Elena Guerra Jones

Elena has served in frontline fundraiser roles at Michigan State University for the College of Veterinary Medicine since 2023. While recently they transitioned to coordinating a new digital gift officer program for the university, they still gladly serve as a central fundraising partner for our MSU VetMed Community on the East Coast. Since starting at MSU, Elena has raised over 6.5 million for the university. They began higher education advancement work as  a part of a unique intensive new fundraiser program at Michigan State. This is their third AVAP conference- and they are very grateful for the connections they have made with other attendees over the past year, who have become treasured friends and colleagues. They have a personal passion for balancing directness and empathy as well as putting in the same meaningful effort to know both external and internal partners with curiosity as their central guide. They love discovery work- yes really! Their free time is full of fun with their pomjack, Theo and beagle Dolly with husband Ben in New Haven CT. Before coming to MSU, Elena spent six years at the University of Alabama- Roll Tide!- studying International relations, Spanish literature and Russian.