Introducing Executive Director Sally Benner

Northwestern’s Office of Alumni Relations and Development has a new leader for its New York Regional Office. Sally Benner, the former senior director of development at Columbia University Medical Center, took over as the office’s executive director in October.

“Northwestern alumni are renowned for their passion for the University and its schools,” Benner said. “This enthusiasm, when coupled with the immense variety of talents and backgrounds of Northwestern’s alumni, make this a very exciting time to lead the equally enthusiastic New York team.”

The New York Regional Office, located in Manhattan’s Rockefeller Center, works to foster engagement and giving within the large community of Northwestern alumni, parents, and friends in a metropolitan area that is of utmost importance to the University. The office’s six-member team works closely with the Northwestern University Leadership Circle’s New York Regional Council to cultivate leadership gifts and create opportunities for donors to engage with the University and each other.

At Columbia, Benner played a key role in the medical center’s $2 billion campaign, which was part of the university’s successful $5 billion campaign. She previously worked at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and NYU Law School.

Benner comes to Northwestern firmly rooted in the New York community. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Fordham University and master’s degrees from both NYU and Columbia. To start a career dedicated to education, she was a third-grade teacher in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of the city immediately after college.

”With more than 13,000 alumni in the Tri-State region, alumni of Northwestern’s colleges and professional schools have an impressive presence here,” Benner said. “We’re eager to keep them involved in the life of the University and also to keep the University an important part of their lives.”

You can reach the Office of Alumni Relations and Development's New York Regional Office at 212-332-3585.