Meet the Planning Committee
Overall Conference Chair
Nick Blinco
Nick Blinco joined the University of Melbourne as Vice-President (Advancement) in September 2015. He leads a fantastic team that partners with academic colleagues in Advancement activity across the University.
The University's Believe campaign seeks to transform lives - with a dual target of activating and engaging 100,000 alumni and friends in the life of the University and raising $1 billion to support people, facilities and research that will change the world.
Before Melbourne, Blinco was at the University of Birmingham (2001-2016) as Director of Development & Alumni Relations and then as Director of Engagement.
With the support of fantastic donors, a highly engaged academic body, and amazing teamwork, the University’s Circles of Influence campaign exceeded the £160 million (A$320 million) target in 2015.
Blinco is currently the Chair of the Group of Eight Advancement Leaders Group. He served on the Pearce Review of Higher Education Fundraising in 2012, on the CASE International Philanthropy Commission from 2008-2010, has a CASE Crystal Apple, and presents annually at the CASE Asia-Pacific Institute in Educational Fundraising Conference.
Advancement Services Track
Rami Abi Jomaa, CFRE
Rami Abi Jomaa is an advancement professional with 14 years of experience in supporting education.
As the former Chief Advancement Officer at King’s Academy, Jordan, Abi Jooma led the advancement office's fundraising, alumni relations, advancement services, events, and communications functions, as well as managed a multi-year capital campaign. Prior to King’s Academy, Abi Jooma was the Director of Advancement Services at American University of Beirut, where he led several advancement functions. Abi Jomaa has successfully completed complex projects related to building advancement systems, structures, processes, and capital campaigns infrastructure. He is experienced in annual giving, technology management, human resources, and business processes development.
Abi Jomaa holds a bachelor’s degree in business management and information systems and a master’s degree in sociology.
Alison Anlezark
Alison Anlezark is a highly experienced strategic data manager, with a passion for achieving business outcomes through informed decision making. With extensive experience in research in the tertiary education sector, and two years in advancement, Anlezark delivers insights that support the University of Adelaide’s Advancement team with decisive performance reporting. With strong communication and stakeholder management skills, and through leadership of a cohesive small team of analysts and administrators, she achieves actionable outcomes for the University that grow and support its philanthropic income stream.
On a personal note, Anlezark has a passion for fitness, and lives in the Adelaide Hills with her husband, border collie dog and 3 chooks.
Pauli Kautoke
Pauli Kautoke is the Prospect Development Manager for Advancement at the University of Queensland (UQ). He joined the UQ Advancement team in 2014, was appointed as the Advancement Information Services Manager in 2016 and have been in his current role since 2018. He currently manages a range of comprehensive tools and services to support fundraisers at UQ with prospect identification, research and relationship management. He’s also the Secretary of Apra-Australia – the association of Prospect Development professionals in Australia.
Kautoke holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Canterbury and a Master of Information Technology Studies from UQ. Before joining UQ, Kautoke led various IT initiatives in the Kingdom of Tonga.
Alumni Relations Track
Ken Gideon
Ken Gideon is the Director (Alumni) at the University of Southern Queensland. He has been working in higher education for more than 30 years, both in the USA and Australia. He is the Co-Founder and Co-Chair of AUAPG (Australian Universities Alumni Professionals Group). He has co-chaired both the APAC Alumni Relations and Road Map to Advancement tracks on multiple occasions and is a CASE Fellow. He has given more than 20 presentations about Alumni Relations across the sector at many national and international conferences. Previously, he was also the Alumni Manager at the Queensland University of Technology and he was the founding Alumni Manager at the University of Queensland School of Medicine. He has been a CASE volunteer for more than a decade and is thrilled to be Co-Chair of the 2024 CASE APAC Conference.
Austin Tomlinson
Austin Tomlinson is an accomplished advancement professional with 15 years of experience in leading and managing global alumni relations engagement strategies and teams. His areas of expertise include alumni relations, capital campaigns, digital transformation, and developing and leading high-performance teams. Throughout his career, Tomlinson has spent significant time living and working in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. Tomlinson currently serves as the Senior Director of Alumni Relations at INSEAD, one of the world's leading and largest graduate business schools. Based on INSEAD's Asia Campus in Singapore, Tomlinson leads INSEAD's global Alumni Relations, Lifelong Learning and Event teams and is responsible for the leadership of the school's alumni engagement activities for 60,000 alumni in 170 countries.
