The Birthplace of Apra

Apra-MN Board of Directors

January - December 2023



Andrea Dowd

President

adowd@apra-mn.org

Andrea is Prospect Research and Management Associate with the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, MN. She was previously a Senior Prospect Research Manager at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, Augsburg University, St. Catherine University, and Northeastern University. Andrea's favorite aspect of her work is getting to create and work on building relationships for and with Advancement and Development offices. She has been a member of Apra-MN since 2015 and served on the Programming and Membership Committees. Andrea begins her final two-year term as President in 2022. She lives in St. Paul, MN.



Joe Hennen

Vice-President

jhennen@apra-mn.org


Joe Hennen joined the University of St. Thomas as Prospect Research Analyst in February 2022, where he specializes in pipeline development and prospect identification. He also recently served as a Philanthropy Associate with the consultancy Access Philanthropy. Previously, he was a prospect researcher with Carleton College for three years, where he supported all prospect development functions during its latest comprehensive campaign. Prior to Carleton, he served as a Development Specialist with a national K-12 educational social venture for four years. Joe has also worked as a grantwriting consultant, as a prospect researcher and program evaluator at the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, and as an AmeriCorps VISTA with the Indiana Youth Institute. He earned his B.A. in philosophy from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and is pursuing an M.S. in Business Analytics from the University of St. Thomas. He is a member of APRA International and APRA MN, and he has served on the APRA MN Programming Committee since 2021. Joe joined the APRA MN Board in January 2022. 



Ali Freemon

Secretary

afreeman@apra-mn.org


Alison is currently a Senior Researcher at the University of Minnesota Foundation where she works with numerous development officers on prospect management, research, and utilizing databases. She also works on various projects to develop best practices and continue the growth of the prospect development team.  Alison has been a member of Apra-MN since 2014 and is grateful for the community that has taught given her so much in her career. She believes she can make an impact on the board by thinking of our members first and keeping motivation behind what research/prospect development means to all different types of organizations throughout Minnesota.  Alison is a current Apra-International member, former member of AFP and has served on the programming committee since 2014. 




Adri Viswanatha

Membership &

Mentorship Co-Director

aviswanatha@apra-mn.org

membership@apra-mn.org 


Adri Viswanatha is the new Associate Director of Donor Research at Macalester College. Previously, she worked in prospect management, research and data analytics for Children’s Cancer Research Fund. Her fundraising career began in Wisconsin where she worked on political campaigns. Adri looks forward to digging deep into development strategy and community-centric fundraising in her new role at Macalester. Adri has been a member of Apra-MN since 2017 and has served on the Membership Committee since 2019. 


Sara Buesing

Programming Co-Director

sbuesing@apra-mn.org

programming@apra-mn.org

Sara is Systems Practice Coordinator at BWF, where she provides a wide range of administrative, research, and project management support to the firm's Systems and Operations practice. She previously served as Prospect Development Associate for Catholic Charities of Saint Paul-Minneapolis and has over nine years of experience supporting philanthropy and institutional causes. Sara has been a member of Apra-MN since 2015 and served as a member of the programming committee from 2020-2021. She lives in Saint Paul. 



Don Irwin

Programming Co-Director

programming@apra-mn.org


Don is the Manager of Prospect Strategy at Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota. He was previously a database manager and prospect analyst at Fraser. Don earned his BA in History and Anthropology at the University of Minnesota Duluth and MSc in Science and Religion at the University of Edinburgh School of Divinity. He continued in graduate research and teaching History and Philosophy of Science at Arizona State University before moving back to Minnesota to raise his children close to family. Don joined Apra-MN and Apra International in 2018 and earned his CFRE in 2021. He is grateful for the support of the Apra community and enthusiastic about giving back as a board member and co-chair of the programming committee.


Alison Hope

Marketing & 

Communication Co-Director

Interim Treasurer

ahope@apra-mn.org

treasurer@apra-mn.org




treasurer@apra-mn.org



Alison Hope is Director of Prospect Development at Concordia University, St. Paul. She previously worked as a Prospect Research Specialist at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, IA before moving back up to her home state of Minnesota. She has over 6 years of experience in the prospect development industry, focusing primarily on pipeline development and portfolio management for private colleges. Alison began her career in higher education fundraising in 2016 after graduating from the University of Iowa where she played trumpet in the Hawkeye Marching Band and served as President of Sigma Alpha Iota, a women's international music fraternity. She is currently on the board for the Minneapolis/St. Paul Alumnae chapter of SAI. Alison serves as co-director of Marketing and Communications with Michael Van Dyke. She joined the Apra-MN board in January 2022 and her first term will end December 2023.


Michael Van Dyke

Marketing & 

Communication Co-Director

mvandyke@apra-mn.org



Michael Van Dyke is a Strategic Consultant at Blackbaud and has worked with clients utilizing the Fundraiser Performance Management Platform since October 2015. She has over 15 years of experience in the world of fundraising, has worn several different fundraising hats, but mostly worked for smaller organizations in the prospect research/manager role. Prior to her consultant role, she earned her Master’s in Library and Information Science from St. Catherine University/Dominican University library program and taught Information Literacy and Research Skills at MCTC (now Minneapolis College).  Throughout her career, she has remained passionate about empowering people to use technology and information to make better decisions that have a greater impact to the social good.  Michael serves as marketing and communication co-director with Alison Hope and as webmaster. She joined the board in January 2021 and her first term will end December 2022.



Lydia Tonoyan

Membership & Mentorship Co-Director

ltonoyan@apra-mn.org

membership@apra-mn.org 





Lydia Tonoyan is the Project Manager, Prospect Management and Planned Giving Services at University of Minnesota Foundation. Previously, she was Prospect Researcher and Project Manager at the Union Gospel Mission Twin Cities. She transitioned to the non-profit world two years ago by ending her corporate career at Best Buy for Business. Lydia has been a member of Apra International and Apra-MN since 2020. She is presently serving as a co-chair of the Membership Committee at Apra International and is looking forward to bringing membership at Apra-MN to a new level.



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