After only 18 months as president and CEO of the LSU Foundation, Stephen Moret is leaving the University to become the president and CEO of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the VEDP announced Monday.
Moret will be relieved in December when the LSU Foundation will appoint an interim CEO as it begins the search for Moret’s replacement.
Moret has worked for the LSU Foundation since May 2015. As president of the organization, he’s worked closely with LSU President F. King Alexander to improve University fundraising efforts.
“Leading the LSU Foundation has been one of the greatest privileges of my career uniting my passion for LSU with my professional interests,” Moret said in a news release. “I’m particularly grateful to President Alexander for the unprecedented support he has provided for building a national-caliber fundraising operation at LSU. He has been an outstanding partner.”
Chairperson of the LSU Foundation Board of Directors T. Cass Gaiennie said in a statement that Moret will leave the LSU Foundation with a multi-year campaign to increase alumni donations and academic philanthropy, the largest fundraising project the University has ever undertaken.
“This blueprint that Stephen developed in partnership with LSU, coupled with President Alexander’s commitment to growing academic philanthropy, positions the University to dramatically increase alumni giving rates and academic philanthropy while preparing LSU to complete the largest capital campaign of any kind in state history,” he said.
In August, Moret said the campaign will have a fundraising goal above $1.2 billion.
As The Daily Reveille previously reported in April, the University ranks last in the SEC for alumni participation. Moret said the University lags behind other conference schools in fostering a lifelong giving culture, and as the least developed aspect of the University, it will be the most difficult to overcome.
To get on par with other universities, the Foundation needs to launch an overarching and sophisticated fundraising enterprise in order to cultivate potential donors through institutional support and endowments, Moret said.
The University alumnus said that as he has family in Virginia, the VEDP role presents an opportunity of “family and professional benefits that we simply could not pass up.”
In addition to his post with the LSU Foundation, a few of Moret’s previous positions include secretary of Louisiana Economic Development, CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber and a public policy fellow with the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana.
“Stephen has left an indelible mark on our fundraising efforts,” Alexander said in a statement. “He has positioned our upcoming campaign for great success, and we wish him well on his next endeavor.”