An experienced fund raiser has joined the staff at Catawba College’s Center for the Environment.
Jay Laurens, the center’s new director of resource development, most recently served as executive director of the nonprofit multi-agency Ada Jenkins Center in Davidson. The Jenkins Center offers a number of services for the needy including a free medical clinic, a mobile community dental clinic, a food pantry, rent/utility assistance and an after-school tutoring program for at-risk students.
Dr. John Wear, executive director of the Center for the Environment, said the center functions as a nonprofit and, consequently, must raise virtually all its funds. Laurens will focus his efforts in that area.
“Jay Laurens not only brings a wealth of management and development experience to the position,” Wear said in a press release. “He also has a keen understanding of the region because he has lived and worked in Salisbury and the surrounding area. He brings a deep concern for sustainability in our communities and a strong background in community-oriented nonprofit management.”
Laurens has 18 years of nonprofit management experience and was, for eight years, executive director of Rowan Homes, a Salisbury organization that provides residential and support services for adults with developmental disabilities.
A native of South Carolina, Laurens has lived in North Carolina for more than 25 years. He received his education from Clemson University, Pfeiffer University, Lenoir Rhyne College and Duke University, where he studied nonprofit management. He has experience in grant writing, fund raising and community campaigns.
“I’ve never had the opportunity to focus exclusively on development and fundraising,” he said in the same release. “I’m looking forward to the chance to do so without also having responsibility for day-to-day operations.
“The mission of the center has never been more relevant than it is today. Due to the dramatic downturn in our economy, individuals who may not have had a commitment to the cause in the past are now realizing the need to conserve resources. In addition, the reports of air pollution in Rowan County and the surrounding region have raised awareness about the impact of ground-level ozone on the health of residents and the health of the local economy.”
Laurens also said “the time is right to raise support for the center and potentially pursue establishing an endowment that would allow the center to be self-sustaining in the years to come.”
Laurens and his wife, Neely, have four children: Drew, 17; Matt, 16; Ashley, 13; and Harley, 10.