![Newcomers in Development: Spring Session 2022 Header](/sites/default/files/styles/header_default/public/media/image/FY22_Newcomers%20in%20Dev_1920x1080.png?h=d1cb525d&itok=ldsBxF29)
Faculty
Conference Chair
![Floyd Akins 2024](/sites/default/files/styles/portrait/public/media/image/Akins%20Headshot.jpg?h=53b70d3d&itok=rvjSWNaX)
Floyd Akins
Floyd Akins brings more than 25 years of experience in advancement to his work and serves as Vice President for Advancement at The University of Toledo. He has experience in major and principal gift fundraising, diversity in philanthropy, advancement career counseling and consulting, executive search, advancement organizational structures, and corporate and foundation engagement.
Floyd came to UToledo from Michigan State University, where he served as Associate Vice President for Advancement, overseeing constituent fundraising, individual giving and prospect development, and corporate and foundation engagement. Prior to that, he served as a senior consultant for the Aspen Leadership Group where he executed non-profit executive search and counsel in advancement and fundraising strategies.
As Assistant Vice Chancellor for Development for the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, he provided leadership and managerial support for UT’s Regional Major Gift Officers and Corporate and Foundation Engagement Team. He also helped develop the framework for and oversaw the creation of UT’s principal gifts program. He has been a strong advocate for diversity in advancement and higher education at all levels throughout his professional career and was the Co-Chair of UT’s Council for Diversity and Interculturalism.
In his career, Floyd has raised numerous multi-million-dollar gifts and managed staff at institutions in billion-dollar campaigns including at The Ohio State University where he served as Senior Associate Vice President for University Development and Vice President of the OSU Foundation. Prior to that role, he was Assistant Vice President for Principal Gifts at the University of Iowa Foundation. Other positions include Executive Director of Development at Iowa’s Henry B. Tippie College of Business, and Director of the Capital Campaign at Grinnell College where he started his advancement career. In addition to his fundraising positions, he held positions at both Grinnell College and the University of Iowa that included admissions, public relations, and multicultural affairs.
Floyd has been an active faculty member for CASE since 1998 and has chaired numerous conferences on major and principal gift fundraising in both the US and Canada. He received his bachelor’s degree from Eastern Illinois University and his master’s degree from the University of Iowa in Journalism and Mass Communication. Outside of his career in advancement, Floyd was one of the original members and lead vocalist of the band Funkdaddies in Iowa City that opened for the Beach Boys at the Cedar Rapids, Iowa Freedom Festival and celebrated the band’s 20th anniversary in Iowa City in October 2023. He also sang in the gospel choir at St. Dominic Parish in Columbus and was a member and soloist in the Harmony Project in Columbus, a 500-person choir that connects people across social divides through the arts, education, and volunteer community service. In keeping with his passion for the arts and music, Akins is on the board for the Toledo Alliance for Performing Arts (TAPA).
Faculty
![Angelique Grant headshot](/sites/default/files/styles/portrait/public/media/image/Grant%2C%20Angelique.jpg?h=dbf782aa&itok=fLQw7dSJ)
Angelique Grant
Angelique S.C. Grant, Ph.D., Senior Consultant, and Principal at The Inclusion Firm is a seasoned industry leader with more than 27 years of experience in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. As a Senior Consultant, she provides counsel on diversity, equity and inclusion practices, fundraising, and nonprofit strategies. Her services include inclusive strategic thought partnership, building and leading effective, diverse teams, recruitment and retention strategies, diversity audits and assessment, and cultural awareness training. She is a certified unconscious bias trainer and certified diversity recruiter, has been an active speaker for countless industry associations over the years, and has chaired and served as faculty for several conferences across the country.
Dr. Grant recently compiled, as co-author, this expertise into the first comprehensive book on DEI in advancement: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Advancement: A Guide to Strengthening Engagement and Fundraising Through Inclusion (CASE 2020). It serves as a guidebook for nonprofit teams seeking to move from awareness of DEI to action and sustained behavioral change. It features interviews with philanthropy leaders across all nonprofit sectors, as well as the "DEI Maturity Model," which she developed.
Throughout her career, Dr. Grant has successfully managed teams and exceeded fundraising goals in several multi-million dollar campaigns, and two separate billion dollar campaigns. Previously, she served as an Assistant Vice President of Development and Assistant Dean of Medical Advancement, Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine at Florida International University. Her extensive experience in higher education advancement has also included roles at Princeton University, Washington State University, and the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine.
Dr. Grant is a proud Miami, Florida native and a Fulbright Scholar who holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration specializing in Institutional Advancement from Washington State University. She has a M.A. in Communication, specializing in Public Relations and Media Management from Washington State University, and a B.S. degree in Journalism from Florida A&M University.
She is the founder of the South Florida Network of Blacks in Philanthropy and serves on numerous boards, including Our Fund (LGBT) Community Foundation, the African American Development Officers (AADO) Network, and the Advisory Committee for Women of Color in Fundraising and Philanthropy (WOC). She has been recognized as one of the 25 Most Influential and Prominent Black Women in South Florida by Success South Florida Magazine, a Lumina 10 in ICABA Honors South Florida 100 Most Accomplished Blacks Healthcare & Law, and selected as a Top Hat Woman of Achievement Award for Community Empowerment.
![Kayla K Hale](/sites/default/files/styles/portrait/public/media/image/Hale_Kayla_2018.jpg?h=3518364a&itok=QKaa6vKi)
Kayla K. Hale
As vice president of institutional advancement at the university of Tulsa, Kayla Hale leads a team of 60 professionals in the areas of fundraising, alumni relations, special events, advancement services, and marketing and communications. She has 29 years of direct experience in the field of higher education advancement at progressive levels of responsibility and leadership, and in both public and private settings. As a member of the President's Small Executive Staff, she serves as an advisor to the president and key members of the university's Board of Trustees. Hale serves as a liaison between faculty and non-faculty constituencies at the university and is responsible for creating a strong and team-oriented advancement program based upon creating fundraising strategy and establishing plans, goals and metrics.
She has been an active participant in two comprehensive fundraising campaigns at the University of Tulsa which, collectively raised more than $800 million for the institution. She and her team are preparing for the next fundraising campaign, "A Greater Commitment," which will focus on need-based scholarships, endowed faculty support and student support initiatives.
Hale previously held the position of assistant vice president for university development at OU-Tulsa; she also served as director of development and alumni relations at Rogers State University and as director of public relations and publications at Friends University. She has been actively involved at CASE for 29 years and has served CASE District IV in a number of leadership capacities. She is a regular speaker for CASE at both the national and district level and she has been a faculty member for CASE at 10 national conferences.
She holds a bachelor's degree from Pittsburg State University and a master's degree in business management from Friends University. In 2008, she received her doctorate in organizational leadership from the University of Oklahoma.
![Jeff Liebermann](/sites/default/files/styles/portrait/public/media/image/Liebermann_Jeffrey.jpg?h=6ead8a73&itok=JnrYubXE)
Jeff Liebermann
Jeff Liebermann is the assistant vice president for main campus development at the University of Iowa Center for Advancement (UICA). In addition to his role as a major gifts officer, he is responsible for overseeing Iowa's fundraising programs in the College of Law, university non-collegiate programs and the regional development team.
He joined the UICA in 1998 as an associate director of development for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS), then in 2005 became the executive director of development for CLAS. At Iowa, he has worked through two $1+ billion comprehensive campaigns, including four building projects. Prior to the UICA, he served as the director of alumni programs at the University of Iowa Alumni Association (1995-1998) and the assistant director of alumni relations at the University of Northern Iowa (1989-1995).
Liebermann has a deep background in CASE service, including serving as the chair of the board for CASE V, five years on the faculty of the CASE Summer Institute in Alumni Relations, three years on the CASE V conference committee, participation on numerous CASE conference faculties, and presenting educational sessions at the CASE IV, V and VI conferences. He received the CASE Crystal Apple Award for excellence in teaching in 2016.
He received his bachelor's degree in public relations from Northern Iowa and his master's degree in journalism from Iowa.
![Jeffrey Schoenherr](/sites/default/files/styles/portrait/public/media/image/Schoenherr%2C%20Jeff.jpg?h=eae2bb55&itok=lMXwxLRf)
Jeffrey Schoenherr
Since 2019, Jeffrey A. Schoenherr has served as the associate vice president of medical and health sciences development for the West Virginia University Foundation. Prior to WVU Foundation, he was assistant vice president for principal gifts at The Ohio State University, vice president of development and alumni relations at Emerson College in Boston, and executive director of development and alumni relations at Harvard Law School. From 2001-2011, Schoenherr worked at John Hopkins University as director of regional and international development and senior associate director of major gifts.
Schoenherr earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Michigan where he started his career working in numerous development, alumni relations, and admissions roles for ten years. He holds advanced certificates from John Hopkins University in Situational Delegation, Excellence in Management: Driving Results, Leadership Development, Enhancing Work Relationships and the Management Track.
Schoenherr is a frequent presenter at professional development conferences sponsored by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and has served many times as a CASE Conference chair and faculty member.
Active in the community, Schoenherr has served as a volunteer and/or on the boards of many organizations including the Boy Scouts of America, United Way of Central Maryland, Delta Chi Fraternity, The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore and the Ann Arbor Summer Festival. Schoenherr and his wife, Maria, are the parents of two children.