VICE PRESIDENT FOR ADVANCEMENT CLAREMONT, CA

THE SEARCH

Pomona College seeks as its next vice president for advancement (vice president) a dynamic, innovative, and experienced fundraising professional to provide bold leadership for its philanthropic initiatives. The vice president will join at a pivotal moment in its history, partnering with President G. Gabrielle Starr early in her tenure and contributing to the completion of a strategic planning process that will set the foundation for an ambitious comprehensive fundraising campaign, enabling the college to further its mission to educate students of remarkable promise in the tradition of the liberal arts, without regard to demonstrated financial need. This is an exceptional opportunity to partner with a new and evolving college leadership team and to play a central role in enhancing the visibility and fundraising capabilities of the institution.

As a liberal arts college, Pomona has a unique place in American higher education. The college draws strength from the singularly most diverse student body among elite liberal arts colleges, a brilliant and increasingly diverse faculty, and a staff committed to community success. While the size of the college’s endowment may lead some to believe that Pomona’s resources are sufficient to achieve its vision, its mission has broadened as its student body has changed. Pomona puts merit first, meeting students where they are, and has achieved what many dream for: a student body in which one’s ability to complete an exacting curriculum is not dependent on income or identity. This is a worthy mission and requires philanthropic resources to match.

President Starr and Pomona’s trustees have demonstrated a strong commitment to investing in a world-class advancement enterprise, supporting the growth of the advancement team over the past few years. The next vice president will be an accomplished and high-performing leader capable of building upon the existing program to strengthen and transform the advancement function into a philanthropic enterprise of unsurpassed effectiveness through the implementation of creative and entrepreneurial fundraising strategies, clear and achievable goals, accountability measures, and data-informed risk-taking and decision-making. This individual will conduct a strategic assessment of existing philanthropic strengths and opportunities, creating a road map for long-term growth. Specifically, the vice president will enhance the infrastructure and organization of the advancement division, endeavoring to further coalesce and fully mobilize the 55 staff members; and lead the integration of and coordination across the various functions of the advancement office, especially between annual fund, major and principal gifts, planned giving, research and data analytics, and alumni and parent engagement. The vice president is

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responsible for directing a robust advancement program that is able to adapt to a changing social, educational, and technological climate, and that best positions Pomona to respond to the evolving nature of philanthropy and the college’s increasingly diverse alumni and parent populations.

The vice president will report to President Starr and work in concert with her, leveraging her experience with and commitment to advancement-related activities. The vice president will work with the president and trustees to ensure the effective use of their time and maximization of their success, serving as the principal advisor on advancement at Pomona, and partnering with the president and senior leadership in the cultivation of high-level donors. As a member of the president’s executive staff, the vice president will be expected to provide meaningful input on the full range of issues facing the institution, and thus a person with a contemporary and comprehensive knowledge of higher education and the liberal arts is much desired. The vice president will be an active partner with the president and the executive team in generating and evaluating the fundability of new ideas, effectively operationalizing the most promising.

Success for the next vice president will, in part, be defined by an ability to educate and engage all members of the Pomona community—faculty, staff, students, alumni, parents, volunteers, and senior administrators—in advancement efforts, and lead and inspire the team to meet aggressive goals. Key charges include significantly expanding the major gift pipeline and broadening the donor base both domestically and internationally; increasing the number and size of annual fund gifts thereby enhancing participation; better leveraging and sustaining an active and successful cohort of volunteers; building best-in-class stewardship and alumni/parent outreach programs; and strengthening a sustainable infrastructure to support increased philanthropic revenue and future fundraising efforts, including planning, launching, and executing a comprehensive fundraising campaign.

Leading by example, the vice president will personally participate in the identification, cultivation, and solicitation of principal and major gift prospects, and will become an active and visible member in the college and local communities. He or she will launch systematic initiatives to identify and cultivate the next generation of donors while maintaining and strengthening ties to existing donors, and will seek new philanthropic opportunities afforded by the college’s location in Southern and extending beyond alumni and parents. The vice president will bring a thoughtful, energetic, and entrepreneurial approach to leveraging Pomona’s existing relationships in the region to philanthropic gain and to positioning the president to connect with philanthropists, entrepreneurs, and corporate leaders who are not currently engaged with the college.

