Dream Believers.
We treasure your dreams and value relationships, understanding that collectively we have the power to make dreams become a reality. Expertise, perseverance, authenticity and generosity are at the core of all we do.
Fayruz Benyousef, CFRE, Founder + Principal
As a seasoned certified fundraising professional, Fayruz has leveraged three decades of experience locally, nationally, and internationally to raise over $500 Million for her clients from campaigns ranging from $10MM to over $100MM. Fayruz generously lives out what she advises to her many clients, by striving to build a community-wide culture of philanthropy. Employing solutions-based problem solving and strategic thinking, Fayruz and her team have spent the last decade reimagining philanthropic responsibility and civic engagement.
Fayruz is a sought-after keynote, presenter and coach. Her professional expertise areas include major gift philanthropy, capital campaign strategy and execution, organizational development, vision planning and facilitation, and leadership development. Fayruz currently serves on the Board of the Austin Area Research Organization (AARO), the National Domestic Violence Hotline, ConnectHER, and the 4ATX Foundation of Austin FC. She previously served as Board President for AFP – Austin, as Chair of the Sustainable Food Center and Con Mi MADRE Boards, and as a board member for the Trinity Episcopal School and Libyan Hearts. She was named an Ethics in Business and Community Award Winner by Recognize Good and awarded the Outstanding Fundraising Professional of the Year award by AFP.
Dori Flores, CFRE, CFRM, Senior Consultant
Dori has served our community as a development professional for over 25 years. She is an integral part of FBC’s team of Generosity Experts, bringing a vast repository of experience from a multitude of successful development endeavors, including annual, major, and capital campaigns. Most notably, as former Executive Director of The Seton Fund, she led philanthropy efforts for 12 facilities and managed an annual fundraising goal of $11MM.
Dori is fiercely passionate about volunteerism and community engagement. She served in various board and leadership roles with The Junior League of Austin, Mission Capital (formerly Greenlights for NonProfit Success) and AFP Austin and is actively involved as a parent volunteer at Meridian World School.
Dori graduated from UT Austin in 1996 with a BS in Speech Communications. She was nationally selected from 200 universities to be a participant in the Walt Disney World College Program, which earned her a coveted Mousters Degree.
Marcia Levy, Of Counsel
Marcia’s professional experience began in psychiatric social work and clinical psychology, where she served as a member of the psychiatric team of a large emergency room and on medical floors. She then reimagined her professional impact with successful stints as the Director of Business Development and Marketing for two international startup companies. Marcia brings extensive and diverse skills to FBC’s team of Generosity Experts including business development and marketing with a particular eye towards rainmaking, major gift philanthropy, capital campaign strategic planning/implementation, organizational development, and community engagement.
Marcia has spearheaded countless capital campaigns for private schools, medical institutions, and arts organizations, and her tenure in leadership roles on the local and national level have included the Anti-Defamation League, Dell Children’s Hospital, GENAustin and more. Additionally, Marcia has spear-headed multi-year campaigns that have provided over $10 million in funding for Scripts Research Institute, Jupiter, FL. Marcia, along with a dear friend, was the visionary leader behind the initiative that raised over $8 million to fund what is now the Seton Breast Care Center.
Catherine Bird, Senior Project Manager
Catherine joins FBC’s team of Generosity Experts with more than 20 years experience in content creation, public relations, grant writing, event planning, and volunteer recruitment/management. She has worked in corporate, agency, and freelance arenas in the technology and healthcare sectors and has professionally partnered with a number of organizations, including Microsoft Corporation, Allied Consultants Inc., Ascension Healthcare, Conspirare, Mission Capital (formerly Greenlights for NonProfit Success), Ride on Center for Kids (R.O.C.K.), Texas Veterinary Medical Foundation, Wonders & Worries, the Trinity Center, and more. Catherine has built a reputation for her exemplary relationship-building ability and excels in building partnerships and creating collaborative, team-centric scenarios.
She is also a published author and devotes a great deal of her time, talents, and treasures to a number of causes, previously volunteering with nonprofits such as The Junior League of Austin, Make-a-Wish Foundation, and SafePlace. Catherine continues to serve as a mentor and speaker for teen girl groups in the Austin area, an endeavor for which she is immensely passionate.
