The partners and consultants of Columns Fundraising are pleased to welcome former AFP Global Chair Birgit Burton as a senior consultant.

Birgit Smith Burton served for 26 years at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she led the institution’s Foundation Relations team in raising over $700M from private philanthropic foundations to support programs, scholarships, and capital projects.

Birgit is also the founder and Executive Director of the African American Development Officers Network (AADO), which she established in 1999 to provide professional development, education, employment support, mentorship, and networking opportunities for fundraisers of color. She is a well-regarded speaker on the topics of fundraising and diversity and has authored articles on diversity in the fundraising profession. Birgit co-authored the book, “The Philanthropic Covenant with Black America”, contributed to the book “Five Minutes for Fundraising, A Collection of Expert Advice”, and tells her personal story in the book “Collecting Courage”, which shares the lived experiences of Black women and men working in the nonprofit and charitable space.

For nearly a decade, she has served on the global board of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) and in 2023 was the first African American woman in AFP history to be elected chair of the AFP Global Board; her term as Global Chair concluded in December 2024. Birgit received the Opportunity and Inclusion Award from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), which recognized her leadership in fostering inclusion and diversity within the fundraising profession. In 2020, the R.I.S.E. Fund was established by a group of women fundraisers in Birgit’s honor with a mission to advance women of color in fundraising by providing Resources, Inspiration, Support, and Education.

In addition to serving as chair of the A.E. Lowe Grice Scholarship Fund of Covert, Michigan, which honors her grandmother, Birgit serves on the advisory council for Somos El Poder (A National Latinx Fundraising Institute) and the advisory committee for Women of Color in Fundraising and Philanthropy (WOC). A member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Birgit received a bachelor’s degree in media communications from Medaille University in Buffalo, NY, where she currently serves on the University’s Board of Trustees.