Cheryl Cerny

Biography

I have 26 years of experience in the fundraising industry, including over twenty years leading operations at higher education and healthcare organizations. I'm well-versed in technology and data analytics projects that aim to strengthen fundraising operations.

Prior to joining Zuri Group, I served as Associate Vice President of Advancement Operations at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and as Campaign Director for their $350M philanthropic campaign. There, I led the advancement system's Salesforce CRM implementation and established a fundraising technology ecosystem with the technological bench strength equivalent to Fortune 500 enterprises. I have also held advancement tech leadership positions at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Boston Children’s Hospital Trust, and Bentley University.

I graduated from the University of Richmond, and I'm currently pursuing a Master of Business Association (MBA) focused on digital transformation and organizational leadership at WPI. I"m a certified Salesforce Administrator and I'm also IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) 4 Foundation certified. I live in central Massachusetts with my family and two pups. In my personal time, I enjoy volunteering my technical and fundraising skills to small nonprofits, especially those needing a jumpstart on Salesforce.