Cynthia Khoo-Robinson joined WASHBURN & McGOLDRICK following her retirement from the University at Buffalo in 2022. She is an accomplished advancement professional with 30 plus years of broad-based experience and a deep passion for philanthropy.

While at UB, she served as the Associate Vice President of Alumni Engagement and Annual Giving, managing a team of 28 advancement professionals in her two departments. She led fundraising strategies for an annual giving program that raised over $6 million annually, increasing participation from alumni and securing 100 percent support from the Alumni Association Board. In her four years at UB, she created a best-in-class alumni engagement program that integrated with advancement overall. She successfully merged the Offices of Alumni Engagement and Annual Giving into a cohesive team that better supports the university, alumni, and donor constituents.

Cynthia graduated from Berea College, where she learned the fundamentals of institutional advancement. She benefited from philanthropy at Berea, which fueled her passion for advancement. She volunteered multiple times a year as a student phonathon caller and made donor visits with a gift officer that resulted in a $10,000 gift.

Her first professional job was at the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Medicine, as an Assistant Director of Development and Alumni Relations. After five years, she left UC to become the Director of Advancement for Hospice of the Miami Valley (HMV). When HMV was bought out by a for-profit hospice, Cynthia joined St. Ursula Academy (SUA) as its first full-time Director of Development and Alumnae Relations. She built the foundation of a strong advancement program for the all-girls Catholic high school and was promoted to Vice President of Advancement midway during her 16-year tenure at SUA. Cynthia led a team of eight and continuously grew the annual fund while implementing three capital campaigns that raised over $25 million for the small independent school. She contributed to the expansion of the school from one acre to 10 acres with the addition of two new buildings, renovation of several others and helped grow the endowment from $300,000 to over $3 million.

Following SUA, Cynthia returned to UC as a Director of Development. After two years as a frontline fundraiser, she was promoted to Executive Director of Donor Relations and Stewardship. She focused on promoting positive and mutually rewarding relationships between the university and its donors; partnering with development directors across 17 colleges/units to determine the best strategies for effective donor stewardship; networking with internal and external constituencies; and advising on the facilitation of recognition events and coordination of activities for donor societies across campus. Cynthia was promoted again after three years to Assistant Vice President of Presidential Initiatives and Assistant Vice President of Advancement/Deputy Campaign Director. In her Deputy Campaign Director role, she collaborated on five leadership imperatives ranging from $30 million to $300 million.