Brimhall began her work in the non-profit field in Alaska, where she conceived of a highly successful state-wide conference series to support artisans in the areas of law and marketing, and where she subsequently was the first executive director of the Institute of Native Alaskan Arts and launched its cultural arts programming with a series of oral histories. Later in Massachusetts, Brimhall was the executive director of the Massachusetts Prison Art Project, one of the first such programs in the country, and one that was heavily supported by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, NEA, and an extensive Boston-area corporate community.
Brimhall went on to serve as a senior leader in several major Boston organizations, including as VP of Development for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, supporting growth during a capital campaign and the merger of two major medical institutions, personnel, and plans for a new $125M+ campaign for medical education. She served as CDO for Harvard Medical School-affiliated Schepens Eye Research Institute (then the world’s largest independent eye research institute), overseeing a $5M annual fund and a $65M+ capital campaign. She is a native of Napa Valley and returned in 2004 to begin a $70M campaign project to launch COPIA: The American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts (founded by icons Robert Mondavi and Julia Child). Upon the campaign’s successful completion, she moved to Los Angeles in 2004 to establish Brimhall & Associates, a boutique philanthropy advisory firm, including a tenure as the executive director for the Maybach Foundation with offices in San Francisco and Germany and for a $40M campaign for the Lobkowicz Collections, part of a princely project in the Czech Republic, and SEE International (Surgical Eye Expeditions International). She continues to consult extensively for a wide variety of local, regional, and national organizations.
Brimhall is twice a former board member of Women in Development of Greater Boston and has served as a Massachusetts Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) conference vice chair. Brimhall has been a frequent mentor, lecturer, and presenter on both coasts, including as a moderator for an AFP Boston conference panel on International Philanthropy. She was among the first to be recognized as a “Certified Fund Raising Executive” and holds a B.A. in English and Art and a lifetime CA teaching certificate. She has consulted pro bono for the Sanam V Quraishi Foundation (SVQF), the Center for Global Engagement, Peace Kids, the Fund for East Timor in support of a Nobel Peace Laureate, Jorge Ramos-Horta, and with numerous local community organizations. In 2024 she was appointed as an advisor to the Qatar Institute for Culture in DC, and launched Change Lab®, an interactive learning platform for the nonprofit community (www.changelab.studio).