Ben joined LSE in February 2018. Ben serves as one of nine members of the university’s leadership team, has strategic oversight for philanthropy, alumni engagement, corporate engagement, international strategy, and global academic partnerships, and leads on the most significant philanthropic opportunities, travelling extensively overseas. Since joining LSE, Ben has created and overseen the launch of LSE’s Shaping the World philanthropic and volunteering Campaign, with an initial goal to raise £350m. In 2021-22 LSE raised nearly £95m. Ben is also a senior inclusivity champion for LSE and more widely.

Outside of LSE, Ben is Chair of the Ross Group and is a Board member for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE Europe) and this year is serving on the CASE Global Advancement Leaders’ Summit Planning Committee. Prior to LSE, Ben worked at Oxford University for eight years, overseeing the University’s fundraising teams, where the Oxford Thinking Campaign grew from £800m to £2.7bn. Prior to Oxford, Ben spent 10 years at Warwick University, initially in international marketing and recruitment, then overseeing philanthropy, alumni and corporate engagement at Warwick Business School and serving the wider University leading on international philanthropy in East Asia.

Having secured a scholarship to attend a private secondary school, and having received funding for undergraduate and graduate study, Ben is a passionate advocate of social mobility and the role of education for the betterment of society.

Paul Tyack leads the advancement team at Newcastle University. Working with more than 250,000 graduates and supporters, the team is the driving force behind fundraising, philanthropy management, and graduate and supporter engagement for the university. Building on 20 years of leadership experience in the not-for-profit and higher education sectors, Tyack specialises in working with major donors including individuals, families, grant-making foundations and companies in the UK and internationally. He is also a trustee for the National Centre for Early Music in York.

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.

Melchior Bussink is Head of Alumni Relations and Director of the Amsterdam University Fund at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). He has a background in philanthropy, building partnerships and communities and creating cultural and societal impact on a (inter)national level. He worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, campaigning and non-profit offices and most recently at the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. At the UvA Melchior is responsible for renewing the strategies on alum engagement and philanthropy. A new approach is needed with a growing number of young and international alums and the changing landscape of fundraising. The UvA is committed on building an inclusive and broad community to increase opportunities for students, staff and alumni.

Dolivo joined the University of Helsinki in 2000 and started out her career at UH as an alumni coordinator. Since then, Dolivo has held several posts at the University of Helsinki, including Head of Career Center, Fundraising Campaign Manager and Head of Community Relations. Before her career at the University Dolivo worked in the Finnish Parliament, and in the City of Helsinki Cultural Capital Foundation as a producer of science and citizen related projects. A continuous source of inspiration for her is to meet and interact with visionary alumni, donors and corporate partners who want to engage with the University in a multitude of ways.

Sara Kalim read Classics at Somerville from 1990-94. She then spent 14 years in the media, working as Head of Development for two major television production companies. Her work included developing access and ideas, and fundraising for documentaries and current affairs programming. Sara has most recently worked for the University of Oxford for three years at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Department of Politics and International Relations, where she held responsibility for financial and strategic planning, and played an instrumental role in securing journalism scholarships from a variety of funding sources.

As Director of Development, Sara oversees Somerville’s fundraising strategy and development, is responsible for fundraising campaigns (including for the Margaret Thatcher Scholarship Trust and the Oxford India Centre), and heads up the Development Team. She is also a member of the College’s Management Team.

Sara has a long-standing family connection to India, with family coming from Patna, Bihar. She also studied at Somerville making her the perfect advocate to drive the further development of the Centre. Sara’s focus is on fundraising and profile-raising working with philanthropists and corporate partners.

Emanuel lives for a good story to weave, so he describes himself as a storytelling lover and aficionado. His passion for content started in the banking industry in his native Puerto Rico, where he was leading copy and digital marketing for the institution. The challenge of making a bank soulful caught him.

A Fulbright grant took him to Madrid to study at IE, where he stayed as the Associate Director of Alumni Communications. Emanuel has a passion for creativity, emotional content, and weaving stories that showcase the beauty of working in the educational sector. He is also a proud collaborator in LGBTQ+ initiatives and does improv theatre in his free time.

Celine was born and raised in Antwerp: the diamond, fashion, and beer capital of the world. She started her career in higher education in 2019, armed with master’s degrees in both strategic communication and journalism. 

Besides being responsible for managing the faculty's international recruitment strategy, digital campaigns, content creation and social media, she is also committed to building its alumni community. Since 2022, she is part of the EMFD Marcom, Alumni and External Relations steering committee. 

Having travelled 33 countries and speaking 5 (and a half) languages, her nickname at work has become Celinternational.