social inequalities and responses and a business minor from George Mason University. Outside of the office, you can find Rachel hiking, snowshoeing, or sifting for new vinyls.
Jennifer Reed
Regional Philanthropy Director
Mercy Housing
Jennifer Reed serves as the philanthropy director for the Mountain Plains region of Mercy Housing, which includes Arizona, Colorado, and Nebraska. Jennifer has been in this role since 2015 and previously worked as manager of corporate and foundation relations for the national fundraising team at Mercy Housing. Jennifer has over 13 years of experience in the nonprofit sector. She holds a BS in international studies and sociology from the University of Wyoming and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Colorado Denver. She lives in Denver with her husband, Jay, school-age sons Dylan and Alex, and dog Charlie.
Susan “Sue” Samaniego
Foundation Director
Colorado Northwestern Community College Foundation, Rangely
Sue began her career as a speech-language pathologist. After 22 years, her search for new challenges led her to communications and public relations work for Otero Junior College. When the foundation director left, she absorbed these duties and found her new career. The drive to focus on development led Sue to complete a certificate in nonprofit management through the University of Illinois-Chicago in February 2018 and to accept the foundation director position at CNCC in November 2017. Sue serves on the board for Rangely Resource Pantry (secretary), the Tank Center for Sonic Arts, and the Rangely Area Chamber of Commerce. Outside of work, she enjoys outdoor activities including hiking, cycling, and snowshoeing as well as painting, writing and gardening.
Anne “Annie” Slothower
Director of Development
Havern School, Littleton
Since receiving her undergraduate degree from Regis University in communication and business administration, Annie has honed her professional skills in the areas of marketing and communications, development and fundraising, and event planning. When she became a mother in 2006,she chose to step away from the professional sector to be at home with her growing family. Once her youngest son started kindergarten, she pursued a path within the nonprofit arena in hopes of using her skills to positively impact others. Annie has been working in the nonprofit fund development field for four years, and has been the director of development for Havern School for the past eight months. Havern School is a small, independent school that serves students with learning disabilities from along the Front Range.
Lauren Wise
Assistant Director of Development
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
With a personal passion for making a difference in the world, Lauren enjoys seeing the way philanthropy transforms our world, especially in higher education and health care. Originally from Ohio, Lauren attended The Ohio State University and graduated with a degree in strategic communications in 2012. After graduation, she worked in various roles in the university's communications and advancement offices, where she discovered development work as a career path. In 2016, Lauren moved into a role at Cleveland Clinic in the philanthropy department overseeing annual giving initiatives. During her time there, she proposed a transformational change to Cleveland Clinic's annual fund to focus on pipeline development and stewardship. Lauren started her current role at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in June 2018. In her spare time, Lauren enjoys reading, running, CrossFit, being in the mountains, cooking new recipes, and spending time with her husband and rescue dog.
Abby Yeagle
Director
High Plains Library District Foundation, Greeley
Abby is passionate about empowering communities to create change. Her primary interests lie in the arts, however she believes in increasing philanthropy sector-wide and connecting individuals with the causes they care about. Abby’s support of nonprofits began while volunteering in high school. She continued this path in college, majoring in Nonprofit Management. After receiving her degree, I dedicated a year of service to AmeriCorps VISTA at the High Plains Library District. While working with the District’s Foundation over the next four years, she moved from a VISTA to a Development Associate to a Director and drastically grew her skills as a fundraiser. Abby is excited for the opportunity to have the support and guidance of a mentor in tackling these exciting new career challenges.
