Speakers
Sergio Gonzalez
Sergio M. Gonzalez joined Brown University as Senior Vice President for Advancement in 2017. He oversees all advancement areas across the institution, including development, alumni relations, corporate and foundation relations, international advancement, the Brown Sports Foundation, and the Brown Annual Fund. He leads the $3 billion Brown Together campaign which exceeded its $3 billion goal early and is now aiming to raise $4 billion. Before coming to Brown, Gonzalez served as Senior Vice President for University Advancement and External Affairs at the University of Miami from 2001-2017. He was the architect and leader of two successful fundraising campaigns that together raised more than $3 billion.
Prior to joining the University of Miami, Gonzalez served in multiple roles in Miami-Dade County government, including Chief of Staff for the Miami-Dade County Executive Mayor, Director of the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust, and Executive Director of the South Florida 1999 Super Bowl Host Committee. Gonzalez is chair of the Board of Trustees for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). He also chaired the CASE U.S./Canada Regional Council. Gonzalez also chaired an annual CASE conference for Latin American university presidents and advancement practitioners over a number of years, and speaks frequently on the advancement profession to diverse audiences in the US and abroad. Gonzalez has a long history of civic service both in Miami and since coming to Providence. He is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute and has served on the Board of Directors of UnidosUS, the largest national Hispanic advocacy and civil rights organization.
Other past board service includes Belen Jesuit Prep School in Miami, the Orange Bowl, Breakthrough Miami, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and the Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. In Providence, Gonzalez served on the board of the Trinity Repertory Theater and currently serves on the board of the Wheeler School.
Sue Cunningham
Sue Cunningham is President and CEO of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), which supports over 3,000 schools, colleges and universities worldwide in developing their integrated advancement work (alumni relations, communications, fundraising and marketing operations). As CASE President and CEO, Ms. Cunningham provides strategic and operational leadership for one of the largest associations of education-related institutions in the world with members in over 80 countries. She started her leadership role at CASE in March 2015.
While at CASE, Ms. Cunningham has engaged CASE in two strategic planning processes. The first, which engaged thousands of CASE volunteers, resulted in Reimagining CASE: 2017-2021, and created an ambitious framework for serving CASE’s members and championing education worldwide, which included a comprehensive restructure of CASE’s volunteer leadership and governance structure. Building on the strengths of this plan, she led a recalibration exercise that resulted in Championing Advancement: CASE 2022-2027. This Plan articulates a clear strategic intent: that CASE will define the competencies and standards for the profession of advancement, and lead and champion their dissemination and application across the world’s educational institutions.
Among the key initiatives that have developed under her leadership include the redesign and delivery of a new global governance structure. In addition, CASE acquired the Voluntary Support of Education survey and created CASE’s Insights, CASE’s global research and data efforts. CASE published the first global and digital edition of CASE’s Global Reporting Standards and Guidelines, which operate as the industry-leading Standards for the profession, and launched the first global Alumni Engagement survey in addition to annual fundraising surveys. CASE created an ambitious competencies model across all advancement disciplines and a related career journey framework; opened the CASE Opportunities and Inclusion Center which focuses on equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging; and has reinvigorated a global advocacy agenda to communicate the value of education. Ms. Cunningham serves as a Trustee and Secretary for the University of San Diego, and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Board. She is a member of the Signature Theatre (Arlington, Virginia) Board of Directors, Chairs their Governance Committee, and sits on the Executive Committee. She is a member of the Washington Higher Education Secretariat steering committee, the International Association of University Presidents Executive Committee, and the International Women’s Forum. She has recently been named to the new, US-based Council of Higher Education as a Strategic Asset. She is the author of ‘Global Exchange: Dialogues to Advance Education’.
Prior to her appointment to CASE, Ms. Cunningham served as Vice-Principal for Advancement at the University of Melbourne where she led the Believe campaign resulting in surpassing its original $500 million goal; and the Director of Development for the University of Oxford where she led the development team through the first phase of the largest fundraising campaign outside of the United States (at the time): Oxford Thinking, with a goal of £1.25 billion. She served as Director of Development at Christ Church, Oxford and as Director of External Relations at St. Andrews University.
Before working in education, Ms. Cunningham enjoyed a career in theatre, the arts and the cultural sector. She is an Honorary Fellow of the Melbourne Graduate School of Education and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. In 2012, Ms. Cunningham received the CASE Europe Distinguished Service Award, and has received the coveted CASE Crystal Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching. Ms. Cunningham was awarded a master’s degree from the University of Oxford, a bachelor’s degree in performing arts from Middlesex University, and is a graduate of the Columbia University Senior Executive Program.
Carlos H. Garcia
El Dr. García es Director de Relaciones Institucionales y Coordinador de la Oficina de la Rectoría en CETYS Universidad, un sistema universitario particular de enfoque global ubicado en el noroeste de México. El Dr. García ha estado involucrado en temas de relaciones externas por más de 20 años, habiendo servido como Director de Avance Institucional del Sistema CETYS (2004-2009), Director de Campus en dos periodos (2010-2016), y Enlace con el Órgano de Gobierno (2008-2020). En su rol actual tiene a su cargo la supervisión de las Direcciones de Alumni, Comunicación Institucional, entre otros.Como enlace con el Instituto Educativo del Noroeste, Órgano de Gobierno del CETYS, el Dr. García ha hecho el staffing de su Comité de Nominaciones (Gobernanza) coordinando los proceso de desarrollo, evaluación y capacitación. Fue el principal punto de contacto para un proceso de reestructuración multianual por el cual el Consejo fue reconocido con el el prestigioso Premio John W. Nason de AGB, siendo la primera institución fuera de EUA en recibir tal reconocimiento a las mejores prácticas de Gobernanza.
