We’re grateful for the knowledge, expertise and generosity of our 2024 “Minds” speakers. We’re still adding more, so check back!
🍎 = Returning Meeting of the Minds Faculty Member!
🍏 = First-Time Meeting of the Minds Faculty Member!
Bob Burdenski – Co-Chair 🍎
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 Magazine, the member magazine of the Council for the Advancement and the Support of Education (CASE). Bob 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.
Bob is 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 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, New Zealand and Australia, and he is also a frequent contributor to CASE’s Online Speaker Series on the subject of annual and regular giving. In 2019, Bob served for the third-straight year as Chair of the CASE Institute for Senior Annual Giving Professionals, and was named a CASE Laureate for his years of volunteer service to the profession.
Since 2002, Bob has served as the moderator of FundList, the largest fundraising e-mail discussion listserv in the world, with thousands of development professional subscribers.
John Taylor – Co-Chair 🍎
John Taylor is Principal of John H. Taylor Consulting, LLC. For nearly 5 years John served as Associate Vice Chancellor for Advancement Services, as well as Interim Campaign Manager during his last 18 months, at North Carolina State University. He holds a B.A. in Mass Communications and Socio-Political Change from Vanderbilt University, and a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Duke University. John 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 he was the Director of Alumni & Development Records at Duke University for nearly 15 years.
John formed one of the largest advancement-related listservs in the world, FundSvcs, now with over 3,600 subscribers. He has spoken at hundreds of conferences across the country and received the CASE Crystal Apple Award for Outstanding Teaching. He is the Founder and Former President of the Association of Advancement Services Professionals. John received the AASP Jonathan Lindsey Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. He resides in Durham, NC, with his wife and children.
Gizel Avina 🍎
Gizel Avina is Associate Director of Alumni Relations & Development at Claremont Graduate University. Gizel Avina is associate director of alumni relations & development at Claremont Graduate University. She has over 6 years of experience working in nonprofit. In her current role, she works with the Office of Alumni Engagement in various alumni programs and events and the Office of Development & External Relations in engagement initiatives for all constituents and community members. Being a first-generation college student, Gizel is dedicated to working with donors in order to help students flourish.
Nicole Forrest Boggs 🍎
Nicole Forrest Boggs, MBA & CSPG, is the Assistant Vice President for University Relations & Development Division Operations at California State University Long Beach. She is excited to take her passion as a seasoned major gifts fundraiser and blend it with her grassroots background in Advancement Services. Like so many of us, Nicole joined the profession as a student assistant, smiling and dialing to thank donors. After graduating with a BS degree in Economics, she became the gift processor for her alma mater, The University of La Verne. From there, amazing mentors helped propel her into the development profession as the Director of Annual Giving. Her major gifts experience at Cal Poly Pomona and California State University, Long Beach spans from the College of Engineering, College of Letters, Arts & Social Sciences, College of Education, University Library, Student Affairs and Presidential Priorities.
Jeff Callaghan 🍏
Jeff Callaghan is Manager, Data Management at UC Berkeley.
Karina Chappell 🍎
Karina Chappell directs the annual giving program at Scripps College, providing leadership on reunion giving, giving days, leadership annual giving, current and past parent giving, annual giving appeals, and cause-based campaigns. Prior to that Karina was the Associate Director of Advancement at California Botanic Garden. At the Garden, she assisted in designing, implementing and evaluating the Garden’s comprehensive fundraising efforts including the annual giving, planned giving, major giving, prospect qualification and research and membership programs as well as capital campaigns.
Rodger Devine 🍎
Rodger Devine, EdD is the AVP for Advancement Operations at Pomona College. He previously served as 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 the author of Data Science for Fundraising: Build Data-Driven Solutions Using R.
Emily Etzkorn 🍎
After spending over a decade in the higher education fundraising space, Emily Etzkorn joined VanillaSoft as a Fundraising Evangelist, bringing with her a background in annual giving, engagement centers, and phonathons. In her role at VanillaSoft, Emily is working closely with fundraising clients and promoting VanillaSoft within the fundraising world.
Elina Gorelik 🍏
Elina Gorelik is the Associate Vice President of Advancement Information Services at Loyola Marymount University.
Natalie Greenhouse 🍏
Natalie Greenhouse is the Senior Director of Advancement Services at Occidental College.
Kalyn Rose Miller 🍎
Kalyn Rose Miller is the Associate Director of Alumni and Family Engagement for Pomona College. Over the past ten years, Kalyn Rose has worked for non-profit and higher education organizations specializing in event planning, volunteer management and community engagement. In her current role, she leads the family engagement efforts for Pomona College. Connecting people to their higher education institutions through volunteerism, philanthropy and fun is her biggest passion.
Eddie Padilla 🍎
Eddie Padilla is Associate Director of Prospect Management, Research and Analytics at California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA). His start in University Advancement began at California State University, Channel Islands (CSUCI) as a student assistant, where he fell in love with the world of fundraising. After working on the academic side of the University for a few years after graduating, Eddie took an opportunity at Cal State LA, working in prospect research and gift processing. His focus shifted to prospect research and database management and, more recently, to analytics. He served on the California Advancement Researchers Association (CARA) and has presented at Blackbaud’s annual conference, bbcon. Eddie holds a bachelor’s degree in performing arts from CSUCI and a Master of Public Administration from Cal State LA.
Michelle Poesy 🍎
Michelle Poesy is the Managing Executive Director, Annual and Special Gifts Program at UC Davis.
Jessica Pfahler 🍎
Jessica Pfahler is the Director of Annual Giving at the University of Redlands.
Stacy Rauch 🍏
Stacy Rauch is Senior Executive Director, Annual and Individual Giving at UCLA.
Zac Spurlin 🍎
Zac Spurlin is the Senior Director Analytics and Reporting in Advancement Services at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA. Zac has served in this capacity since April 2023, after rejoining the university in May 2022. Before returning to the University of the Pacific, Zac worked in finance as an Assistant Vice President for Products and Services. For 13 years before that, he served in various data analytic positions at the University, supporting business and finance operations and finally as the Project Manager for Planning and Institutional Research. He holds a Master of Science in Law from the McGeorge School of Law, an MBA from California State University Stanislaus, and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from California State University Stanislaus. He focuses on data visualization, integration, and providing on-demand access to support decision-making at all levels. Zac resides with his better half and their children in Lodi, CA.
Matt Sulzer 🍎
Matt Sulzer is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for MCR, Inc. For the past 20 years, Matt has served more than 600 college, university and healthcare teams with their direct mail needs. He prides himself on providing clients with excellent customer service, while partnering with them to help achieve and exceed their organizational fundraising goals. In Matt’s tenure, he has achieved Sales Person of the Year eight times and regularly speaks at conferences on different annual giving and direct mail topics.
Ray Watts 🍎
Raymond W. Watts, CSPG, is Associate Vice President for Development at Claremont McKenna College. Ray manages the Development team at the College, and oversees all College philanthropic outreach efforts, working closely with Trustees, the President and the Vice President for Advancement to achieve organizational goals. Before assuming the role of AVP at CMC, Ray served for 12 years as Senior Associate Vice President for Advancement and Senior Philanthropic Advisor at the University of Redlands, and previously served for 5 years as the University’s Director of Development, overseeing the major gift fundraising for its historic Centennial Campaign. Prior 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 master’s degree 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.