Speakers

Whitney Alexander

Executive Director of Constituent Engagement, University of South Dakota Foundation

Experienced engagement director with a demonstrated history in the higher education industry. Skilled in alumni relations, marketing, annual fund and program development. Strong nonprofit professional with a Master of Business Administration from the University of South Dakota.

Anshu Chandra

Associate Director of Digital Engagement, University of South Dakota Foundation

Experienced Digital Specialist with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing and advertising industry. Strong program and project management professional with a Bachelor's Degree focused in Business Marketing from The University of South Dakota.

Simon Fairbanks

Higher Education Speaker

Simon Fairbanks has over 15 years of experience in the education sector. This includes student recruitment, marketing, and events roles at four different universities in the UK: Nottingham, Birmingham, Warwick, and Coventry.

Simon has also worked at Pickle Jar Communications, a content strategy consultancy for the international education sector. He helped schools, colleges, and universities share their stories through digital communications.

Simon is an international speaker. He has spoken at a variety of conferences, including CASE, ContentEd, EFMD, IDPE, FindAUniversity, HELOA, HighEdWeb, SU Digital, and Utterly Content. He was Chair of the Newcomers Track at CASE Europe Annual Conference from 2020 to 2023.

As a published author, Simon is particularly interested in storytelling in the education sector. He spends his free time reading, writing, running, and finding new ways to make his children laugh.

Morgan Gilbard

Digital Communications Specialist, Teachers College, Columbia University

Rachael A. Hagerstrom

Social Media Manager, Smith College

Rachael Hagerstrom is the social media manager for Smith College, her alma mater. She manages Smith's online voice, works with students to create content and serves as the in-house social media expert for departments and groups across campus. She has a background in journalism and institutional social media. She has previously worked at Amherst College, the Williston Northampton School and Northfield Mount Hermon.

Dexter R. Patterson

Social Media Manager, Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association

I currently serve as the Social Media Manager for the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association, a higher education nonprofit with over $4 billion in assets. I have over a decade of experience working as a social media marketer, digital marketing consultant, podcaster, motivational speaker, and corporate trainer. I'm a proud UW–Madison alum (Go Badgers!), and I earned a Master’s Degree from Purdue University (Boiler Up!) in Communications and Media Studies.

Antonio Reyes

Digital Media Manager, Brentwood School

Hi! My name is Tony. I help organizations grow and manage their brands by showing them how to connect with and provide value to online communities. I have +10 years of experience in digital media, marketing, social media strategy/management, branding, online storytelling, and analytics, etc. I've worked with educational institutions throughout United States in China as an educator and Digital Media Specialist.

I am also a Fulbright Scholar and fluent in Mandarin Chinese.

Tom Travis

Digital Communications Officer, The University of Nottingham

I work in social media and video production at the University of Nottingham. As well as creating content for a range of social media channels myself, I also work closely with an amazing team of student content creators who document their student life through vlogs, blogs and Instagram takeovers.

Matthew Vincent

Director of Digital Communications, Teachers College, Columbia University

Justin Ware

Chief Consulting Officer, Co-Founder, firstname

Justin Ware is the Chief Consulting Officer and Co-Founder of {{firstname}}. Justin is focused on video-driven donor engagement via Digital Development Officer programs, online giving days, paid digital advertising, and “Student Engagement Teams.” Prior to joining BWF, Justin launched Groundwork Digital in 2017 after helping launch the ScaleFunder giving day platform. Justin started his higher education career with the University of Minnesota where he was the executive producer on one of the first YouTube videos to win an Emmy. Justin spent the first six years of his career as a broadcast (television) journalist.

Houston White

Digital Marketing Specialist, University of British Columbia

Houston White is a brand strategist and digital marketer with over ten years of experience in higher education. He’s the Digital Marketing Strategist with UBC Brand & Marketing, where he works to bring the UBC brand to life and inspire the world to engage with the university. Houston leads digital and social media marketing for UBC, develops and implements high profile national and international brand advertising campaigns, and manages content strategy for UBC’s digital brand channels, including ubc.ca and its main social media channels.

Katie Wilson

Senior Engagement Officer, Loughborough University

Katie works in alumni relations for Loughborough University, where she graduated with a degree in English in 2016. She has held the role of Senior Engagement Officer since December 2019, and was previously Engagement Officer.
Katie works to engage alumni as volunteers at the University, and also manages communications with alumni, which includes the social media activities of the Alumni Association.
In 2020, a campaign spearheaded by Katie, #LboroMemories, won a Case Bronze award, and was commended for the ways it tapped into nostalgia to engage with stakeholders.