About Julia Foster
Coach, Strategist & Fundraiser
Photo by Karen Floyd Photography
~ Guiding people through change with courage, clarity, and connection ~
Julia Foster is a coach, strategist, and fundraiser whose work is shaped by a long and varied professional career spanning nearly four decades—including over 20 years of leadership in nonprofit fundraising.
Early Career
From her earliest roles in offices, hospitals, law firms, arts organizations, and client-facing sales environments, Julia has worked inside complex systems where communication, trust, and adaptability mattered. She has supported executives, physicians, artists, donors, volunteers, and clients—often in high-stakes, fast-moving settings—developing a deep understanding of how people navigate pressure, change, and uncertainty in real life.
Before stepping into senior fundraising leadership, Julia built experience across medical education and event coordination, surgical equipment sales, legal and administrative environments, cultural programming, and destination management services. This breadth gave her a rare perspective: how organizations function at every level, how decisions land on people, and how confidence and clarity are built—or eroded—in everyday interactions.
Fundraising
Her fundraising career grew from this foundation. Over more than two decades, Julia has led multimillion-dollar fundraising efforts for major arts and nonprofit institutions, including serving as Campaign Director for a $72 million capital campaign at Segerstrom Center for the Arts. She has built and mentored teams, partnered with boards, and guided leaders through moments of growth and reinvention—always grounded in the belief that sustainable success is rooted in authentic human connection.
Performing Arts
Before her work in fundraising and leadership, Julia was a professional dancer, performer, and teacher—and she continues to stay deeply connected to embodied creative practice today. She teaches tap dance, sings professionally with a choir, and is an ACE-certified Group Fitness Instructor, grounding her work in movement, rhythm, breath, and presence. Trained in dance with a minor in psychology, she developed an early understanding of how confidence is built not only intellectually, but physically and emotionally—an awareness that continues to shape her coaching and consulting work.
Civic Involvement
Julia has also served in civic leadership, including a two-year appointment as a Planning and Zoning Commissioner for the Town of Avon, Colorado, where she was entrusted by City Council to help guide community development decisions with care, balance, and long-term vision.
Coaching Style
Her approach is further informed by lived personal experience. Julia has navigated career disruption, caregiving, loss, and periods of profound uncertainty—experiences that refined her belief that real growth doesn’t come from pushing harder, but from creating clarity, choosing what fits, and taking steady, courageous steps forward.
Today, Julia works with:
-- Midlife women navigating transition, identity shifts, and the quiet call toward what’s next
-- Nonprofit executives and fundraising leaders seeking strategic clarity, confident communication, and sustainable systems
More About Julia
In addition to her professional work, Julia serves on nonprofit boards aligned with arts, culture, and community care—offering her experience in governance, fundraising, and leadership in service of causes she values deeply.
Her work blends strategy with empathy, structure with humanity. Julia walks beside her clients—helping them move forward with intention, confidence, and trust in themselves.
Julia Foster’s educational and professional path spans the arts, business, and philanthropy. An alumna of Concord Academy, she earned her B.A. in Performing Arts from Washington University in St. Louis and later completed Chapman University’s Executive MBA program. Together with her Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) credential, this foundation reflects her commitment to ethical leadership, strategic excellence, and human-centered work.
Mission, Vision & Values
Mission
I help individuals and organizations move through change with clarity, confidence, and connection—building lives and leadership rooted in self-trust, courage, and intentional choice.
Vision
I believe growth begins with courage—the courage to look inward, to lead with empathy, and to choose what truly fits. When people feel supported rather than pressured, they are able to step forward with confidence, communicate with authenticity, and build systems—personal and professional—that sustain both success and well-being.
My vision is a world where midlife women trust themselves through transition, nonprofit leaders lead with steadiness and humanity, and organizations thrive not through burnout or urgency, but through clarity, connection, and aligned action.
Values
My work is grounded in a set of values that shape how I partner with every client:
Courage over perfection—meaningful change begins with small, brave choices, not flawless execution.
Clarity before action—understanding what matters most creates momentum that lasts.
Connection at the center—trust, communication, and relationship are the foundation of growth.
Human-centered leadership—people thrive when systems reflect real lives, real limits, and real values.
Steady progress—transformation doesn’t need to be rushed to be powerful.
Whether I’m working with a woman navigating a life transition or a nonprofit leader shaping strategy and culture, my commitment is the same: to offer thoughtful guidance, practical tools, and steady partnership—so growth feels grounded, possible, and genuinely yours.
"When people lead with courage and connection, success naturally follows."
