Ellie Starr Aims to Put Global Health on Donors' Agenda

The global public health agenda is in the hearts and minds of the general public as never before, making now the right moment to take on a new fundraising challenge, said Ellie Starr, who joined HSPH this summer as Vice Dean for External Relations.

Starr leads the Office for External Relations, which had previously been named Office for Resource Development. As explained by Dean Julio Frenk, the name change and Starr’s title are meant to better encompass the broader tasks of building relationships and reaching out to the community to raise funds and spread the word about HSPH.

“To implement the big visionary plans Dean Frenk has, we need robust fundraising,” Starr said. “Our office provides the resources to make that happen.”

Last year, HSPH raised close to $12 million from private philanthropic sources as part of the total $31 million in all gifts and pledges, including non-federally sponsored research. This year, Starr wants to build fundraising capacity to enable those figures to be topped.

“I’m here to match the crucial work done at the School with donors that have the interest and capacity to make the world a better place,” Starr said. “The more individuals, corporations, foundations and even government who become knowledgeable about the work of our students and faculty, the more who will become passionate and generous.”

One of the early goals includes raising funds for junior faculty and for student aid, she said.

The Office for External Relations will continue to rely on key elements: fundraising, alumni relations, and communications through the Harvard Public Health Review magazine and through input into plans to broaden the School's home page and social networking capacities.

Starr plans to reengineer and expand the office to increase the donor base and build the fundraising capacity. “We have to greatly expand the base of people supporting the School, and raise the funds this outstanding school deserves” she said.

In her office, Starr is surrounded by mementos from previous development efforts. Four framed artworks composed by students at the Perkins School for the Blind cluster on one wall, including a whimsical tile montage entitled “scattered thoughts.” Before coming to HSPH, Starr was Executive Director of the Perkins Trust. There she restructured and built the development team that increased fundraising by 40 percent and launched the largest fundraising campaign in Perkins' 180-year history.

On her window sill, a wooden Scrabble holder with the letters “you rock” recalls her eight years at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. There, she led the highly successful principal and major gifts efforts and helped to develop fundraising strategies and plans for the $1 billion DFCI Mission Possible Campaign.

A snapshot of Starr with the Dalai Lama comes from the beginning of her development career at Brandeis University, where she planned and implemented strategy to develop and cultivate more than $1.5 million in planned and major gifts.

“In my mind, I don’t ask people for money,” Starr said. “I give people an opportunity to make the world a better place.”

— Carol Cruzan Morton. Photo by Kent Dayton