Faculty
Meet Your Chair
Christy Cates
Christy Cates is the Associate Vice Chancellor for Advancement Operations at the University of Denver (DU). Christy is responsible for the strategic management of DU’s Advancement Operations team which includes Community Experiences, Prospect Development, Business Intelligence and Analytics, Gift Administration and Records Management, Business Services, Talent Management, and organizational planning. In this role, she drives the overall efficiency, effectiveness, and quality of the advancement enterprise by enhancing the coherence and integration of core advancement functions, administering resources strategically and creatively, leading all planning activities, and cultivating a world-class team of talented advancement professionals.
Prior to joining DU, Christy served the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) as Executive Director of Advancement Services and UC Irvine as the Senior Executive Director of University Advancement Human Resources. Before entering the world of higher education advancement, Christy held human resources leadership positions with In-N-Out Burgers and Pick Up Stix, Inc., both privately held, multi-site corporations that employed between 800-4,000 employees. She earned a degree in political science from San Diego State University and is an active member of CASE and SHRM.
Faculty
Shawn L. Scoville
Shawn L. Scoville has been the president and CEO of the Oregon State University Foundation since January 4, 2020. Under his leadership, the OSU Foundation seeks to build on its momentum to support OSU’s aspirations, establish industry-leading fundraising and engagement growth and further energize donors, alumni and volunteers to engage with the university. In October 2022, the OSU Foundation, in partnership with OSU, launched the $1.75 billion Believe It fundraising and engagement campaign, the second in the university’s history, and the first to include specific engagement priorities.
Part of the Foundation’s leadership team since 2005, Mr. Scoville served as the executive vice president at the OSU Foundation. In that role, he led advancement strategy and organizational development, focusing fundraising efforts on initiatives that advance the university’s priorities while striving to build a culture of meaningful engagement for all of the university’s constituents. He served as the principal architect of The Campaign for OSU, which raised more than $1.14 billion from 106,000 donors. OSU was one of only two public universities in the nation to have a first campaign with a $1 billion goal, and one of only 35 public universities to have crossed the billion-dollar mark in a fundraising campaign.
Mr. Scoville has been instrumental in building upon the fundraising and engagement momentum to position the Foundation, and the university, for the future; the last three years have been the most successful in the university’s history. Focused efforts to engage and build community among donors who have given $1 million or more to Oregon State has been a priority, and this group has quadrupled in size since he arrived at the Foundation and now includes more than 500 members.
Over the years, he has held several volunteer positions in the advancement industry’s leading professional organization, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), as well as participated actively in the Association of Governing Boards (AGB) and Grenzebach, Glier & Associates’ Advancement Leadership Forum (ALF). A native of Upstate New York, he is a graduate of Gettysburg (Pa.) College.
Kathi Dantley Warren
Kathi Dantley Warren has 25 years of advancement leadership experience at higher education and academic medical institutions in $1B+ campaigns. Most recently, she served as vice president for development and alumni relations at Rice University where she launched a $2B campaign, the largest at a private institution in TX. At Rice, she also led a team of 150 with responsibility for principal and major gifts, gift planning, alumni relations, corporate and foundation relations, presidential events, donor relations, annual giving, marketing and communications, and advancement services.
Under her leadership, Rice set new fundraising records in fiscal years 2021 and 2022, and also broke a record for giving to the Rice Annual Fund, while steadily growing annual fund participation. In 2020, she led Rice to securing its first nine-figure gift, followed by a second in 2021. She established new standards for organizational excellence within the development and alumni relations division by implementing a division-wide annual planning process and instituting a slate of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
Prior to Rice, Dantley Warren served as senior executive director of development at the Duke University Cancer Institute, where they successfully completed a $200 million campaign. From 2010 to 2014, she served as assistant dean for alumni affairs and development at Cornell University’s College of Engineering, where she developed and implemented the college’s first alumni affairs and development strategic plan and alumni engagement plan and increased annual revenues from $22.7 million to more than $56 million.
She spent eight years at the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business, ultimately serving as campaign director, and was a major gift officer at The Johns Hopkins University Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.
Dantley Warren earned a masters degree in cellular and molecular biology from Duke University and a bachelors in biology from Hampton University. Originally from Northern Virginia, she is an avid sports enthusiast and dog-rescue advocate who also enjoys travel, cooking and painting.
Gia Bazil Soublet
Dr. Gia Bazil Soublet has 26 years of successful development and nonprofit experience and currently serves as the Vice President for Strategic Impact Investment Funding at the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), a major philanthropic initiative set to elevate the critical work of UNCF. In this role, she works with the Office of the President and oversees gift acquisition for UNCF’s strategic priorities, which includes prospect management and managing a team of senior fundraising professionals.
Before joining UNCF, Dr. Soublet served as Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement at North Carolina Central University (NCCU) where she increased fundraising by 125% in two years and doubled the alumni giving percentage. Prior to that, Dr. Soublet served as Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Xavier University of Louisiana. Under her leadership, the University enjoyed fundraising increases yearly and she is credited with establishing a corporate partners program, expanding the planned giving program, establishing a presidential funding initiative, and overhauling the stewardship operation, resulting in significant growth in donor retention. Prior to Xavier, she served as Director for Corporate and Foundation Relations at Dillard University, where she started her career in higher education as a Major Gifts Officer. Prior to Dillard she worked in several roles at United Way for the Greater New Orleans Area before eventually serving as the Assistant Vice President for Campaigns. During her tenure at United Way, Dr. Soublet won numerous national participation and goal achievement awards as the director for the Combined Federal Campaign.
Dr. Soublet holds a Doctorate in Urban Higher Education Administration from Jackson State University, a Master of Business Management from the University of Phoenix, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Systems from Xavier University of Louisiana. Additionally, Dr. Soublet earned Certification in Fund Raising Management from Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Nationally recognized for her success in fundraising and nonprofit management, she has presented for the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), Association for Fundraising Professionals (AFP), and United Way conferences on various topics including major gift acquisition, grant writing, donor participation, board development, diversity and inclusion, and ethics in fundraising. She served on the Board for the New Orleans AFP chapter from 2020 to 2022.
Dr. Soublet is also the principal for Soublet Consulting Group (SCG). SCG has worked with universities and nonprofits locally and regionally to achieve their organizational objectives and it is committed to helping nonprofits of all sizes plan for self-sustainability. Services include board training and development, strategic planning, program audits, development operation audits, fundraising strategies and plans, capital campaign readiness and planning, and ethics and diversity training.
Katrina Onderdonk
Katrina Onderdonk is the Senior Director of Talent Management for Advancement and Alumni Relations at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Bringing over 20 years of experience and expertise in talent management, she specializes in organizational planning, executive search, learning and development, and building workplace culture. Katrina’s career spans both corporate and non-profit sectors, including leadership roles where she has made significant contributions to the growth and success of each institution. Prior to joining Caltech, she was a Search Consultant with S. Benjamins & Company, and began her career at Bank of America Securities and Gap Inc.
Katrina holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, and is actively engaged in the Los Angeles community, contributing her expertise to various non-profit boards.