Mellissa Abdu has been working in Advancement for over six years, beginning her career in the sector as a student caller at Newcastle University. After graduation, Mellissa became Advancement Intern at Newcastle University and later Advancement Assistant. Since 2017, Mellissa has been developing the volunteering programme at Durham University and has recently been appointed as Durham's first Alumni and Supporter Engagement Manager specialising in volunteers and networks. Mellissa is passionate about the impact alumni and supporters can make through volunteering when aligned with the strategic goals of the institution and is constantly inspired and motivated by the continued generosity and passion from the Durham community.

Flo is an internationally accredited coach and Partner at More Partnership. She has provided coaching, training, and mentoring to more than 300 people in Higher Education, schools, charities and the health sector. She is passionate about connecting individuals and groups with their purpose and potential, in person and online, and has wide-ranging experience in designing and delivering workshops and training programmes, often on complex subjects. As a consultant, she supports organisations with campaigns, major gifts strategy, and team and talent development. Previously, Florence spent 11 years in major gift fundraising and team leadership in the higher education and charity sectors including at Birkbeck, University of London, The Union Chapel and Margins Project, a homelessness charity

Associate Director of Events with a passion for creating meaningful engagement opportunities. With more than 10 years of experience in events not only in Higher Education but also at Event Agencies (B2B) still trying to create events where people meet, get inspired and motivated. Translating strategic goals into action and strive for continuous improvement.

Kate is the Director of Advancement, Trinity College Dublin and the Chief Executive Officer of Trinity Foundation. She led Trinity’s first comprehensive philanthropic campaign – the €400M Inspiring Generations campaign. Kate is responsible for the strategy and operations of philanthropy, alumni engagement, regular giving, corporate and foundation relations, development and alumni communications and donor relations.

Kate is a member of the CASE Commission for Philanthropy.

Kate has held a variety of senior university fundraising and administrative roles over the past 20 years. She has particular expertise in establishing and improving the performance of advancement teams and enjoys identifying and managing the change required for this.

Before joining Trinity in 2016, Kate was the Deputy Director of Alumni Relations & Philanthropy at the Australian National University where she led the establishment of the philanthropy and donor relations teams and prior to this was the Director of Development & Alumni Relations at Ulster University in Northern Ireland.

An English graduate of Queen’s University Belfast, Kate began her career in marketing and fundraising for professional theatre and worked in the arts for over 10 years. As a fundraiser she has drawn on this experience to create authentic narratives that inspire supporters.

Lizzie Boyce is the Head of Fundraising at IntoUniversity. She leads on individual giving as well as team management and development, and managed IntoUniversity's work on the collaborative Scotland fundraising campaign. She first got involved with IntoUniversity through volunteering before starting their graduate scheme in 2013. She worked directly with young people for two years before moving into fundraising.

Jason is Co-Founder of PyroTalks CIC, Consulting Partner for BWF Europe and Fellow for Halpin Partnership. Previously he was Director of Development at Cavendish Cancer Care, Consultant at Graham-Pelton, Head of Research & Analytics, and Member of the Academic Research Ethics Committee at The University of Sheffield. 

Jason is a also CIOF, Researchers in Fundraising Committee, is Founding Trustee of Land of Joy, Tibetan retreat centre, and Trustee of Foundation for Developing Compassion & Wisdom. He was awarded an Insight in Fundraising Award 2016 for his innovative work on fundraising analytics, and CASE Europe Iain More Award 2017 ‘for emerging development professional’.

Cally, has worked in not-for-profit for 16 years focusing on alumni relations, engagement, events, and fundraising campaigns. Previously, Cally has worked at LAMDA, ICAS and King’s College London and led on the London launch event of King’s award-winning fundraising Campaign, ‘World questions King’s answers. Cally worked as Senior Campaign Project Manager at King's for 2 years during the early development of King’s next campaign before taking up her role at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Based in Kew Foundation, Cally is now leading the development of a new major comprehensive fundraising Campaign to help deliver RBG Kew's new corporate strategy; by bringing the structure and principles of University campaigns into the organisation to ensure a strategic, joined-up approach, Cally hopes this new Campaign will not only deliver a step-change in philanthropy but raise the profile of Kew as a charity and as a world-leading scientific organisation.

Julia is Head of Legacy Giving at the V&A. She is an experienced fundraiser in the Arts and Heritage sector, having worked for over 18 years in Development heading up teams in Membership, Major Gifts and Legacies. She has worked at leading international museums in the UK and US, including the Guggenheim Museum NYC, the British Museum and most recently, the V&A.

Jess Burrell is Head of Donor Relations at UCL’s Office of the Vice-President (Advancement), having joined in 2018. Working closely with colleagues in fundraising and alumni relations teams, she ensures that UCL develops, sustains and nurtures lifelong relationships with its donors through creative stewardship and bespoke engagement. Previous to UCL, Jess has held roles in events, communications, donor relations and alumni relations at the University of Sussex and the London School of Economics. 

Beth is Head of Communications and Public Affairs at University Alliance (the voice of professional and technical universities), where she leads the organisation’s media, communications, public affairs, and campaigning strategies. Prior to joining UA, Beth was campaign manager at Universities UK, developing and leading the MadeAtUni campaign, to drive public support for universities. Before this, she led on political and public affairs at Universities Wales. Her career began in the student movement, where she held various elected roles including president of the National Union of Students in Wales; during which she was a member of the Welsh Government ‘Diamond review’ into education funding and student support. Beth was also an Executive Committee Member for the European Students’ Union in Brussels, where she managed the organisation's advocacy strategies within the UN and other intergovernmental organisations. 