The vice president must be a superb storyteller with extraordinary skills that include crafting multiple compelling cases for support, and engaging and building authentic relationships with the college’s diverse community, connecting individuals not only to Pomona’s history, but also to its ambitious future. The successful candidate will reflect and embody the values of Pomona, leading advancement efforts and serving the college with warmth, humility, and humor. The candidate must be a self-starter with a sense of urgency and a clear set of priorities; demonstrate a high level of integrity and trust; have the ability to adapt in a dynamic environment; and exhibit the credibility, diplomacy, emotional intelligence, maturity, judgment, and sophistication to effectively engage and partner with key internal and external stakeholders. The candidate must possess extraordinary communication and negotiation skills, and the ability to build bridges and strong collaborative relationships across the college. Pomona College Vice President for Advancement Page 2 of 10

A minimum of 10 to 15 years of leadership experience in development, constituency engagement, and staff management is required, as is a comprehensive knowledge of strategies employed in all major development and alumni functions, including expertise utilizing social media and modern technology to advance a program. The candidate will possess a track record of significant personal success in donor cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship at the principal gift level. The vice president must be able to create a metrics-driven and results-oriented work environment that promotes collaboration and achievement. Experience leading all aspects of a complex team, including managing, mentoring, motivating, retaining, and evaluating staff is essential. Demonstrated experience enhancing professional development and career planning opportunities for advancement staff as a means of retention is highly desirable. A bachelor’s degree is required; an advanced degree is preferred.

In accordance with its core values and mission, Pomona is especially interested in recruiting members from diverse and underrepresented communities and individuals with a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Pomona College has retained Rachel Ellenport of the national executive search firm Isaacson, Miller to assist in conducting this important search. Inquiries, applications, and nominations for this position should be directed to the search firm as indicated at the end of this document.

POMONA COLLEGE

Pomona College was incorporated in October 1887, by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate “a college of the New England type” on the West Coast. Instruction began the next year in a small, rented house in the city of Pomona. By the 1920s, Pomona President James A. Blaisdell faced a difficult choice—to limit expansion to retain the college’s unique character or allow growth and expand into a university. Under Blaisdell’s guidance, the college chose a third path. Using Oxford and Cambridge as models, Pomona founded a consortium unlike any other in America.

Over the next 75 years, two graduate schools and four other undergraduate colleges joined Pomona as members of The , located on neighboring campuses, allowing cross-registration in the nearly 2,700 courses taught across the consortium, and sharing important facilities such as libraries. As such, Pomona offers both the advantages of a small liberal arts college and the resources of a university.

Today, Pomona enjoys a reputation as one of the most highly regarded and selective liberal arts colleges in the world. It also stands with a small number of institutions willing and able to admit students based entirely on academic achievement and promise without regard to ability to pay, and then to meet all demonstrated financial need of domestic students with no loans. Fifty-six percent of students receive financial aid. Because of this institutional commitment, Pomona attracts some of the most highly qualified students in the country. Through an academically challenging curriculum, outstanding faculty, extraordinary students, and intimate size, Pomona provides an unparalleled environment for intellectual development and personal growth.

Pomona is a close-knit and diverse community of accomplished scholars, scientists, entrepreneurs, and artists who are passionate about making a difference in the world. Pomona provides excellence in undergraduate instruction across 48 majors in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. There are approximately 1,670 students from 52 nations and 49 Pomona College Vice President for Advancement Page 3 of 10

U.S. states, as well as the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. Over 50 percent of Pomona students are of an underrepresented minority. Almost all students live in one of 16 residence halls on the 140-acre campus.

