2025 Ann Castle Award Recipient: Lisa Foster Director of Prospect Development Phillips Academy, Andover Lisa Foster is the Director of Prospect Development at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. She has served Phillips Academy in several roles over her 18 years there and has been the Director of Prospect Development since 2012. She is a Phillips Academy alumna, and two of her four children are also alumni of the school. Lisa is a former member of the Board of Directors of NEDRA (2012-18). Over the course of her term, she served as the Treasurer of the Board of Directors, Conference Co-Chair for two NEDRA Conferences, Secretary of the Board, faculty for the NEDRA Research Basics Bootcamp, and Co-Chair of various committees, including Scholarship and Programming. Since leaving the board, Lisa continues to serve on the NEDRA Programming and Nominating Committees and as faculty for the NEDRA Research Basics Bootcamp. Lisa was instrumental in convening an ongoing networking group for Prospect Development professionals working at independent schools. In 2022, Lisa was the Co-Chair of the CASE Prospect Development Conference with her dear friend and mentor, Amy Doherty (Begg). Lisa served as a Director of the Haverhill Foundation for Excellence in Education for over twenty years and has also served as a director of the Haverhill Discovery Club Program. Lisa has a BA is Psychology from Oberlin College, where her classmates predicted she would end up being either a teacher or a researcher. Lisa is well known for her advocacy, leadership and mentorship in the prospect development field. Members of the NEDRA community have sited her enduring contributions to the field noting that her “dedication to NEDRA and passion for development research are truly unparalleled” and that her “leadership and mentorship have had a profound impact on countless professionals in our field.” Regarding her work as a Research Basics Bootcamp faculty member, another noted that for those new to the field, taking the course with Lisa not only provided important foundational training but also provided a “warm welcome” to the NEDRA community. |