Leia Droll joins the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation this fall as the school’s new chief development officer. A native of Davenport, Iowa, Droll has 15 years of experience in development in nonprofits and higher education, most recently as the chief development officer for NC State University Libraries.
After she received a bachelors and masters in communications studies, Droll took a job with the World Monuments Fund in New York, a small shop where she wore many hats, from marketing to development. Then the recession hit. “As a small nonprofit we felt it earlier and a bit harder,” says Droll. “I knew if I wanted to stay in the nonprofit and education sectors, pursuing a career in development would be the way to go, the opportunities were just better.” Droll fell into the role easily, quickly amassing a track record for donor relations, fundraising and philanthropic efforts. At NC State, she increased the Libraries’ endowments by over 200%, and helped the them meet their capital campaign goal more than two years ahead of schedule. Below, Droll talks about her next chapter at Maryland, the galactic origins of her name and the impact of giving during a national crisis:
Before coming to Maryland, you were chief development officer for NC State Libraries for seven-and-a-half years. What’s the biggest challenge of raising money for a library? Well the biggest challenge is a library doesn’t have alumni. So, you don’t have that natural base of donors, but also, every student comes through the library at some point; so, in a way, all alumni are potential donors. When I arrived, they had just opened the Hunt Library, this absolute architectural marvel. It was designed by Snøhetta, a design firm out of Norway. In Time Magazine it was called the library of the future; every building on every campus in North Carolina is brick, but Hunt was stainless steel, and the interior was very colorful and open. Books were kept in high-density storage so they could offer more group study rooms. It was not the typical library where you’re walking through stacks. We were getting some attention, and it was really a source of pride for the entire university and the state. One of the things I’d say about the library world, as resources have become more and more electronic and physical books less necessary, academic and public libraries have imagined a scope for themselves that centers on access, resources and technological literacy, potentially making them even more relevant.
What’s something that not many people know about you? One question I often get is whether I was named after a Star Wars character and I was, in fact, named after a Star Wars character. My parents let my brother name me; he was four-years-old at the time and obsessed with Star Wars. I don’t know if they were actually serious when they asked him, but they liked the name!
You’re a prolific traveler. Where’s the most outstanding place you’ve ever been? It’s a tie. Last summer I hiked the Inca trail to Machu Picchu and a few years before that I was able to see the Temples at Angkor in Cambodia. Typically, I try to do one big trip a year, so this year has been really hard!
This is a challenging time in our country and a challenging time for UMD as a state-funded university. how has that changed your role as chief development officer? I think that we’ll probably see some more short-term needs. Student needs are greater now; that might be because they have lost employment or their parents have lost a job. Anytime there’s an economic downturn there’s a lot more immediate need. Development, at its core, has the long-term health of the institution in mind, building funding through endowments and planned gifts. That hasn’t gotten any less important, but there is an opportunity for donors to make a significant impact right now, to take some of that anxiety away for students and make sure they can, for lack of a better term, just be students.
A common misconception of giving is that only big gifts can make a difference. Make a case for why that’s not true. Going back to the last question, we are in the midst of a really challenging time for so many of our students. Sometimes it’s just a student falling short one semester; its often a small thing that can really make a difference. In the longer term, smaller gifts do add up, and we need the support of all alumni to make sure that the School can be nimble and flexible, and help students in whatever situation may arise.
What are some of the opportunities that you think make MAPP unique? What are you most excited about? I personally have a lot of background in the humanities and I love that Maryland is such a well-rounded university, with so many strengths beyond the traditional STEM disciplines. I think one of the exciting things about coming to MAPP is just being in the D.C. area; it’s a great canvas for the school, particularly for our disciplines and its exciting that students get to experience that.
There seems to be a lot of potential for growth at the school—lots of new ideas and some really tangible things like a new undergrad major and need for more space. There’s a great base but there’s a lot that can be done to support faculty and recruit talented students. I think having these disciplines together is pretty unique; when I was interviewing, someone called it a “jewel on campus.” I’m excited to learn more about the work happening here at MAPP and I’m really looking forward to meeting the alumni and hearing their stories. I’ve always felt that’s the best way to learn about where you are is from other people who have experienced it.