UConn Foundation names Laura K. Padron Senior Vice President for Advancement

Jennifer Eburg

< 1 min read

Laura K. Padron will join the UConn Foundation as the new Senior Vice President for Advancement (SVPA). A member of the foundation’s senior leadership team, Padron will be responsible for leading the advancement team, and will play a crucial role as the foundation embarks on the largest campaign in its history.

Padron is an innovative leader with extensive experience in development, donor relations, and campaign planning. She will be coming from the Florida International University (FIU) Foundation, where she serves as associate vice president. Padron led FIU’s $750 million Next Horizon Campaign with major gift officers across the academic colleges and schools, athletics, and student affairs.

Padron’s return to FIU in 2012 followed five years at the University of Miami, where she served as assistant dean for development at the School of Business and spearheaded the school’s role in the university’s $1.6 billion campaign. Previously, Padron served as senior director for donor relations and stewardship and established FIU’s first Donor Relations and Stewardship Office. Before working in academia, Laura directed national programs, including the Presidential Scholars in the Arts and YoungArts programs at the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts.

“We are delighted to be able to recruit someone of Laura’s caliber and experience level to the UConn Foundation,” says Jake Lemon, president and CEO of the UConn Foundation. “I have no doubt she will build on the foundation’s recent success, and we enthusiastically welcome her into UConn Nation.”

Padron has earned multiple awards in recognition of her work, including a 2005 Council for Advancement and Support of Education Gold Award and a 2021 Global Forum for Education and Learning Top 100 Visionaries in Education Award.

Padron is a graduate of Florida State University and a former president-elect and board member of Miami’s Association of Fundraising Professionals.

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