Lisa Wiedmann, Director of Operations
Lisa is proud to serve as the Director of Operations alongside FBC’s team of generosity experts. In her role, Lisa lends invaluable support to our team of consultants, ensuring a seamless experience for all FBC clients. She recently arrived back in Austin, Texas, as a newly repatriated expat.
Lisa spent the past decade living in Germany, where she helped develop localized marketing strategies for small foreign companies looking to expand into EU markets. In her spare time, she volunteered with an international voting rights organization for Americans living abroad.
Prior to her time in Europe, Lisa worked in nonprofit and higher education development roles for BikeTexas, the Austin Waldorf School, and the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. She earned a degree in Public Relations from UT-Austin.
Ellen Buckmaster, Creative Director
As a former fundraiser and marketing professional, now writer, designer and art director, Ellen brings to her work a broad communication perspective and a whole lot of first-hand experience in the nonprofit world. Her thirty year immersion in major fundraising campaign concepts, messages, and design has made Ellen a major creative influence in nonprofit advancement.
She has written and designed innumerable case statements, annual fund materials and other fundraising pieces for local and national nonprofits including Ascension Seton, The University of Texas, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Ballet Austin, The Sustainable Food Center, Dell Children’s, St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, Trinity Episcopal School, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts and many others.
Ellen finds connection. As part of the Generosity Expert team, she works closely with clients to formulate messages that feel authentic and powerful. She then transforms those words into materials that invest fundraising campaigns with muscle and meaning.
Carrie Dyer, Of Counsel – Marketing and PR
Carrie began her work as a Generosity Expert at the age of 7, when Carrie’s family lemonade stand was featured on the local news for raising $7.62 for charity. Thus began her fascination for PR and marketing, something she’s excelled at ever since. Carrie immerses herself in her clients’ businesses to match up the brand’s business objectives with its communication goals. She creates and executes strategic communication plans that help tell the brand story and ultimately raise brand awareness.
With her help, clients have secured coverage in national publications like the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Garden and Gun and The New York Times as well as local publications like the Austin American-Statesman, Dallas Morning News, Community Impact, CultureMap and many more. Carrie has created and executed marketing and communications plans and strategies for North Texas Giving Day, the largest giving day in the nation, Encore Park/Stewpot, Rosedale Foundation, Shield Ranch Foundation,
Megan Helmbrecht, Of Counsel
Megan brings more than 30 years of nonprofit fundraising experience to FBC’s team of Generosity Experts. After her tenure as major gift officer at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, where she was a part of the executive team that launched a successful $1 billion capital campaign, Megan and her family relocated to Austin where she served as the first Director of Development at the Lance Armstrong Foundation. She has consulted with The Miracle Foundation, E3Alliance, the Bakari Foundation, Hand to Hold, Austin Community College, AGE of Central Texas, and Honduras Good Works. Megan is equally passionate about civic engagement and has chaired several fundraising events include Hand to Hold’s Baby Shower and AGE of Central Texas’ SheThrives. Megan’s excels at major gift fundraising, event production, volunteer management, communications, and budgeting.
Currently, Megan serves as President of the NW Hills Young Men’s Service League, VP of the Women’s Symphony League, on the Finance Committee at Tarrytown United Methodist Church and is an active volunteer at Anderson High School.
SueAnn Wade-Crouse, Of Counsel—Grants
SueAnn’s practice as a Generosity Expert began in 2000, and she has since raised nearly $100,000,000 for a wide variety of nonprofits all over the USA. Some of her clients include AVANCE, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Catholic Charities, Communities in Schools, E3 Alliance, FIRST in Texas Robotics, National Domestic Violence Hotline, LIVESTRONG, Meals on Wheels, PBS, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Urban League, and YMCA.
She has also helped dozens of other organizations committed to stopping child abuse, providing equitable education, lifting disadvantaged families out of poverty, getting children and families outdoors, preserving the natural environment, protecting family pets, making sure children and adults have access to healthy food, creating social justice, and more.
SueAnn also manages two book clubs, is a life-long supporter of women’s networking, and has a blog called Gals-Very Smart Gals.
