Caryn Schultz Korman has been an institutional advancement professional for more than 25 years in roles that have included alumni relations, data management, and volunteer board management, engagement and fundraising. In her current role, she leads the alumni and donor engagement teams comprised of Annual Giving, Inclusive Engagement, Special Events, Stewardship and Donor Relations and the UIC Alumni Association.  Previously she oversaw the alumni engagement efforts and established the first UIC Alumni Association as the inaugural Executive Director. During that time period, she developed the first UIC Alumni Board which is comprised of 70 alumni volunteers. Prior to returning to UIC in 2017, Schultz Korman held senior alumni relations roles at the University of Minnesota at its Alumni Association, Foundation and within the Medical School.

Jenny Cooke Smith is the Senior Director of CASE Insights Solutions at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, CASE and specialises in analysing advancement trends, interpreting comparison benchmarks, and helping people understand the "stories behind the data". Prior to joining CASE, Smith spent 15 years in a variety of positions within Blackbaud’s Target Analytics, most recently leading donorCentrics™ benchmarking cohorts, providing opportunities for institutions and organisations globally to review and discuss direct marketing and annual giving trends. She joined CASE in 2019 to help members find value through using data and is most proud that through projects like CASE’s Alumni Engagement Metrics, institutions can begin to answer questions such as ‘we know engagement leads to giving, but how do we show it?’. Smith is currently co-teaching a course on CASE’s Global Reporting Standards and researching the latest trends on alumni engagement globally, enjoying opportunities to present again in-person, and working individually with CASE member institutions to develop strategies using CASE data and benchmarks.

For more than 30 years, Steve Crawford has been an advocate for education, working at both the collegiate and independent school levels. He currently serves as an Assistant Vice President at The College of Wooster, and he oversees both Alumni & Family Engagement and Advancement Services. He launched his advancement career at Denison University where he also was an active volunteer with CASE, leading the CASE V district conference twice and serving on the CASE V Cabinet. 

Steve holds an MA from The Ohio State University and a BA from Capital University. He brings professional experience in admissions, new student orientation, and college counseling, and he held fulltime positions at Otterbein University, The Wellington School, and both of his alma maters. 

As the Associate Senior Vice President, Alumni Relations at the University of Southern California, Erika Jordan serves as the chief alumni engagement officer for the campus and plays a key role in providing leadership and strategic guidance to ensure uninterrupted engagement for the nearly 500,000 alumni in the Trojan Family. 

Prior to this role, Erika served as the Vice President, Alumni Engagement at Boston University where she led the Alumni Engagement, Annual Giving, and the Development Events & Communications teams. Additionally, she spent six years serving as Assistant Vice Chancellor, Alumni & Constituent Engagement at UC Irvine. Throughout her career she has been instrumental in exponentially growing alumni engagement and annual fundraising, elevating communications and events, establishing UCI’s dual alumni engagement campaign goal and leading special projects.

Erika has spent her career in politics, special events, alumni relations, frontline fundraising, and served as the Director, Alumni Relations and Annual Giving for the USC Marshall School of Business. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Howard University and executive masters in leadership from USC.

Gloria Ko serves as the senior director for Alumni Career Engagement leading career initiatives for alumni and students. She and her team aim to engage all alumni in meaningful ways to further the UCLA network in the workplace. She currently oversees programs, such as the Alumni Mentor Program, UCLA ONE and other career and professional development programming for alumni and students. Her prior experience at UCLA Alumni Affairs includes leading Young Alumni Engagement and advising the Student Alumni Association.

Gloria previously on the board of directors for the CASE District VII Cabinet for six years. She is also an active member of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, and has served on faculties for the Young Alumni and Student Engagement Institute. Gloria graduated from UCLA in 2006 with a bachelors in communication studies and in 2007 with a M.Ed. in counseling in student affairs.

Ellen Whitlock Baker is passionate about working with leaders and organizations to support growth and realize potential. She brings a deep understanding of the higher education and nonprofit landscape and coaches clients to unlock their own power to make change, take on new challenges, and grow.

Ellen is a certified Executive Coach through the Hudson Institute and an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) through the International Coaching Federation. She specializes in working with clients going through transitions, starting new positions, and who are feeling stuck and need help determining how to proceed. Her clients appreciate her kindness, empathy, authenticity and the accountability she provides to keep momentum going.

Ellen is a seasoned alumni engagement and higher education leader, having held leadership positions at the University of Washington and at Seattle University, where most recently she served as the Assistant Vice President, Alumni Engagement, overseeing alumni engagement and annual giving. Over her 20 years of work in the higher education and nonprofit sectors, Ellen has led teams in Marketing & Communications, Strategy and Analysis, Annual Giving and Alumni Engagement.

A member of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE)’s Alumni Commission, Ellen supports CASE’s work in advancing alumni engagement practices across the world. Passionate about developing community-centric engagement practices, Ellen champions meeting alumni and donors where they are and creating reciprocal and authentic engagement tactics that alumni find value in.

Ellen is a certified Everything DiSC practitioner, creating and executing workshops all over the country to help people work better together.

Born and raised in Honolulu, HI, Ellen now lives near Seattle, WA with her family and holds a Master of Public Administration from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington and a B.A. in Theatre from Whitman College. Learn more at www.ewbcoaching.com.