Correan Barker is a dynamic advancement leader with a career spanning a decade in higher education. Throughout his distinguished career, Correan has consistently demonstrated a passion for harnessing philanthropy to drive equitable access to education, the visual and performing arts, and social services.

As the Director of Strategic Engagement at The Evergreen State College, Correan sets the vision and strategies to fortify relationships with constituents. He spearheads high-profile, college-wide initiatives that integrate events and communications for Advancement, the Foundation and the Office of the President and Executive Vice President. Under his leadership, Correan oversees an Engagement Team responsible for delivering impactful alumni programs, annual giving, stewardship, philanthropic communications, and special events. Most recently, Correan successfully led the public launch of Evergreen’s inaugural comprehensive campaign, Forever Green, which concludes June 30, 2024. Currently, he is leading the final campaign community phase and preparations for closing engagement and celebrations through 2025.

A firm believer in centering humanity, authenticity, and creativity at the heart of an organization, Correan leverages systems thinking and data-driven processes that evaluate and enhance collaboration and organizational effectiveness. As a leader, speaker, and advocate, Correan aspires to leave an indelible mark on the advancement profession, inspiring positive change and shaping a future where access to education and cultural enrichment are truly universal.

Correan holds a Master of Public Administration from The Evergreen State College, a Bachelor of Music Performance from the University of Houston, and lives by the motto, “Success is inevitable!”

Aaron Booth serves as the associate director of major gifts at Northwestern University's New York Regional Office. Previously, he worked as Northwestern's assistant director of leadership giving where he worked closely with volunteers to host meaningful event experiences for alumni, parents and friends. He led the Leadership Giving events program for more than three years and changed the strategy from hosting large, expensive and grandiose events to smaller in-home experiences across the nation.

Elizabeth Crafford is the assistant director of alumni engagement – Northeast and West for the College of William & Mary, based out of the university’s regional office in NYC. She is responsible for William & Mary's efforts related to alumni engagement, marketing and advancement communications, private fundraising and philanthropic outreach.

Kelly Holdcraft leads the Career, Affinity and Regional Engagement team, and is responsible for creating and executing world-class engagement programming in career management and professional networks, regional and international chapters, affinity groups and young alumni outreach. She is the lead volunteer manager for the William & Mary Weekend.

Prior to W&M, Holdcraft spent 20 years in the DC legal community. She is an engaged alumna of her alma mater, Michigan State University, and a former Michigan State University Alumni Association board member. She received a master’s degree in strategic communications from Georgetown University.

Dave Lanza oversees the strategic implementation of engagement programs that serve thousands of alumni nationally as the director of alumni relations for Drexel University. He shares his knowledge of millennial engagement, vision and goal setting, strategic planning, program assessment and organizational restructuring by advising regional nonprofits as a private consultant.

He earned a bachelor's degree in 2006 from Lynchburg College and a master’s degree from Drexel University in 2012. He is a member of Sigma Nu Fraternity, was named one of Drexel University's 40 Under 40, and participated on the faculty of the CASE Newcomers to Alumni Relations Conference.

Pam Lewis, MPA, CFRE, leads a comprehensive program of Research and Prospect Management including the identification and qualification of prospects sufficient to support George Mason University’s recently completed capital campaign, which raised more than $670 million, far exceeding the $500 million goal.

Also responsible for Information Technology, Reporting and Mason's Digital Engagement Platform, Pam's accomplishments include the development and implementation of awarding winning strategies, including the PRIMED initiative, a holistic and comprehensive approach of training, research, data analysis, and best practices to identify, interpret, analyze and manage prospect information and movement through the development engagement cycle.    

Her awards include the CASE III 2015 Platinum Grand Award and CASE III 2018 Platinum Award for Excellence for Best Practices in Advancement Services and the 2018 CASE International Platinum Award, also for Best Practices in Advancement Services.

A 2015 Fellow of the CASE Minority Advancement Institute and a 2016 Fellow of Mason's Leadership Legacy program, Pam holds a BA degree in Journalism from New Mexico State University and a Master of Public Administration degree from George Mason University. 

Christina McGinley, CFRE is the Assistant Director for the Foundation & Alumni Association of Bucks County Community College. Christina is a graduate of Temple University and received a Master of Arts at Arcadia University. She has worked in the nonprofit sector for more than six years in the areas of higher education and historic programming, with a focus on special events fundraising, volunteer management, alumni relations, and major giving. Christina is active in the community and serves on the Board of Directors of the Greater Bucks Mont Chamber of Commerce, the Emerging Leaders group of the United Way of Bucks County, and as Executive Administrator for the Alumni Leadership Council of Arcadia University.

Devon Montgomery Pasha, CMP, CED is a passionate events professional who specializes in nonprofit and advancement events. She applies over 15 years’ experience in event planning to help Drexel University create engaging and impactful experiences for their global alumni network. She currently serves as the Associate Director of Special Events for Alumni Relations specializing in signature events and engagement. A believer is purposeful and mission driven events, Devon leverages design thinking and empathy driven systems to design events that maximize impact and support for Drexel University.  

Prior to applying her skills in Higher Ed, Devon worked on notable special events around the Philadelphia region including work for the Philadelphia Eagles, the Philadelphia Waterworks, and the Fairmount Park Conservancy.  

