Christopher Clinton Conway. Photo by Maria Ponce
The Aquarium of the Pacific is officially announcing the appointment of Christopher Clinton Conway as its vice president of development. Conway comes to the Aquarium with over fifteen years of fundraising knowledge and experience. He most recently served as executive director of the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago, where he led the organization through a $30 million capital campaign. Conway will oversee the development, organization, and implementation of all the Aquarium’s fundraising and major donor activities. He will begin working at the Aquarium of the Pacific on April 16, 2013.
“Christopher is joining the Aquarium at an exciting time in its history. His extensive experience in all aspects of fundraising and development, including endowments, annual programs, and capital campaigns, will further our Aquarium’s success,” said Dr. Jerry R. Schubel, Aquarium of the Pacific president and CEO. Conway will lead the Aquarium’s development team and will work with its board of directors on all aspects of the nonprofit’s fundraising efforts. This includes the coordination and solicitation of all contributions and gifts made to the Aquarium, research and cultivation of new relationships with major donors, direct mail, planned giving programs, and supervision of recognition programs for major donors. “The Aquarium of the Pacific is a confluence of all my personal and professional passions. I am thrilled to be partnering with the board and staff of this rapidly ascending, young institution to realize a shared strategic vision,” said Conway.
Before joining the Joffrey Ballet, Conway served as its organizational counsel during his post at The Alford Group. Prior to this Conway created a $25 million campaign for COPIA (The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts in Napa, California), an organization founded by Robert Mondavi and the late Julia Child. He also worked with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) team that successfully raised $230 million of what would become a $400 million capital campaign. Before joining LACMA he worked at the Carter Center, where he began as director of gift planning and was promoted to senior associate director. Throughout his career Conway has worked in a variety of development positions for nonprofit and charitable organizations, including the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, where he worked with former First Lady Rosalyn Carter. Conway holds a Juris Doctor degree in law with a concentration in trust and estate planning.
The Aquarium of the Pacific is a nonprofit 501(c)3 institution that relies heavily on charitable donations, in addition to revenues from ticket sales and programs. Donations support the Aquarium’s ocean conservation education programs and enable the nonprofit to fulfill its vision of conserving and building nature and nature’s services by building the interactions between and among peoples. Fundraising programs include high-level memberships, planned giving, scholarship programs, and more. The Aquarium is a community gathering place where diverse cultures and the arts are celebrated and where important topics facing our planet are explored by scientists, policy-makers, and stakeholders in search of sustainable solutions. The Aquarium of the Pacific is the fourth-most attended aquarium in the nation with 1.5 million annual visitors. Beyond its 11,000 animals and exhibits, the Aquarium offers a variety of public educational programs from its Aquatic Academy for adults to lectures by leading scientists. For information, please call 562-590-3100 or visit www.aquariumofpacific.org.