Welcome Chief Advancement Officer Jennifer Chrisler

Dear Hampshire College Community,

I’m delighted to announce Jennifer Chrisler as our new chief advancement officer, joining us from UMass Dartmouth, where she was vice chancellor for university advancement. Before that, she was vice president of alumnae relations at Smith College, her alma mater.

Jennifer will be a member of Hampshire’s leadership team, guiding the development of our strategic advancement plan including an emerging major fundraising campaign, the largest in our history, to encompass our 50th anniversary celebration next fall. She and I will be developing relationships with community members and new friends who are interested in supporting Hampshire’s plans for a secure, sustainable future.

Since May 2018, Jennifer has led a team of 40 at UMass Dartmouth that logged a range of accomplishments: increasing fundraising by 39 percent, exceeding their goal; launching Lifetime and Leadership giving societies; developing a new brand platform for the university; implementing modeling and research to improve results; and securing significant federal and state funding and grants.

From 2013 to 2018, as head of alumnae relations and a member of the president’s cabinet at Smith, Jennifer’s responsibilities comprised strategic engagement programming for its 55,000 alumnae worldwide and overseeing presidential and Alumnae Association Board of Directors events, global alumnae clubs, annual-fund development, and reunion events. There she worked closely with the Institutional Advancement Committee of the Board of Trustees.

Jennifer has been an advocate and frequent speaker nationally on issues of LGBT equality. From 2005 to 2013, she led the Family Equality Council, a national nonprofit dedicated to securing equality for LGBT parents and their children. There she built a strong fundraising program, raising close to $3 million annually. As executive director, she worked in partnership with the board and the council’s development director to grow its major donor program and secure foundation grants and large corporate sponsors.

Jennifer welcomes the opportunity to support Hampshire’s renewal and continued success and to tell the story of our transformative impact on students, higher education and society.

She will be supported by our advancement staff including Melissa Mills-Dick 01F and Theresa Meckel who have led the advancement division since April and will remain among the division’s senior team. I sincerely thank them for their extraordinary work.

The appointment brings Jennifer closer to her Northampton home. Her first day will be Monday, September 16. Please join me in welcoming her.

Ed Wingenbach
President