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Executive Director of Advancement for Malvern Preparatory School.
“I’ve always believed that education is a game-changer for a young person because it opens up so many opportunities,” says Beth Alfonsi.
Alfonsi witnessed that first-hand at Neumann University, where she worked with a number of first-generation college students. “The financial aid process and the college application process were really overwhelming for a lot of these families,” she says.
Alfonsi saw gaps in the Neumann experience and quickly began filling them, conceiving the university’s first-ever fall open house, among other programs. “[The open house] was a huge success,” she says. “We influenced 500 people that day, whether they came to Neumann or not.”
At the Healey Education Foundation, Alfonsi bolstered the organization’s mission of fostering Catholic school sustainability by introducing new educational programming to schools in Philadelphia and elsewhere around the country. “It was also focused on empowering the laity through boards where the pastor wasn’t the only vote,” she says.
Now at Malvern Prep, Alfonsi is creating impact scholarships to match donors with the students they’re sponsoring. She’s responsible for 90 percent of the school’s revenue through admissions and development—a heavy burden to carry. But it’s one she manages with grace.
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