RAISE Podcast

Jonah Nigh joined The New School in September 2021 as Senior Vice President of Development and Alumni Engagement. In this role, Jonah leads The New School’s strategic fundraising, institutional advancement, alumni engagement, corporate, and foundation relations. He came to The New School from the Jewish Museum, where he served as the Director of Major Gifts, Senior Director of Individual Giving, and Acting Deputy Director of Development before being appointed Chief Development Officer. Other development roles included positions at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Columbia University, Opera America, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

A classically trained singer, he earned his undergraduate degree at Lawrence University and a Master of Music degree from the New England Conservatory. Performance credits include roles at the Aspen Music Festival, Boston Lyric Opera, Dorian Opera Theatre, Opera Boston, and on TV and film. In 2021, he and his husband were semi-finalists on NBC/Peacock's Baking It, a new baking competition produced by Amy Poehler and hosted by SNL alums Maya Rudolph and Andy Samberg.

A frequent public speaker, he has served in a variety of roles for NBC, Peacock TV, ABC, WNYC, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, NYC Pride March, Asian Leadership Collective, Association of Fundraising Professionals, The Aspen Leadership Group, Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design, Development Debrief and DonorScape podcasts, Con Edison Musicians’ Residency Program, Columbia Business School, Florida State University, Lawrence University, Museum of the City of New York, The Jewish Museum, The New School, Phi Sigma Pi National Convention, among other organizations. In 2019, he was appointed to Bronx Community Board Four by former Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and served on its executive and economic development committees. He currently serves on the boards of The Association of Fundraising Professionals (NYC Chapter) and Grapevine.

When he's not fundraising, he's usually baking or running. He and his husband currently reside in the Bronx.

Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter: @nighjonah

Facebook: @Jonah Nigh

Shomari White is the Senior Associate Vice President, Resource Advancement, Emory University. Shomari has a strong track record of leading non-profit organizations through successful strategic planning and change management. As a former frontline fundraiser, his focus has been leading teams to deliver technology, analytics, and reporting that creates a donor centric environment while positioning frontline fundraisers for optimal success. In 2017, he was named Associate Vice President of the Year by the International Association of Top Professionals and has served as the President of the Association of Advancement Professionals (AASP).

Matthew Hodge joined the University of Maryland as vice president for university relations in July 2022. Reporting directly to President Darryll Pines and serving on the leadership cabinet, he leads a team of 200+ advancement professionals responsible for generating private philanthropic and volunteer support among the university’s alumni and friends, and for best-in-class engagement of donors.

University Relations staff, centrally based within the division and within 14 schools, colleges and divisions across campus, focus on annual, major, principal and planned gifts; alumni and donor relations; and the financial management and operations of the division and UMCP Foundation.

The University of Maryland College Park Foundation is responsible for oversight of the private assets held by the university including the $1B+ endowment and the real estate corporation investments.

Prior to Maryland, Matt served in progressive advancement leadership positions at the University of Florida, Seminole State College, and the University of Central Florida. Matt and his wife Erin live in Bethesda with their Springer Spaniel, Camden. We have a son at FSU and a daughter at Wake Forest.

David Nolan is associate vice chancellor of University Development and campaign director at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas.

He graduated TCU and began his professional development career as an annual fund officer in University Advancement during The Next Frontier campaign. After serving two years in the Peace Corps as a non-governmental organization development advisor, David became the associate director of development for the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech. He then served as the director of development for the College of Engineering at North Carolina State, where he led a $250 million campaign as part of a $1 billion university-wide effort. David returned to his alma mater in 2005 to help design and implement The Campaign for TCU, which raised more than $434 million including more than $100 million for scholarships. He currently serves as the director of Lead On: A Campaign for TCU, which aims to raise $1 billion in support of TCU’s people, programs, and endowment.

He earned the Master of Arts in Philanthropic Studies from Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and served as a Summer Fellow of Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College Institute for Vice Presidents of Institutional Advancement. David was recognized in the 2009 Fort Worth Business Press Forty Under Forty and successfully completed Leadership Fort Worth in 2007.

Dr. Kyle D. Edgington is vice president for development and alumni relations at The University of Texas at Dallas. Since joining the University in 2008, he has served as associate vice president, assistant dean for development and visiting clinical professor at the Naveen Jindal School of Management.

During his tenure, Edgington secured the two largest alumni gifts in UT Dallas history. The unprecedented combined $30 million impact of these gifts resulted in the renaming of the management school to the Naveen Jindal School of Management and the school’s honors program to the Davidson Management Honors Program.

Prior to joining UT Dallas, Edgington held fundraising positions at Texas Tech University, initially as a major gifts officer and later the director of development for the Edward E. Whitacre College of Engineering. While at Texas Tech, Edgington successfully organized and launched a $20 million campaign for the Department of Petroleum Engineering resulting in a $15 million naming gift to establish the Bob L. Herd Department of Petroleum Engineering.

Edgington received a bachelor’s degree in management information systems from Texas Tech, an MBA from Wayland Baptist University and a PhD in public affairs from UT Dallas. He also holds the Certified Fund Raising Executive credential. Edgington was named one of the Dallas Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” honorees in 2012 for his work as president of the Big Brothers Big Sisters Lone Star Foundation. In 2017, he was inducted into the Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District Hall of Fame.

A native of Bedford, Texas, Edgington and his wife, Jill, have three sons.

