Meredith Eppel Jylkka Email & Phone Number

Boston, Ma, Us

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Located on the Boston Harbor waterfront, UMASS Boston is metro Boston's only public research university. Composed of 10 colleges and graduate schools serving 17,000 students, UMASS Boston is the third most diverse four-year university in the nation. Working closely with academic leaders, faculty, and leaders of Centers and Institutes, this senior level position within University Advancement plays a key role in developing strategy, establishing mutually beneficial partnerships, and increasing support from corporations and private foundations in alignment with the university's strategic priorities, such as academic excellence, inclusion and equity, innovation, and service.

Helping mission-driven nonprofits thrive and developing social impact strategies and grant processes for fundersFor Nonprofits:-- Institutional Advancement, including development plan; prospect research; writing: case statements, concept papers, grants/reports; donor cultivation, engagement, and stewardship strategies--Coaching and thought partnership for leadership--Communications: Web content, e-news, thought pieces--Program development/evaluation--Strategic partnership development--Board and Advisory Board developmentFor Donors/Foundations, including Government Agencies:--Giving strategy development--Landscape research--Grant process management--Grant panel review--Grantee support, e.g., design of capacity building programs and convenings, site visit planning--Board placementClients include: --Americans for the Arts--Education Commission of the States/Arts Education Partnership--National Endowment for the Arts--National Guild of Community Arts Education--Massachusetts Cultural Council--Boston Public Schools--EdVestors--Boston University Tanglewood Institute--Women in Development in Greater Boston (presenter: Best Practices in Fundraising with Foundations and Corporations)--California Arts Council/Americans for the Arts, Developed survey instruments to measure activity of grantees and partner school districts--US Department of Education--Whitney Museum of American Art--WGBH Television--Rhode Island Foundation--Lawrenceville School, NJ

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

With a focus on the School of Management, the School of Architecture and Design, the Center for Community Learning Partnerships, and the Center of Professional and Continuing Education, responsible for implementing a comprehensive fundraising plan to gain corporate and foundation support for the university's institutional priorities. Responsibilities included identification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship of corporate and foundation partners, and event management.

Advised family foundations, including Linde Family Foundation, on high impact investments in a range of interest areas with a social justice lens, including education (arts, charter schools, literacy, STEM, higher ed), workforce development, arts/culture, health and human services, including basic needs, medical research, and emergency/disaster relief. Focus: strategy development and analysis, relationship management with trustees and nonprofits, grantmaking processes, grantee capacity building and support, major gifts, and more.Senior staff to a foundation with a corpus of approximately $140M with annual grantmaking of $10M to $25M to over 100 organizations. Engaged with numerous funding collaboratives to address systemic challenges related to equitable access to food, housing, high quality education, and transformative arts learning.

Courses: Methods and Practice Teaching: Elementary and Secondary School and Secondary School Curriculum.Taught and supervised undergraduate education students seeking state certification in Art teaching (K–12).

Launched nonprofit affiliated with Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Natick, establishing state-wide field-building entity offering youth and adult programs, thought leadership, and advocacy. (Originally named National Arts & Learning Foundation/Collaborative.)Accomplishments: Created locally and nationally funded demonstration projects focused on the role of the arts in learning. Developed youth mentor programs in Boston Public Schools (BPS) and transformed an elementary school to better serve the needs of its non-native English speaking students by integrating the arts into other subjects. Created annual 200-participant conference in partnership with Lesley University, Mass. Cultural Council, and VSAM. Spearheaded organizational merger taking on state-wide advocacy role with support from the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Oversaw branding, marketing, and communications for a range of audiences including online content and print collateral. Created volunteer programs for teens and adults. Oversaw and implemented strategic planning process. Raised funds from individual donors, membership, foundations, and governmental agencies, including The Boston Foundation, Barr Foundation, Mass. Cultural Council, EdVestors, National Endowment for the Arts, and more. Managed operations, e.g., budgeting/ fiscal accountability, personnel including consultants.

Conducted national research on the educational effectiveness of diverse learning environments in economically disadvantaged communities. (Funders: Nathan Cummings Foundation, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, and Ford Foundation.) Began as Research Assistant for Prof. Jessica Davis, then established HGSE’s Arts in Education program as Special Assistant to the Director. Continued as Project Manager with Prof. Steve Seidel for research on sustainability of partnerships involving schools and external partners, funded by John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.Managed eight-person research team; oversaw budgeting/fiscal accountability; reported to funders; collected data (surveys, interviews, and national site visits); developed expert advisory board; analyzed and distilled data into publications; presented at conferences, e.g., Americans for the Arts, National Guild for Community Arts Education, Hong Kong Devt. Arts Council. Member of the Management Team.

Edm, Arts And Learning Concentration

Activities and Societies: Teaching Fellow, Prof. Howard Gardner: Art and Mind, Human Development and Psychology Dept. Co-president, Arts.

Mat, Teaching

Teaching certification for art, K-12 in conjunction with the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Ba, Fine Arts, Honors Distinction

Activities and Societies: Graduated with honors in Fine Arts. Junior year at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Summer.

Junior Year, Fine/Studio Arts, Art History/Criticism, Education Psychology

Education record