Lisa Mayeda-Nichols
Senior Director, Corporate & Foundation Relations
PBS SoCaL
Milestones
My road in life took a while to figure out.
In high school I was a natural fund raiser and got my restaurant to donate space and food to my HS.
In college, I was able to get my first internship to donate animation software to UCSB.
An internship at my first non-profit, A Place Called Home, started my career in fund raising.
My college education transitioned me well to being prepared for training as a fund raiser.
Education
High School
Huntington Beach High School
Huntington Beach High School
Career
Senior Director, Corporate & Foundation Relations
I raise money through grant writing and sponsorship ideas.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Numbers
Non-Profit Organizations
Being Creative
Day to Day
Responding to emails, calls, following deadlines and going on meetings is integral in my profession since it's all about relationship building. It's also about following through with writing proposals that follow the research, information given and guidelines. Working collaboratively with the project staff to represent their interests strategically in the proposals are also an important piece to the success of a fund raiser, and this is where you can be creative.
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for college students
The first steps would be to find an internship at a non-profit in the fund raising / development department. Also, either doing a Certificate in Fund Raising or Masters program in Non-Profit Management would be a good avenue to follow. Lots of non-profits need help, and so this is how to get your foot in the door into this profession.
Recommended Education
My career is related to what I studied. I'd recommend the path I took:
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Society in General:
"You can't raise any money." "You don't know what you're doing."
Challenges I Overcame
Financial
