Rebecca has spent her entire career in philanthropy. Fueling her interests in art history, she entered into the nonprofit sector with the Heard Museum (Phoenix, AZ) after earning her Bachelor of Arts from Colorado College. Over six years in serving the Heard Museum, Rebecca's hard work and talents were recognized through three promotions. In serving as Development Coordinator, Development Relations Manager, and Associate Director of Development, Rebecca used her ability to earn trust and build relationships to advance special events, major gift fundraising, strategic partnerships, and donor stewardship for the Heard Museum.
Rebecca transitioned to healthcare philanthropy in 2019 with the goal of developing her strategic fundraising skills in a different nonprofit setting. In serving as Manager of Corporate Relations and presently, Director of Development, Corporate Relations, Rebecca has strategically advanced Banner Health Foundation's corporate giving strategies, propelling the program to new milestones in record revenue, number of donors, and increased donor retention rates. Throughout her time at Banner Health, Rebecca is consistently recognized by peers and leaders as a trusted colleague who is thoughtful, intentional, professional, and committed. Over the past year, Rebecca has expressed the desire to lead others within the fundraising profession. As such, she has devoted time to educational resources to refine her leadership qualities. As a leader of a junior fundraising professional as of April 2023, Rebecca is skilled with engaging team members in collaborative projects and committed to fostering the personal and professional growth of others.
In 2021, Rebecca earned her Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) credential, demonstrating her commitment to the fundraising profession and future service in philanthropy while also displaying mastery in the fundraising field, meeting all requirements and standards set by CFRE.
I began my career as a fundraiser in the arts. In my undergrad, I studied Art History and Museum Studies, focusing on what made my heart bleed first and greatest. I landed a role as a membership assistant at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, AZ and worked my way to becoming the Associate Director of Philanthropy which oversaw the major giving, corporate giving, and special events initiatives. I was at a point of fatigue from my generalization when an opportunity presented itself to apply for the Corporate Giving Manager role at the Banner Health Foundation, shared with me by a friend and colleague in the field, and I was ready to focus on what I thought to be a narrowed role where I could specialize in working with commercial partners. What I did not realize is that my role in corporate giving, which serves all of Banner’s service lines, was more expansive in nature than I ever imagined. I am now thrilled and honored to raise resources for Oncology (Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center); Alzheimer's (Banner Alzheimer's Institute); Cardiology, Neurology, Orthopedics and ObGyn (Banner University Medicine); and Pediatrics (Banner Children's) as Director of Corporate Giving.
Everyone in some way has been impacted by a healthcare experience or journey, either personally or through a family member. This is what intrigues us about finding ways to make these experiences better through charitable giving or other solutions. As a career choice, I chose healthcare philanthropy for the vastness of it, the endless sea of knowledge to obtain, problems to solve, and myriad opportunities to create harmonious philanthropic partnerships. I also believe in philanthropy’s great potential to make healthcare easier for patients and families, and this is something I am committed to in my role.
A critical move that has helped me to advance my career and growth has been to connect with those who come from a similar background and have advanced their work to a place where I aspire to be. My current leader at Banner Health Foundation, and her leader, transitioned from fundraising for arts nonprofits to healthcare. By meeting with those who have similar career trajectories, when making an untraditional move or what some may call a leap from a small- to- midsize nonprofit organization to a major national healthcare system, finding a sense of relatability can create a sense of self-confidence as well as engender belief from others that you will be successful in a new setting.
My greatest passion is untangling complex challenges, establishing a pattern, and finding a scalable solution to unlock growth. In my childhood, my family would sit around the dinner table and talk about the day’s challenges, primarily that of my dad in his career, and discuss all the variables, the personalities, and the goals at hand to find the best outcome. It may sound exhausting to some or dull to others but these discussions, and those that continue in my family and now in my work, are energizing to me and have helped me to grow and become not only an adept fundraiser but useful colleague. And because balance is the key to happiness, I also love the meditative and mind-quieting aspects of yoga.
My mantra in life is the Latin phrase, Festina Lente. This means to make haste slowly and was adopted by the Medici family and other powerful figures throughout history. To act and work with patience, with yourself, with your physicians, with your healthcare executives is essential to accomplishing great things. But with this patience, you must continually push, present new questions, ideas, new opportunities. A glut of ideas and shear persistence can lead to exciting developments that you couldn't have forecasted.
As an intern at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, I catalogued their collection of 30,000 pieces of indigenous art and artifacts.