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Senior Counselor, Chicago
With two-and-one-half decades of nonprofit experience, Sara Vlajcic assists organizations in clearly identifying their goals and developing strategies to meet them. As a senior counselor for Smith Beers Yunker & Company, she has been a valued team member on capital and major gifts campaigns in Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Washington, DC.
From September, 2001 to July, 2004, Sara served as campaign counsel for American Red Cross of Greater Chicago. She assisted ARCGC with re-shaping their campaign in light of the events of September 11, 2001, and guiding the organization’s leadership volunteers and staff to successfully raise $13.5 million for a Disaster Operations Center on Chicago’s near Westside.
As a resource development specialist, she has helped museums, hospitals, universities, youth organizations, and professional associations significantly increase contributions and diversify funding sources. Working with leadership volunteers and staff, Sara has guided their efforts to educate potential donors about the important work they do and actively seek their support.
For the past ten years, Sara assisted the South Shore Drill Team & Performing Arts Ensemble with critical development issues. Located on Chicago’s Southside, the team teaches dance and precision drilling to young people while providing them with education support and life skills. Sara helped the team obtain its 501(c)(3) nonprofit status, acquire its first office and administrative staff, expand recruitment efforts, and raise its visibility. In 2006, the team moved into a $30 million facility built by Lands’ End Founder Gary Comer who grew up in the same community.
A former newspaper and television reporter, Sara earned a bachelor of arts degree in English and journalism from Illinois State University and studied journalism and law in graduate school at Southern Illinois University. She lives with her husband in Geneva, Illinois.
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