She holds a degree in Education Policy and Sociology from Cardiff University and a Master’s in Education Policy and International Development from the University of Bristol.

I have worked at The University of Manchester for almost 10 years, joining the Division of Development and Alumni Relations in September 2016, as the Faculty Alumni Officer for the Faculty of Science and Engineering. My work, alongside my colleagues Leah Southern and Emma Routh, connects Manchester graduates with current students through our alumni volunteering programmes. We have over 7,000 alumni across the globe giving up their time to benefit our students and local communities. I am proud to work in the team at UoM, delivering CASE Circle of Excellence Award winning programmes, Meet the Professionals and Global Graduates.

Emmett Coffey is a lecturer in the Media Communications Department in MTU Cork.  He is the Programme Co-ordinator for the MA in Public Relations with New Media in MTU Cork and lectures across a number of degree programmes including the MA in Journalism and Digital Content Creation and the BA programmes in Creative Digital Media and Visual Communications . He is a thesis supervisor for MA students in the Media Communications Department and is the External Examiner for the Diploma in Public Relations, run by the Public Relations Institute of Ireland (PRII), the professional body for public relations and communications professionals in Ireland.

Emmett holds postgraduate qualifications in Public Relations (Technological University, Dublin), Education and Computer Science (University College Cork). His research interests include Crisis Management in the not-for-profit sector and media relations in the creative industries. He is a founding members of European Creative Futures (ECF) partnership network which promotes a multi-disciplinary approach to enterprise and innovation education and involves collaboration with third-level education partners across Europe. He has also delivered programmes in entrepreneurship and enterprise studies in Vietnam and South Africa as part of various MTU teaching delegations. He is a founding member of Story? – an international student documentary film festival run annually in MTU Cork.

Before becoming a full-time lecturer, Emmett was a secondary school teacher, a journalist, and a public relations consultant. He is an enthusiastic advocate of close collaboration between academia and industry. This is reflected in the strong involvement of key individuals and agencies in the wider communications and digital media sectors as advisers, mentors and project supervisors in the modules and programmes in which he is involved.

I joined the University of Birmingham in 2017, taking up the position of MBA Alumni Relations Manager, having spent the previous 12 years working as an Events Manager in the private sector.

My role is both varied and enjoyable, with a focus on building a community that benefits alumni, students, and academics through effective engagement.  Working closely with colleagues from careers, recruitment, and research, I develop alumni volunteering opportunities that enhance our students’ experience and outcomes.   In addition, I’m involved with communications, events, and fundraiser support – all with the strategic goal of supporting our community and enhancing the University’s reputation. 

When not working I enjoy walking, baking, learning French, and studying history with The Open University.

I am Global Philanthropy Officer at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, where I work to maximise international major gift income for University projects. Since being bitten by the fundraising bug as a Student Telephone Fundraiser in 2006, I have held roles across development and alumni relations and enjoyed supporting the growth of this function at a world top 100 University. I am Vice-Chair of the CIOF Scottish Major Donor Special Interest Group which holds regular seminars on major gift fundraising and offers great opportunities for learning and networking. 

Dr Fiona Cownie, draws from a relational approach to higher education and its implications for the alumni and student experience. Fiona has engaged with alumni through her research, education and professional practice. She collaborates with Bournemouth University’s Head of Alumni Relations on a series of projects related to alumni including delivering workshops to alumni officers across the UK and judging Bournemouth University’s ‘Alumni Awards’. Over the past year Fiona has worked with alumni to enhance the online student experience, her reflections on the importance of alumni being published in Wonk HE’s blog ‘For the student communities, is it time for alumni to step up?’. Fiona’s research with alumni focuses on gratitude and its implications for giving back. She is particularly active with Bournemouth University’s ASEAN alumni community.

Kirsty heads the UK Major Gifts Philanthropy Team at the University of Glasgow. Kirsty has been a major gift fundraiser for 20 years and is currently a key member of the £1Bn Glasgow World Changing Campaign, with over £80m of the £110m target secured. Kirsty led fundraising for the award winning IntoUniversity project for Glasgow which she describes as an “inspirational project”.

Matt has a wealth of experience in Student Recruitment and Marketing, having spent ten years working for UCAS & UCAS Media before joining BridgeU. While at UCAS, Matt held the position of Head of Education Sales and worked closely with UK Universities and their Advertising Agencies, to successfully plan and execute student recruitment and enrolment campaigns. Matt’s role at BridgeU is to lead its UK Partnerships team, continue to grow and develop new Partners and help maximise the value that BridgeU delivers for its customers.

A highly experienced events professional with over 15 years’ experience creating high impact, international events worldwide. Previously Times Higher Education’s Event's Content Director and CASE Europe’s Head of Educational Programmes, Emma established Assemble Events in 2019 and Union Spaces in 2020 to work 1:1 with her clients on event strategy, design and delivery.

Harriet Dearden is Head of Fundraising at the New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering (NMITE) in Hereford. Leading a small, high-performance team to secure funds to grow and develop a brand-new engineering higher education provider, Harriet is passionate about the transformative power of education. She has worked in educational fundraising since 2010, starting her career in independent schools, undertaking a brief spell in consultancy before moving to HE in 2018. She has led both start up development offices as well more established departments and combines entrepreneurial vigour with tried and tested methods of fundraising.   

Penny is a chartered marketer and Fellow of the CIM. Prior to setting up her own consultancy, she worked in Higher Education marketing and student recruitment for 20 years at several universities, most recently as Director of Marketing and Communications on the Executive team at Nottingham Trent University. Penny is working in collaboration with UCAS to show universities how they can achieve student recruitment growth.

