Carolina Van Zee

Carolina Van Zee began her career at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) as a freshmen student caller in 2004. With over 15 years of experience working in Development, Carolina moved through the ranks as a student caller, floor lead, floor supervisor, and manager. On January 25, 2018, Carolina was promoted to Director of the Annual Fund.

“Each year I advanced in my profession until graduation in 2006. I was offered a full-time position and finished graduate school in 2008 and was manager there [until my recent promotion].”

When asked about her immediate work priorities, Carolina stated, “Even though I’ve been with the program for 15 years, including my time as a student caller, I’ve seen where we’ve been as a program and where we want to go. Having that perspective excites me in this new role!”

According to Carolina, it’s important that CSUSB begins to develop relationships early on and actively work to get people on board.

“As a director, I now have the opportunity to help more people. [My goal] is to try and to set the foundation for long-term fundraising. The foundation is to create that culture early on.”

Carolina is proud of the Student Giving Campaign, a new program she started for the Annual Fund. “We’ve always called alumni and parents,” says Carolina, “but one of my goals for a long time was to get the student population on board with giving. I really believe we need to develop a culture of philanthropy among the students at CSUSB.” It is this culture of philanthropy that Carolina says was not taught to her as a student.

“It’s not that [the students] don’t want to give, it’s just not taught to them. Now, as an institution we need to educate our students to have a philanthropic focus because it makes a difference for the institution.”

Creating this philanthropic culture is not just about the money, according to Carolina, but it can be a contribution of time and talents.

“[A culture of philanthropy] fosters a sense of pride and helps with making a difference. This culture can go beyond the university. We are human beings, we need to be able to do that.”

As a student caller in the call center, Carolina enjoyed speaking with several alumni and parents over the phone and learning about the different perspectives each call revealed about the university. Some conversations involved positive reminiscing of previous years as a student at CSUSB, other calls included negative perceptions of the university.

“I wanted to somehow change the negative aspect of the alumni”, says Carolina, “[I wanted] to showcase that not everyone has a bad experience at CSUSB.”

When asked if working in Development at CSUSB was the career path Carolina envisioned for her life, she stated, “I did not! I know I do a great job and I like what I do. I know that I am making a difference.”

Carolina earned her Master of Science in Child Life from the University of La Verne where she saw herself working with children in a hospital setting.

“The recession hit and I ended up staying at CSUSB in my current job. I wanted to work in a hospital with kids, but that’s not where my path led. I like my job and it’s very gratifying knowing that I am helping develop a strong work ethic in these young students. Having that moment surpasses me wanting to follow my career path in a hospital setting.”

For Carolina, her main focus is the student workers in her office and helping them develop professionally so that they are prepared for future careers after graduating from CSUSB.

“I always push my students to learn more and set goals. At the end of the day, I want to make sure that [we] are molding these students to be the best that they can be.”

When asked what advice Carolina would give to those who are looking to advance in their current positions, she says, “If you want to advance, you have to be proactive and seek out ways to develop and improve yourself. For example, any free webinar I could find, I would watch on my lunch break. When it comes to professional development, you have to do it for yourself, you have to be your own advocate.”

At the end of the day, Carolina would like to leave her “paw print” with the students of CSUSB:

“I’m leaving it with the students. I don’t really need to leave a legacy, but to me leaving [a legacy] with the students means more to me than my name on a wall. We are here for the students, we work for the students, and it’s all about the students.”