Development staff directory

Samantha Marrs joined VCU in 2000 as a frontline fundraiser, and she has served in
numerous DAR roles where she built organizational capacity in corporate and
foundation relations, donor relations, annual giving, regional giving, alumni relations,
talent management, budget and finance, and operations planning/evaluation. She leads
campaign operations, including administrative, communications and marketing, and
business intelligence functions. Most recently, she served as mentoring co-chair of the
VCU Leadership Career Community, and she represents DAR on university committees
related to commemoration, public art, institutional risk management, foreign gift
reporting and ethics.
 
Samantha has extensive volunteer experience in Richmond, where she helped
establish several nonprofits. She is a recent past president of the Virginia Association of
Fund Raising Executives, which awarded her the Nina Abady Award for Excellence in
Fundraising for her contributions to the field. In 2020, she received the Mentor of the
Year award for CASE District III (southeastern region) for creating pipeline programs to
attract and develop new fundraisers. Since 2012, she has served as a leadership
mentor for the VCU Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute, as professional mentor to
approximately 30 nonprofit fundraisers and as fundraising mentor for the Maggie L.
Walker Governor’s School FIRST robotics team.
 
Samantha holds degrees from Smith College and Columbia University as well as
professional certificates in diversity, equity and inclusion, inclusive philanthropy, and
transformative leadership.

Part of the team since 2010, Amy thrives on the new discoveries, new students and new stories that she encounters every day on the MCV Campus. As director of major gifts, her favorite part of fundraising is finding the perfect match — aligning the diverse interests of our alumni and patients with the exceptional developments at our academic medical center. 

 A proud winner of the VCU Development and Alumni Relations Spirit Award, Amy has been with the university since 2004, having first served in VCU’s corporate and foundation relations office for six years. Prior to VCU, Amy held development roles at Reynolds Community College and William & Mary. 

 A native Virginian, Amy earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from James Madison University, an M.Ed. from Peabody College at Vanderbilt University and a Ph.D. in higher education from William & Mary.

Beth Schecter joined the Med-Health Development team in 2021, providing project coordination and strategic management for the team’s programs and daily operations. She also manages grateful patient educational programming for School of Medicine faculty and serves as the program manager for the Medical Philanthropy Academy. Before joining VCU, she was the development stewardship manager at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. She is a recent transplant to Richmond and enjoys running, reading, baking and spending time with her young kids.

Wren Wyatt joined VCU’s corporate and foundation relations office in 2014 on a graduate fellowship through the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, where much of his research focused on postsecondary education. Before working at VCU, Wyatt attended the University of Virginia, graduating with a degree in international relations. He brings a variety of skills and experiences to the School of Medicine, drawing on previous roles as an English teacher overseas, an attorney liaison for a large Richmond law firm and a variety of defense industry and electrical engineering sales roles.

A member of the VCU team for more than 10 years, Rob Downs has a B.S. from James Madison University and an M.S. from VCU. He was worked in VCU Technology Services, Creative Services and Advancement Services in all aspects of web and technology.

A member of the VCU team since 2011, Nate Parker earned a B.S. in information systems with a concentration in application development from VCU in 2010. He is part of the team that implemented the new DAR online giving and event database, systems and websites.

Matt Yopp, who joined the VCU team in 2012, has a B.A. from Collins College and holds A+ Certification and HDI CSR Certification. He has 10 years experience in IT and related technology fields.

In 2019, Melanie Irvin was named assistant vice president of Strategic Marketing and Engagement, a new division in the Office of Development and Alumni Relations that brings together Annual Giving, DAR Communications and Donor Relations and Events. Previously, Irvin lead the DAR Communications team for 13 years. Before arriving at VCU, Irvin spent nine years at the Richmond Times-Dispatch. She holds a bachelor degree in mass communications with a double major in political science from VCU, where she was executive editor of the thrice-weekly Commonwealth Times, and is a 2012 graduate of the VCU Leadership Development Program at the Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute. In 2011, she won an Emmy for her work on an institutional philanthropy commercial, “Invest in VCU.”

Kristen Caldwell joined DAR in 2015 as associate director for alumni marketing and communications. In 2021, she was named executive director of DAR Communications, where she leads a dynamic team responsible for crafting compelling content to increase engagement and philanthropy among all constituencies. Before arriving at DAR, she spent nine years at VCU Enterprise Marketing and Communications as a managing editor and assistant creative director. She holds a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from VCU and is a 2018 graduate of the VCU Leadership Development Program at the Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute. She has won numerous CASE and PRSA awards for her work.

Jenna Hart (B.S.’06)  joined the annual giving team at VCU in August 2014. Since 2021 she has led the constituent marketing team which includes annual giving solicitations as well as universitywide direct mail and email operations. She works to increase engagement and philanthropic support by focusing marketing operations on engaging constituents and retaining, renewing and acquiring donors. 

Prior to joining VCU, she spent five years working at the University of Richmond advancement team, where she managed multichannel annual giving solicitations, completed personal solicitations, and managed hundreds of alumni and student volunteers.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management from Virginia Commonwealth University and a master's degree in human resource management from the University of Richmond.

A member of the VCU team since 2004 (she started as a student worker), Jenn Papenfuse has a B.A. from the University of Virginia and an M.P.A. from VCU.

She won the DAR Team Spirit Award in 2012.

Ashley Burton joined VCU Alumni as the director of alumni reunion and recognition programs in August 2018. She is responsible for the strategy, growth and success of reunions on the MCV and Monroe Park campuses. She also ensures that alumni are appropriately recognized for their contributions, both personally and professionally, through meaningful award ceremonies and events.

Most recently, Burton spent six years at the VCU School of the Arts in Qatar, where she managed events, festivals, ceremonies, conferences and diplomatic and VIP protocol. Before working in Qatar, she worked at VCU Massey Cancer Center, where she led sponsorship, fundraising and marketing for the center’s largest fundraising event, The Massey Challenge.

She maintains a professional certification as a Certified Special Event Professional through the International Live Events Association and is a licensed trainer by The Protocol School of Washington to teach intercultural etiquette and protocol.

Burton is a graduate of Longwood University and earned a certificate in event management from The George Washington University.

A member of the VCU staff since 2006, Michael P. Andrews earned a B.S. from Hofstra University and a master's from VCU. After seven years of business-to-business sales and marketing experience with two Fortune 500 companies, he transitioned into higher education. Today, his primary focus is generating annual fund revenue streams through direct marketing via mail, phone, digital, crowdfunding and emerging technology strategies.

He excels in multichannel marketing, emphasizing alumni engagement and fundraising. In August 2011, Andrews split responsibilities with the College of Humanities and Sciences and Development and Alumni Relations to build the university's first centralized annual giving office. In 2012-2013, Andrews was instrumental in building out a 19-center, on-site call center known as the Gold Line. It continues to be the most successful tool in the effort to attract alumni donors.

Since his arrival in DAR, Andrews has been the catalyst for increasing alumni participation donors by 42 prcent (8,064 in FY12 to 11,469 in FY18). That increase in alumni donors also helped to increase alumni annual giving revenue to from $12.7 million in FY12 to $40.1 million in FY18.

In 2013, Andrews received an Emmy award for his role in producing the "Invest in VCU" TV spot. In February 2016, under his direction, the annual giving office received Platinum and Gold honors from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. In April 2016, Andrews earned a merit award in the CASE category of Brief Events and Observances for the Battle for the Capital Alumni Giving Challenge.