Lisa Aaronson

Lisa Aaronson, Senior Vice President, is a strategic communications leader with an expertise in philanthropic analytics, advancement services, strategic planning, stewardship, and brand strategy. Throughout her career, Lisa has built award-winning, high-performing teams and has driven bottom-line results in the healthcare and higher education sectors.

Before joining GG+A, Lisa served as the Associate Vice President, Brand Management and Multimedia for Rush University System for Health, a three-hospital academic medical health system. In leading the institution’s brand position strategy, she produced a full complement of multimedia and communications tools to humanize the Rush brand, expand its reach, build awareness, and engender trust and confidence in leadership. She additionally launched three of Rush’s biggest deals in FY21 by directing the institution’s relationships and joint ventures with internal and external stakeholders.

Prior to this role, Lisa was the Associate Vice President, Donor Relations for Rush. By overseeing their philanthropic communications, stewardship, special events, and auxiliary group functions, she served as a key member of the Office of Philanthropy’s leadership team and provided strategic direction for a $675 million campaign and staff expansion of more than 50%. Lisa built and grew Rush’s first events and stewardship team and mentored five entry-level team members into director positions.

She additionally held the title of Senior Director, Development Communications at Rush in which she produced communications strategies and tools to advance donor engagement and increase brand awareness in support of Rush’s $300 million campaign, which ultimately raised $389 million. She wrote and designed more than $500 million in donor pitches, presentations, and proposals.

Lisa holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas and an associate’s degree from Harrington College of Design. She is currently pursuing her Master of Business Administration from Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. She is a member of the American Association of Medical Colleges Group on Institutional Advancement, Society for Healthcare Strategy & Market Development, and Chicago Women Leaders.

Clients:

• University of Alberta
• American Association of Orthodontists Foundation
• American Film Institute
• Bishop Strachan School
• University of California, Santa Cruz
• Canada’s National Ballet School
• University of Cape Town
• Carnegie Mellon University
• Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
• University of Central Florida
• University of Chicago Medicine and Biological Sciences Development
• College of Charleston Foundation
• Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
• Dartmouth College
• Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
• Drexel University
• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
• Florida State University
• Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
• The Gotham Film Institute
• University of Guelph
• Hartford Healthcare Corporation
• Holland Hall
• Iowa State University Foundation
• Los Angeles Master Chorale
• The Lovett School
• Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health
• University of Manitoba
• McGill University
• Medical University of South Carolina
• The University of Melbourne
• Mercyhurst University
• Montclair State University
• Université de Montréal
• The University of North Carolina, Charlotte
• The Ohio State University
• University of Pennsylvania
• The Pennsylvania State University
• Raford University
• Razorback Foundation Inc
• San Francisco Conservatory of Music
• San Francisco Symphony
• Sarasota Orchestra
• University of South Dakota Foundation
• Stony Brook Foundation
• University of Tennessee Medical Center
• Texas A&M University- Corpus Christi
• The University of Texas at Austin
• Texas Children’s Hospital
• University of Toronto
• Ukrainian World Congress
• Vanderbilt University
• University of Victoria
• University of Waterloo
• Washington State University Foundation
• Wellesley College