ROBIN FOLKERTS '98

Messiah alum and generous supporter, Robin Folkerts '98, credits Messiah University with giving her the foundation and encouragement to pursue a rewarding career in the world of philanthropy. Folkerts currently serves as a Senior Area Director, Philanthropy at World Vision. She began preparing for this role while she was a student at Messiah, where she served as a student work study both in phone-a-thon and in the Office of Development.

The road to her current position was not always easy. After working in several jobs that were not spiritually fulfilling to her, she felt at a loss for where God was leading her professionally. Even those closest to her noticed her lack of career zest, and in fact her husband and sister both said on separate occasions, "you need to find a new job!" At the same time this was going on, Folkerts was involved with a book study sponsored by her sister's church which proved to be life-changing. The book encouraged readers to write a personal vision statement and then undergo a 100-day prayer journey to consider what parts of their life are misaligned with their statement. Following prayerful consideration, Robin created the following life vision statement: "to build relationships with people of all cultures and to share my faith through encouraging them and praying for them and their families". She quickly realized that her current job was not aligned with this vision statement, which was yet another sign to her that she needed to undergo a career change.

Robin committed to the 100-day prayer journey. One day while doing a Google search, she discovered a role with World Vision that seemed to be the perfect position: Area Director, Philanthropy. She applied for the role shortly thereafter. World Vision offered her the role on day 97 of her 100 day prayer journey, and she has been working there ever since. What she does now on a daily basis is a total reflection of her life mission statement. Through her work at World Vision, she is able to walk with people on their journey of generosity to fund projects around the globe that help to end extreme poverty. She assists donors in identifying how their dollars can be put to work in areas of the world that are in extreme and urgent need, and is often then able to travel with them so that they can see their donations in action. Her next trip will be to Honduras, where she will journey with donors to remote areas so they can experience first-hand how their gifts are helping to improve conditions in rural villages.

Robin's feeling of being called to a career in philanthropy stems in large part from her days as a Messiah student. Not only was Robin able to work in the field on advancement through her work study positions, but while at Messiah she was also very aware of the fact that without generous scholarship support from donors, she would not have been able to remain enrolled and finish her degree. This financial support was extremely vital to her, but even more important was the spiritual and relational support she felt from her professors and co-curricular advisors. Because of this support, Robin was able to stay on campus, be involved in advancement, and have the background needed to eventually land in her dream job at World Vision.

Her deep gratitude and appreciation of the generosity of others and the ways it impacted her education has stayed with her throughout her life. As an adult, Robin now makes it a priority to give back to the institution that provided such support to her through donating to the Bucks-Montgomery Area Student Scholarship and by being a member of the Heritage Society. Robin states, "we cannot begin to quantify how investing in Messiah students is making such an incredible difference in the world. Messiah's strong service culture helps students to understand the importance of giving back in their day-to-day life".

Robin is a prime example of that statement - through the investments that others made in student scholarship support so long ago, Robin is now able to be a world-changer through her career in philanthropy at World Vision, and serve as generous contributor to her alma mater. This circle of faith-inspired giving is played out not only in Robin's life, but in the lives of many Messiah alums who are now working as catalysts of change throughout the globe, all the while not forgetting the institution that supported them as students. We are grateful to Robin, and those like her, who enable today's Messiah students to obtain a Christ-centered education and graduate into a world that is yearning for positive change and searching for leaders to help make a difference. Robin's life verse is 2 Corinthians 5:7 - "We live by faith, not by sight."