Faculty
J T. Forbes
J Thomas Forbes was appointed president and chief executive officer of the Indiana University Foundation on January 1, 2022. He served as interim president and chief executive officer from January 1 to December 31, 2021. He was also the 11th chief executive officer of the Indiana University Alumni Association from June 2010 through December 2021.
J T. returned to IU after a stint in the private sector, where he served as director of state government relations for Cummins Inc. and as a principal private sector staff leader for the United States–Brazil CEO Forum.
An experienced higher education leader, J T. has served in communications, marketing, public affairs, and government relations roles at IU and Michigan State University and provided consulting on these issues for other major public research and land grant colleges. His service to the advancement field includes work as a consulting vice president for Grenzebach Glier and Associates and active service with the Council of Alumni Association Executives (CAAE) and Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).
As a student, J T. was president of the student body on the IU Bloomington campus, founded the All University Student Assembly to unify IU students from all campuses, and served as a trustee of Indiana University. He earned his BA in 1990 and MPA in 1996.
A life member of the IU Alumni Association, IU Foundation Presidents Circle, and founding member of the Queer Philanthropy Circle, he is married to Martha Shedd and has three adult children and one grandchild.
Jennifer Cunningham
Jennifer provides strategy and direction for the ways in which Lehigh engages with its 85,000 alumni around the globe. She came to Lehigh in early 2016.
Jennifer has served as a Commissioner, Board Director and Faculty Member with the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and has written a few articles for their magazine, CURRENTS. She’s also the Vice President of CAT-Coalition for Appropriate Transportation, which advocates for less reliance on automobiles; serves as a Judge of Elections; rides the D&L Rail Trail as a Safety Patroller, and recently became a Board Member of the Morning Star Rotary Club and a Youth Activities and Exchange Coordinator for Rotary International.
Prior to Lehigh she was at her alma mater, Cornell University, for nine years, most recently as the Senior Director of Metrics + Marketing, where she analyzed event, volunteer and giving data and coached staff on using it to make smarter business decisions. Before her career in alumni relations, Jennifer was self-employed as a copywriter and resume writer, and worked in advertising, producing websites, TV and magazine ads for clients including Microsoft, MasterCard, and Popeye’s Fried Chicken.
Lisa English
Career snapshot: Lisa has worked in higher education since 1998, primarily in the fields of alumni engagement and advancement operations for the Rutgers University Foundation and Rutgers University Alumni Association, across all three of its major campus locations. Lisa is currently the Associate Vice President, Operations on the Foundation's central team for Advancement and Strategy, and serves on the Senior Vice President's senior team. Her role encompasses various strategic initiatives for the organization including internal communications related to the implementation of Salesforce and creating efficiencies in collaborative operations across the fundraising verticals. Lisa has also served on various university-wide committees related to strategic planning, including for the chancellor of Rutgers Health and the inaugural board of the alumni association. Previously, in November of 2018, she developed the advancement services team for Rutgers Health development as the Associate Vice President for Advancement Services, where she oversaw a highly functioning team of professionals in annual giving, alumni engagement, communications, campaign projects and administration.
Professional development and related roles: Lisa is the Immediate Past-Chair of the CASE District II board and previously led its Strategic Planning Committee. She was a member of the CASE SIAR (summer institute on alumni relations) faculty for 3 years and has presented on various alumni and advancement related topics at CASE II, CASE V, NASPA, NACRO and SUNY CUADs. An article on how to 'Take a Structured Approach to Recruiting Alumni as Corporate Liaisons’ was published based on a co-presentation at SUNY’s External Partnerships Bootcamp in 2018. Lisa is a CAAE Forman Fellow (2016) and presented on “Integrated Advancement Teams” in Scottsdale, AZ. Lisa is also a co-adjunct instructor in the leadership minor at Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences.
