Somers Woman to Head Regional Fundraising Organization

Lydia Howie has been appointed as administrator of the Association of Development Officers (ADO), a nonprofit organization dedicated to philanthropy and fundraising in the lower Hudson Valley. 

The woman, a Somers resident, said she was honored to be asked to be the organization's first ever director 

"I know first-hand how important fundraising is to helping charities accomplish their important missions," said Lydia Howie, who as a grant writer and development consultant has helped nonprofits raise money.

Howie will be in charge of providing a broad range of programmatic, administrative, and fiscal oversight to the organization that supports development officers, executive directors and others dedicating their lives to fundraising and/or philanthropy. She will work closely with the board of directors and committee chairs to support the functional areas of operation.

"ADO supports all the nonprofits in the region by providing them with valuable educational programming, resources, and networking opportunities that helps them to be more successful fundraisers, and in turn, provide vital programming to the constituents they serve," she said.  

Co-president of the board, Paula Barbag, said Howie's confidence, energy and enthusiasm will propell the organization to "new heights."

"Lydia [Howie]’s past board experience and extensive fundraising and marketing expertise make her the perfect individual to be ADO’s first director," co-president Deborah Wilson said.

Howie has been a development/marketing consultant and owner of Howie Marketing & Consulting, Inc., a firm that provides nonprofit organizations with fundraising services, including grant writing, development support, and marketing communications since 1999. 

She has raised more $20 million dollars for her clients, which have included: Boys and Girls Clubs of Northern Westchester, Teatown Lake Reservation, Jewish Council of Yonkers, Gilda’s Club Westchester, Putnam ARC, Child Care Council of Westchester, Burke Rehabilitation Hospital, SCORE Westchester, Paramount Center for the Arts, Music Conservatory of Westchester, and more.  

Howie is a registered Fund Raising Counsel with the NYS Attorney General’s Charities Bureau. She has also volunteered to write grants for the Somers Land Trust and has secured them a $70,000 grant.

She is the former executive director of The Volunteer Center of United Way and she has also held the positions of marketing director at the Jefferson Valley Mall, marketing/community affairs director at a hair and skincare company and media/research director and account executive at two New York City advertising agencies.

Howie has a M.S. in marketing communications from Iona College and a B.A. in communication arts from the College of New Rochelle. She earned her Grant Professional Certification credential (GPC) from the Grant Professional Certification Institute in 2008.

For more than 10 years, she was an Adjunct Professor at Pace University, and most recently was one of the teachers of ADO/SUNY Purchase’s Board Development and Fundraising Certificate Program. 

The Somers woman has received numerous awards and recognition, including a Presidential Award for a Desert Storm fundraiser; the Visiting Nurse Association of Hudson Valley’s Corporate Service Award; and the Association of Development Officers’ 2007 Peter J. Gallagher Award for Leadership & Service. She has served on numerous boards of directors and community committees and is founding President of the Grants Professionals of Lower Hudson.

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