Devon has been a featured speaker and volunteer for CASE and has been recognized for her passion in elevating the importance of events in Advancement. Devon holds a B.A. from Bryn Mawr College in Music and B.S. from Drexel University in Culinary Arts and Event Planning. Devon earned her CMP (Certified Meeting Professional) certification from the Events Industry Council in 2020 and a CED (Certified Event Designer) designation from the Events Design Collective in 2021. She is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Creativity and Innovation from Drexel University’s School of Education and is an adjunct professor for Drexel’s Hospitality Management program.  

Elizabeth has worked professionally with student success initiatives and mentoring programs at the University of Texas at Austin since 2002. She currently serves as the Student Life Coordinator for the College of Natural Sciences. In this role, she oversees leadership development initiatives, diversity engagement, event funding, and connecting students across the college with each other and the administration. Elizabeth also directs the Women in Natural Sciences Program. Through this role, she has seen the program grow from supporting 23 first-semester students to a four-year program with over 300 total students. Watching her students succeed in the sciences and develop friendships and connections that will last well after their time at the university has been one of the most rewarding experiences of her life.

Marsha Reardon is a nonprofit and development professional with more than ten years of experience in the field. At UT Austin, she serves as assistant director of alumni programs and annual giving for the College of Natural Sciences. There, she oversees special programs, volunteer opportunities, fundraising activities and events for more than 70,000 alumni.

Previously, she worked for the UT Annual Giving team where she launched HornRaiser, the university’s crowdfunding platform and spearheaded the 40 Hours for the Forty Acres campaign, the university’s day of giving initiative.

Marinda Reynolds has worked in nonprofit and higher education for 15 years, specializing in event and strategic program management. Her current role overseeing the strategy and implementation of all major alumni and donor events at the UConn Foundation involves constantly evaluating and reinvigorating annual events with a strong focus on guest experience.

Earlier in her career, she led stadium event production and program management for the national nonprofit Marathon Kids and managed club competitions and tournaments at Towson University and the University of Florida. Her nonprofit work began at the University of Rhode Island interning with the World Scholar-Athlete Games.

She earned her bachelor's degree at the University of Rhode Island, and her master's degree at the University of Florida.

Meghan Shoven is responsible for the design and execution of Santa Clara’s comprehensive donor engagement strategy for their billion dollar capital campaign, implementing donor events internationally– from salon dinners to the campaign launch to a series of roadshows. She joined Santa Clara in 2014 as Assistant Director of Donor Relations, where she oversaw the evaluation, creation and strategic development of University giving societies.

Prior to her work at Santa Clara University, Meghan was a Distinguished Events Specialist and Senior Manager, Relay For Life at the American Cancer Society Silicon Valley Chapter.  She began her work in the development field in 2010 at the Stanford University Office of Development, serving on the Learning & Performance team.  She holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Santa Clara University and is currently pursuing her MBA.

Sarah Speltz has worked in alumni relations at Boston University for the past five years. As associate director for alumni programs and CAS alumni relations, she is responsible for engaging alumni through lectures and panel discussions featuring BU faculty, and working with the assistant directors for school-based alumni relations to engage alumni in three other BU schools. She has previously worked with alumni and with visiting international academic delegations at Harvard University.

With almost 20 years of experience in program development and institutional advancement for higher education institutions and nonprofit organizations, Mark Terranova leads August Jackson’s higher-education client engagement team. He works closely with clients to discover and share their core character and values in their own voices through storytelling, and develops strong relationships to help them maintain a successful and sustaining program. His client work includes projects for MIT, NYU, Duke, William & Mary, Carnegie Mellon, Santa Clara, and UC Irvine, and a number of nonprofit clients, including the Smithsonian Institution.

Prior to joining the AJ team, Terranova held leadership positions in higher education and nonprofit organizations, including roles in development, foundation relations, capital campaigns, and professional development. He has served as an advisor to the National Academies of Science, the National Science Foundation, and the Corporation for National and Community Service on issues related to education access and closing the achievement gap. He currently serves on the board of the Children’s Scholarship Fund Baltimore.

An event management practitioner for 20+ years, Jill Williams specializes in large-scale programs for universities. Her expertise is in creating innovative programming that never loses site of institutional goals. She managed events for Johns Hopkins University where she provided leadership for commencement, convocation and dedications.

Prior to JHU, Williams was senior account manager for Hargrove, Inc., where she worked on two U.S. presidential inaugurations and on Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to D.C. She has produced events for the University of Maryland and Bowling Green State University. She also served on the board of the North American Association of Commencement Officers (NAACO).

With more than 25 years of experience in event strategy and program design, Sarah Winkler creates long-term strategies that move audiences to deeper engagement. She has helped institutions such as Johns Hopkins, Auburn, Cornell, Duke and Boston Universities realize the full potential of such milestone events as campaign launches, presidential transitions and anniversary celebrations. Prior to Level5, Sarah was president of a nationally recognized Top 50 event design and production firm. In 2013, she co-founded Educe, a boutique firm focused on event strategy for higher education, which merged with Level5 Events by The Expo Group in January 2020. She has been a frequent speaker at professional association conferences and her work has been awarded the CASE Grand Gold. Winkler has chaired the CASE National Conference on Special Events, served on the CASE Summit Advisory Team and the CASE Industry Advisory Council.