With more than 20 years’ experience as an advancement professional, Shannon Wayte, CRFE, has served in progressively responsible positions for organizations including Florida Grand Opera, Barry University, HomeSafe, and NSU. In 2015, she joined NSU as director of development and was quickly promoted to senior director of development. Wayte was then asked to lead the comprehensive development program for NSU’s Health Professions Division and, later, NSU Health. As the executive director for advancement for NSU Health, Wayte oversaw a team of senior fundraisers and served as the primary liaison to NSU Health’s basic and clinical research institutes and centers, including the David and Cathy Husman Neuroscience Institute and the NSU Cathy J. Husman ALS Center. Since the center’s opening in 2023, Wayte has secured $23 million in philanthropic support for ALS research and patient care. In August of this year, Wayte was named the assistant vice president of Advancement and Community Relations for NSU Health.
Donor Connection (DC): What motivates you to come to work?
Shannon Wayte (SW): Every day, I engage with people who are inherently generous. They’re my favorite kind of people: optimistic and selfless. No two conversations are ever the same, but they all center around one powerful question, “How can we improve the human experience?”
DC: How did you get into advancement?
SW: I studied journalism. I wanted to be a travel writer. My first adult job was as the events coordinator for the Florida Grand Opera. And then one day, the opera’s grant manager went to lunch and never came back. She just left. Everyone at the opera panicked, and I timidly raised my hand and said, ‘I have a degree in journalism. I’m willing to give it a shot.’ And that’s how I started in fundraising.
DC: What do you find most compelling about working in advancement?
SW: When I do my job well and I’m able to connect a benefactor with a cause that they’re passionate about, you get to see miracles happen. I get to witness the impact of generosity on people’s actual lives.
DC: What is one moment or one initiative that made you most proud to work at NSU?
SW: Easy. It was meeting David Husman. Here’s this person who was dealt an incredibly unfair hand – he lost the love of his life to an inexplicable disease – and rather than respond with resentment, he was inspired to action. David said, “I have the resources to help, and I want to invest in the promise of a cure. I don’t want to wait.” Then, to see NSU leadership respond to David’s vision so thoroughly, without hesitation – it was the most fulfilling professional experience of my life. Now, we have this renowned Center of Excellence for ALS research and patient care which serves hundreds of new patients each year. All because one person dared to believe it was possible.
The dedication of the NSU Cathy J. Husman ALS Center and the David and Cathy Husman Neuroscience Institute is a day I’ll never forget. David, his extended family and his friends were all here to celebrate. Center Directors Dr. Locatelli and Dr. Tabor-Gray and their team were so thrilled they have this beautiful world-class space to conduct their research and treat their patients. I was just so proud to have been a part of that moment.
My first director in fundraising, my mentor, passed away from ALS. I’ve always thought it was the most unfair and cruel diagnosis. I really think that this marriage of Drs. Locatelli and Tabor Gray, NSU Health, and David Husman may be the conduit for a cure. I think it may happen in my lifetime, starting with this gift.
DC: What does philanthropy mean to you?
SW: At its core, philanthropy is about shared responsibility for the greater good. Community challenges call for community solutions. It’s one of the most human things we can do – to help someone we may never meet, simply because we believe in their future.