The Canisius College Division of Institutional Advancement welcomed two new members to its team this fall. Craig T. Chindemi, vice president for institutional advancement, appointed Jennifer Koch, PhD, director of corporate and foundation relations. Lainey Pate ’08 is the new assistant director of events and stewardship.
Koch is responsible for the strategic direction and management of a comprehensive corporate and foundation relations program that will result in financial support for a broad range of departmental, school and college-wide initiatives, but which has a particular emphasis on the priorities of the college’s $90 million comprehensive campaign, A Legacy of Leadership.
She comes to Canisius College with more than 10 years of individual, corporate and foundation fund-raising experience, including seven years in higher education. Most recently, Koch served as manager of corporate, foundation and government relations for the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, where she helped secure more than $3.1 million for the organization’s annual fund and more than $275,000 in increased government support.
The Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations is now located in Churchill Tower, Room 315.
“A significant amount of Jennifer’s work involves developing proposals in support of institutional and academic priorities,” explains Scott A. Chadwick, PhD, vice president for academic affairs. “Craig Chindemi brought to me the idea of moving the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations to the main campus. Locating the office in the Churchill Tower will foster increased collaboration between institutional advancement and academic affairs, facilitate cooperation with the Office of Sponsored Programs, and make Jennifer more accessible to our faculty.”
Also new to the institutional advancement team is Lainey Pate. In her role as assistant director of events and stewardship, Pate is responsible for the planning, coordination and execution of college events and functions that support the institutional advancement efforts of Canisius.
A 2008 alumna of Canisius College, Pate most recently served as a branch manager for Citizens Bank in Buffalo. During her tenure, Pate organized a successful sales atmosphere, developed the staff’s operational, sales and product knowledge through weekly training sessions, and assisted customers in finding solutions to their individual financial needs.
As an undergraduate at Canisius College, Pate served two years as the call center manager for the Canisius College annual fund. During this time, she developed and executed incentive strategies to motivate a team of student-callers to achieve monetary and donor goals for the college’s annual fund-raising campaigns. After graduation from Canisius, Pate served as the Young Alumni Chair for the annual fund cabinet, during which time she received two Ray Gordon Awards. Presented annually by the Canisius College Alumni Association, the award is given to individuals who achieve the greatest increase in donor participation and for overall exceptional work on the annual fund.
Pate holds a BA in political science from Canisius College.
Submitted by: Erin Hartnett, director of advancement initiatives, institutional advancement
