PMC Welcomes Liz Borg As Vice President of Development Operations

PMC’s new Vice President of Development Operations Liz Borg takes a hands-on approach to fundraising: “out the door, on the road,” she calls it. In her past position with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy in West Virginia, for example, she organized experiential activities, including a two-day hike with the CEO to meet donors and prospects.

Most of her experience lines up completely with PMC’s transformative work: fundraising leadership positions with the National Parks Conservation Association, the advocacy organization Public Citizen, and Zero Population Growth, all Washington-based.

“I’m really excited to have the opportunity to do work I feel so passionate about…and reconnect with a philanthropic community that supports organizations like Population Media Center,” says Liz, who most recently was a remote fundraising consultant for nonprofits.

Liz brings to PMC her skills in networking and fundraising for various global sustainability and conservation organizations over the past 20 years. She has worked with individual donors, foundations, corporations, and direct marketing to secure funding.

“I’m thrilled to join such a great organization that produces results,” she says. “We have research-based evidence that the programs and content we create make an impact. There are plenty of organizations where you can’t make those direct connections to results…PMC knows what works, what reaches the audience and changes behavior.”

Liz, who started her career as a fundraiser for legal and political organizations, later joined the Capitol Hill staff of a U.S. senator from her native Minnesota. Afterward, she earned a law degree and worked in the development office at George Washington University Law School. Her law background “will help with any sort of estate planning needs that our PMC donors may have,” she says.

As with Liz, fundraising is a second career for many people. “It’s often something that you fall into, and you’re really good at,” she notes.

Two of her goals at PMC in her first year are as important as they are basic: to start increasing the unrestricted revenue line and cultivate new donors. “Donors who give restricted gifts provide funding for the programs we’re producing in-country, and that’s wonderful, but we still need to be able to turn the lights on and have an HR specialist…so we can continue to strengthen our organization,” she says.

In her free time, Liz enjoys reading, hiking, visiting national parks — and fishing whenever she can, particularly on trips back to Minnesota, where she grew up as an angler.

For now, though, her focus is on her new role at PMC as she gets to know current and prospective donors and becomes part of PMC’s culture. “I just feel so grateful to be working with such a great group of really smart, committed folks,” she says.

What she likes most about fundraising? “You get to meet the most interesting people,” Liz notes. “And if I can help boost a revenue line, that means more good work can be done.”