Kristina Schaefer is currently Senior Philanthropic Advisor and Senior Associate Dean for Global Programs at MIT Sloan.  Kris lead the fundraising effort at Sloan for 8 ½ years before stepping into a principal gifts role this past July.  Kris has expertise in fundraising, management, information services, budget management, communications, and event planning.  Kris’ development experience also involved oversight and engagement of boards and volunteer organizations. 

Since coming to MIT Sloan, Kris has raised over $330M for Sloan and $525M for MIT. From 1998-2010 Kris served as the Vice President of Advancement for Simmons College.  Under her direction, The Dare to Imagine Campaign for Simmons raised 33% more than originally anticipated: with a $50M goal, the campaign concluded in 2004 with $69.3M raised. Prior to Simmons, Kris served as Vice President for Development and Director of Foundation Relations for Children’s Memorial Foundation in Chicago.  Under her leadership, annual fundraising totals more than tripled in a three-year period from $7.6M to $25M.  At Rice University, Kris was the Executive Director of Development and the Campaign Director for the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, where she led a $30M campaign to establish the Institute.  Before joining Rice, Kris directed the annual fund at Texas Christian University.  She launched her career at the University of Vermont.