Apra Missouri/Kansas Chapter Board of Directors
President
Brinkley Smith
Prospect Manager
Contact
Brinkley started her passion for research as a History major at Loyola University Chicago where she graduated in 2011. She then moved back to her home town of St. Louis and immersed herself in several non-profits including Opera Theatre Saint Louis, the Missouri History Museum, Humane Society of St. Louis, and Yogabuzz. After two years as an administrative assistant at the Washington University School of Medicine, Brinkley discovered her future career of “behind-the-scenes” fundraising, data management, and prospect research and knew it was the perfect place for an extroverted introvert. In 2015, she started at the Missouri Botanical Garden working to build the Garden’s first moves management system in an effort to fund environmental missions around the globe. She is now working in prospect management for the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
On her off time Brinkley is a certified yoga teacher, avid runner, and glamp hiker. She finished her first half marathon on October 1st at the MO’ Cowbell Marathon Weekend and continues her challenge to hike all of Missouri’s major state parks with her 10 years young Schipperke, Rudy and husband, Justin. When she’s not out in the woods she’s in the garden of her new home in Crestwood, pulling weeds and trying to get hostas to grow in this ridiculous Missouri weather.
Vice President/Secretary
Shannon Koehn
Director of Prospect Research, Wichita State University Foundation
Contact
Shannon has served as the Director of Prospect Research in Wichita State University Foundation since 2007. She received herundergrad from Wichita State University in 2002 in Management Information Systems and will finish her Master’s in Public Administration in Fall 2020. Service is at the root of hersoul. In heradopted home town, she serves as a City Councilperson, helped form a park foundation and assists on the volunteer fire department. She is married with two grown children who will soon also claim to be proud Shocker graduates.
Treasurer/Membership Director
Heather Held Nelson
Prospect Research Specialist, SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation
Contact
A native of New Orleans, Heather has called St. Louis home for three years. She has worked in the non-profit sector since she was a freshman in college, when she helped open a charter elementary school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Heather’s background is in non-profit operations, although she found her passion in prospect research and management when she became the sole prospect researcher for Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation in 2017. Since then, Heather has worked to develop a comprehensive prospect research and management program for the foundation. Heather fell in love with Apra shortly after joining the organization and has been an active member of both Apra International and Apra MoKan since she joined in 2017.
Heather has a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies with minors in History, Psychology, and Sociology from Louisiana State University. When she isn’t brushing up on new prospect research trends, Heather finds any excuse to entertain at her home, try new baking recipes, or read a good book. She and her husband, Steven, can also be found faithfully cheering for LSU and the New Orleans Saints and spoiling their pups, Harrison and Petey.
Communications Director
Travis Sewell
Director of Philanthropy Operations, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
Contact
As with other members of the board, Travis proves that history degrees can in fact lead to gainful employment (though not always in the field of historical study). He graduated from Truman State University with a degree in History and Philosophy/Religion in 2007. Following a short stint up in the Chicagoland area, he moved to Columbia and began his career in the wonderful world of nonprofits. Having worked primarily in alumni relations and legislative advocacy, he returned to St.Louis in 2017 to accept an operations and research position with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.
Travis spends most of his free time with his wife, cooking, reading and attempting to wrangle their three cats (two rescues and a Bengal), and preparing for the new tiny human family member that will be joining the party in October 2019 (nesting is it's own full time job)!
Conference Chair
Julie Craig
Senior Director of Prospect Analytics and Research, Kansas State University Foundation
Contact
Julie orchestrates relationship management, prospect exploration, and data science and market research at the Kansas State University Foundation. She has modernized her team’s partnership with development officers while concentrating efforts on sustainable fundraising through portfolio optimization. Having recently launched an intense focus on data analytics, Julie directs the assessment of donor engagements across the development spectrum, evaluating findings to actionize change.
With over fifteen years of higher education advancement experience, Julie relishes opportunities to cross-collaborate to solve organizational challenges. She co-leads a multi-departmental committee to ignite a marketing emphasis across the organization, aimed at enhancing donor experience and broadening the foundation for philanthropic donations.
Program Director
Michelle Brownlee
Director of Philanthropic Prospect Development, Children's Mercy Kansas City
Contact
Michelle discovered her passion for prospect research (and a practical use for her history degree!) while working on a capital campaign at Harvesters-The Community Food Network. Upon completion of the campaign, she established a prospect development program at Harvesters and became one of the first full-time prospect researchers in the Feeding America network.
Michelle’s almost 20-year career in prospect development has spanned human services, higher education, and now children’s healthcare. She currently serves as Director of Philanthropic Prospect Development at Children’s Mercy.
Michelle is a member of the Apra Missouri-Kansas board of directors, in the role of professional development chair. She also serves on the board of the Kansas City Food Circle and has volunteered with Harvesters, Show Me KC Schools, and the Hospitalized Veterans Writing Project.
Michelle earned a BA in History from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. In her spare time, she is a voracious reader, trivia nerd, and aspiring gardener. She also likes to explore the foodie scene both locally and wherever she travels.
