Career Curious Panel
Interested in other development careers where you can utilize your prospect development skills? Join us for a brown bag lunch as our panelist discuss their career trajectories and how their experiences in the prospect development field impacted their journeys.
Panelists:
Sarah Burns, Associate Director, Prospect Research and Management, Baylor College of Medicine
Sarah Burns is an accomplished nonprofit professional with a robust background in fundraising and development. She currently serves as Associate Director of Prospect Research and Management at Baylor College of Medicine.
Prior to her role at Baylor, Sarah served in various fundraising roles at Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Houston including Grants Manager, where she managed a diverse portfolio of institutional donors, cultivating new funding prospects from individuals, private foundations, government entities, and corporations. Prior to her role as Grants Manager, Sarah served as the Development Manager – Special Events, where she orchestrated four major events annually, collaborating closely with volunteer committees to successfully raise operating funds for the organization.
Sarah began her nonprofit career as an Assistant in Marketing and Development at The Dallas Foundation. There, she played a pivotal role in database management, fund administration, and event coordination. Sarah’s proactive approach led to the transformation of the Foundation’s annual breakfast into a revenue-generating event through innovative sponsorship opportunities.
Sarah Burns holds a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and Ancient Mediterranean Studies from Trinity University. In her spare time, Sarah enjoys spending time with her husband and two young kids.
Matthew Pham, Vice President of Development, Battleship Texas
Matt has served in his role at Battleship Texas since June 2023, where he has led both campaign and operational fundraising efforts. Before Battleship Texas, Matt led development efforts at The Christian Outreach Center in Baton Rouge, where he grew fundraising through relationship building and proven development techniques — grounded firmly in prospect research. Prior to that, he served as a Director of Development at the Louisiana State University Foundation (LSUF), where he managed a portfolio of mid-level donors. Matt began his development career in development as an intern with the Prospect Research and Management team at LSUF and became a Prospect Research Associate after graduating, consulting with gift officers and Directors of Development across 10 different colleges. Matt credits his start in prospect research for his career trajectory as a development professional. He received his CFRE certification in 2021 and earned a Master of Public Administration degree from LSU in 2022. He also served as VP of Communications for the Baton Rouge Chapter of APRA in 2018-2019. In a past life, Matt was a trained opera singer, earning his Bachelor of Music degree in 2018. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking, gardening, watching the Tigers and Astros, attending Mass at his home parish, and spending time with his wife and two toddlers.
Stacy Laster, Experienced non-profit professional | philanthropy | project management
Stacy started her career in non-profit work in the early 2000’s as an AmeriCorps VISTA at a Houston-area refugee resettlement organization before becoming Houston Food Bank’s second ever dedicated grants staff person in 2006. During her time on the grants team, she added a position and developed structured processes for grants management. In 2013, Stacy became HFB’s first ever prospect research staff, and worked to develop a guidebook for moves management to support the major gifts team in moving assigned prospects through the solicitation cycle—she also supported this team through research analysis on prospect capacity and affinity to identify the best prospects for management. In 2016, using her powers of persuasion, Stacy made the case to combine her skills in grants and research, becoming HFB’s Director of Development Resources. In this role, Stacy oversaw the ‘back of house’ operations to support HFB’s fundraising efforts--- her talented team managed grant writing and philanthropy content, donor database operations, and prospect research functions. After 15 years at HFB, Stacy most recently worked as Project Manager for Feeding America’s Network Fundraising Services team.
Stacy has a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and moved to Texas to get away from the cold and snow in her hometown of Omaha. She likes coffee, whiskey, and listening to true crime podcasts while knitting either of the two things that she knows how to knit. She married her husband, Billy, on Leap Day 2020 and they enjoy solving the New York Times Spelling Bee together and spending time with their above average boxer, Zuzu.
Attendees are encouraged to pack a lunch and beverage!
Seating is limited, for more information and/or questions please contact aprahouston[at]gmail.com.
We encourage you to invite your colleagues or friends who may be considering making a shift in career paths. This lunch & learn will be free of charge to Apra members and nonmembers.
