Mary Bonacorsi

As Board member and later Board Chair, I’ve been fortunate to work closely with Ruth for almost ten years. From the moment she joined BGCSTL, she began transforming the Resource Development department into the first-class fundraising operation it is today. Since 2014, she successfully led the Resource Development team through a $25 million capital campaign for a Teen Center in Ferguson as well as the operations of a much-expanded organization through mergers with the St Louis Internship Program, the Bethalto Boys & Girls Club, as well as the Matthews Dickey Club.

When she joined BGCSTL, she brought with her deep knowledge and experience as a fundraising professional, a prodigious work ethic and relationship skills as well as a relentlessly optimistic personality. She honed these traits over time and soon developed a strong commitment to the mission of the Club and fierce drive to excel in her responsibilities as Resource Development head.

In addition to her considerable involvement in relationship building and direct fundraising, she assembled and led a team that successfully planned and coordinated major fundraising events; identified, applied for and secured major grants (on a scale far exceeding the grant operations in place when she joined BGCSTL) and, cultivated and solicited donors. Hers will be a difficult act to follow at BGCSTL but I am certain in her new venture she will bring her considerable talents to bear on behalf of non-profits in need of transitional Resource Development services. I highly recommend her.

Senior Counsel Thompson Coburn and Board Member, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis