![CASE Summer Institutes](/sites/default/files/styles/header_default/public/media/image/SI22_1920x1080_Web%20header_UPDATE.jpg?h=962470a7&itok=r3_YR7us)
All-Institute Keynote Speakers
Meet Your Keynote Speakers
Day 1
![Sue Cunningham](/sites/default/files/styles/portrait/public/media/image/Sue%20Cunningham_web_1.jpg?h=fad46de2&itok=Yc81oAny)
Sue Cunningham
Since 2015, Sue Cunningham has provided executive leadership for one of the largest education-related associations in the world serving over 3,200 members in 80 countries. Prior to CASE, she served as Vice-Principal for Advancement at The University of Melbourne and Director of Development at University of Oxford. She held advancement roles at Christ Church, Oxford and University of St Andrews. As a CASE volunteer, she received the CASE Europe Distinguished Service Award and a CASE Crystal Apple for Teaching Excellence.
Cunningham is a Trustee at University of San Diego, a member of Signature Theatre (Arlington, Virginia, United States of America) Board of Directors, a member of Washington Higher Education Secretariat Steering Committee, and is a member of the International Women’s Foundation.
She is an Honorary Fellow of the Melbourne Graduate School of Education and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Day 2
![Rob Henry](/sites/default/files/styles/portrait/public/media/image/Rob%20Henry.jpg?h=997420b4&itok=u0MZVaQA)
Rob Henry
Rob Henry is Vice President, People, Culture & Talent. at CASE where he is responsible for creating an overall global strategy for achieving CASE's vision and mission related to talent management and for guiding conference programming, diversity/inclusion initiatives, research, and the CASE Library.
Formerly an active CASE volunteer speaker and adviser, Rob joined the CASE staff in 2006 as head of emerging constituencies, later adding the responsibility for online educational programs. He previously held advancement management positions at Yale University, the University of Connecticut Foundation and Michigan State University.
Rob is a graduate of Murray State University and has a master's degree from Eastern Michigan University. In 2006, he received the prestigious CASE Crystal Apple Award for Teaching Excellence.
Day 3
Karen E. Osborne
Karen is passionate about the power of education to change our world for the better. She is a volunteer, philanthropist, and trustee, living her beliefs. She has volunteered for CASE for over 30 years. CASE awarded Karen the Crystal Apple for Outstanding Teaching and Public Speaking and honored her in 2014 with The Ashmore Award for Outstanding Service to the Profession.
For seven years, Karen has served as an adjunct faculty member for Johns Hopkins University’s graduate certificate program in nonprofit management.
Nationally and internationally recognized as an excellent consultant, executive coach, and presenter, Karen receives invitations from all over the United States and the world. She frequently presents at local, national and international conferences.
For 18 of Karen’s 43 years in philanthropy and institutional advancement, Karen served as a frontline fundraiser and leader including NY State Department of Education; Director of Development, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY; and Vice President for Advancement at Trinity College in Hartford, CT responsible for development, alumni relations, information systems and marketing and communications. For the past 25 years, Karen served as President and now Senior Strategist for The Osborne Group, Inc. www.theosbornegroup.com
Karen is also a debut novelist. “Getting It Right,” came out June 6, 2017. Her second novel Tangled Lies came out in July 2021. www.kareneosborne.com
Day 4
![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).
![Sarah Schutt](/sites/default/files/styles/portrait/public/media/image/Schutt_Sarah2022.jpg?h=6c83441f&itok=3ViPR3yA)
Sarah Schutt
Sarah Schutt is the Chief Alumni Engagement Officer for the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association (WFAA) and Executive Director of the Wisconsin Alumni Association (WAA) – a role she has held since 2017.
As the Chief Alumni Engagement Officer, Sarah leads a team of 40 alumni relations professionals who welcome, inform and connect a global community of 480,000 UW-Madison alumni, and work collaboratively across advancement to inspire support for the university. The scope of the alumni relations team includes: enrichment and donor stewardship programs, signature events and celebrations, alumni chapters and networks, travel, membership, international advancement, advocacy, as well as a visitor center and Alumni Park. Sarah is active in the Council of Alumni Association Executives (CAAE) and serves on their board as Membership Chair.
Most of Sarah’s 32-year career in higher education has been at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to joining WAA in 2001, she worked with outreach programming in the UW School of Education’s Center on Education and Work. Sarah started her career in student affairs and spent nearly ten years working in residential life at several institutions, including UW-Madison. Sarah holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Iowa and a Master of Science degree from University in Minnesota - Mankato. She and her husband, Don, live in McFarland, Wisconsin and have two adult sons.