Robert J. Nava, vice president for CSUSB’s University Advancement and executive director of the Philanthropic Foundation, has been invited to serve on the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) Council on Foundation Leaders.

AGB, with more than 40,000 members worldwide, is the premier organization focused on empowering college, university and foundation boards to govern with knowledge and confidence. The association provides leadership and counsel to member boards, chief executives, organizational staff, policymakers and other key industry leaders to help them navigate the changing education landscape.

“As a longstanding member of AGB, an organization that does so much for so many institutions of higher education, it’s an honor and a privilege to serve in an advisory capacity to its leadership as a member of the Council on Foundation Leaders,” said Nava.

AGB’s Council on Foundation Leaders is a standing advisory group of professional leaders with deep knowledge of the roles, responsibilities and practices of effective governance for institutionally related foundations. Members also have a profound understanding of the purpose of these foundations and the intricate dynamics of their interrelatedness with the universities, systems and colleges they serve.

Nava, a long-time member of the regional community, returned to the Inland Empire and joined CSUSB in his current role in November 2018. He previously served eight years as the vice president for University Advancement at San Francisco State University, where he launched and led a successful $150 million comprehensive fundraising campaign.

Prior to his tenure at San Francisco State, Nava spent five years as the associate vice president for Institutional Advancement at the University of Texas, El Paso, and 18 years at UC Riverside, where he held various senior leadership roles.

In 2022, Nava successfully launched "The Campaign for CSUSB: Our Defining Moment," a $200 million fundraising initiative, the most ambitious in the university’s history, which is well on its way to achieving its goal.

Nava earned his duris doctor from Western State University College of Law and a bachelor of science in criminal justice from the University of Texas at El Paso.