New York City Fundraiser Juliana M. Weissbein Named Outstanding Young Professional

(Arlington, Va.) Juliana M. Weissbein, Associate Director of Development Operations at Planned Parenthood Federation of America in New York City, has been recognized as one of three Outstanding Young Professionals by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP).

The award recognizes fundraisers under the age of 31 who show exemplary work in raising funds, inspiring donors, helping manage campaigns, and giving back to the profession.

With nearly a decade of fundraising experience and a record of proven results, Weissbein is a highly motivated, results-driven nonprofit leader who thrives on bettering fundraisers and the communities she serves. She operates from a fundamental belief that an agile strategy, focus on a strong mission, and data-driven insights can enable big and bold ideas, producing measurable results and impact.

As the Associate Director of Development Operations at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Weissbein oversees data integration processes, ensuring that all donor data and contributions are deposited and processed with adherence to internal guidelines and legal standards. She is responsible for enforcing, developing, and enhancing donor-related operations to guarantee data integrity within the Salesforce environment.

Weissbein began her career at Teach For America on the Data & Operations team where she processed the intake of an annual diversified budget of over $180 million. In this role, she gained knowledge of core fundraising principals and a fluency in best practices for accepting foundation, corporate, individual, and state awards. This position also afforded her the opportunity to create a nationally distributed policy and procedure manual for Teach For America’s fundraising coding structure. She developed chapters on topics such as pledge collection, relationship management, in-kind and matching gift best practices, campaign strategy, and more.

Weissbein’s successes at Teach For America led her to pursue progressively more challenging projects at GLSEN, where she served as their chief database administrator. Upon her start, GLSEN offered her the opportunity to attend unlimited Raiser’s Edge trainings and, throughout 2012, she completed more than 166 hours of coursework giving her the skills needed to develop and enforce database user and data security policies. Taking notice of her dedication, in 2013 she was personally invited by Blackbaud to participate in their certification program. After passing the exam, she became one of the nation’s first certified administrators in Raiser’s Edge.

Following GLSEN, Weissbein joined the team at the Ms. Foundation for Women as their Senior Manager of Donor Data and Stewardship. In this role, she focused on front-line work, most notably the creation of a new mid-level donor program and growing its young professionals ambassador program. In her first year, she exceeded goal and raised over $100,000 from her portfolio. Additionally, she grew the ambassador program from roughly 30 members to over 250 and raised an additional $55,000 from the cohort.

During this time, Weissbein was selected to attend an elite program for nonprofit leaders hosted by the School of Business at Columbia University. Here she was formally trained in essentials such as the strategic management, cultivating dynamic and inspirational leadership, using mission and vision to set departmental priorities, and effective delegation and performance management.

“I am honored to be recognized by an organization I so deeply respect and to be in the company of past recipients who have helped me realize the true potential of our profession to make a difference,” said Weissbein. “Winning this award would not have been possible without the mentorship I have received from my colleagues, for whom I have the deepest appreciation, and from whom I have derived the ambition to challenge myself at each stage of my career. Serving my community has been a privilege that I am grateful for every day. Thank you so much to the team at AFP for recognizing me with this incredible award.”

Weissbein has been an actively engaged member of AFP throughout her career. In 2016, she joined the AFP New York City Chapter’s Emerging Leaders Committee, and her work and commitment led her to being appointed chair in January 2018. She has collaborated closely with the New York Chapter board to formalize a series of programs and initiatives to steward all members who join or renew with the chapter at the Young Professional level.

A personal goal of Weissbein’s was to incorporate AFP’s IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access) framework into the Emerging Leaders Committee’s activities to ensure they are setting the gold standard for how professional membership associations welcome, embrace, and engage people of all backgrounds and perspectives.

“Juliana’s entrepreneurial spirit, strong leadership abilities, commitment to professional development, relentless pursuit of results, and drive for constant innovation demonstrate the positive attributes she brings to the fundraising profession and the communities she serves,” said Jethro Miller, Chief Development Officer for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and who nominated her for the award. “She has proven that she is fully committed to a life-long career in the fundraising industry and goes above and beyond to excel as a leader within the larger fundraising community.”

Weissbein is a prime example of someone who is fueled by giving back. She has spent time campaigning for political causes and candidates she is passionate about and donates time monthly to her neighborhood food cooperative. She has also volunteered her time presenting industry-specific lectures at numerous tech conferences and serves as a NYC mentor for TechUp, a job tour company which brings together diverse and non-traditional talent to ensure the technology sector is representative of the American population. She also serves as a “Featured Alumni in Action” at her alma mater and has spent time lecturing to future graduates while serving as a spokesperson on their alumni website. Finally, she has served as a member of Women In Development, Young Nonprofit Professionals Network, and was a Fellow at the Center For Progressive Leadership.

Weissbein’s dedication and leadership skills are already making her a sought-out mentor in the AFP and nonprofit communities. She serves as a mentor to AFP members nationwide and to those new to the profession at Fundraising Day in New York.

“Juliana is not just an exceptional fundraiser, but an exceptional leader,” said Mike Geiger, MBA, CPA, President and CEO of AFP. “What she has accomplished so far in her career is nothing short of amazing, and it’s clear she is not ready to rest on her laurels anytime soon. Her energy, thoughtfulness, and dedication come through in everything she does, and all of us at AFP are honored to be able to recognize her with our Outstanding Young Professionals Award.”

More information about Juliana Weissbein, along with the AFP International Conference on Fundraising, can be obtained by contacting Michael Nilsen at (425) 241- 4675 or Michael.Nilsen@afpglobal.org.