Brydon M. DeWitt
Principal
DeWitt & Associates, Inc.

Ginger Bower
Director of Development
Richmond Symphony
Ms. Bower joined the Richmond Symphony (RSO) staff in 2007 as Director of Development. She had previously lived in Richmond, Virginia and had planned on returning.  In her position at the Symphony she manages a $3.5 million annual fund and is leading a $5.5 million endowment campaign. She recently succeeded in making a $500,000 match for a challenge grant from Mary Morton Parsons Foundation. Prior to coming to RSO, Ms. Bower worked for the YMCA of Metropolitan Washington.  She began working for the YMCA in the late 1980s as a Development Officer and then she returned to the YMCA in 2000 to oversee the entire Communications, Marketing and Development Departments as Chief Development Officer.  During her last tenure at the YMCA, she more than doubled their annual fundraising, increased federal grant funding by over 500%, redesigned all corporate communications materials, and started a planned giving program.
Before rejoining the YMCA, when Ms. Bower lived in Richmond, Virginia, the first time, she worked as Director of Development for Prevent Child Abuse Virginia and for the Science Museum of Virginia Foundation.  At Prevent Child Abuse Virginia, she raised over $1 million annually to keep children from being in abusive situations. Ms. Bower focused primarily on marketing and corporate sponsorships while serving with the Science Museum of Virginia.  She was able to raise approximately $1.5 million each year from local and national corporations to support a variety of exhibits and educational programs.

Nila Vehar
Development Manager
Association of Air Medical Services, Foundation for Air-Medical Research & Education

Shabina Bahl
Director of Development
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Shabina Bahl has been fund raising for Johns Hopkins University and Hospital for the past six years. Currently, she serves as the Director of Development for the James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute at Johns Hopkins Medicine. The Brady Institute has been ranked the #1 Department of Urology by the U.S. News and World Report for the past 18 years, due to the innovative work of scientists and surgeons such as Dr. Alan W. Partin, Dr. Patrick C. Walsh, Dr. Donald S. Coffey and Dr. Robert H. Getzenberg. As Director, Shabina has oversight for a $10m+/yr fund raising operation that includes a staff of 3 with a budget of over $1 million. The Brady Institute is a model fund raising operation that combines grateful patient fund raising with a volunteer advisory council and extensive faculty engagement. As part of the recently concluded Johns Hopkins Knowledge for the World Campaign, the Brady Institute raised more than $76 million. Prior to her tenure with Johns Hopkins, Shabina spent eight years in executive positions with corporations such as Mellon Bank and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC).

Shabina is an active volunteer in the local, national and international community. Within the fund raising sector, she serves on CASE District II Awards and Accolades and the AFP-MD National Philanthropy Day committees. In her local area, Shabina is a Board member at Manna House, a rescue mission for the homeless. She has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity in 2006 and 2007 in the city of New Orleans, in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, and is on the Alumni Board of her alma mater, Chatham University. Shabina has volunteered in New Delhi, India with Project Hope, to raise awareness and increase fundraising efforts for children living in slums.

Bradley C. Snowden, JD
Director of Planned and Major Gifts
Shenandoah University

Christina Hatch
Coordinator, Development and Alumni Relations
Jefferson College of Health Sciences  

Ginger Bower
Director of Development
Richmond Symphony

Brydon M. DeWitt
President
DeWitt & Associates, Inc.

Brydon M. DeWitt, President of DeWitt & Associates, Inc., has been a development professional for more than 35 years.  Mr. DeWitt began his development career in 1973 at Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, Virginia, and served as the chief development officer from 1975-1990. During that period the College successfully completed two major capital campaigns and significantly increased its annual and major giving programs. In 1990, he accepted the invitation of Gonser Gerber Tinker Stuhr, a development consulting firm in Chicago, Illinois, and began providing counsel to a variety of nonprofit institutions throughout the United States. In 1995, he left the firm to establish DeWitt & Associates and continue providing counsel in fund-raising and public relations to a diverse group of clients.  

In addition to consulting, Mr. DeWitt has made presentations and conducted seminars/workshops for conferees and governing boards. Topics have ranged from basic development principles to board development to building effective major gifts' programs. The Illinois Hospital Association, American Association of Christian Colleges and Seminaries, AFP of Memphis, Tennessee, and the Virginia Fund-Raising Institute have been among the organizations that he has addressed. 
He has also taught courses for Virginia Commonwealth University (“Raising Major Funds for Capital Needs” 10/2001 and 5/2002 – Especially for Nonprofits, Certificate Program) and the University of Richmond (“Building a Powerful Board That Can Raise Money” 11/2001; “Jumpstarting a Stalled Campaign” 2/2002; “Successful Capital Campaign Planning” 4/2002 – Office of Community and Professional Education, Institute on Philanthropy)
In 1996, Mr. DeWitt began writing and publishing The Development Companion, a quarterly educational newsletter for nonprofit presidents, board members, and development officers. Each issue is dedicated to a single topic and provides a step by step approach to the operation of a successful development program.