Katie Harrell, Senior Director of Strategic Planning and Organizational Development at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is an MBA-educated advancement professional with a proven track record of implementing organizational change in complex, matrixed organizations. A strategic leader in philanthropy in higher education, Katie believes strong systems drive excellence in performance, which is summed up well by James Clear, ‘You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the levels of your systems’. Katie couples her background in analytics and business operations with experience across advancement functions to translate data to strategy and back again, filling the gap between technical and strategic advancement operations. 

Passionate about adult learning and building world class higher education advancement operations, in addition to serving as CASE Faculty at the Summer Institute in Advancement Services, Katie has presented for the Annual Giving Network (AGN) & CASE (District V, All District and DRIVE/), at the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement (APRA) Data Science Now! & the Association of Donor Relations Professionals (ADRP) conferences, and at the Great Lakes Prospect Development Forum. Additionally, multiple projects lead by Katie have been featured as advancement best practices by EAB, a higher education think tank that works with 2,500+ schools, colleges, and universities to drive change through data-driven insights and best-in-class capabilities. 

Katie earned an MBA from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and a Bachelor of Music at the University of Louisville.

James W Cheng, PhD is currently the Executive Director for Business Intelligence & Prospect Strategies at Boston University’s Development & Alumni Relations (DAR), collaborating with Business Intelligence, Prospect Research, Prospect Management, and other DAR teams to find the most capable and willing constituents to give their testimony, ties, talent, time, and tithe to BU. Prior to working in the philanthropy sector, James had made intellectual and professional forays into cell and developmental biology, high school teaching, academic research in education, as well as healthcare market research. While finishing up his doctoral degree, his interest in philanthropy was piqued when he took on the role of Prospect Data Mining and Modeling Specialist at MIT. After spending time in the corporate world as a healthcare market researcher, James left “the dark side” and returned to the light of computational philanthropy, working at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute & The Jimmy Fund’s Division of Philanthropy as Associate Director and Senior Associate Director for Prospect Identification & Analytics and at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center as Development Data Analytics Specialist and Senior Data Scientist.

James earned both his PhD in Educational Research, Measurement & Evaluation and his MEd in Secondary Education in the Biological Sciences at Boston College. He received his BA in Biology and in Sociology from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.

Jami is a member of the Prospect Development and Decision Support team at the University of Chicago, where she leads the Prospect Management and Information Engagement teams. These teams work to increase the organization’s capacity for fundraising through writing strategic policy and analyses, creating user-centered data tools, managing organizational knowledge, and developing mission-focused training. Currently, she is focused on preparing colleagues as UChicago overhauls their technology systems and moves to Salesforce. With over ten years of experience in advancement services, Jami strongly believes in the importance of positioning the work as a key driver of fundraising results. She got her start working as a fundraiser but soon realized she could raise more money through improving systems holistically, rather than soliciting donors individually. To this day, she often tells colleagues that “she is a fundraiser too, she just raises more money using a spreadsheet”.

Jami has a B.S. in Psychology and certificate in Nonprofit Management from the University of Iowa and a master’s in liberal arts, Ethics and Leadership, from the University of Chicago.

Sarah Lawlor currently serves as the Director of Development for Operations and Programs for the College of Engineering Foundation at NC State. Sarah brings over 16 years of experience within the Advancement Services realm. She is an experienced advancement professional with proven skills in database systems, reporting functions, regulatory compliance across federal, state, and local guidelines, gift and data entry, prospect research and the ability to create deliverables from the data.

Her key interests include strategic leadership and team building, developing communications and presenting to key stakeholders, metric based goals and objectives, regulatory compliance, policy and procedure creation and implementation.

She holds a bachelor’s degree from Westfield State University in psychology with a minor in fine arts.

Dr. Shalonda Martin is an Advancement Services professional and DEI strategist with over 19 years of experience. She has led teams at Pepperdine University, UCLA, USC, and currently at Pomona College. She specializes in designing quality assurance programs, leading change efforts, developing and curating DEI content, and developing comprehensive strategies grounded in equity. Dr. Martin is the Sr. Director of Advancement Services at Pomona College and is also the co-founder of Advancing Belonging Consultants (ABC). She has a BS and MS from Pepperdine University and an EdD in Org Change and Leadership from USC, where her dissertation examined the paucity of women of color in higher education leadership. Dr. Martin serves as a member of the programming committee for the Association for Advancement Services Professionals (AASP) and is the Chair of the planning committee for the 2024 Case DRIVE conference. She has also served as a faculty member for the Case Summer Institute for Advancement Services, and the Case Gift and Records Workshop. Additionally, she served as a graduate student coach, guest lectures, and engages in public speaking on various topics.

Tara Mata is the Advancement Services & Scholarship Coordinator at Richland Community College in Decatur, IL.  Her experience includes over 5 years with Richland Community College, half of which was spent as the Accommodations Specialist, working with students with disabilities. Coupled with an additional 7 years of disability and social services experience, she embraced the role of accessibility in the Community College setting.  She championed the formation of the Richland Community College Accessibility Plan and facilitated implementation.  She created and presented various accessibility-related trainings and informational sessions for faculty and staff.

Transitioning to her role as Advancement Services & Scholarship Coordinator, she keeps accessibility best practices and universal design top of mind when working with students, donors, faculty, staff, and the public.  By utilizing an accessibility-focused lens, she is able to remove barriers and create an inclusive environment for all.  She is passionate about sharing her knowledge of accessibility best practices with Community College Advancement Services professionals to support donor engagement and fundraising efforts.