Josh Wyatt has recently joined the team in Tucson at the University of Arizona as the director of talent development.

He discovered his passion for training and talent management while working at Envision EMI in the Washington, D.C., area. After seven years, he left Washington, D.C., for the newly created position of training and talent development manager at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Office of Development. While at UNC-CH he worked to develop a comprehensive talent management strategy involving recruiting, onboarding, training, and developing 350+ frontline fundraisers and support staff. This included the implementation and administration of a Learning Management System, a full e-learning catalog of courses specific to Blackbaud CRM and dedicated moves management cohorts for development officers and aspiring development officers. 

Wyatt holds a bachelor’s degree in political science with an emphasis in criminal justice from James Madison University.

Sonya Allen is the associate director of talent acquisition at UF Advancement. In addition to driving the talent acquisition strategy for the Talent Management department, she serves as a talent management partner to hiring managers, college HR representatives, and central HR by providing advice and support on broad issues related to workforce planning, culture and engagement, and talent development. With more than 11 years of experience in advancement, she has grown the talent acquisition program at UF Advancement and developed tools and resources to aid in the search for top talent.

Allen has been a driving force in the creation of UF Advancement’s diversity initiative. She co-leads the diversity and inclusion group called H.A.N.D. (Helping Advancement Nurture Diversity). This group strives to create an inclusive environment that reflects the UF community and the community it serves.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in healthcare administration from the University of Central Florida and Professional Human Resources (PHR) Certification from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

Steve Filipiak has been in his current role as divisional human resources director for the advancement division at Virginia Tech since December 2017. He provides strategic human resources leadership within development, alumni relations, and university relations.

Prior to Virginia Tech, Filipiak served in several human resources leadership roles at MIT including human resources officer with the School of Science and HR manager supporting Campus Construction, Campus Planning and Information Systems and Technology. He has more than 20 years of experience in providing guidance to managers and executives in leveraging human resources programs to drive results within higher education and the private sector. 

Alexis serves as the Director of Advancement Talent Management at Dartmouth College where she helps people maximize their potential to achieve organizational priorities. Her responsibilities include shaping the overarching strategy for talent management and designing employee engagement, professional development, and DEIB initiatives for more than 300 staff.

During her 25+ years of experience in higher education, Alexis has worked in Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, and Advancement. She has delivered educational experiences to faculty, staff, and students; led award-winning diversity and inclusion initiatives; and started two talent management departments. She joined Dartmouth College six years ago after a 20-year career at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO.

Alexis leads the Amplify Gender Equity & Leadership Initiative that was founded with seed money from the CASE D1 Venture Fund. The program empowers gender-diverse staff in the Advancement profession to create change at the personal, leadership, and organizational levels. In addition, she has garnered CASE Circle of Excellence Awards in Talent Management and DEIB for Amplify, the Dartmouth antiracist training program, and the diversity strategy at Colorado State University. 

Alexis also is the founder of AKO Collective, a leadership development company that works with women in male-dominated fields like STEM and Finance and is a former TEDx Speaker.

Alexis holds a bachelor's degree in organizational studies from the University of Michigan, a master's degree in college student personnel from Bowling Green State University, and a certificate in organization development from Colorado State University. She is certified in StrengthsFinder and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).