Director of Gift Planning Services, University System of Maryland

Ann Kolakowski, CAP, CFRE, serves as the Director of Gift Planning Services for the University System of Maryland, where she supports fundraising colleagues across 12 campuses by offering professional development, marketing content, coaching, and program design. Her previous experience includes more than three decades in planned and major gifts and nonprofit communications at the Humane Society of the United States, Johns Hopkins University, Goucher College, Towson University, and several K-12 independent schools.

A frequent speaker and past president of the National Capital Gift Planning Council, she is committed to growing the field of planned giving and celebrates its inclusive nature. Through her consulting firm, Akorn Consulting Group, Ann also supports small- and mid-sized nonprofits in building and scaling their planned giving efforts.