Bob Burdenski
Bob Burdenski is an internationally-recognized annual and regular giving programs consultant for schools, colleges and universities. He is a prolific writer and published author, often appearing in Currents, the member magazine of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). He is the author of three CASE books: Innovations in Annual Giving: Ten Departures That Worked, which presents ten U.S. case histories of advanced annual giving strategies; More Innovations in Annual Giving, Ten Global Departures That Worked, which features case histories from institutions around the world; and a new CASE book, Online Innovations in Annual and Regular Giving, Ten Dozen Departures That Worked. In 2013, Innovations in Annual Giving was published by Fudan University in Shanghai, becoming the first CASE book translated into Chinese.
A recipient of the CASE “Crystal Apple” award for lifetime teaching excellence as ranked by his audiences, he has educated and entertained at presentations throughout North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and Australia including numerous CASE Europe Annual and Regular Giving Conferences and masterclasses. He presented CASE’s first-ever annual giving training programs in India, Japan, Ireland, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand, and he is also a frequent contributor to CASE’s Online Speaker Series on the subject of annual and regular giving. This past month, he served as chair of the 2018 CASE Institute for Senior Annual Giving Professionals.
Since 2002, he has served as the moderator of FundList, one of the largest fundraising e-mail discussion listservs in the profession. He has worked with more than 200 institutions over twenty-five years to improve their annual giving program performance.
John Taylor
John is the Principal of John H. Taylor Consulting, LLC. For nearly 5 years John served as Associate Vice Chancellor for Advancement Services, as well as Campaign Manager during his last 18 months, at North Carolina State University. He has also served as Vice President for Research and Data Services at CASE – a position he held from its inception in late 2002. Prior to that John was the Director of Alumni & Development Records at Duke University for nearly 15 years. He holds a BA in Mass Communications and Socio-Political Change from Vanderbilt University, and a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Duke University.
John formed one of the largest advancement-related listservs in the world, FundSvcs, now with over 3,800 subscribers. He has spoken at hundreds of conferences across the country, receiving the CASE Crystal Apple Award for outstanding teaching. He is the founder and Former President of the Association of Advancement Services Professionals. He received the AASP Jonathan Lindsey Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. John resides in Durham, NC, with his wife and children.
Kayhan Ahmadi
Kayhan Ahmadi is the Director of Leadership Annual Giving at Cal Poly Pomona, and he leads an annual giving team of creative thinkers and fundraising wizards. He has 10 years of experience in higher education fundraising, starting as a student caller at CPP. He enjoys helping people reach their goals whether they be philanthropic, professional, or otherwise. Outside of the office, Kayhan loves to produce, perform, and compose music, and he is a performer for three musical acts.
Santiago Almaguer-Delgado
Santiago Almaguer-Delgado is the Director of Advancement Strategies and Services at the University of La Verne. Mr. Almaguer oversees the prospect research, prospect management, gift processing, reporting, biographical, analytics function and synchronizes principal prospect engagement strategies. He formerly served as Director Prospect Management at La Verne, where he instituted the University’s first prospect management system, created the prospect research protocol for a 124 year old institution, and assisted with pre-campaign preparations. Prior to that, he served as a Senior Development Research and Financial Analyst at City of Hope, a Senior Development Research Analyst at the University of Southern California and a Prospect Research Analyst at Loyola Marymount University. Mr. Almaguer is a member of Association of Advancement Services Professionals (AASP), Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement (APRA), and the California Advancement Researchers Association (CARA). In 2015, he was a member of the CASE Minority Advancement Institute cohort; an institute created to help foster diversity in advancement leadership and mentoring of professionals
Deanna Amaya
Deanna Amaya is the Call Center Supervisor for Long Beach State University’s Beach Fund. She is responsible for the implementation of new strategies and policy in the call center as well as the management and training of 50+ student assistants. Deanna started her development career as an Annual Giving assistant for LBSU. She obtained a double B.A. in English- Creative Writing and Film and Electronic Arts at the Beach in 2014 and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in English Literature. Her interests include 19th century British literature, periodic dramas and finding the best tacos.
Cory Andersen
Cory Andersen joined Snavely Associates in 2016 after working as a fundraiser in higher education and other nonprofits for more than ten years. Most recently she served as the director of annual giving at the University of Denver. She works with clients to create customized solutions and strategies to drive results for annual giving programs of all shapes and sizes. Cory calls the Mile High City of Denver home, but escapes to the Rocky Mountains at every opportunity. She enjoys skiing, hiking, cycling and running with her husband and two young boys. Cory also plays the ukulele, but don’t ask her to sing! She holds a BS in Marketing from Lake Superior State University and an MBA from the University of Denver.
