WashU Hillel Receives Major Grant; Jamie Avalos Joins Professional Team

Following our successful participation in OnBoard’s 13-month Board development and capacity-building program, WashU Hillel was invited to apply for and was awarded a significant matching challenge grant from a leading national foundation.  The grant aims to increase Hillel’s impact in fostering Jewish campus life at Washington University in St. Louis by expanding our resource development capacity.  

WashU Hillel is grateful for our participation in OnBoard and the grant we’ve been awarded, which has been matched in full through the generosity of Jodi and Doug Berman (parents of Zachary, LA’21).  The OnBoard program has strengthened our lay and professional leadership and the grant and match will have a transformative impact on our organization.

As a component of the grant, we’re pleased to announce that Jamie Avalos joined the WashU Hillel team as our new Development & Communications Manager on January 4th.  Jamie is a St. Louis native who has worked in the development field for nearly 14 years with a number of organizations, including the United Way, Jewish Family Services of St. Louis, Jewish Family & Career Services in Atlanta, GA, and the Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital.  Most recently, she served as Manager of Donor Analytics for the St. Louis Jewish Community Center.  Jamie received her BA from Saint Louis University in Organizational Studies with a minor in Project Management and plans to pursue studies toward her CFRE (Certified Fund Raising Executive) certification.  We’re thrilled that Jamie, her husband, Jeff, and their daughter, Mila (age 2), have become part of the WashU Hillel family.

In addition to Jamie, Emily Fox, LA’21, has been hired as Development Intern until she begins her first year at Washington University School of Law in August.  Emily has been leading our immense effort to update WashU Hillel’s alumni records.        

L-R; Jamie Avalos, Emily Fox