McConnell

Angela McConnell, executive director of the Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA) at Finn Center, has been recognized as outstanding professional fund-raiser of the year by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) in Silicon Valley.

The annual award honors a fund-raising professional who has at least 10 years of experience and has demonstrated creative leadership, effective team participation, commitment to volunteerism and participation in and support of many nonprofit organizations.

The award will be presented Friday during the AFP’s Philanthropy Day Luncheon at the San Jose Fairmont Hotel.

The event will also recognize other individuals, as well as Silicon Valley corporations and organizations, for their outstanding contributions as philanthropists, volunteers and grant makers.

“Angela’s many achievements and contributions have made a profound impact on the community,” said CSMA Board of Directors chair Mike Couch. “Because of her leadership, Silicon Valley is now home to the region’s first-ever music and arts education center, the only facility of its kind in Northern California.”

Hired as CSMA’s executive director in July 2001, two months before Sept. 11 and at the height of Silicon Valley’s recession, she successfully raised the balance of CSMA’s $12 million capital campaign to build its first permanent home since its founding in 1968. During her tenure at CSMA, she doubled the agency’s annual fund raising to more than $1.3 million to support the school’s commitment to “arts for all” and ensure accessibility to underserved groups, at-risk youth and low-income families.

Before joining CSMA, McConnell served as director of development for the San Jose Museum of Art, where she was responsible for raising $3.5 million annually and for implementing a $10 million endowment campaign.

For more information about the Philanthropy Day Luncheon, visit www.afpsv.org. To learn more about McConnell and CSMA, visit www.arts4all.org.