With a student-faculty ratio of 8 to 1 and an average class size of 15, students work closely with their professors in the classroom, in the lab, and in the field. Pomona offers about 800 courses taught by 186 faculty members, all with terminal degrees. Its location—within an hour of Los Angeles and the mountains, desert, and beaches—provides countless opportunities for field study, research, and internships. About 58 percent of students participate in research with faculty, including more than 200 students who enroll in summer research programs.

Pomona has one of the biggest networks in liberal arts education with alumni working in a wide variety of career fields, from business, law, and medicine to non-profit, education, and science to politics, art, and entertainment. Pomona’s 25,000 living alumni are dispersed across all 50 U.S. states and 74 countries.

The Arts

Pomona enjoys particular strength in the arts, offering students boundless opportunities ranging from eight musical ensembles to glee club and orchestra, theatre and dance productions, art exhibitions, and access to the college’s vibrant art museum.

The at Pomona College, a 33,000-square-foot, $44 million museum is scheduled to open in Fall 2020 and will provide space for some of Southern California’s most compelling and experimental exhibitions. Building on a long tradition of excellence at the alma mater of such artistic pioneers as , , and , The Benton will host the next wave of groundbreaking artists, and offer a state-of-the-art site for a growing permanent collection ranging from Native American art to Renaissance panel paintings to works by such artists as Karl Benjamin, , and Jose Clemente Orozco. The new museum was made possible through a generous $15 million gift from long-time supporter Janet Inskeep Benton, Pomona College trustee and member of the Class of 1979.

Athletics

Twenty percent of Pomona students play on 21 varsity teams; hundreds more participate in club and intramural sports. The college is a member of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III.

Pomona recently announced plans for a new athletics and recreation center, with construction to begin in 2020 on a rebuilt facility to replace the Rains Center for Sport and Recreation. The new center will be 15,000 square feet larger than the existing one, expanding it to 94,000 square feet. The Rains Center is home to Pomona-Pitzer’s athletic programs and has served as the campus recreation and fitness center since it was built in 1989. With more people than ever using the facility, the completed center will broadly provide for health and wellness in addition to supporting the athletics program. Two principal gifts of $10 million each kicked off the major fundraising campaign to raise a minimum of $29 million that will offset a total project cost estimated at $55 million.

For more information about Pomona College, please visit https://www.pomona.edu. Pomona College Vice President for Advancement Page 4 of 10

STRATEGIC PLANNING

The Pomona community began a comprehensive strategic planning process in August 2018. The strategic planning committee includes representatives from the board of trustees, faculty, staff, and students. The strategic plan aims to define how Pomona will leverage its resources for the benefit of students and the community in an ever-changing 21st century that presents both new challenges and new opportunities. Three overarching themes have been identified—equity and access, flourishing and inclusion, and transformative knowledge and creativity. The committee anticipates presenting the full strategic plan to the board of trustees for approval by the end of 2019. Once strategic priorities have been identified and approved by the board, the planning, preparation for, and launch of a significant, comprehensive fundraising campaign will commence.

FINANCIAL AND ADVANCEMENT OVERVIEW

As of June 30, 2018, the endowment was valued at $2.3 billion. The FY 2018 payout to the operating budget was $90 million, and $46 million in financial aid was awarded to students. Although the endowment is large relative to peers, growing the endowment is a necessity given Pomona College’s entirely need-blind admission policy in conjunction with its commitment to meet all demonstrated financial need for all domestic students without any loans. Pomona College’s total operating budget was $176 million for FY 2019 on a net tuition basis.

Pomona College’s most recent comprehensive Campaign Pomona: Daring Minds concluded in 2015 with more than $316 million raised from 28,124 donors. Funding priorities included capital improvements, unrestricted giving, financial aid, and faculty and programmatic support, both outright and endowed.

Recent fundraising priorities include securing support for The Benton Museum and the Rains Center. In FY 2018, total fundraising revenue was $41 million, with approximately $5.5 million given to the annual fund, $800,000 to the parents fund, and $14 million to the Pomona Plan, the first annuity and life income program in the country established by Pomona. For decades, the Pomona Plan has been a steady source of revenue for the college.

