Jenny Friar began serving St. Joseph’s Villa in 2007 as a consultant with CCS, an international fundraising consultancy, and joined the staff in 2009 as the Campaign Director for the Villa’s first-ever capital campaign Believing Is Seeing, which surpassed its $10 million goal in 2012. Following the campaign, Ms. Friar became the Villa’s Director of Development, Senior Director of Philanthropy, and Chief Advancement Officer. She leads Advancement team members in raising $3 million each year for programs, engaging community resources and more than 700 volunteers annually, and is heading the RiseUP Campaign with a $25 million comprehensive goal.
Ms. Friar has worked in fundraising for more than 15 years, including work for the American Institute of Architects, Martha Jefferson Hospital, the Joyce Theater, and the American University of Paris. Prior to entering fundraising, she worked as an archaeologist for the British School of Athens. She is a member of the Leadership Metro Richmond class of 2018, the President’s Advisory Council of the American University of Paris, and was recently named Top 40 Under 40 by Style Weekly. She is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and served on the Board. She currently teaches major gift fundraising at Virginia Commonwealth University and University of Richmond. She is a graduate of the American University of Paris, West Virginia University, and holds advanced degrees from Université Paris-Sorbonne (Paris I).
Current role