Florence – October 2017
This past October, the UL&LS welcomed Jessica Philbrook as the new Director of Development for the College. Jessica brings with her a plethora of event planning and development experience, and we are fortunate to have her on our team.
Originally from Charlotte, North Carolina, Jessica developed an interest in performing arts at a very young age. She attended performing arts middle and high schools where she studied dance, including Ballet, Modern, Jazz, and Tap. When she graduated from high school, she knew that she wanted to keep dancing. Her interest in dance led her to Oklahoma City University for a Dance Management degree. Her program was diverse and prepared her to either work in the entertainment industry, create her own studio, or work in the non-profit industry. After deciding that she did not want to dance professionally, Jessica knew that she wanted to be a Development Officer.
In route to becoming a Development Officer, Jessica gained valuable experience working as a Wedding Planner in Berkeley for one year, where she planned 200 weddings. A few of the key things she learned from wedding planning were how to work under pressure, how to manage stress, and how to be flexible when unexpected things happened, as they often do at weddings. She gained a lot of sales experience and quite a bit of team experience, as she led a team of 10 people. One of the benefits of wedding planning was the opportunity to work with a diverse community and to learn about different cultural traditions.
After moving to Albuquerque, Jessica started working for the UNM Lobo Club in February 2016. Initially, she was responsible for managing their special events, including the Cherry & Silver Scholarship Gala, which is the Lobo Club’s main fundraising event. This past year, Jessica was promoted to the Director of Annual Giving; in this position, she managed 3,000 accounts, season tickets and donations affected by those tickets, and a $3 million gift in program. Jessica particularly enjoyed managing the volunteer program, which consisted of 40 members, and the student intern program. She was able to revamp the intern program so that the students received sales training and experience, photo shop training, and marketing experience, and they were able to help with campaigns at the Lobo games. The intern program was a success as many interns chose to come back to the program.
Ambassador Program Super Celebration – Featuring Noel Behne- June 2017
Jessica was inspired to come the UL&LS because she felt that this was a place where she would be able to serve all students on campus, which is really important to her. She finds the energy of main campus and all of the students very inspiring, and she hopes that her work as the Director of Development will impact student’s lives on a daily basis. One of her goals is to continue to create that culture of giving within the College. In her view, giving back to your community is important, and this includes giving to the libraries, to UNM, and to the local community. She looks forward to getting to know the library community better and understanding the bigger picture of what everyone’s role is in the UL&LS.
Fun facts about Jessica:
Jessica originally wanted to go to New York and be a Rockette dancer.
She enjoys participating in Community Theatre. Jessica performed in “Peter Pan” last winter at Rodey Theatre here at UNM, and has performed in Landmark Musicals’ productions of “Guys and Dolls” and “A Chorus Line”. She plans to be in the 1970s musical “La Cage aux Folles” in the Spring.
She is a Foodie and enjoys trying new restaurants in Albuquerque. The Antiquity restaurant in Old Town is her favorite place to eat. She is also particularly fond of the sushi burritos at Sushi Freak.
Her favorite flavor of cake: An ice cream cake from Frost: A Gelato Shoppe in Albuquerque Uptown.
Jessica is a big fan of the “Lord of the Rings” movies (particularly the “Two Towers”) and would like to travel to New Zealand to visit the hobbit houses.
She really enjoys traveling and, this past fall, she toured the cities of Munich (for Octoberfest), Budapest, Florence, and Venice. Her next travel destination is Australia where she plans to dive the Great Barrier Reef.
Although Jessica did not attend UNM as a student, she considers herself a Lobo for life.
A Chorus Line 2015
Guys and Dolls - June 2016
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