Paul Barry
Paul Barry is a nationally-recognized authority on annual giving successful direct mail strategy. His career spans 44 years, including 27 years with Perrone Group where he served as President and Senior Strategist. Over the years, he’s helped more than 200 colleges and universities to improve the performance of their direct mail programs. He’s been a frequent speaker on the subject of direct marketing best practices and a recipient of numerous CASE “Stellar Speaker” awards. He founded the Cape Cod Mail Group in February 2018.
Kelly Best
Kelly Best is a Business Relationship Manager within Advancement Services at UC Davis. Kelly focuses on providing database and systems support to her UC Davis colleagues who interact with donors on a daily basis.
One of Kelly’s passions is helping her team and university get recognized for the innovative work they do, specifically by writing CASE award submissions. She has written more than a dozen submissions and presentations that have won awards at all levels (Platinum to Bronze) at both UC Davis and UC Santa Cruz.
She has worked in development for the last five years at UCD and UCSC. Prior to working in development, she was enrolled in a Ph.D. program in ethnomusicology, which blends her love of music, writing, and critical thinking. She earned her bachelor’s degree in geology (with honors) and master’s degree in ethnomusicology from Memorial University, Canada.
Tessa Burke
Tessa Burke is an Account Manager with iModules. She has spent the past 15 years working in higher education and secondary education, with a focus on marketing, communications, alumni relations, enrollment, and institutional advancement. Prior to joining iModules, Tessa was the web content manager for two private college preparatory schools in the Chicagoland area. She implemented the Encompass system in 2009 and enjoys bringing the perspective of an experienced Encompass user to her role as she partners with her clients in strategic digital engagement.
McCabe Callahan
McCabe Callahan is the CEO and co-Founder of Community Funded. McCabe Callahan began Community Funded in 2011 out of his passion to provide a platform for communities to support the things they care about. Since that time, Community Funded has been home to hundreds of highly collaborative, and in some cases, international award-winning campaigns.
Grace Casian
Grace Casian is the Director of Leadership Annual Giving at the University of LaVerne.
Kelsey Crane
Kelsey Crane serves as the Assistant Director of Annual Giving for Long Beach State University. Within her role she oversees the Beach Fund annual solicitations including direct mail, email, phone outreach, and BEACHfunder crowdfunding platform. Kelsey began her career in development at the University of Northern Colorado as a student fundraiser, where she also completed her B.A. in History. Prior to joining Long Beach State, Kelsey served as a program manager for Wilson-Bennett Technology. Working with clients across the country, her efforts focused on phonathon management, strategy and caller training. Her passions are spending time hiking, camping, and exploring all that California has to offer.
Laurent (Lo) De Janvry
Laurent “Lo” de Janvry has been in higher education marketing and development for over a decade. As the Director of Strategic and Direct Marketing Services at UC Berkeley, he grew the university’s annual giving department to provide direct response marketing, market research, and data mining-modeling services campus-wide. Lo has presented at numerous regional, national, and international conferences, and consulted universities on the utilization of market research and data mining-modeling to enhance their marketing, development, and alumni relations programs. Lo has his undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley, and his MBA from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business. Before entering higher education, Lo worked in the private sector in marketing, brand strategy, and operational consulting for Arthur Andersen, Mars & Company, Del Monte Foods, and Prophet Brand Strategy. Currently Lo is the Chief Director of Development Marketing & Support at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, and also serves as a Strategy Adviser to the development and implementation of Berkeley-Haas’ School-wide Strategic Plan.
Rodger Devine
Rodger Devine is the Senior Executive Director of Business Intelligence for USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, including USC Shoah Foundation, at the University of Southern California. Rodger oversees data analytics, information strategy, advancement operations, data administration, prospect development and leadership annual giving programs. Prior to joining USC, Rodger served as the Director of Information, Analytics and Annual Giving at the Michigan Ross School of Business, where he managed information, analysis, reporting and business processes related to development strategy, portfolio activity and goal attainment. Rodger brings over 15 years of experience in enterprise information systems, software engineering, IT operations, organizational development and cross-functional leadership. Rodger completed his graduate studies in information, analysis and retrieval at the University of Michigan, where he was a member of the Michigan Data Sciences team and co-founded the Student Organization for Information, Analysis, and Retrieval. In his spare time, Rodger speaks at various conferences, teaches machine learning workshops and volunteers in data projects that benefit non-profits such as the A2 Data Dive. Rodger is also excited to launch his upcoming book Data Science for Fundraising: Build Data-Driven Solutions Using R, which is scheduled to release in February 2018.