Fundraising Track
Rebecca Hazell, CFRE
Rebecca Hazell is a highly motivated advancement leader who is passionate about philanthropy, alumni and community engagement, with particular interest in building a philanthropic culture in higher education and connectivity with community.
Rebecca has held leadership roles at Western Sydney University and Queensland University of Technology. In 2010, Rebecca established a fundraising consultancy called Giving Capacity and shared her experience and knowledge with a broader range of non-profit and education-based organisations, including consulting on an award winning capital campaign.
Rebecca is currently the Director of Advancement at the University of Newcastle where she joined in 2013. Rebecca has led the establishment of an integrated University wide approach to advancement bringing together fundraising, alumni and community engagement programs into one office as well as further developing the strategy, culture and programs to enable a sustained, meaningful and next practice approach to engaging with alumni, community and donors across the globe.
Daniel Martin
Daniel Martin is the Director of Foundation at St Aloysius’ College, a Catholic boys independent school based in Milsons Point, New South Wales in Australia. He serves on the college’s leadership team, and as Executive Officer for the St Aloysius’ College Foundation.
Daniel has over 20 years of experience working for leading health-related charities, universities, and schools, and previously held senior leadership positions at UNSW Sydney (medicine and science faculties) and The University of Sydney (medicine and nursing facilities) , where he contributed over six years towards the $1 billion INSPIRED philanthropic campaign. Daniel volunteers for a range of non-profit committees and associations.
William Roth
William Roth began his role as the Executive Director for Major Gifts at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore, where he leads a growing team of fundraisers in July 2021.
Originally from Pennsylvania, United States, Roth has been in advancement for more than two decades, primarily focussing on major and principal gifts. Initially, he served small liberal arts colleges, Haverford College, and Goucher College in the United States, and more international research universities including University of Pennsylvania, University of Oxford (as Development Fellow for University College Oxford), and University of Toronto. Before joining NTU, he was the Associate Dean at the School for Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.
Roth has a 16 year old daughter and he enjoys sport (watching and playing) and classic films.
Marketing and Communications Track
Tracy Chalk
A senior leader and passionate storyteller specialising in strategic and structural transformation, Tracy Chalk joined The University of Newcastle in 2018 as Chief Marketing Officer overseeing the centralisation of branding, marketing, communication, and student recruitment. This followed two years at University of the West of England where she led a complex transformation of marketing, communication, internal engagement, alumni relations, and philanthropy. Chalk entered the higher education sector at Australian National University where she spent seven years leading the development of the university’s brand and marketing strategies.
Phillip Stork
Phillip Stork is Vice President (Marketing and Communication) at Griffith University. As a member of the University executive, Stork is responsible for the University’s brand and communication strategies, prospective student engagement and media relations.
Since joining Griffith, Stork has overseen a major restructure of the University’s marketing, and communication functions. In 2018, he led the promotion of the world first university partnership with the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and the unique opportunities it provided for Griffith students and researchers.
Prior to working for Griffith, Stork held senior roles with the Queensland Government. Stork spent over a decade working in marketing, communication and stakeholder management roles in the United Kingdom and Australia. His work for the Queensland Government received multiple accolades including Australian Marketing Institute and Public Relations Institute of Australia awards.
Stewardship Track
Petrina Gilmore, CFRE
A results-focused, forward-thinking advancement professional with extensive experience across the independent school and higher education sectors. Petrina Gilmore’s areas of expertise include all facets of the fundraising pipeline: campaign and feasibility planning; communications, marketing and public relations; establishing Gift in Will bequest programmes; and implementing an effective data-driven approach to increase revenue.
Gilmore applies creativity to marketing and communications and in campaign planning. She forges enduring associations with board members, academic and teaching staff, donors, alumni, community members and colleagues. A highly motivated achiever, Gilmore has successfully raised principal and major gifts, built institutional profiles, facilitated engagement with alumni and research communities leveraging these networks to successfully support fundraising objectives.