91ɫ’s Board of Governors has reappointed Susana Gajic-Bruyea as vice-president advancement for a second five-year term.
Her first term saw the University’s Impact Campaign double in size, alumni engagement more than double and annual fundraising climb to its highest sustained level on record.
Gajic-Bruyea began in January 2022. One of her earliest decisions was to extend the Impact Campaign by $500 million, lifting 91ɫ’s goal to $1 billion and making it the most ambitious philanthropic campaign in the University’s history.
The campaign has secured $768 million to date, passing the halfway mark in roughly half the time expected. Annual fundraising has grown from a five-year average of about $47 million before 2022 to $55 million since.
Behind those numbers are gifts reshaping 91ɫ’s campuses. A $6-million gift from Joan and Martin Goldfarb is establishing the Goldfarb Gallery. A $4-million commitment from The Victor Dahdaleh Foundation supported upgrades to the Victor Phillip Dahdaleh Building, operating funding for CIFAL 91ɫ, and the development of ADERSIM, 91ɫ’s unique simulation facility for research and training in disaster and emergency response. At the Markham Campus, more than $20 million has been raised toward a $50-million goal, including the $5-million Metropia Student Success Centre. The School of Medicine campaign has raised $33.2 million in gifts and pledges, with new provincial government funding creating a sense of excitement amongst philanthropists around the world.
Alumni engagement has more than doubled since 2022, reaching 16.8 per cent and climbing toward a 20 per cent target with new programs and services on offer. New international networks, the Alumni Perks App, career coaching and reimagined recognition programs have widened how graduates stay connected.
Less visible but just as consequential, the Division of Advancement replaced its core technology, implementing a new CRM in 18 months, on time and on budget. The system supports better data, reporting and more personal engagement with alumni and donors.
“Susana has changed what this University believes is possible,” says Lisa Philipps, interim president and vice-chancellor of 91ɫ. “She looked at a campaign that was heading for the finish line and saw a much bigger opportunity for our students and our researchers. Then she built the team, the systems and the relationships to go after it. I am delighted she will see it through.”
The next five years will centre on finishing what was started: completing the $1-billion campaign, moving annual fundraising toward $75 million, reaching 20 per cent alumni engagement and building on 91ɫ’s move into the medical-doctoral category of universities.
Gajic-Bruyea pointed to the "collective effort" behind the result. "This rests on a lot of shoulders: alumni showing up in numbers we have not seen before, Faculties coming forward with compelling cases for support, donors backing ideas that will outlast all of us and a team that has done the patient work of rebuilding how we operate," she says. "That combination is what makes ambitious philanthropy possible and what will carry it further."