She is a HEIST Awards panel chair and an annual speaker at the AdvanceHE Aurora Leadership conference for women.

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.

Glynis is an experienced alumni relations professional leading the alumni function at Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) through its amalgamation with IT Tralee, and the creation of Munster Technological University (MTU). Her role involves all aspects of alumni relations including implementing innovative programmes, initiatives and communications to increase engagement with students, alumni and new connections to drive the teaching, research and engagement ambition of the Institute.

Jonathan Goode is a marketing, communications and alumni relations professional with more than 10 years’ experience in the education sector. As Head of Alumni Relations at Bournemouth University, he is developing the institution’s approach to alumni engagement, with a focus on enriching the student experience and enhancing graduate employability. Jonathan has overseen the development and launch of a new volunteering programme, including a mentoring scheme designed to help final year students make the successful transition into employment. He is an active contributor to sector events and commentary and his team’s work was shortlisted for a HEIST Education Award in 2019.

Paula joined the fundraising and alumni relations office at Sheffield seven years’ ago and now heads up the planning, coordination and delivery of the University’s first major philanthropic Campaign. Her role has evolved and grown to cover all aspects of project development and narrative, reporting, governance, strategy, budget, stewardship, gift acceptance and disbursement. As Associate Director of Campaign Management, she is a member of the Senior Management Team and leads the 'operational engine' of CAR that currently comprises Data, Gift Management and Stewardship.

This is Paula’s third role at Sheffield, having previously held positions in research development and income growth. Prior to this, she worked in media relations and communications at the University of Leeds and ran her own science/healthcare journalism and copywriting business.

When she’s not studying finance spreadsheets, digging into data or conjuring up new fundraising propositions, Paula enjoys fell-running, hill-walking, cycling, baking (mostly cakes containing fruit or veg) and gardening. She ventured into community fundraising in spring 2019, raising over £1,200 for University of Sheffield student scholarships by completing her first ever cross-country ski marathon.

Laura started work at the University of Birmingham in November 2019, having previously worked in the charity sector. She is the Student Engagement Officer in the Development and Alumni Relations Office. She identifies opportunities across the university and Guild of Students for students to connect with and learn from alumni. She also delivers employability and development activities for various student audiences, including those receiving scholarships funded by alumni donors.

Lisa Zola Greer is a philanthropist, non-profit advisor, convener, and the author of the best-selling book "Philanthropy Revolution’ ‘Over the last decade, the Greer home in Beverly Hills has been home to nearly 200 charitable salons and events connecting non-profits with donors and the community.

In 2021, Lisa is serving as commissioner of the California State Commission on the Status of Women and sits on the board of the New Israel Fund and serves on the Executive Committee of the Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors. She has also served as Commissioner and Chair of the Beverly Hills Cultural Heritage Commission and Trustee of the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles, and as a board member of many organizations, including the L.A. District Attorney’s Crime Prevention Foundation, Make-a-Wish of Greater Los Angeles, Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles, and others.

Earlier in her career, Lisa was a studio executive at NBC and Universal Studios, and she founded and led several companies, including a management consulting and strategic advisory firms specializing in digital media and entertainment businesses .A native of Los Angeles, Lisa holds a bachelor's degree in History from UCLA and an MBA from Pepperdine University.

Senior Director, Head of Philanthropy EMEA & APAC, Valentina is an experienced Relationship Director, with a successful track record of acquiring and managing a growing portfolio of accounts in the not-for profit space by delivering wealth intelligence services with philanthropic impact. Strong interest in the world of strategic philanthropy targeted towards major donors and the UHNW and HNW space. She is skilled in business development, account handling, major donor fundraising practices, event management and networking. Valentina earned a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management with a minor in Environmental studies from King's College London, University of London, in partnership with the Rotman School of Commerce at University of Toronto.

Meta Haag-Mikec is Alumni Relations Manager at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. She engages the school’s large alumni network with a range of activities, events, community building, and volunteer management, with a focus on alumni chapters and international strategy. Meta has worked in events in Brussels, Belgium, and has volunteered in a European-wide student association. She holds a BSc in Marketing Communication from University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.

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.

Emma Hallett is a Senior Alumni Relations Manager and East Asia Strategic Lead at UCL.  Having spent the last four years working in international Advancement at UCL, she has experience of Communications and Marketing, Student Recruitment and Development.  Emma has worked across numerous international markets and now manages an extensive portfolio of volunteers and advocates in East Asia.  Much of Emma’s focus in that region is engaging HNW individuals through advocacy opportunities.

Teppo is the director for advancement and corporate engagement at Aalto University in Finland. The integrated advancement office at Aalto includes corporate relations, donor engagement, alumni engagement, career and recruitment services, as well as CRM development and analytics.

Before joining Aalto in 2016, Teppo was an independent consultant in fundraising and international cooperation for five years, supporting Finnish universities in the governmental matching funding campaign of 2015-2017. From 2003 to 2011, he worked for the Nordic Council of Ministers in Lithuania and Denmark in governmental relations and organizing the international support for the European Humanities University, the Belarusian university-in-exile in Lithuania. 

He started his career in higher education management at the University of Helsinki in the 1990s in International Relations. He also has experience in Media and Communications, and he has written 6 travel guidebooks.

Susie supports HEI leaders and teams, often during times of significant change. With a background in senior-level fundraising, she has since worked with universities, schools and educational institutes on assessments that have led to transformational campaigns. She is a champion of best practice governance and is responsible for developing Halpin’s cross-sector governance expertise. She has led high-profile, complex reviews of governance processes which have informed strategy and led to operational change.

