Brett folded his private consulting practice into fundRISING in July 2019 and became a founding Principal for the new company. He leads the business development and partner outreach for the firm, and manages a portfolio of clients.

 

Brett is a nonprofit executive with 20 years of leadership, fund development, team management, and communications experience. He consistently doubled, even tripled the revenue of organizations for which he has worked. As a senior staff member and as a consultant, he has raised tens of millions of dollars throughout his career. A teacher by trade, he works to pass on his deep expertise building successful relationships with foundations, corporations, and individuals. His background and wealth of experience is spread across virtually all facets of organizational and fund development.

 

If you want to create social change, you have to shift resources to make that change possible. That’s dollars, sure, but also the will of many people, working together. That, in a nutshell, is why Brett loves raising money. To Brett, it’s not about securing a big, sexy gift (although, ring the bell when it happens!). It is about building one honest and passion-aligned relationship after another to form a community. Fundraising isn’t a chore, it sits at the heart of mission fulfillment. It also doesn’t hurt that Brett is an extrovert, and gains energy from meeting people and talking with them – finding out what they care about. To see each of them start as a stranger and become a champion of a cause is, well, thrilling.

 

Brett received his Bachelor’s Degree in English and Education from the University of Wisconsin and his Master’s in Business Administration from George Washington University. He is generally well thought of by his wife and daughter. He is often found yelling at the TV while watching the Chicago Bears. His love affair with the Washington, DC area and its people started the week he moved here in January, 2001.

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