Pearl Street Collective Assists UMass Amherst Foundation with Chief Development Officer Search

February 4, 2025 – After a nationwide search, Boston-based Pearl Street Collective has assisted UMass Amherst Foundation (UMAF) in the recruitment of Robin Elkins as senior executive director and chief development officer for the UMass Amherst College of Social & Behavioral Sciences. Ms. Elkins is a highly regarded fundraising strategist and relationship builder whose experience spans higher education and the non-profit space. She joins UMAF from Emerson College where she led principal and major giving for the School of the Arts, the School of Communication, and the Marlboro Institute for Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies as associate dean for advancement, securing critical funding to advance institutional priorities.

Prior to joining Emerson, Ms. Elkins was vice president, development at the New England Aquarium where she set the development strategy to support organizational goals for the institution. Prior to this, she spent almost seven years at MIT Sloan School of Management where she led the strategy and design of Sloan’s international philanthropy program while personally managing a portfolio of prospects in Europe and Latin America.

Established in 2003, the University of Massachusetts Amherst Foundation, a private 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, exists to raise philanthropic funds in support of the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s mission and highest aspirations. Located on the Amherst campus and wholly dedicated to supporting the university’s mission, UMAF is a separately governed nonprofit organization with its own health, wellness, and retirement benefits.

Women-owned and operated Pearl Street Collective, founded in 2019, provides high-touch executive search and talent strategy services to identify purpose-driven leaders for the non-profit sector. Operating out of main offices in Boston and San Diego, CA with team members around the country, the firm supports organizations in higher education, arts and culture, social justice, human services, philanthropy, health, and more. Pearl Street was named by Women of Color in Fundraising and Philanthropy as the Top Search Firm for Women of Color for two consecutive years.

The firm is led by co-founders and managing partners Adele Mezher and Maeve Clifford. Ms. Mezher brings nearly 30 years of leadership in executive search to her role as co-founder and managing partner of Pearl Street. Highly skilled in strategic marketing and business development, she began her search career implementing programs that supported new market entry and practice expansion before assuming a search portfolio of CEO and vice president-level engagements on behalf of the Fortune 500 and venture/private equity portfolio companies in technology and industrial manufacturing.

Related: Pearl Street Collective Recruits Chief Development Officer for Treehouse

Ms. Clifford has more than 20 years of blended non-profit and executive search leadership to her role as co-founder and managing partner of Pearl Street. In addition to search management, she has led built, trained, and guided research teams for multiple search firms in the non-profit and for-profit sectors, and was an integral contributor to the launch of two national search firms before establishing Pearl Street. Her non-profit career includes functional roles at Harvard University, a charter school network, and a community non-profit, as well as board experience.

Principal Gifts Search

Pearl Street also helped to recruit Barbara Vejvoda as associate vice president of principal gifts for UMass Amherst Foundation. A recognized leader in transformational giving strategy, Ms. Vejvoda brings 15 years of expertise as a principal gifts fundraising leader across institutions of higher education, academic medical centers, scientific research organizations. She launched three institution-wide principal gifts programs and has raised more than $150 million for a broad range of issue areas including neuroscience, STEM education and research, healthcare and disease-based research, education, and the arts.

Ms. Vejvoda joins UMAF from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) where she served as senior director of development, principal gifts for the MGH Cancer Center and the Krantz Center for Cancer Research to create new principal giving relationships and opportunities in conjunction with center leadership, physicians, researchers, and staff. Prior to MGH, she led principal gifts fundraising for Harvard Business School, where she directed a six-person team responsible for fundraising and supporting strategic initiatives of $50 million and more. Ms. Vejvoda has held development leadership appointments with other venerable institutions including Boston College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the National Brain Tumor Society.

Related: Pearl Street Collective Recruits Chief Development Officer for the Elaine Marieb College of Nursing at University Of Massachusetts Amherst

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor  – Hunt Scanlon Media

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