Education Event

Friday, June 17, 2022

11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. PST

Virtual Presentation via Zoom.

Fees: $20 Members / $35 Non-Members

Pending approval by CFRE International for 1.5 CEs.


Reflections as Women in Fundraising and Philanthropy

Today’s fundraising profession is dominated by women, but did you know that data shows that top fundraising positions are often held by men? How do we acknowledge unconscious bias and increase transparency around those types of conversations? What skills do you need to transition from being a great fundraiser to a great leader? Why is it important to spend time defining your leadership profile? Within the dynamic of household charitable giving, how do we listen for women who are taking the lead in decision making?

Join us for a dynamic conversation with our panel of executive, female healthcare fundraising leaders as we explore topics relevant to new and established fundraisers.


Featuring:




Kenya Beckmann
Regional Chief Philanthropy Officer
Providence Foundations, Southern California

Kenya Beckmann has been a leading fundraising professional for more than twenty years in higher education and healthcare. Kenya joined Providence in September 2019 and serves as the regional chief philanthropy officer for Southern California. In her role and as a member of the regional executive leadership team, Kenya leads a team that is responsible for fundraising in each of Providence’s Southern California hospital foundations. Since July 2020, Kenya has worked, alongside her peers, to support specific projects focused on reducing health disparities throughout Southern California. This critical work has impacted thousands of lives throughout Orange County, the High Desert and Los Angeles.

Prior to joining Providence, Kenya was executive vice president at Hoag Hospital Foundation. At HHF, she led Hoag Promise, a comprehensive, $627 million fundraising campaign that reached its goal 18 months ahead of its scheduled completion. In addition to healthcare fundraising, Kenya was a leader in higher education philanthropy at UC Irvine and the University of Michigan.

Kenya’s non-profit commitment extends to work with other charitable organizations. She is an active board member at Providence High School and Solve M.E. and has served as a project volunteer for non-profit organizations throughout Southern California. As a lead volunteer at Vista Verde School, she created the school’s first recognition of Black History Month, including creating a multi grade, state standard approved curriculum. Kenya also founded Family Service Team, a program that empowers families to integrate community service into busy family lives through organized, age-appropriate service activities.

Originally from Oklahoma City, received her bachelor’s degree from Cornell University, and her master’s from the University of Michigan. She moved to Orange County in 2004, where she and her husband, Matthew, have two sons, 19 and 15, and a 14-year-old daughter.




Nancy Bussani
Senior Vice President
Philanthropy Strategy and Governance
CommonSpirit Health

Nancy serves as the senior vice president for philanthropy strategy and governance at CommonSpirit Health. She is responsible for facilitating strategic planning with 83 local fundraising markets, developing training programs for CommonSpirit’s 2,500 foundation board directors, providing professional development to over 300 philanthropy employees system-wide, and guiding the CommonSpirit national foundation.

Nancy has over 30 years’ experience in nonprofit start-up, board development, fundraising, and grant writing in healthcare, academia, and research. Before returning to CommonSpirit Health, she served as the chief development officer for Renown Health and president of Renown Foundation. Prior to that, Nancy was with Dignity Health where she established the system foundation, building a highly-respected board and raising funds for strategic health initiatives. Previous to that, she also served as Vice President of Advancement at San Jose State University and President of the SJSU Tower Foundation. She has a long history of teaching with the College of Business at SJSU and the University of Nevada Reno.

Nancy earned her MBA at Washington State University and her Accounting degree from University of Idaho. She lives with her husband, Jon, in Northern Nevada and is the proud mom of three grown sons living in the bay area.





Christine Dittmer
Chief Development Officer
Sanford Burnham Prebys

Christine is a development professional with more than 30 years’ experience with national nonprofit health organizations. She’s built a reputation for creating innovative fundraising strategies that drive results.

At Sanford Burnham Prebys, Christine is responsible for raising philanthropic dollars to fund our mission and strategic vision to bring research closer to treatments and cures for real patients.

Before joining Sanford Burnham Prebys, Christine served as the National Vice President of Leadership Giving for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network where she led a major gifts effort that more than tripled giving and launched the organization’s first legacy giving program.

Before that, Christine held positions with the American Heart Association ranging from the Senior Vice President of Philanthropy to the Senior Vice President of Corporate Relations, and Senior Vice President of Board and Volunteer Relations in the office of the Executive Vice President. While at the AHA, Christine served as national Chair of the Individual Giving Task Force and led the creation of a major gifts road-map for the organization. Christine has received numerous AHA awards, including the National Major Gifts Excellence Award, National Total Growth in Outright Gifts Award, National Impact Award and Distinguished Performance during a Campaign Award.

She takes joy in building relationships to advance life-changing causes and supporting teams to reach new heights.

Christine holds Bachelor of Arts Degrees in Communications and American Studies, from California State University, Fullerton.


Moderated by Sylvia Chinn, Envision Consulting.

Agenda:

  • 11:30 a.m. – Networking and Welcome
  • 11:40 a.m. – Presentation
  • 12:30 p.m. – Q&A
  • 1:00 p.m. – Final Announcements