Suzanne Irwin-Wells is a fundraising consultant specializing in capital andendowment campaigns. She has been fundraising professionally since her college graduation in 1968, with 10 years as a development director and over 30 years as a consultant. She co-founded two organizations and has served on numerous boards, including Grace Cathedral in San Francisco where she co-chairs its major gifts committee.
Suzanne has taught major gifts and capital/endowment campaign fundraising at Golden Gate University, University of San Francisco and elsewhere. Her book, Planning and Implementing Your Major Gifts Campaign, was co-published by Indiana University and Jossey-Bass in 2002. Suzanne received an Executive Certificate in nonprofit organization management from USF, an MBA in arts administration from Golden Gate University and a BS in magazine journalism from Northwestern University.
She has been a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals since 1984 and in 2002, her firm, Irwin-Wells Associates, was invited to join the Association of Philanthropic Counsel, an international organization of fundraising consulting firms.
Trisha Hensley brings seventeen years of fundraising experience to her clients. Prior to becoming a consultant, Trisha served as Planned Giving Counsel for the University of California, Berkeley, Campaign Director for Novato Community Hospital, Planned Giving Specialist for Marin General Hospital Foundation and Planned Giving Director for Los Angeles Orthopaedic Hospital Foundation.
Trisha has counseled charitable organizations throughout the United States in all areas of fund development, but has focused her practice on designing and managing capital and endowment campaigns. As a lawyer, Trisha is also skilled in charitable estate planning.
Trisha holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Texas Law School and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Texas A&M University. She serves on the Non-Practicing Alumni Advisory Council at UT Law School and volunteers as a mentor for law students pursuing careers in the nonprofit sector.
She is a member of The California Bar Association, the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, Net Impact, the Association of Fundraising Professionals and the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning.
Over the past twenty years, Trisha has served on the boards and committees of several charitable organizations throughout California.
Kristin Berger brings over 25 years of experience working with community leaders to elevate philanthropic activity for cultural and philanthropic associations, private and public universities, and the North Bay region’s nonprofit community organizations. She excels at development assessments and has improved organizational systems to cultivate stakeholder relationships to surpass goals. Kristin’s experience is broad and includes human service and faith-based organizations, higher education, and cultural and arts organizations. She has developed leadership teams to effectively plan and implement capital campaigns at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center, the Bay Area Discovery Museum in Sausalito and the Sonoma County Museum. Kristin turned around major gift programs and established a corporate and foundation partnerships program to benefit the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts and The Volunteer Center of Sonoma County. Recently, she led fundraising and communications teams at Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Santa Rosa to exceed fundraising goals for by 29 percent and established a legacy giving program. Kristin’s expertise also includes campaign case statement and annual report development, and marketing and communications activities to create optimal climates for philanthropic activity. Kristin has been a member of AFP International for over 10 years. .