Jennifer Dunn Greenspan
Jennifer Dunn Greenspan is the Executive Director of Leadership Annual Giving & Constituent Relations at University of Southern California.
Justin Ferrell
Justin Ferrell is the Director of Donor Outreach and Alumni Services at Utah Valley University.
Gail Ferris
Gail Ferris is the assistant vice president for advancement administration at The George Washington University. In addition, he has served in advancement services at American University, Yale University, World Wildlife Fund, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Georgetown University, and Catholic University of America. A founding member of the Association of Advancement Services Professionals, Ferris has served as its president and most recently as chair of its Curriculum Committee. He served ten years on the faculty of the CASE Summer Institute for Advancement Services, chairing the institute twice, and has chaired the CASE Gift Processing and Donor Records Workshops twice. He is the recipient of the CASE Crystal Apple Award for outstanding teaching and has authored chapters in several books published by CASE. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Yale University, a Juris Doctor from the University of Cincinnati, and an MBA from the University of New Haven.
Brian Gawor
Brian Gawor serves as vice president for research at Ruffalo Noel Levitz. His focus is research and strategy to help propel the fundraising results of clients. Gawor has 14+ years of higher education experience in student affairs, enrollment management and development. He began his career directing the student ambassador phoning and campus tour programs of Knox College, his alma mater. His efforts supported the achievement of record enrollment at Knox which continues today. He then joined the college’s $3 million Knox Fund and, with the help of Ruffalo Noel Levitz’s on-site management, set an institutional record for alumni donors during a tough economy. Most recently, Gawor served for four years as director of development for the College of Fine Arts at Illinois State University. He is currently completing a doctorate at Illinois State University, where he is studying higher education donors, fundraising and the experiences of student fundraisers.
Natalie Graff
Natalie Graff serves as the Executive Director of Advancement Services for Cal Poly Pomona, overseeing their Prospect Research & Management, Donor Relations & Stewardship, and Gift Processing offices. With over 10 years of experience in higher education fundraising, as well as an MBA from Cal Poly Pomona, she and her team ensure that all members of the Bronco family have an exceptional philanthropic experience. In her free time, Natalie enjoys spending time with her two cats, husband and friends – usually in that order- and collecting vintage furniture that she fully intends to refinish, someday.
Diana Keim
Diana Keim currently serves as Associate Vice President, Annual Giving at City of Hope. In that capacity, she oversees Annual Giving, Digital Philanthropy and Employee Giving. The combined departments are responsible for over $10 million in revenue and more than 78,000 individual donors to City of Hope. In her time at City of Hope, the Annual Giving department has grown substantially. The program has more than doubled its efforts, raising revenue by 157% and increasing the number of gifts by 29%. The Employee Giving department has also grown under her supervision, instituting an internal employee giving campaign, “Hope Starts with Us.” Currently, City of Hope employees donate over $500,000 each year through this campaign, with 65% percent of employees participating in this effort. Prior to joining City of Hope in May 2005, Diana served for four years as Director of Annual Giving at her alma mater, the University of Southern California. She also served as USC Director of Telemarketing for six years prior to that. She started her career in fundraising as a freshman student caller at the USC Phone Program.
Jessica LaBorde
Jessica LaBorde is the Assistant Vice Chancellor of Advancement Services for the University of California, Davis. Jessica and her team develop and provide advancement services solutions with the front-line fundraiser in mind. With nearly 20 years of experience in corporate sales, political and nonprofit fundraising, and operations, Jessica is passionate about improving both internal and external processes to drive a leaner, more efficient business while supporting the UC Davis philanthropic goals and priorities. Jessica is an active member of CASE as a District VII speaker and judge for District VII 2016 Awards of Excellence for Advancement Services, as well as a judge for the 2015 Circle of Excellence awards for Advancement Services Programs. She holds a BS in Mass Communications and a BA in English Literature from Appalachian State University.
Kestrel Linder
Kestrel Linder is the CEO of GiveCampus, the social fundraising and engagement platform trusted by more than 500 educational institutions for giving days, reunions and class giving campaigns, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer fundraising, and volunteer management. A recognized leader in digital innovation and entrepreneurship, Kestrel speaks regularly on the evolution of web platforms, social media, and online marketplaces; the dynamics that drive user adoption and retention across different demographics and social networks; digital engagement and best practices; and the future of advancement amidst rapid technological change.
