Sunday, July 31, 2022
YVN had the pleasure of speaking with incoming Co-Chair Rod Lowe.
What is your current role at Yale University?
I am the Senior Associate Director for Major Gifts at Yale Divinity School.
What are your main responsibilities?
My responsibility entails directing the major gift program. Currently each of the Yale University schooling units are in a comprehensive campaign.
What do you like most about your work?
The aspect of my job that I love the most is talking and engaging with Alumni and Friends of the University about what interests them most about Yale. In particular, trying to align their interests with our philanthropic priorities for Yale Divinity School. I have the wonderful opportunity of being a representative of the institution, to talk to alumni about particular areas of interest that we have in common.
In the case of Yale Divinity School, we have embarked on a living village challenge to construct the first building that will have a zero-carbon footprint. I have an opportunity to champion this project for YDS as well as ensuring that qualified students, particularly with financial need have access to an amazing education. We are also providing merit scholarships to the incoming YDS students that have done work in social justice in hopes that they will continue the work they started through the experiences they have acquired.
I have an amazing job of talking to people who care a lot about lots of fantastic issues. Everything for me centers upon mission. I love what I do and I feel like I have the best job ever because the mission of Yale University and particularly Yale Divinity School is very much in alignment with my core values. I am not only excited about it, but I am excited that others have caught the vision and see the need and are not only using their time but their resources.
How does your job affect your general lifestyle?
The intersection between passion and purpose is where my job meets my lifestyle because when you are able to connect passion and purpose with a goal in hand it is magical! The things I do in my personal time align with the mission I am here to promote. I have an amazing life and my lifestyle is pretty fantastic and I feel blessed for that.
How did you begin your career?
I attended Gettysburg College and learned about philanthropy by accident. I was the first in my family to go to college. We didn’t have many resources, so I worked on campus. I had 6 jobs throughout my time there. One of my jobs was in the Development office and another was a phone-a-thon worker – calling people and talking to them about the institution, their experience and asking them to make an annual gift in support of the Gettysburg Fund. It was very easy for me, and I was good at it. I thought, this is just the best job, asking people for money! I talk to people about what I care a whole lot about – Education and Scholarship. I thought, I should look into this career because it’s not work. That was how I got started in development. I did my masters at Columbia University in non-profit administration as well as working there. In addition to higher education, I have worked in Corporate America where I managed a 711 Franchise marketing program. I’ve also started non-profit programs, so I have both corporate and non-profit experience. Connecting my marketing experience, my business experience and my work with non-profit space has been a wonderful opportunity.
What steps would you recommend one take to prepare to enter this field?
Follow your passion, follow the thing that you care deeply about. If you are passionate about what you’re doing, do your best work, market yourself well, network and showcase the best of who you are, the dollars will come, the resources and the accolades will come. For development I would say align yourself with a mission you care deeply about. Then develop the interpersonal skills. Be authentic – be yourself. The more authentic and transparent you are. It’s about relationship building. Be real to oneself and find something you are passionate about that you can have fun doing and it won’t feel like work.
What skills, abilities, and personal attributes are essential to success in your job/this field?
Building upon what I have previously said – being a good and active listener and strengthening your communication skills. Try your best to “be present” in the conversations and the engagement you are having with people. Seize the opportunity to learn from others and share. Be a good communicator, be passionate and astute. Have fun.
If you could do it all over again, would you choose the same path for yourself? If not, what would you change?
I would absolutely choose the same path because the culmination of every decision I’ve made has made me who I am today. I look at everyone’s life as a book. Life has different chapters, so every experience both negative and positive that I have had has really helped to develop who I am. Both as an individual and a professional. I have had the privilege to meet amazing people who are doing great work. People who take their experiences and transformed them into the career that they have. I am taking those experiences for myself. My grandmother told me that you don’t necessarily have to go through a particular experience to learn from it. You can learn from the lives of others. That’s something I have adopted. So selfishly I have a lot of life experiences that I myself have not necessarily had, but have learned from.
What does YVN mean to you and how have you contributed as a member of the Steering Committee?
I am excited to be part of the YVN. I want to impact change. I want to be a bridge, a connector. I want other service members to know that there is an amazing organization at Yale University called Yale Veterans Network that supports, celebrates, and champions Veterans. The YVN is not a network that is solely for Veterans. It is an organization that is available to every Yale employee who has a family member, a friend, an associate that may have been in the military or who have an affinity for those individuals that have been a part of the military. YVN is for everyone! My goal this upcoming year as Co-Chair is to transform the group so that every individual should feel that they could be a part of YVN because it is a community effort.
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