Biography

Wilton H. Fontenette is the Associate Vice President & Executive Director, Marymount Manhattan Center. She is a higher education and nonprofit leader working at the intersection of technology, philanthropy, the arts, and education. With more than 25 years of experience, she brings expertise in major gift fundraising, advancement strategy, development operations, fundraising analytics, and organizational leadership, with a focus on using data, technology, and relationships to strengthen institutions and expand philanthropic impact.

Her career spans higher education, healthcare, and the arts, including roles at Marymount Manhattan College, New York University, and NYU Langone Health. At NYU, she co-established a fundraising analytics program that integrated data into advancement strategy and decision-making. At Marymount Manhattan College, she combined advancement operations and alumni relations leadership with major gift fundraising, donor strategy, and philanthropic engagement.

Fontenette began her career in arts administration and nonprofit management, working with artists and arts organizations across Louisiana through the Louisiana Division of the Arts and supporting arts education at Jazz at Lincoln Center, where she managed the Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Competition and Festival. These experiences continue to shape her interest in the ways technology, creativity, and philanthropy can foster connection, build organizational capacity, and advance institutional missions.

Fontenette holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Southern University and A&M College and a Master of Arts in Arts Administration from the University of New Orleans.

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