LEADERSHIP

G. Gabrielle Starr President

G. Gabrielle Starr, a highly regarded scholar of English literature whose work reaches into neuroscience and the arts, took office as the 10th president of Pomona College in 2017.

Starr is a national voice on college access for students of all backgrounds, the future of higher education, women in leadership, and the importance of the arts. Recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship and author of two books, Starr offers a compelling case for working across academic disciplines to spark intellectual discovery. Her research looks closely at the brain, through the use of fMRI, to help get to the heart of how people respond to paintings, music, and other forms of art.

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Starr is an experienced academic leader. As dean of New York University’s College of Arts and Science, she oversaw the undergraduate experience for more than 7,000 students across 55 departments and programs, and she led the development of new cohort and first-year programs. She served as chair of the English department and director of undergraduate studies during her more than 15 years at NYU. Starr also launched a partnership with New York City’s largest community college to create a pipeline in STEM, and she co-founded a cross-university prison education program, offering associate of arts degrees in the liberal arts to students in a medium-security prison. Since her move to Southern California, Starr has made it a priority to connect with community organizations, and she recently joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic Board of Directors. On the national level, she serves on the board of directors for the Consortium on Financing Higher Education (COFHE).

Her most recent book, Feeling Beauty: The Neuroscience of Aesthetic Experience, (MIT Press, 2013) was a finalist for the Phi Beta Kappa Society’s 2014 Christian Gauss Award, and her work has been supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s New Directions Fellowship and a National Science Foundation ADVANCE grant.

Starr earned her bachelor and master of arts degrees from Emory University, and a PhD in English and American literature from Harvard University.

Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees oversees the college’s leadership, planning, and resources, working to ensure the continuing vitality of the institution and its ability to fulfill its mission now and for future generations. At present there are 36 voting and two ex-officio members of the board. The current chair of the board is Samuel D. Glick ‘04, a partner in Oliver Wyman’s Health and Life Sciences practice, and the San Francisco office leader.

VICE PRESIDENT FOR ADVANCEMENT

Reporting to the president and serving as a member of her executive team, the vice president for advancement (vice president) will work closely as a member of this group to finalize the college-wide strategic plan, identifying key institutional funding priorities. Once the strategic plan is operational, the vice president will play a leadership role in planning, preparing for, launching, and executing a comprehensive fundraising campaign to enable the college to fully fund its strategic priorities.

The vice president will provide innovative leadership and strategic vision to all aspects of college advancement, including the assessment, planning, and oversight of all aspects of a comprehensive program across capital giving (major gifts and estates and trusts), alumni and parent engagement, foundation relations, and strategic operations (advancement services and stewardship.) The vice president will hire and train appropriate staff; ensure an optimal organizational structure; and engage, educate, mentor, and otherwise support staff, faculty, key volunteers, and senior leadership in their respective campaign fundraising efforts, ultimately resulting in a significant expansion of the major gift donor base and increased, sustainable major gift and overall philanthropic support for Pomona.

Additionally, the vice president will personally and successfully engage a select portfolio of major gift prospects and donors; will partner with gift officers to determine appropriate strategies Pomona College Vice President for Advancement Page 6 of 10

and define mutually acceptable annual and multi-year performance goals; and ensure that advancement effectively engages Pomona’s 25,000 alumni, parents, and friends in the life of the college.

In addition to his or her formal duties, the successful vice president must be an integral member of the local and college communities. Active engagement in the community will be critical, along with integrity, warmth, self-awareness, personal resilience, and a good sense of humor.

Duties and Responsibilities

Strategic Vision and Leadership

• Assess the fundraising potential of the college and the effectiveness of advancement staff and programs, adjusting the organizational structure as necessary; craft a multi-year strategy to strengthen the culture of philanthropy and substantially and sustainably increase philanthropic support in keeping with the mission and core values of the college. • Serve as an active member of the president’s executive team, participating in finalizing the college-wide strategic plan; provide counsel regarding the fundability of identified priorities and initiatives as well as new ideas; effectively operationalize those with the most promise. Build strong, collaborative professional relationships with executive team peers and foster a strong team orientation.

