Development staff directory

Samantha Wheeler Marrs joined VCU in 2000 as director of corporate and foundation relations.

Today, her primary responsibility is to manage key DAR areas, including budget, Strategic Marketing and Engagement and Advancement Services, including donor relations, communications, annual giving, regional philanthropy and corporate and foundation relations.

Her previous experience includes eight years as program associate at The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, where she coordinated higher-education grants. She holds degrees from Smith College and Columbia University. She has served as president of a local middle school PTA, chair of the board of the Virginia Poverty Law Center and secretary/treasurer of the board of VirginiaFIRST, a nonprofit dedicated to expanding STEM activities across the commonwealth.

Carrie Naumann joined VCU in October 2012. She provides primary prospect research, management and strategy support to various campus partners. She also is helping support the growth of data analytics within the prospect development office. She received a B.A. in government and international relations from George Mason University and an M.P.A. and certificate in nonprofit management from VCU. Before joining VCU, Naumann worked in prospect research for a nonprofit consulting firm in New York City as well as for the marketing and communications department of the Metropolitan Opera. She is webmaster for the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement Virginia Chapter and has been involved with Women in Development, N.Y., New York Women’s Agenda, APRA Greater New York Chapter and the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Fundraising Day in New York.

A member of the VCU team since 2014, Ben Bromley earned a B.A. in history and religious studies from the College of William & Mary and a M.S.I.S. in information science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His career has spanned different facets of managing information, having previously worked in special collections and archives for William & Mary and the Library of Virginia.

Clevon Hall earned his B.A. in English and film studies from Randolph-Macon College in January 2017 and joined VCU in February 2017 as a data entry clerk. While a student, he worked as an assistant for the R-MC Office of College Advancement.

A member of the VCU team since 2012, Heidi Hernandez has a B.A. in English from VCU. Her previous work experiences involved inventory control data management and sales auditing in the retail industry.

Melanie Riezner joined the VCU team in 2015 as a transaction analyst. She has a B.S. in psychology from the University of Houston. Before relocating to Virginia, she spent 17 years at a Houston nonprofit in various roles, including director of gift records.

A member of the VCU team since 2011, Connie Rigsby has more than 20 years of experience in Advancement Services with an emphasis on IRS guidelines, CASE best practices, database management and data integrity, all while adhering to the intentions of donors.

A member of the VCU team for more than 10 years, Rob Downs has a B.S. from James Madison University and an M.S. from VCU. He was worked in VCU Technology Services, Creative Services and Advancement Services in all aspects of web and technology.

A member of the VCU team since 2011, Nate Parker earned a B.S. in information systems with a concentration in application development from VCU in 2010. He is part of the team that implemented the new DAR online giving and event database, systems and websites.

Jeff Green joined the VCU team as a web developer in 2014. His main responsibilities include event registration and giving forms as well as maintaining and developing the VCU Alumni website, DAR support website and DAR intranet. He has a B.F.A. in graphic design from VCU and worked previously as a graphic designer and web developer.

Matt Yopp, who joined the VCU team in 2012, has a B.A. from Collins College and holds A+ Certification and HDI CSR Certification. He has 10 years experience in IT and related technology fields.

William "Chris" Faris joined Advancement Services in 2016 as a desktop support technician. Faris has more than 10 years' experience in the IT support field and holds Network+ and HDI CSR certifications.

Henry Davis joined VCU in June 2014 as director of finance and budget.

A licensed C.P.A. in Virginia, Davis spent 10 years as controller at GRTC followed by three years as CFO. He was responsible for a $45 million operating budget and a $9 million capital budget.

Davis earned a bachelor's in commerce with a concentration in accounting from the University of Virginia.