Prior to creating Stori, Trina worked at the Guardian as Head of Students working with universities and educational institutions to share their stories and engage with students and parents. She went on to create content partnerships at Wonkhe (the HE policy think tank) and co-founded Viral Stories - an archive of university research stories created to demonstrate universities' response to the pandemic.

Matthew has recently taken the position of Advancement Officer, Cancer Research at Newcastle University.

He was previously Student and Young Alumni Officer, where he was responsible for fundraising with, for and from student and young alumni constituencies. He lead on the crowdfunding, community giving and Giving Day programmes at York, and regularly advised other UK higher education institutions on their programmes. In 2019, Matthew was the recipient of CASE Europe’s Iain More Award for emerging fundraising professionals.

Analiese Jackson is currently the Supporter Engagement Manager at the Royal Academy of Music. With over seven years’ experience in the education sector, her career has expanded across roles in communications, marketing and, most recently, donor stewardship.

Before joining the Academy’s Development team, Analiese was the Senior Communications Manager at St Cuthbert’s College in Auckland, New Zealand, where she was responsible for curating bespoke collateral and content for both the College’s Senior School and Development leadership teams.  She is especially passionate about conveying student stories to donors and supporters in a way that is authentic and engaging.

Jonathan is a co-founder of PyroTalks and currently the Associate Dean of Education at The University of Sheffield Management School. He lectures in company analysis and valuation, risk and financial derivatives. Prior to joining the University Jonathan worked as a senior investment analyst at a leading wealth management firm. He also holds a number of professional qualifications and has recently been made an Honorary FCT by the Association of Corporate Treasurers for his work in Treasury education and consultancy. 

Jonathan also undertakes a wide range of consultancy and training across the finance spectrum, with a focus on Treasury and risk in large multinationals and working with a number of global professional bodies. 

Sarah started her career with Students’ Union UCL, encouraging UCL students to develop their skills and impact the local London community, then moving to UCL’s Alumni Relations team in October 2019. 

Sarah’s current role focusses on best practice in volunteer management, innovating and refining the volunteer journey, with a particular focus on digital volunteering and UCL’s online alumni platform.

Ville Krannila is Head of CRM and Analytics at Aalto University in Finland. He has over 20 years of experience in multi-tasking on digital level, CRM projects, CRM training, CRM strategy and system enhancement in mostly public sector and educational field. Currently implementing CRM culture and processes within various functions throughout Aalto University. 

Hannah began her fundraising and donor relations career early, collecting for the National Children’s Home (now Action for Children) at the age of 5! In a professional capacity, she has worked across Oxford colleges, schools, and national charities; currently leading the Development and Alumni Office at the Royal Agricultural University.  She has a particular passion for scholarships and leadership giving.

Technology enthusiast & lifelong learning advocate, Frédéric firmly believes that creativity is contagious and must be passed on. After 17-year experience in a leading business school, Frédéric joined Salesforce with the mission to bring innovative technology to institutions and their communities — and help them connect to transform the future of education.

Sue has had a long and enjoyable career within HE and the public sector, having worked at the University of Reading as Head of Campaign & Supporter Engagement, where she led a team engaged in the management of communications, events, volunteers and donor relations to a global network of 270,000 alumni/supporters. Prior to her tenure at Reading, she served as Associate Director of Alumni Relations at University of Southampton, with its global network of over 200,000 alumni.  In addition to her role in Alumni Relations at Southampton, Sue was Head of Faculty Operations for two large faculties – Humanities and Medicine – and served as Business Change Manager for a major institutional change programme.

In addition to her experience in the academic sector, Sue has spent many years working for the UK government within both the Home Office & Foreign & Commonwealth Office in the UK and overseas including time spent working in Nigeria and Cyprus.

In addition to her dedication to promoting the strategic value of alumni engagement, Sue is a certified transformational coach, the proud mother of 3 daughters and has recently decided to reinvent herself as an enthusiastic hiker so expect to find her trying to find hills to climb in the Netherlands

Representing small specialist HEIs, Emma McCormack has worked at the Royal College of Music in London for 13 years, where she is currently Supporter Engagement Manager (Legacies). Having created the RCM's successful new legacy giving programme, Emma is passionate about legacy giving and has helped a number of other charities establish their legacy giving schemes.

Kirsty is a Marketing and Communications Manager at the University of Edinburgh, working in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences marketing team.

Having played a key role in the College’s award-winning undergraduate conversion campaign in 2017 (awarded a CASE Circle of Excellence Silver Award), she went on the lead the campaign in 2020 and 2021. In 2021 she collaborated with staff across the University to deliver the institutions very first University-wide undergraduate offer holder hub (a one-stop-shop for offer holder content). She is passionate about working collaboratively and improving the applicant experience.

Kate McSweeney is the Director of Communications, Alumni and Development at University College Cork (UCC), where she has worked for the last five years.  She has overall responsibility for Communications, Alumni Engagement, Regular Giving and the UCC Alumni Fund.  Along with her team she manages relationships across the globe with UCC’s 230,000+ alumni.

Her career at UCC spans 21 years, where she has successfully led transformational change in brand development, internal and external communications, public relations, stakeholder engagement and marketing strategy.  More recently, she has led Regular Giving and the UCC Alumni Fund.  Prior to Alumni and Development at UCC, Kate worked for the College of Medicine and Health and the Tyndall National Institute, both at UCC. 

Kate received her Executive MBA from Henley Business School, her Master’s Degree in Management and Marketing from University College Cork and her Hons Degree in Business (Management and Marketing) from Munster Technological University.  In addition, Kate is a Graduate Member of the Marketing Institute of Ireland.

