Lesa Faris, CMP

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Areas of Expertise:

• Solicitation and implementation of programs to gain non-dues revenues
• Developing partnership and sponsorship opportunities
• Advertising and trade show sales

Lesa Faris joined The Coulter Companies in 2002 as director of resource development, and as associate vice president, is responsible for the solicitation and implementation of a broad range of activities that fuel year-over-year increases in non-dues revenue for The Coulter Companies' client organizations. This includes sophisticated corporate partnership and sponsorship development, advertising and trade-show sales and other lines of revenue-generating activities unique to The Coulter Companies' portfolio of socially progressive, high potential nonprofits. In pursuit of these new revenues, Faris collaborates with key client leaders in the development of strategies that identify target sectors and related programs that possess marketplace traction.

Faris has more than 19 years of fundraising and sophisticated event-planning experience, encompassing sales and marketing in the corporate, nonprofit and government sectors. Faris has orchestrated both domestic and international events ranging in size from 75 to 14,000 attendees, experience that has provided a strong understanding of the return-on-investment expectations of prospective corporate partners and sponsors.

Faris graduated from Michigan State University, where she pursued a multidisciplinary major focusing on labor law, economics and sociology. While at Michigan State University, her academic achievements included memberships in the Golden Key National Honor Society and Outstanding College Students of America. At present, she holds memberships in the American Society of Association Executives Circle Club, Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), and Meeting Professionals International. Faris received her Certified Meeting Professional certification in 2008 and is a believer in lifelong learning.

Faris resides in Arlington, Virginia.

Now, here's the backstory on Lesa:

• Hometown: The Motor City, Detroit, Michigan
• Parents: My father opened a business in the early '50s, after he returned from a brief stint in the Korean War. The business still operates today. My mother stayed home to raise the kids and remodeled every room in the house on an annual basis. As a result, it felt like we moved around a lot.
• Favorite TV shows as a kid: The days seemed much longer then, so I had a lot of time. There's more than one: The Addams Family, Lost in Space and, of course, The Three Stooges.
• Spent my days as a youth: Generally, coming up with new ways to torment my brother, who is 10 years my senior. Come to think of it, I think it was his hobby as well to come up with ways to torment me!
• Thing I hate to admit, even to myself: I played softball for six years and prayed the ball would never come to me. In the end, I did get the Miss Galaxy Hut Award, because I wore make-up to every game. So much for MVP....
• Hobbies: Working out, swimming, cooking, and drinking good wine – sometimes even in that order.
• First "paycheck" job: Telephone collections at my father's business. Needless to say, telephone collections in Detroit deliver quite an education in customer service..."colorful" language and all!
• First car: A 1973 Mercury Montego – red with a white vinyl roof. Yes, similar to Starsky and Hutch's, but don't think I haven't heard that comment before.
• First job after college: Employee relations manager at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill. The first employee I hired fell asleep in one of the ballrooms and was fired the next day; hence, my career change to fundraising...when you are talking with clients and prospects about big money, they tend to be wide awake.
• Myers-Briggs type: ESTP
• Personal quote: "Never grow a wishbone where your backbone ought to be."
• Perfect happiness is: Sun, sand, plenty of blue water, and the means to enjoy it for more than just a weekend.
• If I had to do it all over again: I would probably repeat the same mistakes, but I'd make them sooner to get them out of the way.