Laura Henzl

About Laura Henzl

Laura is the Senior Director, Office of Foundation Relations with the Purdue for Life Foundation and Purdue Research Foundation. She is a certified mentor/coach for the College of Engineering, helping colleagues achieve their career and personal goals. Laura has 26+ years of combined experience in higher education and serving her communities in both private and public institutions. Her career encompasses highly sought positions where she excelled in fast-paced environments learning quickly, developing new solutions, and implementing and leading in roles focused on fundraising, managing relationships with corporations, individual donors, private foundations, event planning, marketing, communication, and freelance writing. She continues to be a resource to others looking for direction and assistance both internally at Purdue amongst faculty, academia, and with colleagues within the Purdue for Life Foundation. Laura received her Bachelor of Science degree in Communications (Media Studies) with a minor in Journalism from Manchester University; and is certified with a Mini MBA from Purdue’s Mitch Daniels School of Business and the Krannert School of Management. Laura also is an alumni and recipient of the second cohort of the Greater Lafayette Commerce’s young professional award for Tippecanoe County, having been named a Top 10 Outstanding Young Professional for her contribution and leadership in making the Greater Lafayette Community a better place to live and work. A published fundraising expert with Elsevier Ltd. and Chandos Publishing, Laura also gives back to her community by sharing her knowledge and experience learned. Her book (co-authored): “Successful Fundraising for the Academic Library: Philanthropy in Higher Education” has been utilized as an academic resource in classrooms with the Lilly School of Philanthropy; and is published in multiple languages, and available on ScienceDirect (the premier platform for Scientific, health and technical literature), Amazon, Elsevier, and numerous library catalogues. Laura also is published in Purdue University’s e-Pubs with multiple articles focused on cultivating collaborative relationships and work such as: “A Collaborative Approach to Addressing Health Information Literacy among High School Students.”

Experience

1. Senior Director of Foundation Relations, University Development Office, Purdue for Life Foundation

   Purdue Research Foundation

   Nov 2019 — Present · West Lafayette, IN, US

Education

• Purdue University College of Engineering

  Certified College of Engineering Mentor/Coach

  2017 — 2019

• The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University

  Fundraising

  2003

• Presenter at Engineering Development Forum

  Tips and Techniques for Fundraisers, Fundraising: Alumni, Corporations and Foundations

  2013

• Leadership Lafayette Career Leadership Academy

  Top 10 Young Professional, Community Leadership

  2006 — 2007

• Purdue University, Krannert Executive Education Programs

  Applied Management Principles (AMP) ‘mini-MBA’ Certificate Program

  2018

• Manchester University

  Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Communication; Media Studies; Journalism

• Advancement Resources, LLC

  Certificate, Fundraising

  2007 — 2012

Skills

• Writing
• Editing
• Research
• Leadership Development
• Proposal Writing
• Alumni Relations
• Public Relations
• Annual Giving
• Higher Education
• Strategic Planning
• Social Media
• Fundraising
• Volunteer Management
• Stewardship
• Social Networking
• Outstanding Interpersonal Communication Skills
• Strategy
• Newsletters
• Creative Writing
• Community Outreach
• Grants
• Program Development
• Management
• Project Management
• Program Management
• Grant Writing
• Leadership
• Organizational Development
• Marketing
• Public Speaking
• Philanthropy
• Nonprofits
• Event Planning