Birgit Smith Burton
Birgit Smith Burton is the CEO of AADO, the African American Development Officers Network, which she founded at Georgia Tech in 1999 to provide support for fundraisers of color. A respected speaker on fundraising and diversity, she has authored several articles and co-authored The Philanthropic Covenant with Black America and Collecting Courage, which shares the experiences of Black professionals in the nonprofit sector.
Over her 26-year career at Georgia Tech, Birgit led effortsthat raised over $750M for programs, scholarships, and capital projects. She was also part of the first cohort of Leading Women @ Tech and received the Outstanding Achievement in Research Program Development award for the Marcus Center for Therapeutic Cell Characterization and Manufacturing.
Birgit hasserved on the global board of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) for over a decade, recently concluding her tenure as Chair of the AFP Global Board. She received the Opportunity and Inclusion Award from CASE for her leadership in diversity within fundraising. The R.I.S.E. Fund was created in her honor to support women of color in fundraising.
Recipient of the Be Haas Lifetime Achievement Award, Birgit also serves on various advisory boards, including Somos El Poder and Women of Color in Fundraising and Philanthropy. She holds a bachelor’s degree in media communications from Medaille University.
APPEARING IN
There She Goes: Invaluable Leadership Lessons from Extraordinary Women