In her senior volunteering roles she was the inaugural Vice-Chair of CASE UK and Ireland Cabinet and played an active part with CASE Directors in shaping the remit of the newly formed Cabinet.  She is now the Chair and along with her Cabinet members, she looks forward to implementing the new and exciting strategies to enhance engagement with UK & Ireland member Institutions, and to the CASE mission of advancing education to transform lives and society.

Kate is a CASE Laureate and a CASE Circle of Excellence Award winner.

Alan Monteith is the Senior Recruitment and Marketing Officer for the University of Glasgow where he has been in post since 2013. Formerly of the University of Strathclyde and the University of Aberdeen, Alan has over 17 years of experience in the Higher Education Marketing sector and currently leads a number of key domestic and international digital student recruitment campaigns at Glasgow for PG/UH International and domestic audiences.. He has a BA in Marketing Communications from Edinburgh Napier University and is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and is part of the Glasgow team behind the CASE Grand Gold Award winning “World Changers Welcome” campaign and won best Marketing and Communications team at the 2018 THELMA's.

Josh Newton returned to Emory University as Senior Vice President for Advancement and Alumni Engagement in August 2018. Previously, he had served for a decade in various leadership positions at the university. In partnership with President Gregory L. Fenves, Newton is responsible for the development and implementation of the university’s next philanthropic campaign, building on Emory’s 10-year strategic plan and its focus on academic eminence. He will also play an important role in furthering Emory’s relationships in the Atlanta community as well as engaging nationally and internationally on behalf of the university.

Newton served as President and CEO of the University of Connecticut Foundation prior to his return to Emory. He presided over the five most successful fundraising years in the foundation’s history, raising a total of nearly $400 million in fiscal years 2014 through 2018. He focused on increasing scholarship support for students and worked to strengthen engagement of the University of Connecticut alumni and other constituents within the university during his tenure.

A graduate of Belmont Abbey College, Newton’s fundraising experience also includes Converse College (Spartanburg, South Carolina) and Presbyterian Hospital (Charlotte, North Carolina). He has served in multiple leadership roles with the Association of Fundraising Professionals and is a member of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education and the Educational Advisory Board.

Abi has been working in the alumni sector in low resource contexts for the last ten years. She has developed models for building alumni networks in state schools and low-cost independent schools in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Kenya, Rwanda and more. She has published guides, research, and resources on the topic. Abi now runs inHive, an organisation that specialises in supporting alumni networks in low resource and non-traditional contexts - supporting school networks (like CARE Foundation in Pakistan who work with 800 government schools), scholarship programmes (like the Mastercard Foundation who have funded 35,000 scholarships to young people across sub-Saharan Africa), leadership programmes (like Frontline, Police Now and Now Teach in the UK) and employability and entrepreneurship programmes. In addition, inHive serves as an alumni network sector builder in less well-resourced contexts to learn, collaborate and develop practices in network building. In the last 12 months this has included launching and implementing the first experiential 'Networks Learning Journey' for network researchers (like Yale Law School), funders (like IKEA Foundation and Siemens Stiftung), network leaders (like Teach for All) and companies interested in networks (like Facebook), and a global community of practice for alumni leaders, called Nexus.

Mervyn O'Mahony is a Marketing and Communications Professional who has contributed to the development of the marketing strategy of Munster Technological University.  He has numerous professional and academic qualifications up to master's level, where he focused on marketing and recruitment in the education sector. Mervyn's creative vision and ability to recognise innovative opportunities and execute strategies, has underpinned the success of the University's integrated marketing and communication strategy which focuses on immersive and experiential campaigns and leveraging social media platforms to reach target markets.

Stephen is the Account Director for Higher Education at Blackbaud. His tenure at Blackbaud spans nearly 18 years and he started out his career working in the Customer Support Team for Raiser’s Edge 7.  For the last 13 years he has been working with our Universities and colleges across the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe ensuring that their investment with Blackbaud is realised. Stephen works across Advancement, Development, Alumni Relations, Marketing and Communication and (of course) Development Services to promote the Blackbaud Cloud technology capabilities to support our customer strategic goals.

Philip O’Reilly is Senior Technical Officer at Munster Technological University with responsibility for the strategic development of the university’s websites and digital marketing activities. He holds several IT, Project Management, and Digital Marketing qualifications up to master’s level and has been instrumental in the delivery of many key projects for the university during his years in the Marketing & Communications Office and in his time in the IT Department

Ieva, has 6 years of experience in Alumni Relations and Project Management at Riga Technical University (RTU), Latvia. Project administration and lead of NGOs since 2011. During these years she has gained a vast experience in various projects of various scale, both national and international, as well as organized inter alia conferences, seminars, alumni events with more than 9000 participants, etc. She has developed alumni loyalty programme and established mentoring programme in RTU.

Emily Parry is the Senior Campaign Lead for the University of Southampton's comprehensive campaign. Prior to this role, she was situated in the Communication and Marketing team. Leading marketing campaigns for the University at Postgraduate and Undergraduate level (clearing) as well as Faculty marketing.  With 10 years+ of marketing expertise in the HE sector, the area of development is a new and exciting challenge.

Csilla Pataky has been working at ELTE Budapest since 2016 as Head of Alumni Relations and Development. With strong, multigeneration alumni identity, she is passionate about building the alumni community and developing the alumni affairs for her Alma Mater ever since. She has gained experience in how to speed start; how to maximize assets for effective alumni engagement with a small staff and limited resources; and - more recently - how to exploit the opportunities arising from the home office era.

