We’re grateful for the knowledge, expertise and generosity of our 2027 “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 – 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 in 2019 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.
Caitlin Bowen 🍏
Caitlin Bowen Assistant Director, Donor Relations at the University of San Diego.
Sam Camarena 🍏
Sam Camarena is Manager, Advancement Academy for the California State University, Office of the Chancellor. Sam leads the CSU Advancement Academy, the flagship professional development initiative for advancement professionals across the California State University system. Since taking the helm, the program has grown exponentially and is consistently praised as one of the system’s most valuable resources. He also speaks internationally and domestically on advancement and philanthropy data insights, metrics, and strategic action planning. His sessions are interactive and practice-based, often using approaches like Liberating Structures to help individuals and teams turn insights into action. Audiences consistently note the clarity, relevance, and lasting impact of these engagements, leaving with tools they can immediately apply to improve decision-making and drive meaningful results.
Andrew Chang, PhD 🍏
Dr. Andrew Chang is the Director of Advancement Analytics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where he applies data science, advanced analytics, and emerging technology to advance philanthropy and alumni engagement. His work focuses on transforming complex data into actionable insights that support strategic decision-making, strengthen relationships, and help teams better understand their communities. Andrew is particularly interested in the intersection of data, strategy, and advancement practice, and in making analytics accessible and actionable for frontline fundraisers and alumni relations teams.
Chelsea Clouser 🍏
Chelsea Clouser is the Assistant Director of Digital Giving on UC Berkeley’s Digital Philanthropy team, where she develops and manages strategy on student philanthropy and giving day volunteers. She also co-leads UC Berkeley’s largest and most lucrative giving day, Big Give, in partnership with Digital Philanthropy’s director. Prior to returning to her alma mater, Chelsea supported several campus clients and digital fundraising efforts on behalf of UC Davis’s Annual and Special Gifts program.
Wayne Combs, EdD 🍎
Dr. Wayne Combs is a leader in campaign and advancement management with over 25 years of experience supporting higher education and healthcare. At USC Rossier School of Education, Dr. Combs teaches courses in Creativity and Innovation, Strategic Communications and Change Management, and Economics and Finance in the Organizational Change and Leadership doctoral program. In support of philanthropy, Dr. Combs delivers presentations on emerging trends while serving as Past President of the Association of Advancement Services Professionals, Faculty for AHP Madison Institute, and Chair/Faculty for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education as well as the Meeting of the Minds.
Rodger Devine 🍎
Rodger Devine is Chief of Staff and Advancement Operations at Pomona College.
Becky Frantz, PhD 🍎
Becky Frantz, PhD is the Assistant Vice Chancellor of Advancement Services at UC Davis. In this role she oversees the Business Relationship Manager team, who focus on user data and system needs, as well as the Service Desk and Training team, who support getting users onboarded to the division-supported systems. She finds joy in having users engaged with data and systems so they can do their jobs more seamlessly. Becky also supports the team in making decisions on gift policy and gift agreements. Becky holds a PhD in Education and Human Resources from Colorado State University and Master’s degree in Higher Education Administration from Penn State University. She is also trained specifically in applied statistics and has been a National Data Policy Fellow sponsored by the NSF and Association for Institutional Research. Before UC Davis Becky spent time in the Development and Alumni shops at Stanford and Penn State.
Clark Gafke 🍎
Clark Gafke is the Chief Executive Officer of LEAD Philanthropy. Clark Gafke enables nonprofit institutions to attract and motivate donors to achieve the organization’s strategic goals. He helps the organization’s senior leadership evaluate and design strategic fundraising plans in the context of contemporary giving trends. He also assists the organization’s development staff to implement the plan through the design and conduct of specific communication initiatives for Capital and Annual Fund programs. Clark’s experience enables him to provide guidance on using appropriate channels to reach prospects and donors in ways they want to communicate – face-to-face, special events, peer-to-peer texting, calling programs, direct mail efforts, email campaigns, crowdfunding & giving days, online technologies, digital communications, text-to-give, text-to-pledge and a host of other mobile channels. In his 30+ years providing fundraising counsel, Clark has served more than 300 organizations in the US and Canada representing education, healthcare, arts, museums, zoos, aquariums, public broadcasting and membership organizations. In the process, he’s trained and coached more than 11,000 communicators. Beyond this direct service to organizations, he is a frequent speaker at fundraising conferences including NCDC, CASE, AFP, PSI, GEAC, and on many college campuses. He is Past President of the Las Vegas AFP Chapter, a former national delegate, and Past Chair of the chapter’s Education Committee and Every Member Campaign. Clark is also Cialdini Certified Professional and Ethical Influence Practitioner with the Cialdini Institute. Clark began his fundraising work as a student caller in the alumni annual fund program at the University of Missouri. After graduation, he worked at the National 4-H Council in Washington, DC. Clark has served as Vice President and Senior Consultant for a variety of consulting firms. He created the first online caller training program for colleges and universities and served as Dean for 21 PHONE/MAIL 101 workshops. He is an avid supporter and volunteer for 4-H. Both Clark and his wife were named to the University of Missouri Extension Leaders Honor Roll for their long-term commitment and support. Clark resides near St. Louis, MO and enjoys fishing and traveling with his wife and their two daughters.
