Victoria native to join UHV as alumni, annual giving director
The University of Houston-Victoria is proud to announce that Kelsey Norgard of Victoria will be joining the university as the new director of alumni relations and annual giving.
Norgard, director of sales and marketing for The Club at Colony Creek, will join UHV’s University Advancement team Aug. 5.
“I’m excited to join the University Advancement team and the UHV family,” Norgard said. “I was born and raised in Victoria, and I’ve lived and worked here most of my life. It’s a tightknit community and a great place to live, and UHV is a big part of the community. I’m looking forward to joining the university and helping it continue to grow and serve the needs of Victoria and the area.”
Norgard has a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, where she graduated in 2014. During her time at the university, she received many honors, including being on the Deans’ List and the Chancellor’s List. She also was a member of the Mu Kappa Tau marketing honor society and the Pi Sigma Epsilon co-ed fraternity.
Norgard has worked at Colony Creek since 2016. As part of her role there, she develops marketing materials, including designs for ads, the monthly newsletter, event and membership materials, and website content. She also manages communications with members through email, social media and text messages. In addition, she facilitates club events in the areas of sales; working with members, guests and staff; and invoicing. She previously worked at Colony Creek from 2012 to 2015 as a summer staff manager and marketing and event assistant.
Her other work experience also includes being an English teacher in Thailand from 2015 to 2016.
As the incoming director of alumni relations and annual giving, Norgard will take the lead as the primary contact for more than 21,000 UHV alumni around the world. She will oversee planning and coordinating events, programs, communications, fundraising and more in the ongoing effort to build external support for the university, said Jesse Pisors, vice president for advancement and external relations.
“I am delighted to welcome Kelsey to the University Advancement team at UHV, and I am confident that she will help us better serve and engage with our alumni, as well as many non-alumni donors,” Pisors said. “Kelsey’s extensive experience with events, customer care, marketing and communications make her a perfect fit for this role. Most importantly, she strives to work with excellence and serves constituents to the absolute best of her ability. UHV’s alumni relations and annual giving areas have seen tremendous growth and great success during the past six years. I look forward to working with Kelsey to continue this forward momentum.”
Norgard is excited to join UHV’s team because she said she has seen the university grow and have an ongoing positive impact on the community. In addition, she has a personal connection who gave her an early appreciation for the university: Her mother, Chari Norgard, worked at the university for 27 years in various roles, including Title IX coordinator, associate vice president for student affairs and director of instructional support services.
One of the things Norgard is looking forward to is connecting with the university’s alumni and promoting that pride and personal connection with their alma mater. She also is excited to get to work on the university’s fundraising initiatives and find ways to grow local support for the university.
“It’s important for the university to have that connection with its alumni and with the communities it serves,” she said. “I want to help people see how UHV has impacted their lives. There’s so much potential here, and I can’t wait to get started.”
The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 80 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.