She is a dipl. cartographer and economist having 20 years experience in publishing and international business development and 5 years experience in the IT sector in the field of Intelligent Network Solutions. Csilla, has developed strategies on how to advance intelligent projects from scratch in an intercultural environment. She is not only proficient in management, organization and marketing but has also gained skills in the parellel development of diverse areas.

Having lived abroad and having done volunteering Csilla has both intercultural competence and a sense of social responsibility.

With its nine faculties Eotvos Lorand University (ELTE) is the biggest university in Hungary since 1635.

Jean Pembleton is a Director of Industry Solutions at Salesforce.org. In this role, she leads Salesforce.org’s higher education advancement and corporate relations strategy. Prior to joining Salesforce, Jean worked in major gifts at Stanford University and at The Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She also previously worked in annual giving at The University of Chicago.

Alice Perry is Head of Alumni and Regular Giving at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). Alice has almost 20 years of experience in alumni relations, fundraising, marketing, and international student recruitment. Alice is responsible for alumni engagement, events, communications, and volunteering, including LSHTM's mentoring programme and network of international chapters. Alice also leads LSHTM's regular giving programme, developing and implementing the strategy for appeals, community fundraising, leadership and legacy giving. She is a British Council's Alumni Advisory Board member, advising the UK government on alumni relations strategy. She has worked with the Mayor of London and the UK Government to internationally promote higher education in London. Alice has won three CASE Circle of Excellence awards (Grand Gold, Gold and Silver) for LSHTM's innovative engagement programmes.

Noomi, has joined the Corporate and Alumni Relations Team at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University in August 2019 and has since then been involved in projects ranging from the coordination of the international chapters, relations management for the RSM Alumni Magazine Think. Do and D&I. She has a background in volunteer management and has previously worked for an intercultural exchange organisation, in several start-ups and in a fortune 500 company. In the past one and a half years she has worked closely with Sue Martin, director of Corporate and Alumni Relations at RSM and at the Erasmus University to build up a new team for the Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Now co-ordinating the University of Birmingham's fundraising and volunteering campaign, Birmingham In Action, Katie previously spent a decade managing political campaigns for the West Midlands Labour Party. For Katie, swapping the political arena for Higher Education campaigning has been exciting, sometimes daunting and always awe-inspiring!

Emily joined the HE sector in 2018, following a variety of fundraising and programme delivery roles at international youth and development non-profit organisations. Having established a successful alumni engagement and giving programme with a global charity, Emily transitioned into Alumni Relations at UCL. Emily is also Co-Chair of the EDI Committee within UCL’s Advancement Office. She brings a focus on creating equality, inclusivity, and tangible positive impact to all her work.

Experienced network building professional with a background in education, research and academia. George began his career in advancement at the charity Future First, establishing alumni networks in state secondary schools with a focus on careers education and mentoring for young people. He moved into the higher education sector at St George's, University of London, before taking on his current role at the Francis Crick Institute, where he leads the alumni network and mentoring programmes. With an international background and outlook, George is passionate about leveraging the power of networks to develop people and support mission driven institutions to positively impact the world. He's also obsessed with skiing.

Katie is an experienced Alumni Relations professional and in her current role, Katie has a focus on UCL’s alumni relations student engagement programme, working with internal partners to engage the UCL alumni community with prospective and current students of the university. She also partners with the UCL Faculties of Mathematics and Physical Sciences, Engineering Sciences and the Bartlett School of the Built Environment to build alumni relations activity in support of faculty priorities. Prior to joining UCL, Katie started her career in Alumni Relations with Kingston Grammar School Development Office.

Liz Reilly is Director of Philanthropy and Donor Relations at the University of Edinburgh; she joined the team in January 2015. Liz moved from Seattle, where she was Director of Development for Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest, a health care provider (with strong advocacy and educational programmes) serving patients in 30 clinics across three states. While there, Liz received the national Planned Parenthood Fundraiser of the Year Award. Liz has also been a campaign director, a fundraising consultant, and a Peace Corps Volunteer teaching at a secondary school in Malawi.

Liz's own giving tends to focus on expanding access to education; this has also been a theme in some of her volunteering, including her current roles as Philanthropic Advisor to the Cowrie Scholarship Foundation and as board member on UNICEF UK's Scotland Advisory Board. Liz is also the Chair of the CASE Europe Spring Institute in Educational Fundraising.

Elena joined The University of Sheffield in 2001 where she was the founder of the University of Sheffield Enterprise (USE); Institutional Director of Learning Inclusive Learning and Teaching; Director of Enterprise Education and Director of Women in Engineering, going on to become Director of Communications and External Relations of Engineering, whilst holding a Chair in Enterprise and Engineering Education.

In 2012 Elena was awarded the status of Principal Fellow at the Higher Education Academy (PFHEA) - one of the first ten in the UK. Elena is also Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology and of the Chartered Management Institute.

Elena has received numerous awards throughout her career but in 2020, she was named Executive Leader of the Year by Equal Engineers, Distinguished Mexican in the UK by the Mexican government and Woman of the Year by FDM everywoman in Technology Awards.

In 2018 Elena moved away from Sheffield becoming President & CEO of NMITE. Now leading the creation of the most ambitious and radical disruptor in engineering higher education in the UK

Justin Shaw is a global consultant addressing issues of reputation, communications, engagement, influence and media performance in HE. He worked in the Communications Office of the University of Hertfordshire before establishing the UK's first consulting practice in higher education communications - supporting 250 clients (including 125 universities around the world). His early career was as a chief reporter, feature writer, news editor, and columnist and he was recognised as a Reporter of the Year.

