York University Athletics & Recreation and the Division of Advancement announced on May 9 that Rahim Dharamsi has been named the new senior development officer.
Dharamsi will be responsible for leading the alumni and major gift donor program for Athletics & Recreation. He comes to York from Centennial College, where he has served as the interim director of development for the past year and a half, and before that was a senior development officer. He also has past experience in fundraising for athletics at the University of Guelph and the University of Toronto.
"Rahim is an accomplished advancement professional and I am thrilled he will be joining our team," said Jennifer Myers, executive director of Athletics & Recreation. "We have a tremendous group of alumni who are highly invested in our success and I am looking forward to working with Rahim to build on those relationships and build a strong plan for us to engage even more alumni. We have big goals to raise funds for projects that will transform our program and I am confident in Rahim's leadership to help us achieve those goals."
Dharamsi has worked extensively with major gift prospects/donors over $25,000 and has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars throughout his career.
He graduated from the University of Windsor with a degree in psychology, and while at Windsor he also played varsity rugby for the Lancers. He went on to complete a certificate in fundraising and volunteer management from the Humber Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning: School of Media Studies.
"I'm excited to join the Athletics & Recreation team at York and work alongside all of the dedicated coaches and management in the department," said Dharamsi. "The opportunity to help grow support and alumni engagement within the varsity teams at one of Canada's top universities was one I couldn't pass on. I'm looking forward to working closely with everyone to see the vision and plan for the department and play a role in the success of that vision."
Dharamsi is also very involved in the rugby community. He is currently a board member of the Rugby Rumble Youth Association, which provides access to youth who want to play rugby in Toronto, and was the past president of the Toronto Scottish Rugby Football Club.
He will begin in his new role on May 23.