Voice of the Faithful, a worldwide movement seeking redress for Catholic clergy sexual abuse and a Church that pays attention to lay voices, has named Priscilla Conwell Deck, Ph.D., of Beverly as its new development director. She has more than a decade of experience fundraising for Boston-area nonprofits.
Deck presently is principal of Nonprofit Institutional Advancement, Boston, which helps start-ups transition from fledgling to mature organization. She also has served as vice president for institutional advancement at the School for Field Studies, Beverly; vice president for institutional advancement at Andover Newton Theological School, Newton; and director of development for Boston Adult Literacy Fund, Boston.
Her pro bono work includes service on the boards of Rockport Music, Lexington Sinfonietta, All Newton Music School and Young Audiences of Massachusetts. Most recently, she consulted to SailSalem and the Youth Housing Initiative, among others. She also served international gatherings, such as Pacem in Terris and the Conference of Non-Nuclear-Weapon States, as a translator for the media.
In addition, she has given numerous presentations to non-profit organizations on development, institutional advancement and persuasive grant writing, including for the Center for Nonprofit Success, Boston, and at the Association of Theological Schools’ national conferences.
A prolific writer, Deck has been a music reviewer for the Lawrence Eagle Tribune, Beverly Times and Salem Evening News and regular contributor to Arts Around Boston. In addition, she was a writer and researcher for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, New York City.
While vice president for Institutional Advancement at Andover Newton Theological School, she served as adjunct faculty in the Worship, Theology and Arts program. She was part of a team that, with funding from the Luce Foundation, established the Center for Interfaith Religious and Communal Leadership Education, which built a partnership with Hebrew College to promote cross-cultural understanding and reconciliation. Earlier, she taught at Brandeis University and, before that, was on the faculty of Punahou Academy, Honolulu.
Deck holds a master’s in Russian and doctorate in comparative literature from Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass., where she received the Hirshfield Fellowship, and master’s of theological studies from Harvard University. She received her bachelor’s with distinction in international relations from Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Mass.
She is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Massachusetts Nonprofit Network, The Boston Club, St. Botolph Club and Harvard Club of the North Shore. Her avocations include golf, tennis, writing and playing the violin, which she pursues as a professional free-lance artist.