Tom Wamsley joined UIC in 2019. Previously, he served as the Chief Development Officer at Stephen M Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan where his efforts resulted in a significant increase in the school’s visibility and impact, and the fundraising of $415 million for the Business School during the campaign that closed in December of 2018.

Tom arrived at UIC with over 20 years of experience in development, including 18 years in higher education with a demonstrated ability to develop and execute fundraising and engagement strategies, experience in campaign planning and successful campaign closure, and experience in management of alumni engagement and supervision of related staff.

Tom received his Master of Business Administration from Wright State University, and a Bachelors of the Arts in Political Science from Ohio University.

Fred Van Sickle is the vice president for Alumni Affairs and Development and the university's chief fundraiser, overseeing the team responsible for building alumni engagement worldwide and securing private support from individuals and institutions for the University through the “To Do the Greatest Good” campaign.

Before joining Cornell in January of 2016, Fred served Columbia University as executive vice president for Alumni and Development. During his 12 years there, he played a pivotal role in planning, executing, and completing the $6.1 billion Columbia Campaign. Fred also served as chief development officer at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey; associate vice president for Development and assistant dean for Development for the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts at the University of Michigan; vice president for Alumni and Development and secretary of the College at Lake Forest College (his undergraduate alma mater); and director of Principal Gifts at Princeton University.

Fred holds a Master of Education degree from Harvard University and a Doctor of Education degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He serves as president of the Board of the Finger Lakes Land Trust and as a board member of the Food Bank of the Southern Tier.

Kathryn Van Sickle is a passionate fundraiser, community builder, and storyteller and has spent the past decade focused on building expertise in fundraising. She has worked for small colleges, large research universities, and now works at an independent day school.

Kathryn currently works in New York City as the Director of Major Gifts & Strategic Engagement at The Chapin School, an independent k-12, day school. She is also the founder and host of The Development Debrief LLC (https://www.devdebrief.com/). The Debrief podcast has been featured in The Chronicle of Philanthropy and Kathryn has been an invited guest speaker for the Association of Fundraising Professionals-NYC, Women in Development, CASE programs and more. Most recently, the Debrief was named the first channel of Evertrue Studios Podcast Network.

Kathryn is a member of Trinity College's Board of Fellows and the Engagement Chair for the Women’s Leadership Council Executive Committee. She is also the Vice President on the Associate Board of Directors for the nationally-acclaimed Jericho Project which is ending homelessness by enabling homeless individuals to attain housing, employment & mental & physical health services. She lives in New York City’s Upper West Side and loves running in Central Park.

Dan Peterson joined the University of Washington in 2016 and recently retired from his position as vice president for development for university advancement and president of the UW Foundation. Dan has served in a number senior leadership roles for four leading public research universities, including as Vice Chancellor/CAO at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Dan's career focused on fostering a best-in-class fully integrated advancement organization, in close partnership with college and unit leaders, with a mission of enhancing the impact of edication throughout the world. His 40-year career in the field includes 21 years at Washington State University, where he served as Campaign Director, the Director of Gift Planning, Associate Athletic Director, Regional Giving Director, and the Director of Athletic Development. Dan’s tenure also includes UW Medicine Advancement and Oregon State University Foundation.

Dan was raised in Federal Way, WA, is a 1982 graduate of WSU and earned his law degree from Seattle University in 1985. He is a member of the Washington State Bar Association.

As the Vice President of Alumni Engagement at Boston University, Erika Jordan serves as the chief alumni engagement officer for the campus and plays a key role in providing leadership and strategic guidance to the Alumni Engagement, Annual Giving, and Development Events & Communications teams.

Prior to this role, Erika served as the Assistant Vice Chancellor, Alumni & Constituent Engagement at UC Irvine. She was instrumental in growing alumni engagement, developing the engagement and annual fundraising programs, growing the annual fundraising by establishing campaigns like UCI Giving Day, UCI’s dual alumni engagement campaign goal and leading special projects.

Erika has spent her career in politics, special events, alumni relations, frontline fundraising, and served as the Director, Alumni Relations and Annual Giving for the USC Marshall School of Business prior to joining UCI. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Howard University and executive masters in leadership from USC.

David P. Bennett serves as the Senior Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations at Howard University. In this role, David provides strategic vision, and leads the critical work of developing campaigns and activities that will enhance philanthropic support and alumni engagement for the University.

David is an energetic leader with more than 25 years of experience advancing development strategies for organizations with national and international focus. Most recently he led all philanthropic programs globally for one of the world’s largest nonprofit organizations, the National Geographic Society. Serving as Chief Development Officer, his responsibilities included managing a portfolio of trustees and high net-worth donors and prospects, overseeing all international fundraising efforts and providing direction for several keys areas including principal and major gifts, planned giving, annual giving, and stewardship. In addition, he helped to build a network of fundraising and programmatic offices for National Geographic around the world. David has a proven track record of building close, collaborative, and transparent relationships across teams, creating strategies that increase engagement, and driving campaigns that exceed their target goal.

Prior to joining National Geographic, David was Chief Advancement Officer of Safe Kids Worldwide, an international injury prevention organization. In this role, he was responsible for the fundraising, communications, and public policy functions of an organization with over 350 affiliates in the United States and operations in 17 other countries. His previous experience also includes serving as vice president of United Cerebral Palsy of America and as director of the Fundraising and Sponsorship Group of Odell, Simms, & Lynch, a consulting firm that provide services to nonprofit organizations. Early in his career, Bennett worked in federal politics as a finance director for two United States Senate campaigns and as a fundraiser for a national political party.

David earned a Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia.