Forty Under 40: Jennifer Holland

A marketing graduate from the University of Central Arkansas, Holland worked for a year as an administrative assistant in the Sam M. Walton College of Business’ development office before she was offered a job as its assistant director in 2005.

“I never even knew development was really a career … but I realized that actually my marketing skills came in pretty handy in the development office,” she said. “It’s a lot of people work and then there’s also opportunities to be creative, so it actually worked out pretty well.”

Holland, a married mother of one, since has been promoted to associate director, earning a master’s in higher education along the way. In addition to capital campaign development, she helped create an event that’s resulted in a $50,000 endowed scholarship.

Holland also started the business college’s blog, Facebook page and Twitter account, and works in several capacities to form bonds between the college and its alumni and current students in addition to her work as a fundraiser.

Her favorite part of the job is interacting with alumni.

“It’s just always interesting to me to hear people’s stories, hear what the university means to them, and then find a way to get them involved or help them give back,” she said.