UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Jose Lugaro, director of development for the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, has been added to the University-wide Women’s Philanthropic Advisory Board.
The advisory board works with the Office of Volunteer Programs to identify and strengthen the relationship between the Division of Development and Alumni Relations and traditionally underrepresented groups, with specific focus on donors and volunteers who identify as female/women.
“I’m thrilled for the opportunity to be an ally on the Women’s Philanthropic Advisory Board. Approximately two-thirds of the student body in the Bellisario College of Communications identify as female, we have thousands of incredible women alumni in the workforce and dozens on the faculty," Lugaro said. "It’s a privilege to help connect them with one another and ensure their voices are represented as we work to build a greater Penn State.”
Longtime Penn State volunteer and donor Lee Beard is chair of the committee, which includes Molly Barron and Charleon Jeffries, the director of diversity and inclusion for the Division of Development and and Alumni Relations.
A Penn State alumnus with experience leading multimillion-dollar fundraising efforts across the world, Lugaro joined the Bellisario College in September 2017.
He got his start in development as a student working for the University's Lion Line from 1996 to 1998.
Before returning to his alma mater, he was vice president for development at the Fund for Global Human Rights, where he was responsible for the organization's $15 million annual fundraising efforts and directed a staff of 10 in the U.K. and United States. He has worked with Michigan State University, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and the LGBT Community Center of New York.