Jim Bob Womack serves as the Assistant Head of School for Advancement at Saint Mary's Hall in San Antonio, TX, one of the oldest independent day schools in the southwest. In his role, he is responsible for leading the advancement operations of the school, including fundraising, communications, alumni and parent programs, and other essential community engagement functions for the school, including the strategic guidance of enrollment management and financial aid.

Previously he served as Director of Development and Director of Alumni Relations at St. Mark's School of Texas, his alma mater, where he began his career in education in 2006. During his time, he oversaw one of the most robust alumni relations programs in the nation, which earned a CASE Circle of Excellence Awards for Alumni Program and Volunteer Leadership Bronze Medal in 2010.

In 2006, Womack attended the CASE Summer Institute for Independent Schools and credits the conference with bending his learning curve. He continues to be an active member of CASE, speaking at national and regional conferences and connecting with other independent schools around the country to share best practices. In 2010, he served on the CASE-NAIS Independent Schools Conference Planning Committee, and he has been a member of CASE's Development Advisory Group since 2018. He has chaired the CASE Summer Institute for Independent Schools since 2018 and served as a faculty member at the Institute since 2014. He was awarded the CASE Crystal Apple for Superior Teaching in 2019.

Womack earned a bachelor's degree in advertising at Pepperdine University and worked in the communications industry as a graphic designer before beginning his career in education.

Mark Aimone serves as the director of advancement at Wilbraham & Monson Academy. Since joining the academy in 2016, he has reorganized and refocused the development program and expanded the outreach to its alumni and parents. He’s overseen the redesign of the school’s annual fund communications and messaging, which has led to a record level of annual support over the past three years. A recently completed campus master plan begins with a new $4.5 million library that will be completed in January of 2020. Additionally, WMA is in the planning stages of a comprehensive capital campaign, the academy’s first in more than a decade.

He has spent more than 25 years advancing independent schools in an array of roles—from fundraiser to administrator to teacher, advisor and coach. His full-time development career began in 2006 at Phillips Exeter Academy, where he served as regional director of major gifts and was part of a team that raised $352 million, the most by a secondary school at that time. In addition to his development work for Exeter in the United States, he spurred the growth of Exeter’s United Kingdom Association and built and maintained connections with more than 100 U.K.- and European-based alumni/ae.  

In July of 2010, Aimone returned to his alma mater, Tabor Academy, as director of advancement. While at Tabor, he oversaw the creation of the Fund for Tabor, a complete redesign and rebranding of Tabor’s annual fund communications, which led to a significant increase in the annual fund. He oversaw the fundraising for the completion of two E.E. Ford Challenge matches, the renovation of the athletic complex and the academic building, installation of a three-turf field athletic complex, a crew rowing tank and the construction of a new residence hall.

Throughout his career, he has traveled extensively in the United States and throughout Asia, Europe and South America recruiting students and building relationships with alumni/ae and parents. He has presented at numerous conferences including NAIS, SSAT and the TABS Global Symposium. He serves on the Development Committee for the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation.

Aimone is a graduate of Franklin & Marshall College and holds a master’s degree in nonprofit management from Hamline University.  

Shara Freeman Hoefel joined Francis Parker School in San Diego, California, as head of advancement in 2013 and was named assistant head of school for external relations in 2020. She oversees fundraising, parent and alumni relations, communications, marketing, and admissions.

Her career in development started in 2004. She has worked in Boston and New York City for Cornell University, Fordham Law School, and the Chapin School. She has expertise in campaign fundraising, donor engagement, strategic planning and communications, board governance, and development operations. She has spoken at CASE regional and national conferences and has served on two CAIS accreditation teams.

Hoefel received a bachelor's degree in psychology from Cornell University and a master's degree in sport psychology from Ithaca College.

Christina was appointed Episcopal’s Assistant Head for Advancement in 2019 after serving six years as director of institutional advancement, six years as director of communications, and three years also serving as a major gifts officer. Christina oversees the School’s fundraising, communications, and alumni and parent programs. As the mother of three Episcopal alumnae, and as the daughter of a lifelong educator and retired Assistant Head of Episcopal, Christina understands and believes in the ideals and values of independent school education and is committed to securing a strong future for EHS.

Prior to joining Episcopal, Holt worked as a public information and communications consultant to government agencies and as a legislative correspondent in the U.S. Senate. An advocate of community engagement, she has served in numerous governance capacities, including three terms as president of the board of trustees of an independent day school. It was this experience that inspired her to pursue a career in school leadership. She serves on the Development Advisory Committee of the Association of Independent Schools of Greater Washington (AISGW), the planning committee for the CASE-NAIS Independent Schools Conference, the Association of Boarding School’s North American Boarding Initiative, and the Seminary Hill Association Board of Directors.

She received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Michigan State University, a master’s degree in independent school leadership from the University of Pennsylvania, and a certificate in business administration from Georgetown University. She served in Ecuador as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer.

As the principal of David Smith Consulting, David develops fundraising strategies and practices that effectively address the modern concerns of independent schools.

Previously David served as the Director of Advancement at Saint Ann’s School in Brooklyn. He began his career as a history and government teacher in the New York City public schools and then taught at Friends Seminary in Manhattan. He started his career in development working with CCS Fundraising, where his clients included Women for Women International and the NAACP.

David returned to independent schools as the Director of Development at the Calhoun School and then became the Director of Development at The Allen-Stevenson School, where he led a successful $50 million capital campaign. He has presented sessions on major gifts, capital campaigns, and diversity, equity and inclusion in advancement at NAIS, CASE, AFP, NJ Associations of Independent Schools and New York State Association of Independent Schools conferences. He recently concluded two terms on the board of trustees of the Caedmon School in Manhattan and currently serves on the faculty of the CASE School Advancement Institute. 

David received a bachelor's degree in government from Georgetown University and a master’s degree in history from Rutgers University. 

Amy Smucker is the assistant head of school for external affairs at Berwick Academy in South Berwick, Maine where she leads the offices of admission and financial aid, communications and marketing, and advancement. Since her arrival to Berwick in 2013, Amy has successfully led her team through the rebranding of the School’s exciting and innovative curricular evolution. She has focused on bringing the School’s external facing offices together to strategically message the School, resulting in increases to funds raised, leadership giving, alumni engagement, and admission inquiries.

Having previously served as the Director of Admissions at Kents Hill School in Maine where she led the school to its most robust enrollment in decades, Amy brings to Berwick a strong background in leadership and staff development, strategic enrollment management, and building and nurturing relationships across multiple internal and external constituent groups. 

At Berwick, Amy serves on the School’s administrative team as well as the Committee on Trustees, Financial Affairs, Investment, and Advancement Committees of the Board of Trustees. Amy believes in the power and life-changing nature of independent schools. She grew up on the campuses of three different New England boarding schools where her parents worked, and is a graduate of the Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, Connecticut.

Amy serves as the Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Independent School Association of Northern New England (ISANNE), where she is also a mentor for the organization’s LEADS program. Additionally, Amy is a member of the Board of Directors of the Birchtree Center in Newington, New Hampshire.  Amy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies from Colby College and a Masters Degree in Nonprofit Management with a focus on Leadership from Northeastern University.  Amy has presented at numerous conferences including CASE-NAIS, NAIS, IECA, and ISANNE.

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).