Katie is the Head of Alumni Experience and Faculty Engagement in UCL's Office of the Vice-President (Advancement). She joined UCL in 2014, after working in the education and charity sector for several years.

Rachel Spencer is a true phonathon expert with a long and varied career in telefundraising. Over the last decade she has graduated from student caller, to professional telefundraiser, to phonathon manager and now phonathon advisor and consultant. In her current role at VanillaSoft, Rachel works closely with more than 50 universities around the world on a wide variety of telephone-based campaigns. In previous roles, Rachel has managed teams of 40 telephone fundraisers, worked with the likes of Oxfam, Unicef, NSPCC and Cancer Research UK, and set telephone campaign records from the most funds raised to the best campaign ROI.

Leah has worked in the Alumni Relations Team at The University of Manchester since 2014, initially working in a communications role within the alumni volunteering team and now currently working as the Faculty Alumni Officer, managing all of the alumni activity for the faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health. Leah has worked with colleagues in the faculty to support their employability and recruitment targets by organising initiatives using alumni volunteers.

Leah has been involved in delivering and developing the award-winning Global Graduates programme and now is focussed on finding creative solutions to adapting alumni volunteering programmes and creating new programmes with impact.

Luisa has held a variety of alumni and fundraising roles during her 14 years in the HE sector. She is currently Senior Alumni Relations Manager (International) at UCL where she is responsible for ensuring the best possible experience for UCL alumni and supporters in East Asia and Oceania to grow the global community of ambassadors, volunteers, and advocates.

Luisa was the inaugural winner of the CASE Europe Emerging Alumni & Supporter Relations Professional Award in 2017.

Chelsea is originally from the USA; she completed her master’s in Social Work and performed as a mental health clinician for a variety of clients such as refugees and within the International Education sector. In 2018, she moved to Ireland to complete her master’s in Human Resource Management. There she gained a strong business focus, and this has contributed to her knowledge and expertise to work within organizations. Chelsea, currently lives and works in Berlin, Germany at ESMT Berlin. She takes her experience in former roles to grow and develop the university as the Alumni Relations Manager.

Anita has vast experience serving for thirty years as volunteer in non profit academic organizations. In her professional life after ten years career in IT industry management positions she moved to management of Non-profit organizations. Anita has ten years’ experience serving in RTU as executive director of Alumni association and recently RTU Development Fund. Anita is also RTU associate professor, passionate lecturer of business process management and inquisitive researcher with particular interest in alumni knowledge management.

I've been working in marketing and recruitment at the University of Edinburgh for the past 6 years, working in various roles, at school, college and central level. Whilst most of my time is focussed on recruitment and conversion activities, my proudest moment was probably pulling off a Friends-inspired welcome event which saw 500 new students synchronised dancing with coloured umbrellas in the Old College Quad. I also won the CASE Martin Bojam Emerging Marketing and Communications Award in 2019.  I currently work in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.

David is a specialist in charity fundraising strategy and operations management within the Third Sector. With over 5 years focusing on Trust and Grant Fundraising in many different spheres of the non-profit space, he has a wealth of experience in managing database projects across many software providers, developing brand new fundraising campaign strategies and communications channel development. With experience working with charities across the sector including, myaware, Links International, Relational Hub and several organisations within the Faith and Youthwork framework, David brings a genuine drive and desire to support charities and organisations to reach their goals.

Professor Steve West has been Vice-Chancellor of UWE Bristol since 2008. Alongside being a vice-chancellor, Professor West has served on the Boards of HEFCE, UUK and the Office for Students, and Chaired the University Alliance, South-West CBI, West of England Academic Health Science Network and West of England Local Enterprise Partnership. He is the incoming President for Universities UK (UUK).

Rhia Weston has more than five years experience in the higher education sector having worked as a web editor and web manager at the University of Portsmouth in the south of England, before moving to the Office for National Statistics in April 2022 to head up its content design team. 

At Portsmouth, Rhia led a team of content producers, designers, UX professionals, and SEO specialists. She previously managed national advocacy campaigns and communications for nonprofits. 

Rhia is passionate about tackling climate change, ethical communications, putting user needs first and coaching happy teams. 

She spends much of her spare time running, gardening, riding her bike, and doing aerial silks.

David Whitaker is a strategic alumni relations leader with experience across universities, schools and the third sector. Highly collaborative practitioner with over 20 years’ experience delivering productive partnerships with alumni communities and senior stakeholders, David began his advancement career at Oxford.  Over the course of his career, David has led the development and expansion of new and existing alumni programmes at the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of the Arts London, Regent's University London, Harrow School and most recently The British Heart Foundation which has pioneered alumni-style programmes across a range of constituencies and networks .

Abi has been working for, or with, not-for-profits for over 15 years. She started her career as a fundraiser at the food redistribution charity FareShare; helping to establish it as a new national charity that she is proud to have seen flourish over the years since.

Abi has spent the past 12 years working agency-side at GOOD Agency and now Black Bear Creative - leading the teams working with charity clients such as WWF, RSPB, ActionAid and Samaritans, and higher education institutions including the universities of Bristol, Leeds, Southampton, Sheffield Hallam and Surrey, The Royal Academy of Music, St George's School Weybridge and The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

As Client Services Director she has overall responsibility for project delivery including strategic implementation, insight development, creative output and client liaison.

