Liesl Elder directs the University Development Office, overseeing philanthropic fundraising for the University across the academic divisions, museums and libraries. Her teams work worldwide, including the University’s offices in Hong Kong and Tokyo. She came to Oxford in in 2011 to lead the Oxford Thinking Campaign, managing its relaunch from a £1.25bn to a £3bn campaign, and seeing it though to a successful conclusion last year. The Oxford team won the 2020 CASE Platinum Award for Best Practice in Fundraising.

Liesl has worked in educational fundraising since 1993, beginning her career at the US liberal arts colleges Carleton College and Oberlin College before serving as Campaign Director for Santa Clara University in California. She moved to the UK in 2004 to become Director of Development and Communications at Durham University, followed by a few years in Scotland as Director of Development at the University of Edinburgh.

A national leader and award-winning pioneer in the field of Talent Management, Amy has spent 25 plus years contributing to the success of fundraising both on the frontline and behind the scenes. She has a remarkable ability to help development professionals make the right career moves and achieve success for their organization's mission. She has touched the lives of hundreds of professionals, and her impact can be seen by the increasing level of professionalism in the advancement industry as well as through the success of the institutions that she's worked for, which include Harvard Law School and Boston College. Currently managing talent, finance, and operations for a team of 270, Amy has served in leadership roles and presented at numerous conferences and other professional organizations both locally and nationally. She helped create the award winning Amplify Gender & Equity Leadership Initiative, CASE’s Competencies Model, and the CASE Academy.  A graduate of the University of Michigan, she lives in Milton, MA. 

Chris joined the University of Edinburgh in February 2016, following ten years in his previous role as Director of Development at The University of Manchester, and earlier roles in alumni Relations abs fundraising at UCL and Newcastle University. 

He has been active with the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), as a previous European representative on their US-based Commission on Alumni Relations, and as a Faculty member at Institutes for Educational fund-raising in Europe and Africa.  He chaired the CASE Europe Conference for Educational Advancement in Brussels in 2016 and Birmingham in 2017.  He was Chair of the Ross Group of UK Higher Education Development Directors in 2011 and 2012 and was a member of the Education Task Force for the UK Government’s Giving Summit in 2012.  He is currently co-chairing the CASE Atlas Advisory Board - an international initiative to develop the first global survey with consistent metrics for educational fundraising, alumni relations, and communications and marketing.

He holds a BA in History from UCL and an MA in International Political Economy from Newcastle University.  He has been a Board member at the Royal Northern College of Music since 2013.

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.

Karen is passionate about the power of education to change our world for the better. She is a volunteer, philanthropist, and trustee, living her beliefs. She has volunteered for CASE for over 30 years. CASE awarded Karen the Crystal Apple for Outstanding Teaching and Public Speaking and  honored her in 2014 with The Ashmore Award for Outstanding Service to the Profession.

For seven years, Karen has served as an adjunct faculty member for Johns Hopkins University’s graduate certificate program in nonprofit management. 

Nationally and internationally recognized as an excellent consultant, executive coach, and presenter, Karen receives invitations from all over the United States and the world. She frequently presents at local, national and international conferences.

For 18 of Karen’s 43 years in philanthropy and institutional advancement, Karen served as a frontline fundraiser and leader including NY State Department of Education; Director of Development, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY; and Vice President for Advancement at Trinity College in Hartford, CT responsible for development, alumni relations, information systems and marketing and communications. For the past 25 years, Karen served as President and now Senior Strategist for The Osborne Group, Inc. www.theosbornegroup.com

Karen is also a debut novelist. “Getting It Right,” came out June 6, 2017. Her second novel Tangled Lies came out in July 2021. www.kareneosborne.com