Carleton’s Jennifer Conley Wins Businesswoman of the Year

Creativity, disruption, innovation. Oh yes, and collaboration.

For Carleton’s Chief Advancement Officer, Jennifer Conley, these aren’t buzzwords—they’re directives.

And for her adherence to them, she’s been named Businesswoman of the Year in the category of organizations, chosen from more than 200 nominees by the Women’s Business Network of Ottawa.

Conley, who also serves as president and CEO of the Carleton University Foundation (US), led the university’s $300-million Collaborate Campaign, which in 2019 became the most successful fundraising campaign conducted in Ottawa.

“I’m really grateful to receive this recognition,” says Conley, “but I see it as a proof point of the collaborative leadership model we have at Advancement and at Carleton. It’s a unique and modern model that produces extraordinary results and impacts.”

“Team Here for Good” is Conley’s affectionate name for the staff at Advancement, which encompasses alumni relations, community liaison, fundraising, stewardship, advancement communications and digital transformation. Their work is based on a pioneering premise that stakeholders are giving through, not to, Carleton to produce social, economic and common good. According to Conley, positioning Carleton as the gateway to change resonates powerfully with stakeholders.

And her team? “They’re the best in the business,” she declares.

“Together we have a really powerful dynamic that’s been able to disrupt and change the landscape. We’ve created new best practices for other charities to follow so they too can succeed in these challenging times.”

FutureFunder, Carleton’s crowdfunding platform, blazed a trail in Canadian higher education. Then there is the holistic partnership between Advancement and the Office of the Vice-President (Research and International), which integrates research and philanthropy for co-ordinated contact between Carleton and industry partners. “This isn’t being done at other institutions,” says Conley. “It’s a new approach that’s going very well.”

Shaping her team’s trajectory is Carleton’s Master of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership (MPNL) program. The equivalent of an MBA for the charitable sector, MPNL is the only program of its kind in Canada: “In Advancement, we believe we have a responsibility to represent their research and lead change through evidence-based practice in everything we do.”

In fact, Conley enrolled in the program to ensure she was walking her talk. Two years on, she’s an instructor and brings in members of her team to speak as expert field practitioners.

“Every one of our students learns what the highest standards are and then is encouraged to go and be a change-maker. Between shifting demographics and the cessation of event-based fundraising, traditional philanthropy is in trouble,” she continues, “and leaders will need to do things differently going forward.”

But risk-taking isn’t necessarily common in the charitable sector, and Conley is grateful that Carleton leadership has embraced Advancement’s creativity.

The Strategic Integrated Plan is a prime example. “Part of our job is to be part of and to serve the community—that’s in Carleton’s DNA—and the strategic plan formalizes that and makes it part of our delivery.”

Cue another innovation: Hub for Good, the digital front door welcoming community stakeholders who want to connect with the campus, developed through close work with the Office of the Provost and Vice-President (Academic) and associated interdisciplinary committees.

“Carleton has a strong culture of philanthropy,” Conley reflects.

“Advancement has achieved a lot not because we are a standalone office, but because we’re embedded in Carleton’s mission. And people are responding to Carleton’s invitation because it is authentic, and because they can see the impact we’re having.”

—
More Stories

Wednesday, February 24, 2021 in Awards, Community, Leadership
Share: Twitter, Facebook