Meet the William Woods University Advancement Team

VP of Advancement, Lisa Cole Eimers

Lisa Cole Eimers 

Vice President of Advancement 

What role does your position have on the advancement team? 

In my role, I get to guide, coach, and lead this stellar new team in reaching, engaging and inspiring our University alumni and friends toward the ultimate goal of significantly increasing constituent involvement and fund raising outcomes. Support—in its many forms—is essential to higher education and in particular to WWU. We are fortunate to have active and generous alumni 

Technically, I am responsible for designing and implementing comprehensive institutional advancement programs and recruiting and developing talented team members. The advancement function includes responsibility or collaborative efforts for annual fund, foundation relations, major gifts and gift planning, endowment support, capital campaigns, and alumni and constituent relations efforts, stewardship, and advancement services. 

What goals do you want to accomplish in your position? 

It’s my goal—in all that our team does—to “to inspire a culture of philanthropy.” I realize that’s a pretty lofty-sounding statement, generally associated with the ultra-wealthy. However, when you consider its meaning (from Greek: philosloving + anthroposman)—an active effort to help others—it’s something we can all participate in. When people are shown the importance and the impact of their giving, they feel the joy of doing so. When that joy is shared with others, it creates a culture of sharing resources for the greater good.

So, in essence, all of my bulleted goals in our strategic plan reflect the desire to share with our alumni and friends what they can accomplish for our students by becoming involved and by giving. Education is transformational, and our alumni donors make possible that transformation every day for our students.

Henry A. Rosso (author and great teacher of philanthropy) offers one of my favorite quotes: “Fundraising is the gentle art of teaching the joy of giving.” 

What would you like the community to know about you? 

I’m excited that this institution will celebrate its sesquicentennial in 2020 – what a special time to reflect on the rich traditions of the past and to plan for our future success!

With the exception of a mid-career six-year fling at a non-profit, I have always worked in higher education.  

I’m from the East Coast but the Midwest has become my home after well over two dozen years here. My children are young adults, and my therapeutic trifecta includes live music, wine and travel. (And yoga.) My father was right: great friendships are a necessary luxury. 

Jeneva Pace, Alumni Engagement Coordinator

Jeneva Pace 

Alumni Engagement Coordinator 

What role does your position have on the advancement team? 

My main focus is to connect alumni with each other and back to campus. I also work with the Student Alumni Council on campus. I want to bridge alumni who are successful in their careers back to students and younger alumni, to help everyone network, find and fill job openings. Connecting alumni back to campus is also important to we can include their achievements in publications like the alumni magazine. 

What goals do you want to accomplish in your position? 

I have a lot of things I would love to accomplish. One of those things that I am working on directly on campus is connecting alumni with our admissions office. Alumni are a great resource for a prospective student and their family who may be wondering what is possible from their education. This is a great role for younger alumni to help with, because they will have had a similar experience on campus as incoming students, and can relate to what their experience will be. I am also working on a way for alumni to be able to refer prospective students to William Woods. We are also working on connecting all alumni back to our WWU Career Services office, if they can offer any help or advice to graduating students. Even retired alumni have great networks to introduce students to or they can come back to campus to teach current students business etiquette or other skills. I would also like to have a fall reunion for non-traditional alumni, who may not have physically been on campus, but would like to connect with campus and other alumni. 

What would you like the community to know about you? 

Although I am not a William Woods graduate, I can relate to some of the older alumni because I attended an all-women’s college (Stephens College) that was very similar to William Woods. We all recently did a strengths-finder training in the advancement office and learned to focus on what we are good at. My strengths are communication, an ability to talk to anyone, and my empathy. So I think this position is a perfect fit for me. 

Jason Vittone, Athletic Director

Jason Vittone

Athletic Director and Advancement Officer 

What role does your position have on the advancement team? 

