Candidate's Statement: 

The broad vision is to bridge strategic fundraising with deep advocacy for dance education. My goal would be to build a robust, diverse, and sustainable financial foundation that directly empowers NDEO’s mission. It involves stategic move beyond traditional fundraising to foster a culture of philanthropy where every member, donor, and corporate partner feels invested in the future of dance education. The position will focus on the service to expand accessibility, equitable programming, and support dance educators at every stage of their career globally. Powerful stategies involve implementing fundraising campaigns specifically for scholarships, underfunded public school dance programs, and marginalized communities, developing a member-donor pipeline, making alignments with corporate sponsors and philanthropic foundations that value arts education, mental health/wellness through dance, and community building.
My leadership skill and experience in prior CDEA position will help me bring in working knowledge to the NDEO position to balance high-level organizational policy with grassroots volunteer action, recruit and lead a specialized development committee. In a data driven decision making environment, I will bring knowledge to collaborate with the Executive Director and Board to analyze past giving trends, establish measurable fundraising benchmarks, and report transparently on progress. In a cross council environment, I will work on partnering directly with other advisors, such as Dance and Disabilities, Student Initiatives, or Advocacy, to create intersectional fundraising initiatives that amplify marginalized voices in the field.

In the development advisor role project amangement and oversight of a committee is important. To serve effectively in the role in NDEO's Advisory Council, I will use my working knowledge to blend the strategic project management skill and the ability to lead a volunteer-driven committee. It will involve not only brainstorming ideas but a responsible approach for the lifecycle of fundraising initiatives, campaigns, and donor outreach, managing micro-budgets and allocating limited organizational resources effectively. Also, the work will involve identifying the right skill set within a membership base and recruiting volunteers who possess the specific talents needed like grant writing, graphic design, or corporate outreach. I have worked in local studio showcase sponsorship drive, and have done so by successfully rallying a team of peers, students, or community volunteers to cross the finish line together. All these working knowledge will be beneficial in the NDEO position in future.