Patricia L. Stirling has been in the resource development field since 1981, and in 1992 she helped found Cardaronella Stirling Associates, a fundraising consulting firm dedicated to providing advancement and planning counsel to nonprofits in the fields of education, healthcare, community service and the arts.  She has earned a reputation as a highly regarded campaign strategist, teacher, and lecturer on creating campaign plans and infrastructures that help insure an institution’s success in their campaigns.

Prior to establishing Cardaronella Stirling Associates, Patricia served in positions of increasing responsibility at major institutions of education and health care, including serving as Director of Development at the University of California-San Francisco’s Medical Center and School of Medicine, Associate Director of Development at
Stanford University, Director of Foundation and Corporate Giving at Mount St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles, and Director of Development at Crespi Carmelite High School in Los Angeles.

Active in professional organizations, Patricia has served on a number of boards including the Association of Philanthropic Counsel (APC); Vice President of the Association of Fundraising Professionals-Golden Gate Chapter (AFP), and Vice-Chair of the Committee for Women and Minorities of (CASE).

Patricia received her Bachelor of Arts degree in History with honors from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and has attended the highly regarded Institute for Nonprofit Consulting (a Packard Foundation initiative.) and the Environmental Forum of Marin.  She has been a guest speaker and faculty member at conferences and seminars for CASE, AFP, Stanford University, Golden Gate University, American Association of Medical Colleges, National Catholic Education Association, Environmental Education Council of Marin, Development Executives Roundtable, Alumnae Resources, Western Alliance of Arts Administrators Foundation, and the Peninsula Community Foundation. In addition, she has had a number of articles published on fundraising management.

Her home and office are in San Francisco, CA, where she enjoys traveling, cooking and wine tasting.  At home and abroad, she is a devotee of theater, museums, art galleries and the great outdoors.