Mar 7, 2011 Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art announced today that Jill Wagar has been selected as corporate relations manager. Wagar, who has 15 years of fundraising experience, will be charged with designing and implementing the Museum’s corporate sponsorship program. She began her new position Feb. 21. “I am so pleased to welcome Jill to our team,” said Sandy Edwards, deputy director of museum relations. “Her impressive record of accomplishments in the field of philanthropy as well as her involvement and leadership in our region will foster and strengthen mutually beneficial relationships between Crystal Bridges and our corporate sponsors.” Wagar has served since 2005 as associate vice president for development at Northwest Arkansas Community College, where she oversaw a $16 million capital campaign and helped secure the two largest gifts in the organization’s history. She spent seven years in public affairs and development for The Children’s Center, a private nonprofit hospital for children in Bethany, Okla. She was also a marketing communications professional for Innovative Communications in Stillwater, Okla., for three years. Wagar served as president in 2010 of the Northwest Arkansas Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and was named Northwest Arkansas’ Outstanding Fundraising Executive in 2007 by the AFP. She is a member of Leadership Arkansas Class V and the Rogers Noon Rotary Club. She was named to the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 in 2008 and was part of Leadership Benton County Class VI. Wagar is a Certified Fundraising Executive and holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing and public relations from Oklahoma State University.
