EDBLog January 2026 – Westchester Community College Foundation

From the Desk of the Executive Director, Dolores Swirin-Yao

January 2026

Happy New Year!

January is a quieter time for events and activities between semesters on most campuses, so that is when the Chief Advancement Officer group of the SUNY Community Colleges holds an annual retreat, which I was delighted to co-chair this year with my colleagues from Erie and Monroe Community Colleges. We met at the Desmond Hotel in Albany on Thursday and Friday, January 8 and 9. My SUNY WCC colleagues Kathleen Ryan and Michelle Schleibaum joined me at the conference.

We started our conference with a virtual keynote speech by Vu Le, a speaker, blogger, and thought leader in the nonprofit sector who is known for championing those working in the nonprofit sector and being a witty and charismatic speaker. He did not disappoint! One of the attendees wrote: “Interesting perspective presented with humor. Very enjoyable!”

We learned about virtual tour software that is used by Dr. Emily Cohen at Monroe Community College.

My longtime colleague, Marc Saffren of m3 Development, co-presented with me on strategies for encouraging alumni, board members and other friends to include their community colleges in their estate plans.

David Belsky and Tracy Soren of the strategy and creative agency Good Rebellion presented on leveraging innovative media like podcasts during these times when traditional media is fragmenting and public attention is harder to earn.

Jenna Bichler, Lysa Elis and Carlisle Lipke of Erie Community College led a discussion on the evolving landscape of scholarships, including exploring new scholarship opportunities, unique funding sources and tailored programs designed to meet the needs of today’s learners.

We got updates from Nisha Atre, Executive Director of the SUNY Impact Foundation, on what’s in the works in the coming year.

It is a small conference—about 50 people—which gives us a chance to get to know each other, including at an evening reception sponsored by Plan A Advisors. We had a chance to participate in roundtable discussions, and took part in a lively Q and A session with our peers. We heard presentations from our sponsors Kindsight, Blackbaud, Good Rebellion, Dupli, FundMiner and GiveCampus. Our vendor-sponsors have remarked that it is helpful for them to learn about our challenges so that they can help to meet the needs of their community college clients.

I am grateful for a terrific group of peers to learn from and share ideas with. Thanks to the other members of the planning committee, Jenna Bichler (co-chair), Bob Duckworth, Steven Frederick, Kia Larsen, Michelle Robbins, and Christyn Sanagursky (co-chair). The conference is a great way to recharge and return to campus with new strategies for the coming year.