Welcome to Advancement

Michele was announced as Boston University’s Senior Vice President for Advancement in March 2025.  Building on the momentum of a new, dynamic University President, she has been engaging with the Boston University community to build lifelong relationships and secure impactful philanthropy to advance her alma mater.

Prior to joining Boston University, Michele served at Stanford University for 14 years, most recently as Deputy Vice President for Development. At Stanford, Michele helped translate its ten-year vision into a university-wide development effort and directed its implementation.  Prior to that Michele led the planning, launch and execution of a development campaign for Stanford Medicine, resulting in the beautiful new Stanford Hospital, new financial resources for graduate students and faculty, and investments for new lines of research across the School of Medicine.

Michele also served in many leadership capacities at the University of Chicago. Her last role was interim vice president for alumni relations and development for the University of Chicago, and vice president and associate dean for development at the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC). She serves on the board of her alma mater, the Academy of Our Lady of Peace, and has served in advisory capacities for Boston University and her other alma mater Northwestern University.

Michele is passionate about lifelong learning, building community and working collaboratively to provide opportunity for all with the goal of helping others become their best selves.  She enjoys being with family and friends, exploring new cultures, helping others, and taking on challenging workouts.  She lives with her husband of 33 years, and, now, serendipitously, in the same city as her two adult sons Alec and Luke.

Josh Aiello currently serves as the Vice President for Development & Campaigns at Boston University. He joined Boston University in 2013 and began his tenure at BU as the Assistant Dean for Development and Alumni Relations at Sargent College. He proudly held leadership roles during the University’s first comprehensive campaign which concluded in September 2019, having raised a record $1.85 billion in gifts from more than 175,000 alumni, parents and friends. In his role now, he oversees the Offices of Planned Giving, Major Giving, School Development, and Stewardship and Donor Relations.

Josh has more than a fifteen years of experience in educational advancement, but prior to that his career focused primarily on direct service to the community. He taught service learning courses at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and led emergency response efforts during major natural disasters.

Josh received a Bachelor’s degree from Saint Anselm College in Manchester, NH and an Master’s in Education from Boston University.

Tristan Barako has broad experience as a fundraiser, writer, and researcher in diverse settings, especially higher education, health care, and media production. For the past four years at BU, he has led the Foundation Relations team, which identifies and secures private institutional funding for most of the University’s schools and colleges. Previously he served as Senior Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at Massachusetts General Hospital and Senior Research Development Specialist at Brown University, where he focused on federal funding. Before working in fundraising, he researched, wrote, and edited scripts for highly rated, award-winning documentaries appearing on America Public Television (PBS/NOVA). Tristan trained as an archaeologist, receiving his MA and PhD at Harvard University, during which time he excavated and surveyed throughout the Mediterranean region, both on land and at sea.

A national leader and award-winning pioneer in the field of Talent Management, Amy has spent 25 plus years contributing to the success of fundraising both on the frontline and behind the scenes. She has a remarkable ability to help development professionals make the right career moves and achieve success for their organization’s mission. She has touched the lives of hundreds of professionals and her impact can be seen by the increasing level of professionalism in the advancement industry as well as through the success of the institutions that she’s worked for, which include Harvard Law School, and Boston College. Currently managing talent, finance, and operations for a team of 265, Amy has served in leadership roles and presented at numerous conferences and other professional organizations both locally and nationally. A graduate of the University of Michigan, she lives in Milton, MA.

Danielle Reddy is a higher education professional with nearly two decades of experience in development and alumni relations. Believing that alumni give back when they can see themselves in the experience of current students, her career has focused on connecting the work of fundraising and alumni engagement by creating opportunities for strategic involvement of partners across BU’s campus. Danielle holds an undergraduate degree from Emerson College and a JD from Suffolk University.

Danielle is the assistant vice president for alumni engagement programs at Boston University. In her role, she oversees all front-line alumni engagement for the University, connecting BU alumni with one another across the globe. Her work focuses on connecting alumni regionally, domestically and internationally, through volunteer-led networks as well as reunion programming, identity and interest groups, life stage engagement, and young alumni and student engagement. Additionally, she works with the University’s alumni boards and leadership councils, including the BU Alumni Council and the Black Alumni Leadership Council, among others. Her work bridges many areas of campus, partnering with colleagues in the Dean of Students office, the Center for Career Development, the Newbury Center, and across BU’s 17 schools and colleges.

Prior to her time at Boston University, Danielle was the director of communities at the MIT Alumni Association, where she led a team to develop engaging student and young alumni programming as well as building robust affinity programming encompassing both identity and interest. She worked closely with colleagues and departments throughout campus with the Office of the Dean of Students, Student Organizations and Leadership, the Center for Career Advising and Professional Development, and the Office of Graduate Education to create programming and connections to allow students to benefit from alumni experience and to understand their future responsibility as alumni of MIT to give back. Danielle also served as the director of annual and leadership giving at her alma mater, Emerson College. She has served in volunteer roles with CASE, the Council for Support of Education, including co-chairing the sponsorship committee and the alumni engagement track as well as serving as a presenter for CASE and several other professional organizations.