Brinkley Smith
Prospect Manager
Contact
Brinkley started her passion for research as a History major at Loyola University Chicago where she graduated in 2011. She then moved back to her home town of St. Louis and immersed herself in several non-profits including Opera Theatre Saint Louis, the Missouri History Museum, Humane Society of St. Louis, and Yogabuzz. After two years as an administrative assistant at the Washington University School of Medicine, Brinkley discovered her future career of “behind-the-scenes” fundraising, data management, and prospect research and knew it was the perfect place for an extroverted introvert. In 2015, she started at the Missouri Botanical Garden working to build the Garden’s first moves management system in an effort to fund environmental missions around the globe. She is now working in prospect management for the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
On her off time Brinkley is a certified yoga teacher, avid runner, and glamp hiker. She finished her first half marathon on October 1st at the MO’ Cowbell Marathon Weekend and continues her challenge to hike all of Missouri’s major state parks with her 10 years young Schipperke, Rudy and husband, Justin. When she’s not out in the woods she’s in the garden of her new home in Crestwood, pulling weeds and trying to get hostas to grow in this ridiculous Missouri weather.
Vice President/Secretary
Shannon Koehn
Director of Prospect Research, Wichita State University Foundation
Contact
Shannon has served as the Director of Prospect Research in Wichita State University Foundation since 2007. She received herundergrad from Wichita State University in 2002 in Management Information Systems and will finish her Master’s in Public Administration in Fall 2020. Service is at the root of hersoul. In heradopted home town, she serves as a City Councilperson, helped form a park foundation and assists on the volunteer fire department. She is married with two grown children who will soon also claim to be proud Shocker graduates.
Treasurer/Membership Director
Heather Held Nelson
Prospect Research Specialist, SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation
Contact
A native of New Orleans, Heather has called St. Louis home for three years. She has worked in the non-profit sector since she was a freshman in college, when she helped open a charter elementary school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Heather’s background is in non-profit operations, although she found her passion in prospect research and management when she became the sole prospect researcher for Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation in 2017. Since then, Heather has worked to develop a comprehensive prospect research and management program for the foundation. Heather fell in love with Apra shortly after joining the organization and has been an active member of both Apra International and Apra MoKan since she joined in 2017.
Heather has a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies with minors in History, Psychology, and Sociology from Louisiana State University. When she isn’t brushing up on new prospect research trends, Heather finds any excuse to entertain at her home, try new baking recipes, or read a good book. She and her husband, Steven, can also be found faithfully cheering for LSU and the New Orleans Saints and spoiling their pups, Harrison and Petey.
Communications Director
Travis Sewell
Director of Philanthropy Operations, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
Contact
As with other members of the board, Travis proves that history degrees can in fact lead to gainful employment (though not always in the field of historical study). He graduated from Truman State University with a degree in History and Philosophy/Religion in 2007. Following a short stint up in the Chicagoland area, he moved to Columbia and began his career in the wonderful world of nonprofits. Having worked primarily in alumni relations and legislative advocacy, he returned to St.Louis in 2017 to accept an operations and research position with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.
Travis spends most of his free time with his wife, cooking, reading and attempting to wrangle their three cats (two rescues and a Bengal), and preparing for the new tiny human family member that will be joining the party in October 2019 (nesting is it's own full time job)!
Conference Chair
Julie Craig
Senior Director of Prospect Analytics and Research, Kansas State University Foundation
Contact
Julie orchestrates relationship management, prospect exploration, and data science and market research at the Kansas State University Foundation. She has modernized her team’s partnership with development officers while concentrating efforts on sustainable fundraising through portfolio optimization. Having recently launched an intense focus on data analytics, Julie directs the assessment of donor engagements across the development spectrum, evaluating findings to actionize change.
With over fifteen years of higher education advancement experience, Julie relishes opportunities to cross-collaborate to solve organizational challenges. She co-leads a multi-departmental committee to ignite a marketing emphasis across the organization, aimed at enhancing donor experience and broadening the foundation for philanthropic donations.
Program Director
Michelle Brownlee
Director of Philanthropic Prospect Development, Children's Mercy Kansas City
Contact
Michelle discovered her passion for prospect research (and a practical use for her history degree!) while working on a capital campaign at Harvesters-The Community Food Network. Upon completion of the campaign, she established a prospect development program at Harvesters and became one of the first full-time prospect researchers in the Feeding America network.
Michelle’s almost 20-year career in prospect development has spanned human services, higher education, and now children’s healthcare. She currently serves as Director of Philanthropic Prospect Development at Children’s Mercy.
Michelle is a member of the Apra Missouri-Kansas board of directors, in the role of professional development chair. She also serves on the board of the Kansas City Food Circle and has volunteered with Harvesters, Show Me KC Schools, and the Hospitalized Veterans Writing Project.
Michelle earned a BA in History from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. In her spare time, she is a voracious reader, trivia nerd, and aspiring gardener. She also likes to explore the foodie scene both locally and wherever she travels.