Credenciales profesionales
Obtuvo su Doctorado en City University en Seattle, WA, y un MBA por CETYS Universidad. En el ámbito de avance institucional, el Dr. García tiene una preparación formal que incluye su paso por la prestigiada The Fundraising Schools en Indiana-Purdue y la Escuela de Graduados en Educación de Harvard, así como diversos seminarios y cursos de actualización.
Carlos está activo en varias organizaciones de la educación superior, incluyendo el Consejo para el Avance y el Apoyo a la Educación (CASE), la Asociación de Consejos de Gobierno de Universidades y Colegios (AGB), y el Consejo Americano de Educación (ACE). Ha sido miembro de la junta directiva de COPARMEX (organización empresarial líder en México), la Corporación de Desarrollo Económico, Cruz Roja Mexicana, el Museo de Ciencias Caracol, Rotary International (D-4100), entre otros.
Adicionalmente, ha tenido una participación activa como voluntario en CASE donde ha impartido cursos, seminarios y talleres relacionados con avance institucional, filantropía, relaciones con ex alumnos, mercadotecnia para universidades y colegios, tanto para Latinoamérica como en los EUA. Fue miembro de la Comisión de Relaciones con Ex Alumnos del Consejo Directivo de CASE (Washington, DC).
Es miembro por invitación del selecto cuerpo de consultores del Association of Governing Board, medio por el cual se apoya a instituciones educativas a mejorar sus procesos de Gobernanza.
Bernardo Vargas Gibsone
Desde Agosto de 2022 Bernardo Vargas Gibsone trabaja en el grupo DigitalBridge como Managing Director. DigitalBridge es una firma de manejo de inversiones a escala global y una de las más grandes del mundo con especialización en infraestructura digital.
Entre Julio 2015 y Enero 2022, el señor Vargas Gibsone fué el Presidente del Grupo ISA, líder multilatina con foco en cuatro negocios: Transmisión de Energía Eléctrica, Tecnologías de Información y Telecomunicaciones, Concesiones Viales y Gestión de Sistemas de tiempo real. Fundada en 1967, ISA opera a través de 43 filiales y subsidiarias en 7 países de América Latina.
Previamente, Bernardo Vargas fundó Nogal Asesorías Financieras, una banca de inversión especializada en fusiones y adquisiciones y financiación estratégica. Durante más de 14 años en la firma, lideró transacciones en múltiples sectores.
Aparte de su participación en mas de 10 Juntas Directivas de empresas filiales del Grupo ISA, es o ha sido miembro de diferentes directorios en diversas organizaciones y fundaciones sin ánimo de lucro tales como: Andesco (P*), WEC (VP*), ISA S.A. E.S.P., Amarilo S.A., Grupo Pantaleón, Proantioquia, Best Buddies Colombia, Orquesta Filarmónica de Medellín FILARMED, la Fundación Santa Fé de Bogotá, uno de los principales hospitales de Colombia, la National Audobon Society y la Fundacão Dom Cabral, entre otras.
En 2001, fue director de ING Barings donde lideró la operación de la Compañía en Colombia. Se unió a Baring Securities en 1994 como Director para Colombia y luego fue asignado como Presidente para la fusión entre Barings Securities e ING Colombia en enero de 1997.
Previo a Barings, fue gerente fundador de Proexport Colombia (hoy Procolombia), agencia nacional de promoción de comercio en Colombia y gerente fundador de Fiducoldex. También actuó como asesor del Ministro de Comercio Exterior.
Bernardo Vargas también estuvo a la cabeza del Departamento de Reservas Internacionales y Financiamiento Externo, además de otras posiciones durante casi diez años en el Banco de la Repú
Krista Slade
Krista Slade serves as Chief Philanthropy & Partnerships Officer for the national executive of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA). Founded in 1918, CMHA is the most established and extensive community mental health organization in Canada. CMHA has over 7,000 staff and 11,000 volunteers across the country.
Krista’s career has been primarily in the world of educational advancement, building a career over twenty-five years on four continents. Most recently she spent seven years with the University of Toronto, leading the advancement team responsible for the Faculty of Arts & Science “Boundless” campaign which raised over $320 million CDN.
Born in Toronto, Krista has spent much of her career overseas. She worked in Hong Kong for over a decade and traveled extensively throughout the Asia-Pacific region for the University of Toronto. She then moved to the University of Melbourne where she worked as a strategic advisor to the Vice Chancellor, Professor Glyn Davis. Krista was recruited as the inaugural Executive Director for CASE Asia-Pacific, establishing operations in Singapore. From 2010 – 2015, Krista served as global advancement director of the Rhodes Scholarships, based at Rhodes House, Oxford. Krista was responsible for all fundraising, alumni engagement, and communications activity during a period of enormous growth for the Rhodes Trust.
A graduate of the University of Toronto (BA Hons, MA), Krista also studied at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (International Asian Studies Program). She is a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and is the Vice-Chair of the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA).