Fedolfi, Kini, Kaufman Receive Cardinal Achievement Awards

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The Office of Human Resources presented three Cardinal Achievement Awards to University Relations staff in December 2014.

Charles “Chuck” Fedolfi ’90, director of annual giving, was honored for his work on Giving Tuesday, Dec. 2, when the Wesleyan community joined together in an unprecedented show of support for students.  Led by Fedolfi, a team of colleagues and volunteers inspired alumni, parents, faculty and staff to make 2,059 gifts totaling over $500,000 – far exceeding the original goal of 1,000 gifts for the day and setting a record for the largest number of gifts Wesleyan has ever received in one day. On Wesleyan’s first Giving Tuesday in 2013, 292 individuals contributed $54,135.

“Chuck was the driving force that made Giving Tuesday successful. He and his team developed an effective marketing plan featuring a handful of impressive Wes students and then communicated the message across media platforms with a motivating sense of urgency and excitement,” said Gemma Fontanella Ebstein, associate vice president of University Relations. “This intense campaign really got everyone talking, and giving, to their cause: Wesleyan.”

Aditi Kini ’13, assistant director of online communications, received a Cardinal Achievement Award for her work in promoting and communicating Family Weekend 2014 to the alumni and parent community.

Aditi “went above and beyond the call for Wesleyan” each day and night of Family Weekend said Adrian Cooke, associate director of online communications. Kini staffed diverse activities; posted updates on social media; collated the Tweets, photos and Facebook posts of attendees and shared them with the off-campus audience during the weekend.

“Through Aditi’s efforts many more members of the community were engaged than would have been possible otherwise – contributing to the goal of enhancing recognition of Wesleyan as an extraordinary place,” Cooke said.

Carolyn Kaufman, associate director of corporate and foundation relations, was honored for her exceptional service in promoting best practices in grant development and colleagueship with other grant seeking fundraisers at peer institutions.

“Carolyn has taken leadership roles within the CLASP network (Colleges of Liberal Arts Sponsored Programs) that support and enhance our efforts to raise grant funds for Wesleyan” said Carol Scully, director of corporate and foundation relations.

This special honor comes with a $250 award and reflects the university’s gratitude for those extra efforts. Award recipients are nominated by department chairs and supervisors. Nominations can be made anytime throughout the year. For more information or to nominate a staff member for the award, visit the Cardinal Achievement Award website.

Recipients will continue to be recognized in News @ Wesleyan.

See past Cardinal Achievement Award recipients here.