We’re grateful to all of our 2025 NEAGC speakers, for their generosity and their expertise.
🍎 = Returning NEAGC Faculty Member!
🍏 = First-Time NEAGC Faculty Member!
Skylar Beaver 🍎
Conference Chair
Skylar Beaver is the Assistant Director of Advancement, Director of The Lawrenceville Fund, and Alumni and Family Engagement at The Lawrenceville School. In this role Skylar oversees annual giving efforts, alumni and family engagement initiatives and oversees the advancement systems team. Previously, she led annual giving teams at The Spence School, Washington and Lee University and Hobart and William Smith Colleges. She has thirteen years of annual giving experience, is a frequent presenter with CASE, is a past chair of STAFF (Sharing the Annual Fund Fundamentals), and serves on the Northeast Annual Giving Conference (NEAGC) planning committee. Skylar holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Hobart and William Smith Colleges and a master’s degree in nonprofit management from SUNY Brockport.
Bob Burdenski 🍎
Conference Director
Bob Burdenski is an internationally-known annual and regular giving programs consultant for schools, colleges and universities. Bob is the author of three CASE annual giving books and is a recipient of the CASE Crystal Apple Award for Lifetime Teaching Excellence as ranked by his audiences. In 2019 he was also named a CASE Laureate for his years of volunteer service to the profession. He has educated (and entertained) at presentations throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, including numerous CASE Europe and CASE Asia Pacific Annual and Regular Giving Conferences and Masterclasses. He presented CASE’s first-ever annual giving training programs in India, Japan, Ireland, Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Australia, and in 2019, Bob served for the third-straight year as Chair of the CASE Institute for Senior Annual Giving Professionals. Since 2002, Bob has served as the moderator of FundList, the largest fundraising e-mail discussion listserv in the world, with thousands of development professional subscribers.
Chris Adams 🍏
Chris Adams is Customer Success Manager with Givzey. With a passion for building lasting client relationships, Chris Adams specializes in ensuring customers achieve their goals and maximize value from Givzey solutions. Chris graduated from Auburn with a degree in graphic design, and immediately began working in the tech space and soon gravitated towards fundraising technology. With over 5 years of experience working directly with higher education clients, he excels at delivering tailored strategies to drive ROI and donor satisfaction. Outside of work, Chris enjoys listening to music and spending time with his wife and son to stay creative and connected.
Theresa Aide 🍏
Theresa Aide is Director of Non-Profit Campaigns with Suttle-Straus. She has more than 30 years of experience in non-profit communication services with Suttle-Straus Incorporated. Theresa enjoys the process of taking a project from concept through to completion using best practices for best results with omni-channel campaigns. She offers consultations and recommendations to all her faith-based clients to represent the extensive communication capabilities of Suttle-Straus including content solicitation writing, social media, individually designed die-cut brochures, and digital print and mail.
Daniel Burgner 🍎
Daniel Burgner is the Assistant Vice President of Annual Giving at The George Washington University, where he oversees central and unit-based annual giving efforts, donor pipeline development, and leadership annual giving programming. A recognized industry leader, Daniel drives innovative strategies that leverage data-driven segmentation, digital engagement, and storytelling to grow donor support across GW’s largest donor populations. Under his leadership, GW has seen significant growth in donor retention and acquisition, with an impactful increase in annual giving revenue. Daniel began his career as a Phonathon caller at Abilene Christian University. Before joining GW, he served as a Senior Consultant with Ruffalo Noel Levitz, guiding universities on pipeline development and donor acquisition strategies, and as the Senior Director of Annual Giving for the Texas Tech University System, where he grew the alumni donor base by over 17% through integrated omnichannel marketing efforts. An active member of the advancement community, Daniel serves on the steering committee for the Annual Giving Director’s Consortium, regularly speaks at industry conferences, and advocates for modernizing university advancement through donor-centric strategies. He and his wife, Emily, live in Alexandria, Virginia, with their children, Quincy and Eleanor.
