As volunteer leaders of Yale’s For Humanity campaign, the five co-chairs helped guide the university’s most ambitious fundraising effort to date—championing its vision, engaging alumni and friends, and inspiring philanthropy around the world.
Their paths to leadership vary. Some began volunteering for Yale before gradu¬ation, others later in life. They live as close as Greenwich and as far as Hong Kong. But what unites them is not a single Yale story, but a shared purpose, helping ensure Yale’s impact endures for generations to come.
Donna Dubinsky ’77
The biggest lesson Donna Dubinsky learned at Yale was how to ask for help. When she arrived on campus, Dubinsky says she was deeply unprepared for Yale’s academic rigor: “I had never written a paper,” she says. “I could’ve easily failed.” But professors and classmates were generous with their time and knowledge and helped bring her up to speed.
“Getting through that toughened me,” Dubinsky says. “I’ve encountered many challenges in my career, and I always go back to that lesson I learned in my first year at Yale—lean on your people.”
After graduating, Dubinsky started her career in California, and Yale gradually receded from view. For decades, she remained largely disconnected, until an invitation from the Yale Entrepreneurial Society brought her back to campus, beginning a renewed relationship that led to roles on the University Council and the Yale Corporation.
Now as a co-chair of For Humanity, Dubinsky sees herself as a link bridging Yale’s past and future, recalling a metaphor offered to her by then-senior fellow Roland Betts.
“‘You have to leave the woodpile higher than when you arrived,’” she recalls him saying. “‘You don’t just burn through what’s there and leave it empty. You pass it on better than you found it.’ To me, it means that we can’t rob the future for today’s students.”
It also nods to the outward-looking nature of For Humanity itself: “The name represents an evolution in thinking from building a great Yale to using Yale to build a great world,” Dubinsky says.
That perspective shift is also valuable in conversations with prospective donors who wonder whether Yale really needs their support.
“As a philanthropist, if you want to have an impact, you are looking for a partner that can use your resources to realize that impact,” Dubinsky says. “What we’ve shown throughout this campaign is that whatever the field, Yale can be a partner with the scale, mission, and power to make a real difference.”
Nancy Better ’84
When Nancy Better reflects on her relationship with Yale, she sees a story that stretches well beyond her four years on campus. Even before she enrolled, Yale was already part of her family story through a father, grandfather, and brother who all attended. And in the decades since graduating, Yale has only become a more integral part of her identity.
“I made incredible friends in my four years on campus, and in the forty years since, I’ve made many more,” Better says. “I am so lucky that my Yale world has only grown.”
Since graduating, Better has held more than a dozen volunteer roles, but involvement with alumni engagement started before she left campus. She served as head of the Saybrook College Council, and, as a senior, co-chaired the Quarter Century Fund, an early version of today’s Senior Roll Call that encouraged graduating seniors to commit to give back.
“Every time Yale came knocking, I said yes,” she says. “Without really planning it, I found myself taking on more responsibility, simply because I loved the people and the work.”
As co-chair of For Humanity, Better has watched that work culminate in tangible outcomes: scientific discoveries that save lives, technological innovations that transform industries, and intellectual breakthroughs that expand human understanding: “Many campaign initiatives that began as moonshots now have real, measurable results.”
The campaign, she notes, unfolded during a particularly turbulent period, with everything from a global pandemic to geopolitical tensions and shifting federal priorities around research funding.
“It hasn’t been a quiet time to run a capital campaign,” Better says. “But this team has been nimble, resilient and determined. Throughout the twists and turns, we kept adapting and moving forward toward our goal.”
Randolph Nelson ’85
While Yale means a lot of things to Randy Nelson, it is first and foremost the place where he found his people.
“I became part of a community, part of something bigger than myself, with a shared mission to make the world a better place,” Nelson says. This sense of belonging became the foundation for his lifelong engagement with Yale, and as co-chair of the For Humanity campaign, Nelson has worked to welcome even more people into the fold.
Growing and sustaining a pipeline of new donors and volunteers has been a central goal of the campaign, and Nelson feels it has been an overwhelming success. Thanks to regional programming like For Humanity Illuminated, Yalies around the nation and world have never been more connected or energized. And with events like the 2025 volunteer forum in New Haven, Yale’s advocates have been able to learn firsthand about the challenges and opportunities confronting the university.
“I am so proud of this network of dedicated volunteers that has grown through the campaign,” Nelson says. “They help ensure Yale’s future through good times and bad.”
As Nelson looks ahead to how For Humanity will shape Yale, he points not only to the vibrancy of its volunteer community, but also to what that community has made possible: transformative investments in neuroscience, data science, and medical research.
“Major gifts to STEM have helped situate Yale at the forefront of innovation in an increasingly technology-driven world,” he says. “What gives me such optimism is that these advances in research will be sustained by a deep, enduring support. That generosity—spanning decade —will continue to shape Yale for generations.”
Josh Bekenstein ’80
For Josh Bekenstein, giving back to Yale has always been a personal responsibility.
“I was only able to get the Yale experience I did because of the generosity of alumni before me,” Bekenstein says. “People invested in the university long before I arrived, and I benefited directly from that. I always knew I wanted to give back in the same way Yale gave to me.”
That calling shaped his approach to For Humanity. Having served as a co-chair during Yale’s last campaign, Bekenstein welcomed the opportunity to return to a leadership role.
This campaign resonated with him immediately as an opportunity to articulate and expand on what makes Yale special.
“For Humanity felt like the perfect way to encapsulate why a great liberal arts university like Yale exists,” he says. “Yale is not just for advancing one area of research or creating one type of leader. Students might study philosophy one semester, conduct lab research the next, and join a student government initiative all while playing competitive college sports. That range of experience, combined with the freedom to take risks and follow curiosity, shapes leaders who can find creative solutions to complex problems.”
Lei Zhang ’02 MBA, ’02 MA
When Lei Zhang wants to inspire fellow alumni to become involved in giving at Yale, he gets personal.
“I ask people where they would be in their lives without their experience at Yale,” Zhang says. “I feel that everyone has a story about how the university has helped them.”
That belief is rooted in Zhang’s own experience as a student and member of the Yale community. After graduating with a business degree and a master’s in international relations, Zhang interned at the Yale Investments Office under Chief Investment Officer David Swensen.
Zhang credits that early experience with shaping his investment philosophy, which emphasizes a humanistic lens and people-first approach to building long-term growth.
“Yale taught me the spirit of giving back, which I have carried with me during my career,” Zhang says. “The people and relationships I formed there, as well as the lessons I learnt at the university, are ones I cherish and keep to this day.”
That people-first perspective now guides Zhang as a co-chair of For Humanity, where community and shared responsibility are central.
“Being co-chair has been a rewarding experience, as I’ve seen the Yale global community come together for an important purpose,” Zhang says. “Seeing such passion from everyone I have spoken to during this period has made me feel proud to be a part of the campaign. It is a wonderful reminder that we are all custodians for the future.”