"Passionate engagement" earns Mark Koenig the CASE VIII 2019 Distinguished Service Award 

The 2019 Distinguished Volunteer Service Award recipient is Mark Koenig, Assistant Vice President for Advancement Services, Analytics and Digital Strategy at Oregon State University Foundation.

Whether or not they realize it, every member of CASE District VIII — and beyond — has benefitted from the volunteer leadership of Mark Koenig. Mark’s long-standing service has had an indelible impact on CASE and on District VIII, as well as on the profession of advancement.

“Mark’s tireless service in several volunteer roles over the years demonstrates his commitment to excellence, to CASE and to the advancement profession,” said Paul Rucker, District VIII Trustee. Among Mark’s many volunteer roles, one of his most recent is representative for the District and its interests on the CASE District Cabinet Design Committee as CASE transforms into OneCASE, providing thoughtful guidance to ensure the success of this vital profession.

“Mark’s leadership over the years, particularly in his tenure as Chair of the District VIII Board through fiscal years 2017 and 2018, has led to operational improvements and transformational changes that will continue to make us better for years to come,” said Brian Bowman, current chair of the CASE District VIII Board of Directors.  

By generating resourceful and innovative ideas, such as pursuing professional conference production services, growing institutional support and securing administrative resources, Mark has served to move the District forward in notable ways. His work to maximize key opportunities such as these have enabled other volunteers to focus on the strategic versus the tactical, allowing them to become more deeply engaged in their own service.

“Mark has championed continued progress for our District and profession by helping to envision and lay a foundation upon which others could grow the impact of their own volunteerism,” said Teresa Koeppel, marketing and communications chair of the CASE District VIII Board. “His vision and leadership have created a space in which I personally have felt supported to challenge myself and tackle new challenges on behalf of our membership — and I know this is also true for many others.”

Mark’s journey with CASE began with his first volunteer role as a track chair for the District conference in 2008 and the rest, as they say, is history. He had such a positive experience he sought opportunities to do and give back more, continuing his service to the conference in a variety of roles. In 2013, he served as chair of the conference in Portland, Ore.

Since then, Mark has served in various roles on the CASE District VIII Board of Directors, including as its chair in fiscal years 2017 and 2018. Beyond the District, he has served on the CASE Alumni Commission Engagement Task Force, participated on the faculty for the CASE Campaigns National Conference in 2011, co-authored articles for Currents magazine and hosted a CASE Webinar Series training in 2016.

Mark is well known for his willingness to share knowledge as a conference presenter and has presented at CASE Summit in 2015 and 2018, the DRIVE conference more than once and at the regional conferences of eight out of CASE’s ten districts. It is safe to say that Mark has presented at CASE VIII’s conference more than two dozen times.

When asked what keeps him coming back, Mark’s response is twofold. First, he is grateful for the networking opportunities facilitated by CASE that have allowed him to build rewarding friendships with colleagues from around North America. Second is benefitting from an organization that brings a holistic, integrated approach to the field of advancement.

Mark was formally recognized for his distinguished service at the Award Luncheon during the CASE VIII 2019 Conference in Vancouver.