Team members: Kerry Dixon, Melanie Jordan (director), Dominique McIntyre, Brendan Braaten, Julie Miller, Penny Sens, (not pictured) Stefanie White and Laura Doll
If by chance you are in the east wing of Arps Hall, or outside its open windows on a nice spring day, you might hear laughter. The Advancement team is practicing the fine art of fostering connections and creating community. It’s all in a day’s work.
The Office of Advancement also builds strong relationships with college alumni, donors and community partners to support its mission of improving lives through education, health and human services.
The team connects supporters with meaningful opportunities to invest in students, faculty, research and community impact while providing thoughtful stewardship and engagement. The team also leads signature events that bring the college community together, celebrate achievement and strengthen connections across central Ohio, the country and beyond. Through coordinated fundraising, engagement and event experiences, Advancement helps elevate the college’s visibility and ensure the resources needed to advance EHE’s shared work.
And they have good mojo, says Kerry Dixon. Caring about each other lays the groundwork for caring about students and the community.
“The soul of what we do is supporting the college by supporting students,” said Brendon Braaten. “That passion and desire gives us our ‘why’ every single day.”
Q: How does your team know when the job is done well?
A: We have a really great team! Collectively, we’re positive, supportive and honest. We’re the first to congratulate or cheer for each other when we have a win. We know more widely when we have done a great job when we see how our work impacts the college. That impact may be through students, faculty we work with to help secure funding, hosting events with great engagement and being able to see the finished product of a donation that helped make an impact.
Q: What aspirations does your team have?
A: We strive to facilitate alumni involvement, whether it’s as a volunteer in the community, a participant on an alumni committee or as a donor. Our goal is to match alumni interest with a satisfying opportunity so that together, we amplify support for the mission of the college. We also aim to raise funds for the college, host well-executed events that help support raising funds for the college.
Q: What impact has your team had on the college in the past six months?
A: We hope a positive one. We’ve hosted Convocation, Hall of Fame and Alumni Awards, Alumni Homecoming Tailgate, webinars, student welcome events, etc. and have raised money for EHE and engaged many alumni.
Q: Is there a jokester on the team? How do they express their sense of humor?
A: The team agrees Brendan Braaten is our jokester — he comments on what is going down in the world and what makes that funny. He is so quick with an extra comment to take a situation from silly to hilarious that we think he should do standup comedy. Laura Doll also has a great sense of humor, cracking jokes or comments at the perfect time!