Ann has worked at the University of Glasgow for the last 18 years. She has over 25 years of Marketing experience and previously she worked as  an International Officer at the University of Hull and Schools Liaison Officer at the University of Lincoln.  Ann is based in the Central Marketing department at the University of Glasgow and specialises in digital student recruitment and conversion activity.  Ann’s role is split into several areas:  The management, development, and operational element of the Peer to Peer network platform Unibuddy which has over 200 students, staff and Alumni and plays a major role in supporting recruitment objectives.  Ann also leads on the implementation, management, and delivery of all central digital recruitment campaigns for International and home markets PG and UG.  Ann champions the development, implementation, and governance of the University of Glasgow World Changers Welcome brand for recruitment alongside managing the strategic direction of Postgraduate marketing at University of Glasgow and currently sits on the Advisory Board for Find a University.

Sam Wilkinson is Head of Public Art at UCL Culture. She leads on contemporary art commissioning across UCL including its Bloomsbury London site, for its new development on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, UCL East and for UCL’s flagship neuroscience facility which will be home to the UK Dementia Research Institute. The focus of the public art programming she develops is about the collaborative relationships between artists, UCL academics and communities, to reflect the character and research of the institution.

Rebecca is a highly experienced fundraiser, data manager and researcher. She was previously research lead at Philanthropy Company, bringing data insights, data management and data protection expertise.  Among others, her projects include leading on the implementation of systems and processes for the National Emergencies Trust £100M+ Coronavirus Appeal and managing the migration to Raiser’s Edge NXT for charity Childhood First. She has worked with a wide range of social good organisations, including Sport England, Somerset House, Prevent Breast Cancer, Best Beginnings, Northumbria University and The Captain Tom Foundation.  She has an in-depth knowledge of the fundraising landscape and a passion for the power of data to maximize fundraising potential.

My fundraising career began in the charity sector; in previous roles I led the Philanthropy Teams at two of the UK's largest charities, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, and the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. At the RNLI I gained significant experience in leading teams remotely, with colleagues based right across the UK. Part of my remit at Guide Dogs was setting up a major donor programme effectively from scratch, to prepare the organisation for its first significant capital campaign. 

I joined the University of Oxford in March 2020 (just six days before lockdown!) as Senior Development Executive for Physics. Oxford's Department of Physics has ambitious fundraising aspirations for the next few years, and I work closely with senior academics to help realise these.

Outside of work, I am a trustee of a small charity which supports people with learning disabilities by providing training and work experience. I hold a degree in English Literature from the University of Exeter.

Eleanor joined the University of Birmingham in 2016, focusing on accessible learning for all students with the creation of Research Assistant internships and supporting academics to use educational simulations in teaching. In her current role as Student and Recent Graduate Engagement Manager for the Alumni Office, she proactively works to ensure students and recent graduates succeed, by connecting them with alumni to help them access a well-established professional network and boost their employability skills.

Lindsay Young is Alumni Engagement Manager at Durham University. She came to Durham in 2008 as an international student from Canada and did an MA in International Relations. Lindsay is a passionate and experienced builder of communities and networks, an Alumni Engagement professional with more than 10 years of experience in higher education, event management and relationship building. She has been instrumental in developing Durham's international alumni engagement programme. Her interests outside the university include Olympic weightlifting and karate, in which she competes internationally.

An experienced professional in Communications, Marketing and Fundraising, Arnaud Marcilhacy built his career around working with international humanitarian organizations, higher education and cultural institutions and medical research institutes in Europe and North America as well. Wiser for his 10-year experience in North America, he has a solid expertise in strategic planning, major gift campaigns and negotiation of partnerships. Arnaud Marcilhacy is the CEO of iPhilGroup, a Paris based major gift consultancy. The firm is a leading player in France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Francophone Africa. iPhilGroup is an active member of three international networks of consultancies:  Brakeley Europe & Partners, GroupIFC, Chapel & York.

For the last 15 years Mr. Marcilhacy has made the firm one of the leading consultancies in French speaking continental Europe. Major clients have been the Sorbonne (one of the best French universities in the Shangai ranking), the Ecole Centrale Paris (second largest science and technology school in France), HEC (one of the top 5 business school in France), Université Panthéon Assas (number one law school in France), Pasteur Institute, the Red Cross Museum in Geneva, Aide et Action and many other organizations.

Mr Marcilhacy owns a law degree from the Université de Paris. He is a speaker at major international and French conferences like IFC, CASE and the French Fundraisers Association’s conferences.

Of her more than 20 years in fundraising Astrid has spent 10 years working as a frontline fundraiser in the US educational sector, working initially for a private school and later as Senior Development Director for the University of California. For many years she has specialized in major donor fundraising and strategy development.

She serves on the board of the European Fundraising Association (EFA) and has recently been elected to that of CFRE, as well as being a member of the CFRE Exam Committee.

She is herself a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) and also trained as Somatic Coach offering leadership coaching and training to executives in the not-for-profit and for-profit sectors.

She is also Chinese Studies Major, speaking Mandarin to this day and is following the Chinese fundraising scene intently.

Angelina Bingley is Director of Admissions, Recruitment and Marketing at UEA. Responsible for setting the strategic vision for all aspects of the student recruitment journey – from initial point of contact through to enrolment - and enhancing the profile and reputation of UEA across the globe. Angelina’s background is in marketing and communications and she worked for many years as a consultant in the private sector for FTSE 100 companies before moving into Higher Education. She has been at UEA since 2013. Angelina is also Vice-Chair of the Universities Marketing Forum. 

Helen is Senior Alumni Officer at The University of Manchester, responsible for managing alumni volunteering programmes to support the University’s strategic priorities around student employability, student recruitment and social responsibility. Helen has worked at The University of Manchester for 10 years, and prior to this she was a primary school teacher for three years.