Transcript

Gabriel

So first I just wanted to know more about your current role and like your experience throughout not just with BU Relations Foundations, but throughout your entire career.

Joseph

00:47 - 01:08

Right now I'm Director of Foundations Relations here at Boston University. I've been here about 10 years.

We're a team of 10 and we work with faculty in all departments across BU. We each have a portfolio, so I cover Questrom School of Social Work, Wheelock, the law school, CDS and Ziba as well as the Institute for Global Sustainability. Then my colleagues cover the Med Campus or College of Arts and Sciences. And our goal is to help faculty maximize their foundation revenue. So help them apply for grants, help them identify opportunities.

Help them build relationships with foundations, help us, my team, and BU leaders and deans build relationships with foundations. And across, we have I think something about 600 alumni who work at foundations around the world. So we want to know who they are.

Tngage them when we can. So that's what I do here. And prior to here I spent 14 years at Partners Healthcare System, which is Mass General and the Reganville Women's Hospital and a bunch of other hospitals in Boston. So a very large healthcare system. And I did corporate and foundations and individual fundraising while I was there. Before that I spent six years at WGBH Public Television doing foundation fundraising there. So I've been in the foundation fundraising world for 25, 30 years. And my background was I went to Boston College and got an English program and then ended up working at WTJH and getting into fundraising and getting into foundation fundraising specifically.

Gabriel

That sounds amazing and so basically the faculty comes to you and you connect them to the grants and help them throughout the entire process and normally these are more like private institutions that you guys are working with?

Joseph

Yeah so, sometimes they'll come to us. Sometimes they go on their own. They might know the foundation or they're used to applying for funding. They might not need our support. Or sometimes we'll identify a funding opportunity and we will approach appropriate faculty and suggest that they apply. And then sometimes the university is allowed to nominate one or two people for a particular funding opportunity or award.

So we'll work with the Office of Research here at BU. They'll identify faculty to be nominated for an award or an opportunity to apply for a grant and will work with the faculty member on their application or their nomination.