Teal Butterworth 🍏
Teal Butterworth serves as the Executive Director of Class and Reunion Giving and Co-Executive Director of Annual Giving at Brown University. She co-leads an annual giving program that raises over $50 million each year, driving philanthropic engagement and participation through innovative fundraising strategies. With a passion for blending data-driven insights with meaningful personal connections, Teal oversees class-based giving efforts and leads multiple teams dedicated to strengthening Brown’s culture of giving.
Teal began her career in annual giving at the Moses Brown School in 2007. Committed to philanthropy beyond higher education, she has also contributed her leadership to nonprofit boards focused on expanding access to the arts and humanities. Teal currently serves on the membership committee for the Annual Giving Directors Consortium.
Christopher Chambers 🍏
Conference Committee
Chris Chambers is Manager of Annual Giving and Corporate and Foundation Relations, as well as Development Officer, School of Science, Health & Criminal Justice, at the Canton College Foundation, SUNY Canton.
Alyssia Coates Ph.D. 🍏
Alyssia Coates is Senior Director of Development. Inclusive Philanthropic Engagement at Brown University.
Kate Cominsky CFRE 🍏
Kate Cominsky is a Non-Profit Campaigns Strategic Consultant with Suttle-Straus. Kate represents Suttle-Straus Inc. as Strategic Consultant for Non-Profit Fundraising with experience in higher education enrollment management, corporate sales and marketing management, and congressional constituent work. With Suttle-Straus Kate develops unique and creative communication plans for non-profit and faith-based donor solicitation, retention, and acquisition communications using an omni-channel marketing approach with hyper-personalized content. She has presented at national and international higher education and not for profit organizations conferences. In 2019 Kate published a memoir about caregiving for a parent with dementia: Breakfast Memories ~ A Dementia Love Story. The book received a Gold Seal “selected read” by Alzauthors.org.
Meg Cummins 🍏
Meg Cummins is the Assistant Director of the Bryant Fund at Bryant University and an accomplished marketing and communications professional with more than 7 years of experience driving engagement and fundraising success in higher education, non-profit sectors, and public media. Meg’s expertise includes creating impactful email and direct mail campaigns, managing large-scale events, and leading crowdfunding initiatives. Prior to her current role, she worked in development at Rhode Island PBS, where she helped enhance supporter engagement and drive membership growth. At Bryant University, Meg spearheads multi-channel fundraising initiatives, project manages signature campaigns like Bryant Giving Day, and implements analytics-driven communication strategies to boost community engagement and donor support. Meg earned her bachelor’s degree in mass media communication from Rhode Island College. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends and staying active.
Chrissy Dahlheimer 🍏
Christine “Chrissy” Dahlheimer is the Senior Director of Alumni Advancement at Boston College High School, leading strategic initiatives to engage the school’s alumni through programming, fundraising, and volunteer-driven efforts. With over 20 years of experience in nonprofit fundraising, she has worked across museums, education, social services, and healthcare, specializing in donor and alumni engagement, annual giving, and stewardship. Chrissy holds an MBA from Endicott College and a Bachelor’s degree from Fairfield University.
Sean Devendorf 🍎
Sean Devendorf is Executive Director of Alumni Engagement & Annual Giving at Tufts University. Sean began his career at Tufts University in 2007 at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, where he held various roles focused on alumni engagement, annual giving, and major gifts. In April 2015, he transitioned to the role of Senior Director of Annual Giving, overseeing annual giving efforts across the university and leading initiatives to modernize marketing and outreach strategies. In July 2024, Sean took on a new role as the Executive Director of Alumni Engagement and Annual Giving, working to align the two areas and create a more cohesive alumni engagement and giving experience.
Letitia Evans 🍏
Letitia Evans is the Director of Annual Giving at Elizabeth City State University, with extensive experience in fundraising and an affinity for technology. She previously served as an Interim Vice Chancellor for University Advancement, Interim Director of Alumni Relations, and Development Officer at the same university. Letitia holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications- Media Production from the University of Dayton, Ohio. She began her career as a Regional Development Officer at her alma mater and has since worked with the Girl Scout Council of the Colonial Coast and the Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work Foundation. She is a CFRE Candidate and finds philanthropy highly rewarding. Currently, Letitia is pursuing her Master of Arts in Philanthropy and Development at Saint Mary’s University in Winona, Minnesota. Beyond her professional role, Letitia chairs the ECSU Staff Senate, is a board member of NC Habitat for Humanity in Elizabeth City, and is a member-at-large in the Association of Fundraising Professionals. In her free time, Letitia enjoys taking in a great action movie and spending time with family and friends.