Jennifer Liu-Cooper
Jennifer Liu-Cooper, is the Director, West Coast Client Support, DonorSearch. Jennifer has 20+ years of experience in fundraising operations. Her areas of expertise include prospect development (research, analysis, tracking & management); business process assessment and re-design, system implementation & management; gift and record management. Jennifer has helped clients meet changing business requirements in applying business best practices within the unique context of each organization. She has overseen fundraising operations at the University of Delaware and Vanderbilt University, and directed prospect development at the University of Oregon Foundation. She currently serves as Secretary of the AASP Board and has been a featured speaker for CASE, APRA, and AASP.
Mark Longo
Mark Longo, Director of Strategic Initiatives at Caltech, collaborates with development stakeholders to plan, facilitate, and accomplish strategically identified cross-functional projects and process improvements. Areas of focus include benchmarking, project management, and board-meeting support. Previously, Longo was the deputy director of strategic development services at Georgetown University and led the development operations teams at the National Geographic Society and the National Trust. He received a bachelor’s degree from Bentley University, a master’s degree from Georgetown University, and a certificate in project management from Caltech.
Carola Maier
Carola Maier is the Assistant Director of Digital Philanthropy at City of Hope. Carola Maier is part of City of Hope’s Digital Philanthropy team helping manage City of Hope’s Giving Days and City of Hope’s Peer-to-Peer fundraising program ourHope. Carola began her career in a digital agency in Singapore helping brands such as Nestle, Vans, HSBC and Intel to optimize their digital marketing. Moving to Australia, she moved into the Not For Profit sector by joining the Cancer Council Australia. Here she managed different giving programs ranging from Planned Giving and In Memory Giving to Regular Giving before moving into a Retention Manager Role.
Jennifer Mariucci
Jennifer Mariucci was born and raised in Fresno and is a third generation Bulldog in her family, graduating from Fresno State in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in communication. She is a former student-athlete and spent 4 years competing on the Fresno State Equestrian team. Jennifer has 8 years of experience in communications and development in higher education. Her career started with Fresno State Athletics, where she worked from 2010-2014, starting as a Communications Assistant and working her way up to Director of Development. She then spent 3 years at the University of Maryland in Annual Giving and Digital Fundraising. She recently rejoined Fresno State in a new roll focusing on Regional Alumni Engagement and Digital Fundraising. Jennifer currently resides in San Diego, California with her husband, Tyler, and her son, Kyle. She has a great love for animals and all things Fresno State. She enjoys spending her free time traveling and with her family enjoying the outdoors.
Chris McBride
Chris McBride is the Director of Annual Giving at Cal Poly, leading a strategic program that focuses on fostering and building relationships with alumni, parents, friends and students of the university. She has extensive experience in developing and advising student ambassador and philanthropy programs and was recognized as the 2012 CASE-ASAP Outstanding Adviser and 2017 District 7 CASE-ASAP Outstanding Adviser. Beyond Cal Poly, Chris enjoys spending time riding bicycles on the roads and trails in San Luis Obispo and beyond.
Kayla McCulley
Kayla McCulley is the Director of Alumni Learning & Career Programs at Pomona College, overseeing online communities, programs and events that promote lifelong learning and activate volunteer networks. After earning her bachelor’s degree from Pomona, McCulley traveled to Switzerland as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar to research sports law and policy in the European Union. She has interned and consulted for a variety of organizations in the sports industry, including the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Octagon and Visa’s Global Marketing division. She holds her MBA and a master’s in sport management from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Marc Miller
Marc Miller is a sales consultant with MCR Inc.
Peter Moes
Peter Moes currently serves as the director of annual giving for the University of Utah. Within his role he oversees the university’s leadership annual giving society as well as all aspects of the central Development Office’s annual giving efforts, including assessing results and advising campus areas on their specific annual giving strategy. Peter has also served as the interim director of donor relations and communications at the University of Utah. Prior to joining the University of Utah, Peter served as a fundraising program consultant for Harris Connect. Working with clients across the country, his efforts focused on annual giving programs with an emphasis on phonathon strategy, management and caller training.
Emily Neigel
Emily Neigel is the Sales and Marketing Manager for Relay Txt.
Jacob Norlock
Jacob M. Norlock is an Account Executive at EverTrue. He works closely with EverTrue’s clients and prospective clients on the West Coast to provide education and best practices. He also has spoken at conferences such as AFP, PPPGP, PGGNE, GPCNJ, and at the PPGC. Jacob has been quoted in the Major Gifts Report for his work with colleges and universities. Prior to joining EverTrue, Jacob worked at Crescendo Interactive. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Marketing Communications from California Lutheran University.
