Faculty
Meet Your Faculty
Amy Begg
Amy Begg is Executive Director of Pipeline Optimization at Emory University. Amy is responsible for developing robust pipelines, optimizing fundraiser portfolios and oversees the Research and Prospect Management teams. For the last 18 years, Amy has held leadership positions on the research and prospect management team at Harvard University. In 2016, Amy created the first prospect management team for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. She has also provided guidance on prospect management for the University development office, the Radcliffe Institute, the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Harvard Divinity School. Amy is also co-founder and partner of Cypriped LLC., a cryptocurrency mining company.
Amy serves as a trustee for the University System of New Hampshire (USNH), which includes all of the public colleges and universities in the State of New Hampshire. She is a past president and board member of the New England Development Research Association (NEDRA). Previously, she served as a board member for the Plymouth State Alumni Association, including a term as chair of the association.
Nicole Fonsh
Nicole Fonsh recently returned to Massachusetts to join Harvard Law School as the director of prospect development.
Previously, she spent five years as the director of prospect development at The New School where she was responsible for providing strategic vision, leadership, and planning for the university’s prospect development program with an emphasis on major gift development and solicitation.
She began her prospect research career at Harvard University where she found a seamless use to combine her knowledge of wealth and curiosity for information while working in an environment best described as a master class in educational fundraising. Previously, she worked at Bain Capital in their Research Library providing global staff with industry-specific research and due diligence.
Before receiving her master's degree in library and information science from Simmons University, Fonsh spent seven years working on the Agency Lending Desk at Goldman Sachs. She holds a bachelor's degree from Northeastern University.
Amber Countis
Amber W. Countis has served as Director of Donor Relations for Texas A&M University-Commerce since December 2018. In this role, she has responsibility for Stewardship and Donor Relations, Advancement Services, Prospect Research and Management, Annual Giving, Student Philanthropy, and Phonathon functions. She previously served as Senior Director of Advancement Services at Norwich University in Vermont from 2012 to 2018 and was Director of Prospect Development and Research at Tufts University from 2005 to 2012.
Amber began her career in development and prospect research at Loyola University (2003 to 2005) and Ochsner Clinic Foundation (2001 to 2003) in New Orleans. She is a graduate of Tulane University with a BA in political science and environmental studies, and earned a certificate in management of nonprofit organizations and a master of public policy from Tufts University. She served two terms as president (2012 to 2014) of the New England Development Research Association (NEDRA) and was on the board of directors from 2009 to 2015 serving in various capacities including conference co-chair, vice president, secretary, scholarship and nominating committees. She is a member of ADRP, AASP, CASE, and Apra where she served as a member of the curriculum planning committee for the 2018 and 2019 Prospect Development conferences. She is currently the Advancement Services track chair for the CASE District IV Conference in March 2020.
Jon Garrow
Jon W. Garrow was appointed director of prospect development at Willamette University in 2019. He was previously a director at Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Health System in New York City. Jon has been in the prospect development field since 2007, working with higher education, health care, and human services organizations. He has an undergraduate degree from Chapman University and is completing graduate studies at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Jon was previously on the board of Apra Greater New York, and has presented for Apra and various chapter programs.
Gareth Griffin
Gareth Griffin is the Senior Director of Prospect Development at MIT, where he leads the Institute's prospect research, prospect management, and prospect data integrity programs. Before joining MIT, he was the Senior Director of Prospect Management & Analytics at Santa Clara University and Assistant Director of Prospect Management at UC Berkeley. Before heading west to California, he served as a Prospect Research Analyst at Clemson University. He is very active with the prospect development community. He just finished serving on Apra’s Ethics & Compliance Committee where he was Chair of the committee from 2017-2019. He formerly served on the board of the California Advancement Researcher’s Association before moving out to Massachusetts.
Rayid Ghani
Rayid Ghani is a distinguished career professor in the Machine Learning Department and the Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University.
Ghani is a reformed computer scientist and wanna-be social scientist, but mostly just wants to increase the use of large-scale AI/Machine Learning/Data Science in solving large public policy and social challenges in a fair and equitable manner. Among other areas, Ghani works with governments and non-profits in policy areas such as health, criminal justice, education, public safety, economic development, and urban infrastructure. He is also passionate about teaching practical data science and started the Data Science for Social Good Fellowship that trains computer scientists, statisticians, and social scientists from around the world to work on data science problems with social impact.
Before joining Carnegie Mellon University, Ghani was the founding director of the Center for Data Science & Public Policy, research associate professor in computer science, and a senior fellow at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. Previously, Ghani was the chief scientist of the Obama 2012 Election Campaign where he focused on data, analytics, and technology to target and influence voters, donors, and volunteers. In his ample free time, he obsesses over everything related to coffee and works with non-profits to help them with their data, analytics and digital efforts and strategy.