Updates in CEMI Leadership and Donor Engagement Project
Several teams engaged in the Cornell Experience Modernization Initiative (CEMI) are making great progress in finalizing plans to overhaul our engagement and fundraising software systems across campuses. The Donor and Engagement Experience Project is focused on migrating Cornell’s myriad ecosystems to the selected Kindsight Ascend platform.
To support these efforts, Cornell has recruited its first university-wide Director of Development IT, Ernest Penland. Ernest will join us on September 1, and collaborate with leadership from Cornell’s Office of Alumni Affairs and Development, including the Lab of Ornithology, and Weill Cornell Medicine’s Office of External Affairs, to lead the technical side of our Kindsight solution and related systems. These groups will support DEEP as our new Development Information Technology team.
Additionally, after a long and distinguished career at Cornell, Debbi Kruszewski-Warner, Executive Director of Advancement Information Systems for Alumni Affairs, will be retiring on September 30. Debbi has been instrumental in launching the Donor and Engagement Experience Project in tandem with other CEMI projects and in helping guide the initiative from needs assessment through system selection and into the implementation phase. Before her departure from Cornell, Debbi will partner with Ernest and the team to transition the valuable work already in progress for the Donor and Engagement Experience Project.
About Ernest
Ernest Penland is a higher education technology leader with more than 25 years of experience in enterprise applications, development technology, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, and organizational leadership. Most recently, he served as Senior Director of Enterprise Applications at Virginia Tech, leading teams responsible for development and marketing technologies, learning platforms, geospatial systems, and other university-wide services.
Throughout his career, Ernest has focused on building strong partnerships between technology and business leaders, modernizing complex systems, and helping teams navigate organizational and technological change. He brings broad experience in enterprise platforms, service delivery, collaborative decision-making, and the leadership and development of high-performing teams.
Please join us in welcoming Ernest to Cornell. Follow the progress of the Donor and Engagement Experience and other CEMI projects at cemi.cornell.edu.
Curtis L. Cole, M.D.
Vice President and
Chief Global Information Officer
Cornell University
Fred Van Sickle
Vice President
Alumni Affairs and Development
Cornell University