Education: Lisa earned her doctorate from Rutgers Graduate School of Education in 2016; her dissertation research was on the social justice practices of higher education administrators. Her Ed.M. is also from Rutgers and her B.S. in hospitality management is from the University of New Hampshire. Lisa is also Safe Zone certified as an LGBTQ ally.
Cindy Fredrick
Cindy Fredrick is an inspirational leader, known for growing organizations with transformative energy, passion, and integrity. Cindy’s higher education career spans three decades at the University of Virginia. She currently serves as the senior associate vice president for engagement and annual giving and previously was the president and CEO of UVA’s student volunteer service center, Madison House. In addition to working for UVA, Cindy is a consulting vice-president for Grenzebach Glier and Associates.
As UVA’s chief alumni and parent engagement officer, Cindy supervises a team of 35 staff members, 60 students, and more than 700 volunteers, overseeing central annual giving and producing in-person and virtual events. Before the pandemic, her team implemented more than 1,200 in-person events per year, leveraging a global volunteer network. During the 16 months of the pandemic, her team produced 800 virtual events for more than 117,000 alumni, friends, and family registrations.
Cindy began her career with non-profit community-based organizations and was responsible for advancement, marketing, program services, and volunteer management. She served in leadership positions for a state-wide advocacy coalition, a children’s equity theatre, and long-term care facilities.
Cindy graduated from Luther College with a B.A. in social work and from California State University with an M.Ed. in educational administration. Cindy is an alumnus of Leadership Charlottesville, Advancement Leadership Lab, Leadership in Academic Matters, and the Fundraising School. An active volunteer with CASE, she has served in various roles, including past chair of the Summer Institute for Alumni Relations.
Kerry Gotham
Kerry Gotham has 18 years of experience in higher education and advancement, currently serving as director of alumni engagement and executive director of the Brockport Alumni Association at The College at Brockport, State University of New York. Previously, he served as the director of alumni relations at Nazareth College.
Gotham has presented at multiple CASE and SUNYCUAD conferences, the Northeast Annual Giving Conference and the CASE Summit. He has been recognized as a CASE District II Faculty Star and a Grand Gold winner in the CASE Circle of Excellence awards. Serving in many volunteer capacities for CASE, he is also a member of the CASE District II Board, where he serves as co-chair of the District II Awards Program. Having co-chaired the SUNYCUAD Educational Conference in 2015, he is currently vice president and president-elect of the SUNYCUAD Board of Directors.
He received his master's degree in higher education administration from Syracuse University and a bachelor's degree in biology from Nazareth College.
Howard W. Heevner
Howard Heevner joined the University of California, Berkeley in 2019 as the executive director of annual programs. In his current role he oversees annual giving, leadership annual giving, milestone giving, next generation giving and parents philanthropy and engagement. With more than 20 years of higher education fundraising experience, he has held a number of roles.
Prior to coming to Berkeley, Heevner was the assistant vice chancellor of university development programs at UC Santa Cruz, the director of annual giving at Penn State University, the director of annual and special giving at DePaul University and the associate director of annual giving at University of Michigan. He began his career in development at the University of Iowa.
Howard has been a regular speaker at CASE conferences throughout his career and currently serves on the CASE District VII board. Heevner has also worked with more than 30 institutions across the country to review the effectiveness of their annual giving programs.
Heevner earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Iowa and his master's degree in higher education administration from Penn State.
Karen White
Karen White has spent more than 20 years in higher education advancement. She is the executive director for alumni relations at the George Washington University. In this role she provides strategy and direction for the university's Colonials Weekend program and alumni affinity engagement programs. She is responsible for the overall volunteer management of GW's Alumni Association and the Mount Vernon National Advisory Council.
Prior to joining GW, she served as assistant to the president at Miami University where she directed all university ceremonies and events hosted by the President's Office. She has worked regionally and nationally to advance the alumni relations profession, serving in a variety of volunteer roles for CASE. She served as a faculty member for CASE's Institute for Senior Alumni Relations Professionals, Newcomers in Alumni Relations workshop, and Summer Institute in Alumni Relations. She recently finished her term as a CASE Commissioner on Alumni Relations.
White holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park and a master's degree in college student personnel from Miami University. A CASE member for more than 20 years, she is a current member of the CASE Commission on Alumni Relations and is a contributing writer to the book From Donor to Philanthropist: The Value of Donor Education In Creating Confident, Joyful Givers.
Katie Young
Katie Young serves as the Director of Alumni Relations at Greenhill School in Dallas, Texas, one of the largest co-ed independent day schools in the country. As a key member of the Advancement Leadership team, Katie is a catalyst for lifelong connections, ensuring that Greenhill alumni remain an integral part of the school's vibrant community.
Her journey at Greenhill began back in 2005, initially contributing to the communications team before transitioning to the alumni office in 2008. She spearheads all initiatives aimed at fostering enduring connections within the global Greenhill alumni network. In this capacity, she manages alumni programming, volunteer management, communications, and content generation, as well as frontline fundraising for annual and capital campaigns.
Katie has a true passion for alumni relations. She served in numerous district and national roles for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) including the global Commission on Alumni Relations. In addition, she represented independent schools as a member of the CASE Alumni Engagement Metrics Beta group. Katie began serving as faculty at the CASE Summer Institute for Alumni Relations in 2019.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma where she volunteered in the Student Activities office. She earned her master’s degree from Northeastern University focusing on nonprofit management, social media, and online communities.
Amy Bronson
A national leader and award-winning pioneer in the field of Talent Management, Amy has spent 25 plus years contributing to the success of fundraising both on the frontline and behind the scenes. She has a remarkable ability to help development professionals make the right career moves and achieve success for their organization's mission. She has touched the lives of hundreds of professionals, and her impact can be seen by the increasing level of professionalism in the advancement industry as well as through the success of the institutions that she's worked for, which include Harvard Law School and Boston College. Currently managing talent, finance, and operations for a team of 270, Amy has served in leadership roles and presented at numerous conferences and other professional organizations both locally and nationally. She helped create the award winning Amplify Gender & Equity Leadership Initiative, CASE’s Competencies Model, and the CASE Academy. A graduate of the University of Michigan, she lives in Milton, MA.
Steve Hall
A seasoned fundraiser and advancement and nonprofit leader, Steve Hall currently serves as the vice president for alumni relations at Boston University, one of the world’s largest private research universities. He is responsible for alumni relations, annual giving, advancement communications, athletics fundraising, and stewardship and donor relations for more than 321,000 BU alumni worldwide.
He is a member of the senior leadership team responsible for designing and executing the $1.5 billion "Choose to be Great" campaign for BU, the university’s first comprehensive campaign. Under his leadership, alumni engagement has increased six-fold to more than 900 events and meetings each year, attracting more than 50,000 attendees. The alumni participation rate has increased three percent since the campaign began in 2010.
A member of CASE for 35 years and a recipient of the Crystal Apple Award, Hall is a frequent presenter at conferences, including CASE's Summit for Leaders in Advancement. He is a frequent contributor to CASE publications and in 2012 and 2013 he chaired the CASE Senior Institute in Alumni Relations. Programs he leads, or has led, have received 43 CASE awards including four Circle of Excellence Grand Gold or Gold awards.
He served as vice chair of the Commission on Alumni Relations and as a member of the Commission on Philanthropy. In 2007-2008 he served as president of the Council of Alumni Association Executives. Hall has served on both the CASE District I and District IV Boards.
While leading the University of Houston Alumni Association, a 501 (c) 3 foundation, Hall led the creation of a 300-member alumni legislative advocacy group. He has testified before the Senate of the State of Texas on issues related to higher education and in 2013 was a panelist for the inaugural Massachusetts Public Higher Education Statewide Board of Trustees Conference.
Alexis Kanda-Olmstead
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).