In 2019, Melanie Irvin was named assistant vice president of Strategic Marketing and Engagement, a new division in the Office of Development and Alumni Relations that brings together Annual Giving, DAR Communications and Donor Relations and Events. Previously, Irvin lead the DAR Communications team for 13 years. Before arriving at VCU, Irvin spent nine years at the Richmond Times-Dispatch. She holds a bachelor degree in mass communications with a double major in political science from VCU, where she was executive editor of the thrice-weekly Commonwealth Times, and is a 2012 graduate of the VCU Leadership Development Program at the Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute. In 2011, she won an Emmy for her work on an institutional philanthropy commercial, “Invest in VCU.”

Kristen Caldwell joined VCU in 2006 as a managing editor and assistant creative director in University Relations before joining the DAR Communications team in 2015. In her role of associate director of development and alumni marketing and communications, she manages the VCU Alumni magazines, Shafer Court Connections and Scarab; writes and develops communications for membership campaigns and alumni events; and sets strategy for social media. She holds a bachelor's degree in mass communications from VCU.

Jenna Hart joined VCU in August 2014 as associate director of annual giving. She works to increase alumni participation by focusing annual giving operations on retaining, renewing and acquiring alumni donors. She earned a B.S. in business administration and management from Virginia Commonwealth University and a master's in human resource management from the University of Richmond. She spent five years working at the University of Richmond, where she managed direct mail, email and social media annual solicitations for the undergraduate alumni population. She also recruited, trained and motivated more than 250 alumni volunteers who worked toward the university's class giving goal of $2 million annually.

Parks Smith formerly worked for the alumni relations office at his alma mater, Longwood University. He focuses his energies at VCU on enhancing the alumni volunteer experience and directs our alumni volunteer engagement strategy with a focus on how to recruit, train, retain and steward alumni into meaningful volunteer roles.

A member of the VCU team since 2004 (she started as a student worker), Jenn Papenfuse has a B.A. from the University of Virginia and an M.P.A. from VCU.

She won the DAR Team Spirit Award in 2012.

Ashley Burton joined VCU Alumni as the director of alumni reunion and recognition programs in August 2018. She is responsible for the strategy, growth and success of reunions on the MCV and Monroe Park campuses. She also ensures that alumni are appropriately recognized for their contributions, both personally and professionally, through meaningful award ceremonies and events.

Most recently, Burton spent six years at the VCU School of the Arts in Qatar, where she managed events, festivals, ceremonies, conferences and diplomatic and VIP protocol. Before working in Qatar, she worked at VCU Massey Cancer Center, where she led sponsorship, fundraising and marketing for the center’s largest fundraising event, The Massey Challenge.

She maintains a professional certification as a Certified Special Event Professional through the International Live Events Association and is a licensed trainer by The Protocol School of Washington to teach intercultural etiquette and protocol.

Burton is a graduate of Longwood University and earned a certificate in event management from The George Washington University.

A member of the VCU staff since 2006, Michael P. Andrews earned a B.S. from Hofstra University and a master's from VCU. After seven years of business-to-business sales and marketing experience with two Fortune 500 companies, he transitioned into higher education. Today, his primary focus is generating annual fund revenue streams through direct marketing via mail, phone, digital, crowdfunding and emerging technology strategies.

He excels in multichannel marketing, emphasizing alumni engagement and fundraising. In August 2011, Andrews split responsibilities with the College of Humanities and Sciences and Development and Alumni Relations to build the university's first centralized annual giving office. In 2012-2013, Andrews was instrumental in building out a 19-center, on-site call center known as the Gold Line. It continues to be the most successful tool in the effort to attract alumni donors.

Since his arrival in DAR, Andrews has been the catalyst for increasing alumni participation donors by 42 prcent (8,064 in FY12 to 11,469 in FY18). That increase in alumni donors also helped to increase alumni annual giving revenue to from $12.7 million in FY12 to $40.1 million in FY18.

In 2013, Andrews received an Emmy award for his role in producing the "Invest in VCU" TV spot. In February 2016, under his direction, the annual giving office received Platinum and Gold honors from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. In April 2016, Andrews earned a merit award in the CASE category of Brief Events and Observances for the Battle for the Capital Alumni Giving Challenge.