Jen Jurgensen 🍏
Jen Jurgensen is Senior Director, Leadership and Annual Giving at San Jose State University.
Sarah Kleeberger 🍏
Sarah Kleeberger has spent 25 years focused on philanthropy and the nonprofit sector. She has served as a practitioner and frontline fundraiser, and during her tenure with RNL and Encoura has supported hundreds of institutions and organizations across the country. Sarah currently delivers consulting and analytics services at Encoura, with a commitment to providing actionable data and insights to client partners.
Paul Klenk 🍎
Paul Klenk is the CEO at GetThru, bringing over 20 years of experience in academia and university services. After earning a PhD in Engineering at Duke University, he developed K-12 engineering curricula, reflecting his passion for education and innovation. After getting his MBA, he transitioned to the private sector, helping researchers publish their work at Research Square, where he played a key role in product management, marketing, and finance. Over the past two years, he has led GetThru in supporting donor engagement through P2P texting for approximately 200 schools and launched the company’s Customer Advisory Board for higher education.
Ryan Lawrence 🍎
Ryan Lawrence is the Director of Digital Philanthropy at UC Berkeley, where he’s been for the last ten years. He manages the Digital Team that is focused on giving days (yes, multiple), including the 24-hour fundraising blitz, Big Give, as well as a robust crowdfunding program, texting, and student philanthropy. As the team that is focused on the beginning of the donor pipeline, Digital Philanthropy at Cal is focused on donor acquisition and retention through cause-based fundraising campaigns.
Anita Lawson 🍎
Anita Lawson is Director of Gift Administration with Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. She has been an advancement professional for over 30 years, supporting non-profit organizations and higher education to identify strategies and implement infrastructure to increase fundraising capacity. Before Cal Poly, Anita held advancement services leadership positions with Southwestern Law School, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, The RAND Corporation, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, and Art Center College of Design – all in the Los Angeles area. She has also held positions with Communities Foundation of Texas and Susan G. Komen For The Cure headquarters in Dallas, TX. Anita is a Founding Member, former Board Member, and Past President of the Association of Advancement Services Professionals (aasp).
Mark Longo 🍎
Mark is the Senior Director, Strategic Initiatives and Development Administrative Management at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Mark was recently awarded the 2025 Distinguished Service Award from CASE District VII. Mark has presented at more than 30 conferences (including AASP, CASE, Meeting of the Minds, ADRP, and Academic Impressions) on topics as diverse as benchmarking, metrics, administrative professionals, dashboards, project management, internal communications, change management, campaigns, board management, stewardship, and prospect management. His accomplishments since joining Caltech in 2013 include: developing Caltech’s first board-approved gift policies; creating and maintaining a best-in-class staff intranet; and developing an executive summary dashboard suite for leadership. The latter project received the 2023 CASE Grand Gold Award and the 2023 AASP Aspire Sapphire Award. Previously, Mark worked at Georgetown University, where he focused his efforts on providing fundraisers with the tools that they needed to be successful in achieving their goals, including: launching a new prospect management system; developing new fundraiser metrics; creating and managing Georgetown’s first centralized donor agreement office; and establishing the university’s U.K. Foundation. Mark began his career in advancement as the first development services director for both the National Geographic Society and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Mark earned a bachelor’s degree in economics-finance from Bentley University (where he currently serves on the Global Alumni Board) and a master’s degree in leadership from Georgetown University. Mark has also received a project management certificate from Caltech and is a certified Prosci® change management practitioner.
Elise Martin 🍏
Elise Martin is Associate Director of Prospect Development at Miami University.
Hannah Palpant 🍎
Hannah Palpant is Assistant Vice President of Advancement Operations and Campaigns at Harvey Mudd College.
Michelle Poesy 🍎
Michelle Poesy is the Managing Executive Director, Annual and Special Gifts Program at UC Davis. Michelle joined Development and Alumni Relations at UC Davis in September 2014. In her ten-year tenure at UC Davis, she has been instrumental in centralizing annual giving efforts. Her team has developed new annual giving programming that includes Give Day, Crowdfund UC Davis, employee giving, a student foundation, parent programs such as the Family Fellows, and a digital engagement program. She also oversees the Davis Chancellor’s Club. In addition, Poesy was an instructor with UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education teaching the class Annual Campaigns: Fundraising and Development Professional Concentration and the class continues to be offered on Coursera. Prior to UC Davis, she was Director of Development, Annual and Special Gifts at the Washington State University Foundation. She also has fifteen years of event management experience, including presidential-level university events and large-scale community events. Poesy received her degree in Communication-Advertising from the University of Idaho.
