BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Former University of Michigan women’s water polo athlete and current Boston College Associate Vice President for Major Gifts & Development Wesley Ellison Stewart recently appeared as a guest on the 1.Question Leadership Podcast hosted by Tai M. Brown.
She discusses the changes she, her team and the university have had to make to keep things moving forward in university enhancement during the COVID-19 pandemic. She emphasizes that leadership in development starts with empathy and how that trait has become even more important over the last couple months.
Hired as Senior Associate Athletic Director/ Director of Development for Athletics at Boston College in August 2018 and promoted to her current position, Ellison Stewart arrived in Chestnut Hill, Mass., from the University of Texas, where she served as the assistant athletics director for leadership giving within the Longhorn Foundation. In this role, she was responsible for leading the overall strategy for key development initiatives within Texas Athletics. From campaign feasibility efforts, developing and executing campaign strategies, and helping to transition the culture from one of transactional fundraising to one focused on philanthropy, Ellison Stewart has played a key role as an individual fundraiser and team leader. Prior to her time in Austin, Ellison Stewart worked in Athletics Development at the University of Michigan, elevating to the role of the Director of Development for the Western States region.
Ellison Stewart began her career at the University of Virginia as an academic advisor for athletics before moving to the academic side to serve as the assistant director for marketing and recruiting for UVA’s McIntire School of Commerce.
A native of Portola Valley, Calif., she graduated summa cum laude in 2008 with a degree from the Stamps School of Art & Design at the University of Michigan with a bachelor’s in fine arts while earning Big Ten, Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) and Association of Collegiate Water Polo Association (ACWPC) All-Academic honors as a member of the Wolverines’ water polo team. She completed her master’s degree in intercollegiate athletic leadership from the University of Washington in 2009.
