St. Thomas University Names Robyn S. Hoffman as Vice President of Philanthropy

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--St. Thomas University has announced Robyn S. Hoffman as their new Vice President of Philanthropy. Hoffman will be taking over for Gigi Laudisio, who is stepping down due to health reasons. Gigi, along with Reverend Monsignor Franklyn Casale, leaves a 16 year legacy of record-breaking fundraising and university advancement milestones.

“We welcome Robyn to South Florida,” said St. Thomas University President David A. Armstrong, J.D. “We especially welcome her to St. Thomas University. Thanks to Gigi Laudisio, 2019 was the university’s best fundraising year in its 60 year history, and we are certain that Robyn’s leadership will be instrumental to meeting our goals for the near future and beyond.” Hoffman is a strategic thinker with a strong fundraising background. She has a highly successful track record of driving institutional revenue growth from philanthropic giving and grant procurement, as well as organizational visibility through events, and collaborative outreach endeavors with community partners and funders.

Most recently, Hoffman served as Philanthropy Lead for the Green Sports Alliance. As one of the organization’s primary representatives to senior/board level actors in the external environment, she directly managed relationships with top funders - ESPN, College Football Playoff, MLB, NASCAR - and partners, Nike, EPA, and WWF. Robyn also created comprehensive strategy for funding diversification, with the goal of increasing support from partners, corporations, major foundations, and individuals.

Previously, Robyn served as the Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Thomas More University, Kentucky. As the College’s Chief Advancement Officer, Hoffman created and executed institutional fundraising plans, initiatives, and events that increased constituent engagement and met fundraising goals. Robyn was also responsible for major gifts and gift planning, endowment, capital campaigns, annual giving, corporate and foundation relations, alumni and constituent relations, stewardship, advancement services, and marketing and communications.

Hoffman has also lent her high-energy, optimism, and creativity as a leader to the Baptist Health Foundation Lexington, Volunteers in Medicine America, The Foundation for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, Washington State Community College, and The Ohio State University at Newark.

“Our 2020-2025 Strategic Plan, Limitless, calls for the launch of a $50 million capital campaign and the creation of diverse revenue stream,” continued Armstrong. “We are confident that Robyn is uniquely capable of continuing to elevate St. Thomas University as we strengthen our distinctive Catholic and Miami identities.”

About St. Thomas University

St. Thomas is a Catholic University with rich cultural and international diversity committed to the academic and professional success of its students who become ethical leaders in our global community. The only Catholic Archdiocesan-sponsored University in Florida, STU is a private, non-profit university that offers 39 undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees at its 144-acre campus in Miami Gardens, Fla., and through distance learning, including one of the oldest (and highly ranked) undergraduate programs in Sports Administration in the country. STU has been ranked #1 by U.S. News World and Report in Social Mobility for regional universities in the South, launching students from the lowest financial strata and catapulting them to a much higher financial strata in only 10 years. In the last year, STU also recruited the largest incoming undergraduate class and had the biggest fundraising year in the university’s history.