Patricia O’Connor
Patricia O’Connor directs the fundraising efforts for the Fresno State Annual Fund. Her goal is to reach out to alumni and friends and encourage them to give annual support to the area that best suits their interests and passion for Fresno State. She has several years experience in university development including annual giving, advancement services and operations. She is a native of Colorado Springs, Colorado. She graduated magna cum laude from Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri with a bachelor’s degree in business. She has served as a United Way board member and believes in supporting local food banks and community programs that assist those in need. Her passions are spending time with her two sons and family, cooking, traveling, hiking and photography.
Anna Pruszynska-Garcia
Anna Pruszynska-Garcia, Caltech’s advancement information trainer, is a passionate instructional designer, trainer, and change manager for advancement and philanthropic organizations. With a background in teaching and adult learning, paired with her interest in languages and translation, she has the skills and patience to assist the most reluctant staff with learning new technologies and changing business processes. Prior to Caltech, Pruszynska-Garcia was the training lead at City of Hope, where she managed employee training programs for the philanthropy division. She is a founding member of the Association of Change Management Professionals (ACMP) SoCal Chapter and a certified change management professional (CCMP).
Rob Schlitts
Rob Schlitts, M.A. Organizational Management, is the Division President of Wilson-Bennett Technology Incorporated, a nationally recognized provider of cutting edge phonathon technology and services located in Little Rock, Arkansas. Rob began his phonathon career as a student caller at Hillsdale College in Michigan. Over the last decade, Rob has been instrumentally involved with hundreds of phonathon programs. This association has allowed him the experience of working with many diverse institutions; ranging from 3,000 – 300,000 callable prospects. Wilson-Bennett provides over 150 on-site managed phonathon programs, off-site calling, membership calling, admissions calling and automated software leasing; each unique to the non-profit needs.
Vered Siegel
Vered Siegel, CFRE has spent her entire career in advancement services, starting as a Development Assistant, and is now a Fundraising Systems Consultant for Blackbaud where she serves as advancement services and fundraising counsel for hundreds of nonprofit organizations every year. For the past eleven years, she has volunteered with the AASP, as the Host Committee chair, Summit co-chair, and on the Strategic Planning Task Force, Membership Campaign Committee and Membership Committees, as well as founding the Newcomer Brunch and Scholarship program. She won the AASP’s “Emerging Leader” Award in 2013, and appears to have emerged at this point.
Ray Watts CFRE CSPG
Raymond W. Watts, CFRE, CSPG, is A
ssociate Vice President at the University of Redlands, and has served the University since 2002. Ray manages the Development team at the University, and oversees all University philanthropic outreach efforts, working closely with Trustees, the President and the Vice President for University Relations to achieve organizational goals. Before assuming the role of AVP at Redlands in 2007, Ray served for 5 years as Director of Development, overseeing the major gift fundraising for the historic Centennial Campaign.
Prior to coming to Redlands, Ray spent 7 years at his alma mater, Loyola Marymount University of Los Angeles, spending the last 4 years as Director of Annual and Special Campaigns. Prior to this role, Ray served as Director of University Relations Administration, overseeing special events, donor stewardship and worked closely with the Vice President of University Relations. Ray received a Bachelor’s degree in English literature from LMU and a Masters in Business Administration from LMU with an emphasis in management. Ray received CFRE (Certified Fund Raising Executive) certification in 1999, CSPG (Certified Specialist in Planned Giving) certification in 2014 and has presented at multiple conferences on varying topics relating to development and management. He is also an adjunct faculty member in the School of Business at the University of Redlands, teaching classes on management, leadership and working with students on their capstone projects. Ray lives in Redlands, California with his wife, Judi, their 15-year old daughter Haven, 11-year old son Logan and 7-year-old daughter Clare.
Anita Lawson
Anita Lawson is the Director of Development Operations with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association (LA Phil) charged with building the capacity of that team in support of a major campaign for the orchestra’s 100th anniversary. Anita has been a development professional for more than 20 years and has enjoyed a rewarding career supporting diverse non-profit organizations with expertise in gift administration, process re-engineering and database conversion management. Prior to the LA Phil, Anita held advancement services leadership positions at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, CA, Communities Foundation of Texas and Susan G. Komen For The Cure headquarters, both in Dallas, TX, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles and Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. Anita is currently the President of AASP and has served on the board of CASE IV.
Jonathan Van Oss
Jon Van Oss brings over thirty years of in-depth knowledge and hands-on experience gained from various senior data analytics and market research positions for organizations such as the American Medical Association and World Vision. He also served for more than 15 years as Vice President of Data Analytics at several advertising agencies that served a wide range of national and international nonprofit organizations. Jon is nationally recognized for his insightful marketing and fundraising database analytics, decision-tree modeling, segmentation, testing and attrition strategies and analyses.