Jennifer Furla Elected As
GUSA Foundation Board Secretary

Jennifer Furla, executive vice-president of Jeffrey Byrne & Associates, has been elected to the position of secretary of the board of directors of the Giving USA Foundation. Furla was first elected as a board member in 2008.

The Giving USA Foundation, formerly known as the American Association of Fundraising Counsel Trust for Philanthropy, is a national organization dedicated to advancing the research, education and public understanding of philanthropy throughout the United States.

Furla, a Kansas City resident and active civic volunteer, brings to the Giving USA board more than 18 years of experience in finance, publishing, and nonprofit and small business management.

As a member of the Jeffrey Byrne & Associates (JBA) team, Furla specializes in capital campaigns, strategic planning and planned giving. Prior to her work with JBA, Furla was vice-president and business development officer with Kansas City's Commerce Bank.

Furla has led numerous strategic and business planning efforts, as both a paid professional and as a volunteer for nonprofit groups. Through her work as CEO of the YWCA of Kansas City, she helped guide the successful completion of an $11 million capital campaign to develop and construct The Children's Center Campus.

As a member of the Mid-America Planned Giving Council, Jennifer co-chaired Kansas City's Leave a Legacy Campaign in 1998-99. She is a former co-chair of Kansas City's Report on Charitable Giving and a past board member and president of the Greater Kansas City Council on Philanthropy.

A graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia, with degrees in political science and journalism, and a graduate of Saint Louis University School of Law, Furla was founding publisher of Missouri Lawyers Weekly, a statewide newspaper for the legal profession.

The Giving USA Foundation has published the annual report Giving USA for more than 50 years. The report provides data on charitable giving, tracking and detailing trends in “who gives what to whom” in the United States.