Kristen DeVries

Kristen R. DeVries is Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations and serves as Executive Director of the WMU Foundation. With a depth of experience building first-rate development and alumni relations teams and successfully executing major comprehensive fundraising campaigns, she manages corporate, foundation, and major giving, as well as alumni engagement and donor relations. In 2021, DeVries closed the largest gift ever made to public higher education – the anonymous $550 million Empowering Futures Gift. Prior, DeVries led all fundraising and alumni engagement activities at Lawrence Technological University. DeVries also served as senior associate vice president for strategic engagement and advancement operations at Drexel University and associate director of relationship management, operations and performance improvement at the University of North Texas.