• Lead the planning, preparation, and execution of a comprehensive fundraising campaign, ensuring an optimally deployed staff and an effective, efficient infrastructure that will support a successful campaign.

• In conjunction with the president and the executive team, develop clear, consistent, cohesive, and compelling messaging that conveys the uniqueness, strengths, and aspirations of Pomona and its leadership, and articulates the case for philanthropic support of funding priorities. Effectively communicate messaging through a variety of means and media to excite and successfully engage a broad array of constituencies, including faculty, staff, students, alumni, donors, and current and future friends of Pomona. • Ensure that the efforts of advancement are well coordinated and support key institutional priorities; better embed and integrate a more proactive development operation across the college; ensure that advancement staff members are perceived as collaborative, proactive, transparent, and trustworthy partners eager to professionally address opportunities and concerns.

Leadership Support and Engagement

• Guide and support the president in her role as chief spokesperson and fundraiser, serving as advisor and co-strategist in cultivating prospective donors, soliciting transformative gifts, and operationalizing bold new ideas. Similarly guide and support senior leaders, volunteers, faculty, and other key constituents in development-related activities, ensuring that their time spent is productive, meaningful, and personally rewarding. • Analyze the board’s giving patterns and encourage each trustee’s personal philanthropic support of the college. Provide the highest level of support to volunteer leadership and the Pomona College Vice President for Advancement Page 7 of 10

board for their activities on behalf of Pomona; ensure that their experience is meaningful, productive, and enjoyable, and that their intellectual and emotional connections to Pomona and each other are strengthened. • Assist the president in the identification, recruitment, and cultivation of new board members, identifying key leaders with an affinity for Pomona’s mission; build a volunteer structure that fosters a culture of philanthropy and encourages peer-to-peer cultivation and solicitation. • Cultivate strong working relationships with administrators, faculty, and staff across the college, including colleagues in finance, admissions and financial aid, communications, student affairs, and academics, engendering trust through transparent communication and a clear motivation to work as a team. • Leverage the president and senior leadership to enhance Pomona’s existing relationships with communities in the region and to philanthropically engage unaffiliated individuals and institutions in support of Pomona.

Programmatic Elevation

• Evaluate, strengthen, and enhance the major gift pipeline and existing annual fund programming; develop and implement new innovative programs to identify and acquire prospective donors, increase donor retention, and upgrade and renew existing donors. • Ensure that the stewardship program provides donors with comprehensive, timely, innovative, and coordinated acknowledgement of their support; elevate the importance of stewarding all donors and programs in order to strengthen donor interest in, satisfaction with, and commitment to Pomona. • Build capacity and volunteer engagement by identifying, tracking, and nurturing Pomona’s alumni, parents, and friends. Develop meaningful and strategic frameworks to leverage and mobilize volunteers and to raise the sights and involvement of volunteers and donors at all levels. • Maintain and strengthen existing alumni and parent relationships; proactively seek to engage and build relationships with other alumni and parents; encourage and build alumni and parent participation in philanthropy, seeking to increase both the number of gifts and their size. Pioneer new and innovative techniques to connect with alumni, parents, and friends across generations with a keen eye for increasing participation among younger alumni groups. • Develop and implement a systematic plan for alumni outreach, recognizing that there is a wide array of constituencies that want to be involved with Pomona, and providing innovative and compelling ways to engage them; oversee all alumni programming; collaborate with the career development office to coordinate relevant alumni programming.

Staff Management and Leadership

• Maintain a leadership style that is fluid and open; support, mentor, and optimally organize the 55-member advancement team and operation, setting clear direction and priorities; promote excellence through well-defined goals and implementation of best practices and accountability measures; inspire, empower, and motivate staff through active, transparent Pomona College Vice President for Advancement Page 8 of 10

communication and delegation; instill a sense of urgency and a proactive orientation across advancement. • Foster a professional environment that recognizes and rewards performance, supports innovation and risk taking, builds confidence, encourages teamwork, reduces silos, retains staff, and promotes diversity and inclusion; serve as an advocate for staff, representing their concerns and needs. • Ensure that all systems and processes, from data capture to gift acceptances and processing, maximize available intelligence via reporting and also follow sound budgetary, legal, and accountancy practices. • Plan and carefully manage the advancement budget, ensuring that resources are deployed efficiently and effectively in support of Pomona’s fundraising goals and objectives; utilize contemporary analytics to project, measure, and report on progress relative to goals.

Qualifications and Experience

The vice president will bring many of the following professional qualifications and experiences:

• Extensive organizational development, leadership, and strategy experience, especially in fast-paced, dynamic, mission-focused organizations. • A minimum of 10 to 15 years of progressively responsible fundraising and managerial leadership experience in development; depth of knowledge of best practices in all key areas of development; experience with strategic planning and as a member of a senior leadership team; track record of success in a complex organization; a demonstrated ability to plan, manage, and successfully close a comprehensive campaign. • Experience building upon an existing advancement program, including individual and institutional philanthropy, resulting in a transformative increase in philanthropic revenue for an organization; success increasing the effectiveness of a development program and its staff through established objectives and performance standards; experience supporting and managing governing boards and their members. • Proven management skills and the ability to establish a team- and goal-oriented environment that empowers staff through active communication and delegation and that builds confidence, promotes diversity of thought, and celebrates achievement; an innate sense of, and deep commitment to, operating in highly collaborative, transparent environments. • Superior written, and oral communication skills; clarity, crispness, and elegance in writing and speaking; superb storytelling skills with the ability to succinctly communicate a vision and process to senior leaders and other key constituents, utilizing data and metrics as appropriate as a foundation for advancement programs. • Exemplary interpersonal and listening skills; impeccable attention to detail and superb follow-through; strong personal integrity, flexibility, charisma, and work ethic coupled with a sense of humor and perspective; a self-starter, comfortable with ambiguity.

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• The credibility, maturity, and sound judgment required to effectively engage and leverage Pomona’s leadership, volunteers, and other key constituents in the cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of key prospects and donors. • A proven track record of success in personally cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding gifts of at least seven figures from individual and institutional donors; a high level of comfort and effectiveness working with high-net-worth individuals and organizational leaders. • A diplomatic, collaborative demeanor; the political savvy to navigate a complex organization; the desire and ability to gain trust and build strong collaborative relationships with all members of an operation across a diverse organization. • Excellent judgment and creative problem solving skills, including the ability to resolve conflict. • A proponent of the liberal arts, with a deep appreciation for the history, achievements, and aspirations of Pomona and the ability to effectively articulate its vision to a diverse audience. • Demonstrated success as a fundraising leader in higher education, or translatable leadership in arts and culture, health care, or other complex civic institutions. • A warm, personable approach to relationship-building. • Personal commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. • A sharp eye for operational efficiency and the best use of resources, including a demonstrated understanding of budgets and the ability to manage them. • The personal flexibility to travel and work evenings and weekends as required. • Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred.

LOCATION

Pomona College is located in the city of Claremont, CA, 35 miles east of Los Angeles. The city, with a population of more than 36,000, features sidewalk cafes, specialty shops, tree-lined streets, and bungalow homes. Claremont was recently ranked the 5th most-desirable town in the US, and housing prices are more affordable than many areas in Southern California. With stunning views of the San Gabriel Mountains, Claremont is less than an hour away from downtown Los Angeles and from mountains, desert, and beaches.

TO APPLY

Rachel Ellenport is leading this search with Jean Jacoby, Grace Zakim, and Kaleigh Hoffman. For more information, to submit a nomination, or to apply, please visit:

www.imsearch.com/7114

Pomona College prides itself in being an open, competitive, and equal opportunity employer.

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