Lyle S. Hallman Foundation

Hello ,

This past fall, Laura Manning, the Executive Director of the Lyle S. Hallman Foundation advised the board that she would be stepping down from her position effective May 12th, 2023. Laura is looking to scale back in her professional life, and will be moving into part-time consulting and project work. The board and staff of LSHF are deeply grateful for Laura's leadership over the last 12 years, and the exciting growth and changes that she has guided us through.

After taking the last few months to consider the future leadership of the Foundation, on behalf of the board, I am very pleased to announce that the Foundation is appointing Rob Donelson as Interim Executive Director, effective April 3rd.

Rob has a strong background in our community, having been involved in a wide range of community and not-for-profit organizations.

Rob recently retired following a 41-year career leading award-winning advancement programs at four universities and two hospital foundations in three countries. Most recently, he served as Executive Director of Advancement at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. Prior to this, he was Executive Director, Development & Alumni Relations at University College Cork in Ireland, and Vice-President, Development & Alumni Relations at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo. Rob has led multimillion-dollar fundraising campaigns for St. Joseph’s Healthcare and St. Mary’s General Hospital, and played senior roles in development and alumni affairs at St. Jerome’s University. He has been an active volunteer with Imagine Canada, on both its ethical code committee and standards council.

Acknowledged for his leadership in the area of charitable accountability, Rob led the first registered charity in Canada to earn the Ethical Fundraising License and the first university to earn the Standards Accreditation Trustmark from Imagine Canada. He has spoken at several national and international conferences of the Canadian Association of Gift Planners, Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education (CCAE), and the Association of Healthcare Philanthropy, and served on the Board of CCAE. He was named the Outstanding Fundraising Professional by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Golden Horseshoe Chapter, and received the Mission Legacy Award of the St. Joseph’s Health System.

Rob has a keen interest in international development and was part of a community development project in Nicaragua and served on a national fundraising committee of a Canadian international development agency. He also led Wilfrid Laurier University’s response to the Syrian refugee crisis in the sponsorship of three families.

Rob is an avid runner having completed five marathons, including the Boston Marathon.

Rob’s extensive resume will help the Foundation in this time of transition. Laura has been a great leader and made many positive strides in our community and beyond, and we will take the next period of time to ensure that the Lyle S. Hallman Foundation is continuing to meet the important and evolving needs in our community. There are many exciting opportunities available to us and a more formal go-forward plan will emerge over the coming months.

You can connect with Rob directly at robd@lshallmanfdn.org.

We look forward to working with Rob over the next one or two years.

Take care,

Jim Hallman, Chair

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