Submitted by: Jennifer Boyett, jboyett@uca.edu on 11/11/2025
Joan Shofner, associate vice president of campaign and development, has been selected as a 2025 Conway Area Chamber of Commerce Women in Business honoree in the nonprofit category. She will be recognized at the Insight Women in Business event on Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 10 a.m. in Reynolds Performance Hall.
Shofner is a proven leader in nonprofit and higher education advancement whose vision and drive have transformed UCA’s fundraising success. Since joining UCA in 2010 as the university’s first Director of Advancement Research, Joan has steadily built a career defined by innovation, leadership, and results. Today she leads UCA’s Development Office and a team of eight professionals, cultivating a culture of collaboration and excellence that is recognized across campus and in the advancement field.
Shofner is an innovator who brings data and strategy together to achieve extraordinary results. Her leadership in adopting AI-driven platforms for donor engagement positioned UCA as a national example in leveraging technology to strengthen philanthropy. That initiative alone produced 225 new or increased gifts—76 of which exceeded $1,000—and Joan was invited to share UCA’s success story at the 2024 Fundraising AI Global Summit: Generate Good conference, where more than 9,000 registrants from 141 countries learned from her expertise. She co-presented with Gravyty and Susan G. Komen in a session titled Revolutionizing Donor Engagement: How AI Empowers Nonprofits to Scale Mid-Level and Major Gifts.
Shofner models excellence, encourages innovation, and celebrates team success. She has built an office defined by mutual respect, professional growth, and shared purpose, making UCA’s Development Office not only a high-performing unit but also a place where people want to work. Her influence extends well beyond metrics—she inspires the next generation of advancement professionals while ensuring her team feels valued and supported.
