Faculty
Chair
Marcus Ward
Marcus Ward is the Vice President (Advancement) at Griffith University in Queensland and is an accomplished advancement leader and philanthropy expert with international experience at leading organisations including The Prince’s Trust in London.
Previously Chief Philanthropy Officer at Monash University, Marcus oversaw their first ever comprehensive fundraising campaign 'Change it. For good.' one of Australia’s most successful philanthropic campaigns and establishing Monash as one of Australia’s leading universities for philanthropic partnership. This included some of the largest philanthropic investments in Australian HE and building a community of 43,000 donors to inspire transformational support for breakthrough research and education for all.
Prior to moving to Australia in 2013, Marcus was Head of Major Gifts at Queen’s University Belfast, where he worked on two comprehensive fundraising campaigns which redefined the importance of philanthropy in Northern Ireland and culminated in the team being recognised as the Times Higher University Fundraising Team of the Year 2012.
Before that Marcus led the Corporate and Trust Fundraising Team at The Prince's Trust in London, the Prince of Wales's largest charity, securing its largest ever philanthropic relationship with the English Premier League, still in place over 20 years later.
Faculty
Jimmy Buck
Jimmy Buck is the Chief Advancement Officer at Deakin University, leading a team of advancement practitioners at one of Australia’s youngest and most progressive universities. A lifelong fundraiser, Jimmy started his career in advancement as a university student, co-chairing Boston University’s class gift campaign that raised $100,000 from graduating students.
During his nine years at The University of Sydney, Jimmy worked across all areas of advancement, leading advancement services, alumni relations, and development teams in both higher education and medical philanthropy. He played a leadership role in the university’s INSPIRED campaign, the first philanthropic campaign in Australian higher education to raise $1 billion.
Jimmy is a CASE volunteer and speaker, serves on the editorial board of Journal of Education Advancement and Marketing, the Community Bank at Deakin University Advisory Board, and the Board of Anam Cara House Geelong.
Deborah Carr
Deborah leads the activity and strategy for philanthropy at Western Sydney University, having worked in Western’s Office of Advancement for six years, and holding the position as Executive Director, Advancement for the last three years. The philanthropy strategy aims to ensure that a strong culture of giving and asking advances the University’s teaching and research agendas. The culture of philanthropy at Western has grown substantially over this time, with funds raised increasing from $2M in 2014 to $21M in 2018.
Deborah is a dynamic and accomplished philanthropy and marketing-communications executive, with over 20 years’ experience and a versatile skill set. Deborah brings strategic insight from industries including higher education, charities, finance, building and construction, and private enterprise.
Deborah enjoys articulating complex issues and managing multiple stakeholders, through a focus on concise communications and target audience, taking each on a journey and providing mutual benefit. She feels that stimulating collective thought, identifying new opportunities and developing a culture are paramount to building strong relationships and ultimately, strong philanthropic support.
Liz Hawkins
Liz Hawkins is the Executive Director of Advancement at University of Adelaide. She has over 30 years’ experience in fundraising within tertiary education, the arts & cultural sector and the not for profit across North America the UK and Australia. Liz currently leads an expanding team of 25 advancement professionals with the aim to embed the culture of philanthropy across the university, secure transformational gifts and help lead the 150th Anniversary celebrations in 2024.
After graduating from Cornell University, Liz worked for the University in the Advancement team for 5 years. After a 15-year stint as a professional actor, Liz returned to full-time fundraising and most recently worked as Director of Programming, Development and Venue Sales at Adelaide Festival Centre. Liz was an inaugural member of the CASE Asia Pacific Board and Council and is delighted to return once again as an APIEF faculty member.