For the advancement team, I am always available for any alumni or interested donors to talk to me about William Woods University. I want to match people with projects going on at campus that they would be interested in helping out with. There are so many things going on at William Woods that an alumni or community member might be interested in becoming involved with. 

What goals do you want to accomplish in your position? 

Our main goal right now is to finish the William Woods Center for Equine Medicine. This project has already come such a long way and now, just that final push is left.

What would you like the community to know about you? 

I have been involved in the athletics side of William Woods for a long time, but I now have a son enrolled in the equestrian science program. I am learning more about a completely different part of William Woods and am really enjoying this experience with him. 

Brandon Martin, Grant Writer

Brandon Martin 

Grant Writer

What role does your position have on the advancement team? 

My job is to identify grants that could be used on campus, and apply for them. When we do have grants that are accepted and in progress, I am also that organization’s contact point at the university. I try to have a few different grant applications sent out each month, but it can depend on how many in-progress projects I have as well. 

What goals do you want to accomplish in your position? 

I want to make sure we are maintaining good relationships with organizations that have already provided grant support to William Woods. Some of these organizations like to have the project shared with the community and some are more private, so I like to make sure we are representing the project in the way they want. 

What would you like the community to know about you? 

I love working at William Woods because I have an opportunity to learn from faculty and staff here. We have some faculty members who have a lot of experience in grant writing, so I can work with them and run ideas by them. 

Dan Johnson, Advancement Officer

Dan Johnson

Advancement Officer 

What role does your position have on the advancement team? 

My position can sometimes overlap with others on the team. The person I will deal with most often, is probably a community member who wants to make a small, reoccurring donation to William Woods. I am happy to work with Jeneva when an alumnus wants to make a contribution to William Woods or help Lisa with bigger projects and will definitely be working with them a lot. I want anyone interested in William Woods’ current or future projects to know that they are welcome to reach out to me. 

What goals do you want to accomplish in your position? 

Right now, a big project for our team is the William Woods Center for Equine Medicine. Of course, the goal is to help every department at William Woods in any way we can. 

What would you like the community to know about you

My wife and I have a small farm, and she is an equestrian. A lot of William Woods alumni and community members might have experience with that more rural lifestyle, so I can relate to that. 

Angie Salmons, Executive Assistant

Angie Salmons

Office Manager and Executive Assistant

What role does your position have on the Advancement team? 

I am here to provide support to the Vice President for Advancement, primarily, and to manage the processes in the office. I have also been collecting data and working on reports to help the team know more about and reach out to our alumni. I hope to help identify where advancement efforts and improvements may be needed. 

What goals do you want to accomplish in your position? 

The whole team has been working really hard to get to know our alumni and I feel we’ve hit the ground running. Of course,  want to see more people in contact with the advancement office and be actively involved with William Woods. I’m interested in sharing value-added experiences with our alumni; for example, in addition to returning to campus, they can become involved from their own home in some of the campus initiatives we support, such as Career Development’s PurpleBriefcase; it’s a database of our alumni and enables them to reach out to each other, to network, to find employees or careers.  

What would you like the community to know about you? 

I love interacting with people and learning more about who they are. I am generally a pretty open person and I just enjoy making people feel comfortable and establishing relationships. 

Jessica McIllhenney, Graduate Assistant

Jessica McIlhenney

Graduate Assistant 

What role does your position have on the Advancement team? 

I am here to help with alumni and donor projects the team embarks on. I recently helped collect data on our equestrian science program so that we can better promote the program’s success. I am also involved in the alumni engagement process through with some communication with our younger alumni; since I am a recent graduate myself, I can help relate what younger alumni want to know and become involved with. 

What goals do you want to accomplish in your position? 

I would like to see the team bring more people back to campus and cater a little bit more to the younger alumni. I think it would also be helpful to find a central place for non-sorority or non-fraternity alumni to meet up, in the absence of a physical house to return to. 

What would you like the community to know about you? 

I am a 2018 graduate and was on the track team. I can relate to our student-athletes as well as other recent graduates.