Associate Director of Advancement

Brooke Buzard Watson joined the Cunningham Children’s Home as the Associate Director of Advancement in June 2019.

In this role, Brooke oversees the development, management, and implementation of community and donor relations strategies and activities to support fundraising and stewardship. She is also the liaison with United Methodist Churches, the United Methodist Women, the Illinois Great Rivers Conference, sponsors and third party events.

Brooke has 10 years of experience in revenue generation and brand awareness in collegiate athletics, with stops at Bradley University, the NCAA and the University of Illinois. A favorite component of her previous roles has been building relationships. At Cunningham, Brooke loves building relationships that create hope and healing not only for the kids here, but also the many other tremendous community programs and families Cunningham serves in Central Illinois.

Brooke earned bachelor of science and master of science degrees in Recreation, Sport and Tourism at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she was also a Fighting Illini Softball student-athlete. She loves spending time with her family, gardening and raising chickens, sheep and cattle with her husband Chauncey in DeKalb.