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

A veteran of public higher education fundraising, Dondi Cupp serves as senior vice president of development at the OHSU Foundation where he is responsible for leading comprehensive fundraising activities and strategic philanthropic initiatives that support OHSU’s multi-faceted mission and advance a broad range of education, research, and clinical activities.    

Before joining OHSU, Cupp served as associate vice president at the University of Michigan, where he played a leadership role in the Victors for Michigan campaign, the first campaign at a public university to raise $5 billion.  At Michigan he led the national major gifts team and supervised constituency fundraising programs including annual giving, foundation relations, parent and family giving, student life, and the Business Engagement Center.  He also led the operations teams including finance and administration and talent management.  

Cupp came to Michigan from the University of Washington, where he led the office of corporate and foundation relations and advancement teams in the health sciences. He joined the University of Washington in 1999 as director of development for the sciences. While at the Washington, Cupp founded the Advancement Leadership Class, a comprehensive leadership development program for advancement staff. In 2012, he was nominated by his peers for the UW's David B. Thorud Leadership Award. In 2006, he received the Marilyn Batt Dunn Endowed Award for Excellence in University Advancement.

Earlier in his career, Cupp served as associate director of the Western Washington University Foundation and as director of the annual fund at his alma mater, the University of Oklahoma.   Dondi holds a bachelor's degree in journalism and public relations.  He is a fellow of the Advancement Leadership Academy and a CASE Laureate.

As vice president of institutional advancement at the university of Tulsa, Kayla Hale leads a team of 60 professionals in the areas of fundraising, alumni relations, special events, advancement services, and marketing and communications. She has 29 years of direct experience in the field of higher education advancement at progressive levels of responsibility and leadership, and in both public and private settings. As a member of the President's Small Executive Staff, she serves as an advisor to the president and key members of the university's Board of Trustees. Hale serves as a liaison between faculty and non-faculty constituencies at the university and is responsible for creating a strong and team-oriented advancement program based upon creating fundraising strategy and establishing plans, goals and metrics.

She has been an active participant in two comprehensive fundraising campaigns at the University of Tulsa which, collectively raised more than $800 million for the institution. She and her team are preparing for the next fundraising campaign, "A Greater Commitment," which will focus on need-based scholarships, endowed faculty support and student support initiatives.

Hale previously held the position of assistant vice president for university development at OU-Tulsa; she also served as director of development and alumni relations at Rogers State University and as director of public relations and publications at Friends University. She has been actively involved at CASE for 29 years and has served CASE District IV in a number of leadership capacities. She is a regular speaker for CASE at both the national and district level and she has been a faculty member for CASE at 10 national conferences.

She holds a bachelor's degree from Pittsburg State University and a master's degree in business management from Friends University. In 2008, she received her doctorate in organizational leadership from the University of Oklahoma.