Austen Farrell 🍏
Austen Farrell is chief marketing officer at the University of Rhode Island Foundation & Alumni Engagement. He began his career as an editor in the publishing industry before moving on to higher education, where he has worked for Tufts University, Harvard University in both its central administration and at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, and Bryant University before joining URI. He has a B.A. in English and an M.A. in classical civilizations. His video and print projects have won multiple Telly Awards and Council for Advancement and Support of Education Best of District I Awards.
Wally Fisher 🍏
Wally Fisher is a Partner Success Manager at GiveCampus, where he helps higher educational institutions in the Northeast optimize their fundraising and volunteer engagement strategies. With a strong background in advancement, Wally previously served as Associate Director of Annual Giving at Vassar College, where he led initiatives to increase volunteer activity and dollars raised through targeted appeals. Passionate about the importance of higher education, he’s excited to continue to highlight the great work advancement professionals do to keep it accessible.
Clark Gafke 🍎
Clark Gafke is the CEO of LEAD Philanthropy. Clark enables nonprofit institutions to attract and motivate donors to achieve the organization’s strategic goals. He helps the organization’s senior leadership evaluate and design strategic fundraising plans in the context of contemporary giving trends. He also assists the organization’s development staff to implement the plan through the design and conduct of specific communication initiatives for Capital and Annual Fund programs. Clark’s experience enables him to provide guidance on using appropriate channels to reach prospects and donors in ways they want to communicate – face-to-face, special events, peer-to-peer texting, calling programs, direct mail efforts, email campaigns, crowdfunding & giving days, online technologies, digital communications, text-to-give, text-to-pledge and a host of other mobile channels. In his 30+ years providing fundraising counsel, Clark has served more than 300 organizations in the US and Canada representing education, healthcare, arts, museums, zoos, aquariums, public broadcasting and membership organizations. In the process, he’s trained and coached more than 11,000 communicators. Beyond this direct service to organizations, he is a frequent speaker at fundraising conferences including NCDC, CASE, AFP, PSI, GEAC, and on many college campuses. He is Past President of the Las Vegas AFP Chapter, a former national delegate, and Past Chair of the chapter’s Education Committee and Every Member Campaign. Clark is also Cialdini Certified Professional and Ethical Influence Practitioner with the Cialdini Institute. Clark began his fundraising work as a student caller in the alumni annual fund program at the University of Missouri. After graduation, he worked at the National 4-H Council in Washington, DC. Clark has served as Vice President and Senior Consultant for a variety of consulting firms. He created the first online caller training program for colleges and universities and served as Dean for 21 PHONE/MAIL 101 workshops. He is an avid supporter and volunteer for 4-H. Both Clark and his wife were named to the University of Missouri Extension Leaders Honor Roll for their long-term commitment and support. Clark resides near St. Louis, MO and enjoys fishing and traveling with his wife and their two daughters.
Holman Gao 🍏
Holman Gao is the Founder & CEO of Boost My School. Holman’s fundraising career started when he built the first version of the Boost fundraising platform to help his high school better engage their alumni. Since launching in 2019, Boost has grown to help over 150 K-12 advancement teams embrace a modern and streamlined fundraising approach for their giving, events, and auctions.
John Garcia 🍏
John Garcia is Assistant Vice President for Development at Bryant University. John has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a focus in Marketing and Communication from Bryant University. John has more than 16 years’ experience in the nonprofit sector, securing more than $100M in annual, major, principal, and estate gifts during his career. Prior to the nonprofit sector, John was a corporate trainer for Fidelity Investments and worked as group sales representative for the Pawtucket Red Sox. He started his nonprofit career at his alma mater, Bryant University, on the annual giving team. He secured corporate sponsorships, annual gifts, wrote appeals, oversaw management of the annual golf tournament, managed a prospect portfolio of 200 donors and rebranded the annual fund to The Bryant Fund. He then spent 3 years rebuilding the dormant planned giving program at Lifespan. John is past president of the Smithfield Rotary Club, past president and past board member of Charitable Gift Planners of RI and currently serves on the advisory council for Little Sisters of the Poor Residence in Pawtucket.