Sara Pond 🍎
Sara Pond is Vice President, Client Development at MCR, Inc. She is a philanthropic leader with a 20-year career serving educational and non-profit sectors with special focus on pipeline development. Her experience details leading teams, targeted marketing and communications, technical strategy, artful storytelling, and qualitative analysis to build the donor pipeline and raise revenue. She is passionate about helping organizations provide economic mobility, access to educational pathways and healthcare.
Marsha Reardon 🍏
Marsh Reardon is Director of Annual Giving and Philanthropic Outreach at the ASU Foundation.
Iyoni Rice 🍎
Iyoni Rice is the Executive Director of University Annual Giving at the University of Southern California (USC), where she has worked since 1999 in various leadership capacities. She leads the strategic execution and management of a comprehensive annual fundraising program focused on donor growth and pipeline development. Prior to joining USC, she also worked collaboratively with campus leadership at UC Davis, UC Irvine, and the California Institute of Technology. Her career experience and knowledge spans alumni relations, annual giving, major gift fundraising, event planning, and direct marketing consulting.
Gizel Richardson 🍎
Gizel Richardson is Associate Director of Gifts Accounting & Database Administration at Claremont Graduate University. She previously served as associate director of alumni relations & development at CGU. She has over 6 years of experience working in nonprofits. Being a first-generation college student, Gizel is dedicated to working with donors in order to help students flourish. She has moderated the “Women in Advancement” discussion at the Meeting of the Minds for the past six years
Alex Rodriguez 🍏
Alex Rodríguez serves as Assistant Director of Digital Campaigns at UC Berkeley, where he oversees crowdfunding, curates social media content around digital campaigns, and helps connect donors with the programs that light up Berkeley. Each year, he partners with students, faculty, and staff to launch more than 75 crowdfunding campaigns, fostering a culture of community-driven giving, cultivating new donors, and retaining lifelong connections to Berkeley. Lastly, he is also the creator of Oskquirrel, Berkeley’s unofficial crowdfunding mascot, proving that even higher ed benefits from a superhero squirrel.
Quamrun Salam 🍎
Quamrun Salam is the Associate Director of Gift Services at Pomona College, bringing over 12 years of experience in advancement operations and gift administration. She oversees all aspects of gift processing, compliance, and reporting, leading efforts to strengthen accuracy, efficiency, and donor stewardship. Known for her strategic and collaborative leadership, Quamrun has played a key role in guiding Pomona’s Gift Services through major CRM conversions and process improvements that elevate operational excellence across Advancement Services. She holds an MBA from Pepperdine University Graziadio Business School, where she specialized in Leadership and Managing Organizational Change. She is passionate about leveraging technology and creative problem-solving to advance the mission of higher education philanthropy.
Katherine Schiff-Welsh 🍏
Katherine Schiff-Welsh is an Assistant Director on the Digital Philanthropy team, working within a formal partnership between Digital and the Student Experience & Diversity (SED) team. The SED team oversees more than 500 campus programs centered on student excellence and well-being. Katherine serves as an internal consultant for these programs, helping them leverage Digital Philanthropy fundraising opportunities and build a foundation of support. Her current Digital focus is a secondary giving day (Oski’s B-Day Bearathon) and a yearly crowdfunding campaign for UC Berkeley’s Basic Needs Center.
Zac Spurlin 🍎
Zac Spurlin is the Executive Director of 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.
Andrea Taylor 🍏
Andrea Taylor is Fundraising Advisor with Andrea Taylor Consulting. She has more than twenty years of experience in leadership advancement roles in California universities.
Kalyn Rose Taylor🍎
Over the past ten years, Kalyn Rose Taylor has worked for non-profit and higher education organizations specializing in event planning, volunteer management and community engagement. Connecting people to their higher education institutions through volunteerism, philanthropy and fun is her biggest passion.
Ray Watts 🍎
Raymond W. Watts, CSPG, is Associate Vice President for Philanthropic Giving at Cal State San Bernardino, and is a regular presenter at the Meeting of the Minds Conference. He most recently served as the associate vice president for development at Claremont McKenna College. During his tenure, he led a team of fundraising professionals, collaborating closely with senior leadership. Notably, he spearheaded a comprehensive campaign that concluded with a remarkable $1.076 billion raised, surpassing the original goal of $800 million. He also managed a portfolio of approximately 200 alumni, parents and friends, ensuring sustained engagement and philanthropic investment. 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.