May 29, 2026 · 46 min · 12 segments
On this episode of the RAISE Podcast, Brent hosts Shana Hocking, founder and CEO of Hocking Leadership. Shana shares her journey from discovering fundraising during her first month at Columbia…
Shanna HockingGuestBrentHost
Um, you know, Wharton was raising a lot of money, but it was typically coming from men alumni.
And I think a lot of things had been tried before, as we often hear in development.
It's not gonna work here." And I credit my boss for me coming with an idea and saying, "I, I want to do this.
I want to figure out how to engage more alumnae as volunteer leaders on our boards and philanthropists.
It's gonna look a little bit different than what we've been accustomed to doing." And I did hear the, "We've tried that before and it doesn't work," um-But I also heard yes.
And if I hear a yes, Brent, I'm gonna take that and do whatever I can with it.
Uh, we had women coming from around the country and around the world to these two luncheons that we would host a year, engaging the dean, engaging the president of the university, um, faculty.
It was about learning, teaching, but it was also about preparing them for board and philanthropy.
And we saw marked increases in the number of women sitting on boards and the number of women donors, particularly seven-figure donors, during the time I was doing this initiative.
And I, I wanna tell you that I started this before I was a people leader in advancement.
I think this is important, 'cause we think a lot about, "I have to wait until I'm," fill in the blank, "to be able to make a difference in our field." And I- my best message is to lead from where you are.
And in your case, though, to do that, uh, was this...
Were you able to align that work with your existing goals and objectives, or did it essentially become just extra work for you on top of whatever it was you were doing?
Well, I think in today's parlance, it would be considered extra work, but back then, it was probably considered a stretch assignment [laughs] and-
Yeah
Um, you know, Wharton was raising a lot of money, but it was typically coming from men alumni.
And I think a lot of things had been tried before, as we often hear in development.
It's not gonna work here." And I credit my boss for me coming with an idea and saying, "I, I want to do this.
I want to figure out how to engage more alumnae as volunteer leaders on our boards and philanthropists.
It's gonna look a little bit different than what we've been accustomed to doing." And I did hear the, "We've tried that before and it doesn't work," um-But I also heard yes.
And if I hear a yes, Brent, I'm gonna take that and do whatever I can with it.
Uh, we had women coming from around the country and around the world to these two luncheons that we would host a year, engaging the dean, engaging the president of the university, um, faculty.
It was about learning, teaching, but it was also about preparing them for board and philanthropy.
And we saw marked increases in the number of women sitting on boards and the number of women donors, particularly seven-figure donors, during the time I was doing this initiative.
And I, I wanna tell you that I started this before I was a people leader in advancement.
I think this is important, 'cause we think a lot about, "I have to wait until I'm," fill in the blank, "to be able to make a difference in our field." And I- my best message is to lead from where you are.
And in your case, though, to do that, uh, was this...
Were you able to align that work with your existing goals and objectives, or did it essentially become just extra work for you on top of whatever it was you were doing?
Well, I think in today's parlance, it would be considered extra work, but back then, it was probably considered a stretch assignment [laughs] and-
Yeah
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