Margaret Wenzel A LIFE DEDICATED TO SERVICE

Introducing Our Senior Vice President Of Advancement

From domestic mergers to global nonprofit initiatives, Margaret Wenzel has dedicated her life to serving marginalized communities through empowerment and fundraising. Although the path may have not always been clear, her continuous “yes” to God’s will has led her to some amazing places. Now, as senior vice president of Advancement at Ave Maria University, Margaret continues to give her fiat to serving the community of Ave Maria.

Q. What got you interested in fundraising and advancement?

Initially, I wanted to be a travel writer and biographer. I got my undergraduate in English nonfiction creative writing from Loyola University New Orleans. In college, however, I was deeply influenced by the “Nicomachean Ethics” and Aristotle – the idea that a good life is a moral life. I began thinking of ways I could serve those around me and found the best way would be through using the gifts God has given me to help others. I thought, “I’m good with numbers, good with people, I like helping people, I should be a fundraiser!”

Q. Where did this deep love of service come from? My dad was in the Marine Corps. His dedication to our country and love of serving others greatly informed my personal values. Paired with our family’s Catholic faith, I grew up always looking to help those around me.

Q. Was there a specific moment you knew the Lord was calling you to a life of service?

Yes. I had a defining moment at 27 while working in South Texas. I was on a humanitarian trip, working with young women who had gone through deep trauma and bringing them into local church shelters. I was still in banking at the time, and as I got to know these women, I realized this type of work was the full expression of my humanity. So, with a prayer in the desert, I left my banking job and began working in nonprofit fundraising.

I promised God that as long as he would continue placing people in my path, I would dedicate my life to serving them to the best of my ability. It was my fiat before I knew what a fiat really was.

Q. And where did your fiat take you?

All over the world. I’ve worked in Texas, Illinois, Washington, D.C., New York. I’ve also worked with global nonprofit initiatives on capital campaigns, strategic communication challenges, and complex gift agreements. I started moving up in the field of advancement position by position – empowering communities to solve their problems and grow efficiently. I am deeply interested in this work, and it’s taken me all over the world to work with brilliant, interesting people.

Q. Sounds like you’ve been blessed with some amazing opportunities. When did AMU come into the picture?

My position at Ave Maria was very out of the blue. At the time, I was working on my own business, raising money for urban agriculture in D.C. and New York. In the summer of 2022, a position at AMU came to me, and to be honest, I wasn’t looking for it. I was comfortable in my current position, and my instincts were telling me to just dismiss it. But after praying about it, I felt compelled that maybe God was asking me to say “yes” to the opportunity. My heart and gut were telling me to go for it, but my head couldn’t understand why. I thought to myself, “This is so random, and I don’t fully understand it. This must be God’s will.” So I said yes.

Q. Why is advancement important to AMU?

Advancement is at the heart of everything we do at the University! Many people don’t know this, but as a nonprofit, Ave Maria subsidizes every student who attends our university by $12,000. These funds are covered by our generous donors. Also, funding is key to maintaining a high standard of faculty and staff excellence, as well as special projects such as our recent STEM program, new athletic facilities, and all our recent improvements and campus beautification. Advancement helps to fund all these projects, and we continue to be blessed by the generosity of our major and small donor pools.

Q. What are your hopes for the future?

I hope to bring my energy, creativity, and organizational skills to the University. Founded in fidelity to Christ and His Church – and in response to the call of Vatican II for greater lay witness in contemporary society – Ave Maria University exists to further teaching, research, and learning at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

I am honored to work with the world-class AMU faculty, staff, donors, and partners to create opportunities and synergies that advance the University’s mission to sponsor a liberal arts education dedicated to the formation of men and women in the intellectual and moral virtues of the Catholic faith, while developing professional and pre-professional programs in response to local and societal needs.

Q. We can’t let you leave here without mentioning your artwork. Can you tell us a bit about it?

I’ve always loved to paint, ever since I was a child. The creative arts were a large part of my upbringing, and I’ve been able to serve a lot of art programs through my career in fundraising. Art encourages creative expression, critical thinking, and independent thought. It’s a joy for me to express my creativity in writing and painting, and I hope to get involved with the liberal arts foundation at AMU to help foster outlets for creativity.

To learn more about advancement at Ave Maria contact Margaret Wenzel at margaret.wenzel@avemaria.edu.