Amanda Baker (she/her) is the Deputy Director for Young Alumni & Students at Yale University’s Alumni Fund. In this role, she leads her team to cultivate an appreciation among students for alumni philanthropy and build dedicated future donors. She also strengthens the pipeline of recent alumni donors through programming and communications. She works with leadership volunteers and develops solicitation strategies to retain loyal donors, bring in new donors and move donors up the pipeline through leadership level solicitations. Amanda is committed to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging serving on various committees and taskforces that promote DEIB internally and among the alumni population. She has presented on various topics at Ivy+ conferences as well as AGDC.

Prior to joining Yale in 2018, Amanda was involved in management and development in the arts where she spent 20 years with organizations ranging from the United States Coast Guard Band to her own arts non-profit organization. Amanda is a veteran of the United States Coast Guard which she served for 7 years. She is on faculty at Eastern Connecticut State University where she teaches courses in arts management and is a member of the Imani Winds Foundation Board of Directors. She received her Bachelor’s and Master's in Music from Northwestern University and Yale University, respectively and an MBA from the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler School of Business. Amanda lives in Old Lyme, Connecticut with her partner, daughter and dachshund Waffles. An avid nature-lover, she spends her free-time birding, kayaking and hiking.

Jemika Ferguson is the Assistant Director of Talent Pipeline Programs at the University of Michigan’s Office of University Development. She is a proud University of Michigan alumni. Jemika currently serves as the program director for the Development Summer Internship Program (D-SIP) and her responsibilities include leading all summer programming, marketing and recruiting interns and host sites, spearheading D-SIP alumni cultivation, and stewardship efforts. She led the efforts for reimagining the program into a virtual program during the pandemic. With D-SIP now celebrating its 16th year, there are over 358 alumni.

Before returning to the University as a member of the Development community, Jemika served as Business manager for World Community Impact, a non-profit organization, where she gained valuable project management and program coordinator experience.

Jemika holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Educational Sociology from UM’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts and holds a certification in Project Management.

Raeanna has been with Vanderbilt University for 7 years, with previous experience in the entertainment industry. She serves as the Assistant Director for Student Alumni Engagement where she oversees the Life After Vanderbilt Series, the Student Alumni Board and young alumni programs. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University with a degree in Mass Communications and an MBA from Lipscomb University. In her free time, she enjoys HIIT training 6 days a week, cooking, and spending as much time with her dog nephews, Murray and Mr. Bojangles, as she can.

Alex Rodríguez engages all generations of the Cal community through social media and digital marketing for crowdfunding, student philanthropy, and giving days as UC Berkeley’s Assistant Director, Digital Campaigns. After overhauling student philanthropy through social content creation and digital giving, Alex now oversees the Crowdfunding program, launching and marketing ~70 projects annually. Throughout his different roles at Berkeley, Alex helped pioneer social media strategy in fundraising at his alma mater - he created the school’s first Instagram Reel! Alex uses his passion for social media (and chronically online experience) to put the “fun” back in fundraising at Berkeley. 

Outside of his professional life, Alex loves to express himself creatively through fashion, dance, and TikTok, and can likely be found listening to K-Pop at any given moment. Alex lives in SoCal with his very photogenic cat, Chromeo Kiwi Lunario (@chromeo.kiwi)!

Alexa Schwartz (she/her/hers) serves as the Assistant Director, Alumni Programs at Rice University’s Office of Alumni Relations. Alexa Schwartz connects Rice University students to alumni mentors and campus resources through management of the Sallyportal virtual mentoring platform with 12,500+ users, development of the "Life After Rice" alumni panel series, and implementation of family and student programming during Rice's annual Owl Together event series (Homecoming and Reunion & Families Weekend). Alexa is a Ph.D. student in Higher Education Leadership & Policy Studies at the University of Houston. She graduated from Tulane University with a BA in Latin American Studies, Anthropology, and Spanish and a MA in Spanish.