Moneypenny

It is odd that in a profession where your relationships are your key asset that you often have to move on to move up. Development officers are a prime example of this. Much of what they do involves building trust with donors so they feel they are being heard and their vision will be realized. Good development officers are also hard to find. So when you get one, you tend to have trouble keeping them.

Friday we celebrated Tara’s time with us. She is moving on to a senior position just up the road at Stetson. Tara raised a lot of money for us. You can thank her for the atrium remodel in Business Administration Building 1, for one. In a team prone to showing its edge, Tara injected a sense of calm. She was also our peacemaker when we (read: me) made other people on campus nervous. LoL. If I needed to throttle back a bit, Tara was willing to deliver the message. Most of the time I listened. I only saw her nervous once, driving me the wrong way down a one-way street on our first trip to Atlanta.

So why is this post called Moneypenny?  A few years ago, the Hall Of Fame had a James Bond theme. Tara came dressed for the occasion and given her role (development) , the class she exudes and her ability to engage in witty banter, the nickname Moneypenny just kind of stuck. If the Foundation is smart, they’ll figure out that it’s the Moneypennies, not the Ms, that keep the operation from going rogue and they’ll hire her back…soon.  In the meantime, we’re sure going to miss her.