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Heifer International hires three new Directors of Philanthropy to cover Pacific Northwest, Northern California and Mid-Atlantic


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Heifer International, an international development organization that works with communities to end hunger and poverty world-wide, has added Kari Hammett-Caster, Natasha Lewis-Oliver and Jaime Schilling to their philanthropy team.        

Kari Hammett-Caster (Director of Philanthropy – Pacific Northwest) is a fundraising professional with almost two decades of experience, much of it in international development. Kari comes to Heifer International from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound and previously held roles at Grameen Foundation and Unitus, Inc. Kari has a BA in Communication from Trinity Western University in Langley, British Colombia.

Natasha Lewis-Oliver (Director of Philanthropy – Mid-Atlantic) joins Heifer International from JDRF International, where she served as Executive Director of the Central Pennsylvania Chapter. Previously, she held development roles at Widener University Commonwealth Law School, the ACLU of Maryland, Chase Brexton Health Services, and the NAACP. Natasha holds a BS in History from Coppin State University.

Jaime Schilling (Director of Philanthropy – Northern California) first fell in love with international development when she served as a business advisor with the MBA Enterprise Corps on a community-based tourism development project in Calabar, Nigeria. Previous experience includes fundraising roles at Lutheran Community Services Northwest and the Thunderbird School of Global Management. Jaime holds an MBA in International Development and an Executive Certificate in Global Negotiations from Thunderbird, as well as dual BAs from Arizona State University.

Heifer International first retained KEES as its executive search partner in June 2018. Since then, KEES has partnered with Heifer on seven executive searches, helping to build and strengthen Heifer’s philanthropy team by placing six Directors of Philanthropy covering regions across the U.S. (including the three in this hiring announcement) and one Senior Director, Global Foundation Partnerships.

“I could not have been more pleased with the caliber and variety of talent assembled by the KEES team. The newest members to the philanthropy team will allow Heifer International to connect more closely with supporters and investors in our global partnership to end hunger and alleviate poverty.”

-Stephanie Brown, Vice President of Philanthropy, Heifer International

Heifer’s mission is to end hunger and poverty in a sustainable way by supporting and investing alongside local farmers and their communities. For over 75 years, Heifer International has provided livestock and environmentally sound agricultural training to improve the lives of those who struggle daily for reliable sources of food and income. Today, Heifer works in 21 countries to attain sustainable livelihoods through community-owned interventions and has provided more than 35 million families with the tools and training to lift themselves from poverty. For more information, please visit www.heifer.org.

KEES (Kistner Eddy Executive Services, Inc.) is an executive search firm that builds transformative nonprofit teams and leaders. Founded in 2013 as an expansion of Alford Executive Search, KEES partners exclusively with nonprofit organizations to provide an array of executive search, leadership development, interim staffing and HR services and support.