Tristan is currently the Deputy Director of Alumni Engagement & Annual Giving at Durham University and is responsible for both the strategic and operational delivery of key integrated activities including events, communications, volunteering and annual giving to a global alumni community of over 200,000 alumni and supporters. With over 17 years extensive business experience of alumni and corporate relations, fundraising, business development, international recruitment, communications, marketing, sales and customer led service provision, Tristan has held senior management roles both in the UK and Australia and brings a global perspective from over a decade of international stakeholder engagement. Tristan is a passionate supporter of, and long standing volunteer to CASE and is focused on enhancing the Advancement profession through mentoring, the sharing of best practice and ideas and networking with colleagues across the world.

Nena brings over fifteen years of international experience in the higher education sector. At Hertie School, the University of Governance in Berlin, she is responsible for alumni engagement and the strategic growth of the School’s global alumni network in 110 countries. Prior to Hertie, Nena was in charge of alumni relations at the Central European University (CEU) in Vienna and Budapest. A number of successful initiatives were developed under her leadership, including the Thesis Buddy Project, which won a CASE Circle of Excellence Award 2022 in volunteer engagement category. Prior to CEU, Nena had managed programmes at leading global organisations, including CASE in London, the Institute of International Education (IIE) and Open Society Foundation (OSF) in Budapest. A firm believer in collaboration and the power of sharing best practice, Nena is active CASE volunteer and has served as speaker, editorial board member, conference co-chair and task force member. A North Macedonia native, Nena has lived and worked internationally for nearly two decades, is fluent in number of languages and considers herself a citizen of the world. 

David J. Haines is Head of Philanthropy, University Programmes at the University of Edinburgh. His fundraising remit spans major gifts for strategic priorities across the University, chief among which is widening participation.

David started his fundraising career at youth charity, Venture Trust, before moving into Educational Advancement at the University of Stirling. He joined Edinburgh in early 2019 from the Development office of Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, where he developed and launched Monash’s first comprehensive fundraising campaign ‘Change it. For good.’, now well ahead of schedule to raise half a billion dollars from 50,000 donors. Please don’t ask him if he’s missing the weather.

Outside of work, he is mostly on a Scottish beach with his young family and not writing about himself in the third person.

Claire Brown is the Director of Communications, Marketing and Student Recruitment at the University of Manchester, the UK’s largest single-site University. Claire began her marketing career in the FMCG sector but then moved into Higher Education, joining the University of Liverpool in 2000 where her career culminated in her appointment as Director of External Relations, Marketing and Communications. Claire is a Fellow of the CIM and a former trustee of CASE Europe.

Lorraine is Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President International at Bangor University, the latest step in a career in higher education marketing and communications which spans nearly 20 years. With experience of the needs of both small specialist institutions, with five years as Director at Harper Adams University, and large post 92 universities, Birmingham City and Manchester Met, Lorraine has faced a broad range of challenges. Throughout her career she has remained focused on the indivisible link between student recruitment, widening participation, brand and reputation.

Marnie joined the University of Brighton in September 2019 as their Director of Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement. She has over 20 years’ experience as a fundraiser working across the cultural, heritage and higher education sectors. She has worked for the Roundhouse (Camden), King’s College London, Bath Spa University, The Holburne Museum (Bath) and The Photographers’ Gallery (London). She has particular experience in the establishment of new fundraising and alumni teams, strategic development, building the donor base, and capital campaigns. She volunteered with CASE Europe on the annual Ross-CASE Survey of Charitable Giving to Universities in 2016 and 2017, and has presented at the CASE Europe Conference. She is the Co-Chair of the Board of Trustee for Attitude is Everything, a charity which improves Deaf and disabled people’s access to live music by working in partnership with audiences, artists and the music industry.  

Dee Reid joined Leeds Beckett University as Director of External Relations in September 2017 where she leads internal and external communication, public affairs, brand, creative, digital and alumni, events and partnerships. She has over 25 years’ experience in strategic communications, working in senior roles in local government, education, the NHS and the private sector. Before joining Leeds Beckett, she was Head of Communications and Marketing at Leeds City Council, leading communications for the UK’s third largest city and prior to that, Head of Communications for Education Leeds, providing support for the city’s 265 schools. Dee is deputy chair of Leeds Community Foundation and a member of the CASE Europe Council.

Catherine joined Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen as Head of Marketing in September 2021. She was previously Marketing and Communications Manager at UCL for six years, with specific responsibility for the arts, humanities and social sciences. Catherine joined UCL after ten years at the University of Warwick, where she was Senior Assistant Registrar for Student Recruitment. Whilst at Warwick she also held roles in admissions, widening participation and student induction, and was a warden in university residences. Catherine began her career in higher education as an editor at UCAS, following her Masters in English at the University of Sheffield, where she was also an undergraduate. She has been involved with CASE as a speaker and session chair at the past two CEAC conferences, and is looking forward to reconnecting with former colleagues and meeting new ones at CEAC online this autumn. 

Simon Fairbanks has over 15 years of experience in the education sector. This includes student recruitment, marketing, and events roles at four different universities in the UK: Nottingham, Birmingham, Warwick, and Coventry. 

Simon has also worked at Pickle Jar Communications, a content strategy consultancy for the international education sector. He helped schools, colleges, and universities share their stories through digital communications. 

Simon is an international speaker. He has spoken at a variety of conferences, including CASE, ContentEd, EFMD, IDPE, FindAUniversity, HELOA, HighEdWeb, SU Digital, and Utterly Content. He was Chair of the Newcomers Track at CASE Europe Annual Conference from 2020 to 2023. 

As a published author, Simon is particularly interested in storytelling in the education sector. He spends his free time reading, writing, running, and finding new ways to make his children laugh.