Heather Gelardi 🍏
Heather Gelardi is Director, Alumni Giving and President’s Council at College of the Holy Cross.
Amanda Glann 🍏
Amanda Glann is Director of the Fisher Fund at St. John Fisher University.
Katie Grant 🍎
Katie Grant is the Director of Engagement and The Peddie Fund at The Peddie School, where she leads strategic engagement and fundraising initiatives to strengthen connections within the Peddie community. She oversees The Peddie Fund, developing integrated marketing and solicitation strategies to inspire alumni, parents, and friends to contribute annually, increase donor participation, and expand philanthropic support for the school. In addition to fundraising, Katie oversees all engagement efforts, including events, volunteer programs, and reunions, ensuring meaningful connections between alumni, parents, and the school. Her work creates opportunities for the Peddie community to engage with the school—and with one another—purposefully, personally, and professionally. Prior to joining Peddie in August 2022, Katie began her career in higher education advancement, working in Alumni Relations before transitioning into Development. She is a graduate of Franklin & Marshall College, where she was an All-American swimmer, and she remains passionate about fostering lifelong connections between alumni and their alma mater.
Jon Gregory 🍎
Conference Committee
Jon Gregory is the Associate Director, Donor Participation & College and Unit Partnerships at Cornell University. In his role, Jon leads the coordination of strategic partnerships throughout Cornell Alumni Affairs and Development to develop integrated marketing strategies to solicit 250,000+ alumni annually, grow alumni and student giving year over year, and raise broad base support for the annual funds. He serves as the project manager for Cornell’s annual Giving Day, leading the strategy, implementation, oversight, partnerships, evaluation, and refinement of Cornell’s flagship integrated marketing campaign which results in as many as 15,000 donors and $10 million raised in one day. He spearheads the piloting of innovative initiatives that increase donor participation, and leads integration of new efforts making them scalable for college and unit partners. Prior to joining the Big Red, Jon started his career in athletic administration at his alma mater and served as Assistant Athletic Director at Johns Hopkins University before returning to Ithaca College as a member of the alumni engagement and philanthropy team. Jon holds a bachelor’s degree in Sport Management from Ithaca College with a master’s degree in Athletic Administration from Southern New Hampshire University.
Beth Hatcher 🍏
Beth Hatcher is the Principal and CEO of Beth Interactive, a digital philanthropy and communications agency in Chicago. With nearly 20 years of experience in philanthropy strategy and digital marketing, she specializes in crafting multi-channel fundraising and communications strategies for higher ed institutions, healthcare foundations and non-profits. A passionate storyteller, data nerd and accomplished presenter, Beth prides herself on bringing best practices to her non-profit clients nationwide—with the goals of engaging donors and increasing giving through intelligent strategies, thoughtful implementation and full-service support. She received a 40 Under 40 Award from the Association of Healthcare Philanthropy in 2022.
Dominique Marcial-Clark 🍎
Dominique Marcial-Clark is Associate Director of Reunion and Class Campaigns at The Lawrenceville School. Dominique manages cohort-specific annual fund volunteer programs and solicitation strategy. She also oversees fundraising efforts for the 20th, 25th, and 55th Reunion classes. Dedicated to providing and funding educational experiences for all, Dominique aims to tailor class-by-class annual fund programs to best suit the communication styles, availability, and needs of each cohort. Prior to her current role, Dominique worked in Alumni Engagement and Art/Museum operations.
