AdvancementEDU

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Our Team

Chris Dudley

Founder

As founder of AdvancementEDU, Chris Dudley leverages over two decades of experience in higher education leadership, major gift fundraising, marketing, sponsorship sales, business development, and operations to provide high-level advice and strategy for heads of school, college presidents, and chief development officers.

Chris served in senior leadership at High Point University in High Point, NC, during a time of unprecedented growth and transformation. For ten years, as Senior Vice President for Administration and Chief of Staff, he led operational areas, including: security, transportation, food services, maintenance, janitorial, landscaping, construction, events, and community relations, among others. For eight years, he served as Senior Vice President for Development, leading a team that raised $450 million.

Contact: chris@advancementedu.com

Learn More About Chris

McKenzie Diehm

Managing Director of Advancement Services, Prospect Research, and Portfolio Management

McKenzie brings over a decade of expertise in educational development, having served both small liberal arts colleges and large AAU-member institutions. Holding an M.B.A. in Finance and Data Analytics/Business Intelligence, she specializes in prospect research, prospect management, CRM best practices, and fundraising analytics. McKenzie has developed fundraiser metric matrices at two separate institutions, tracking critical KPIs to drive performance. Her work has supported over $700 million in funds raised. In addition, she has overseen the development of CRM training modules at two separate institutions, increasing data literacy for frontline fundraisers.
 
As AdvancementEDU’s managing director of advancement services, prospect research, and portfolio management, McKenzie delivers customized, data-driven solutions to empower fundraisers, data analysts, and prospect development staff, helping clients exceed their fundraising goals.
 

Hayley Harris

Managing Director of Annual Giving and Engagement

Hayley is an accomplished annual giving strategist with over ten years of leadership in strengthening fundraising programs. As Director of Annual Giving at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she led the unification of a major public university’s fundraising efforts, orchestrating multi-channel campaigns – spanning direct mail, email, advertising, crowdfunding, and engagement center efforts – and oversaw the strategic planning and execution of GiveUNC, Carolina’s annual day of giving, to raise over $12 million in a single day at peak. As Director of Alumni Engagement at High Point University, her team doubled alumni participation through thoughtful donor engagement pipelines and effective campaigns. 
 
As AdvancementEDU’s managing director of annual giving and engagement, Hayley empowers institutions with bold yet practical strategies, offering expertise in appeal design, giving day optimization, donor segmentation, and cutting-edge tools recommendations and insight. Her collaborative approach delivers transformative results – strengthening annual funds, boosting donor engagement, and laying the foundation for major and planned gifts.

 

Contact: hayley@advancementedu.com