Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement Staff

Haley Ashley graduated from WKU in 2014 with her Bachelor of Arts in Corporate and Organizational Communication. After graduation, she became the Director of Sales at the Hampton Inn in Bowling Green, Ky.

After receiving an offer for a Graduate Assistantship, Haley left the hotel in 2016 and returned to WKU to pursue her Master of Arts in Organizational Communication. During that time she worked as a Graduate Assistant for the Department of Communication as a teaching and research assistant to Dr. Jennifer Mize Smith and Dr. Holly Payne. For her master's thesis, which she completed in summer 2018, Haley conducted a mixed methods study examining faculty and staff giving to their employing institution and how organizational identification may influence their decision to philanthropically support their employer.

Haley joined Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement in May 2017 as the Assistant Director of Leadership Annual Giving. In this role, she worked to engage alumni and friends with the university and cultivate private support for university initiatives. In April 2020, Haley moved to the Donor Experience team where she provided a personalized donor experience for alumni and friends of WKU on a digital platform.

In July 2023, Haley began serving as Director of Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement. In this role she is a strategic partner on the Philanthropy team, serves as the liaison between the fundraising program and the rest of the Division, and coordinates training and onboarding efforts for the Division. Haley also manages the student fundraising program.