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 authentic engagement and empathetic leadership. Ellen has spent twenty years working in higher education in marketing and communications, alumni engagement, and annual giving. Currently Ellen serves as the Assistant Vice President of Alumni Engagement at Seattle University. Prior to that, Ellen spent a decade at the University of Washington driving alumni engagement at the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance and the University of Washington Alumni Association. Ellen has proudly served as a CASE District VIII board member and conference chair and the planning committee for the 2023 CASE Summit for Leaders in Advancement. She currently serves as a member of the CASE Alumni Commission.

Ellen is also a certified executive and leadership coach who enjoys helping clients navigate their life at work.