Nora Marzocchi 🍏
Nora Marzocchi has been the Director of the Bryant Fund at Bryant University since 2018 and currently serves as the Interim Senior Director of Advancement Communications & Stewardship. With over a decade of experience in public relations and corporate marketing, Nora transitioned to the non-profit sector in 2009, where she focused on fundraising and volunteer management at the American Diabetes Association. Before joining Bryant University, Nora began her career in University Advancement at Brown University, where she held roles centered on direct marketing, annual giving, alumni engagement, young alumni and student philanthropy, and leadership giving. At Bryant, Nora has successfully led the annual giving program, driving significant growth in donor participation and engagement. She has implemented innovative strategies, including Bryant Giving Day, the Bryant Student Philanthropy Center, and the digital leadership gift officer program, integrating both traditional and cutting-edge digital initiatives.
Kevin Massimino 🍏
Kevin Massimino is an Enterprise Account Executive at Gravyty focused on providing industry-leading technology to fundraisers and advancement professionals around the world. He began his advancement career as a Leadership Gift Officer before jumping into the world of tech and working with over 300 organizations to improve online giving, portfolio management, alumni engagement, and personalized stewardship.
Dominique Matteson 🍎
Conference Committee
Dominique Matteson is Associate Vice President of Creative Digital Strategy and Constituent Engagement at the University of Connecticut Foundation, Inc. In this role, Dominique leads the execution of a multi-channel, digital-first communications strategy to support the Foundation’s strategic goals, focusing on pipeline development, donor engagement, and external communications. She oversees the Foundation’s website, giving platforms, and print communications, while collaborating closely with the Development team and University partners to inspire engagement and motivate philanthropy. With nearly twenty years of experience in higher-education Advancement, Dominique has been deeply involved in all facets of annual giving. Before joining the UConn Foundation, she served as the Director of Annual Giving at Trinity College in Hartford, CT, where she led a comprehensive annual giving program encompassing giving days, leadership annual giving, reunion giving, senior class gift campaigns, and volunteer recruitment and management. Dominique has also held positions at Yale University and the UConn Law School, where she managed annual giving solicitations and volunteer engagement. Dominique holds a bachelor’s degree from the UConn in English.
Kira Mudd 🍏
Kira Mudd is Associate Director of Alumni Engagement at the University of Rhode Island.
Mike Nagel 🍎
Mike Nagel is a Senior Account Executive with EverTrue. He’s spent 14 years equipping advancement teams with strategy and tools to enhance the experience of every donor and drive fundraising results. Before EverTrue, Mike spent six years at Phillips Exeter Academy as the Associate Director of Digital Communications. He drove annual giving strategy and worked closely with major gifts, alumni relations, and admissions. Previously, Mike worked for Care.com, STA Travel, Good Morning America, and NBC Universal as a storyteller and communicator. He lives in NH with his wife, Sonja, and their five (!) kids and two cats. He speaks regularly at RAISE, CASE, APRA, AFP, and other advancement conferences.
Venna Penney 🍏
Venna Penney is a 2024 recipient of the Canadian Council for Advancement of Education (CCAE) TD Insurance Meloche Monnex Fellowship. Venna started her career in Advancement at Dalhousie University in the fall of 2022, working with their Annual Giving team. During her first year she oversaw the implementation of a new calling software, while managing their calling and crowdfunding programs. In May 2024, Venna was awarded a CCAE TDIMM Fellowship of Advancement, to continue exploring the field of Educational Advancement at Dalhousie. Shortly after starting at Dal, she became a co-chair of their Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Working Group. Alongside her co-chair, Sarah Macdonald, they gave their first external presentation on their work at CCAE’s national conference in Spring 2024.
Sara Pond 🍎
Sara is the Vice President of Client Development at MCR, Inc. She is a philanthropic leader with a 20-year career serving educational and non-profit sectors with special focus on pipeline development. Her experience details leading teams, targeted marketing and communications, technical strategy, artful storytelling, and qualitative analysis to build the donor pipeline and raise revenue. She is passionate about helping organizations provide economic mobility, access to educational pathways and healthcare.
Renee Quinn 🍏
Renee Quinn serves as Director of Sales and Partnerships at Version2.ai, where she bridges cutting-edge AI technology with her frontline fundraising expertise. A seasoned development professional, she brings over 13 years of experience in relationship building, having successfully raised more than $13 million for nonprofits and higher education institutions. Quinn’s unique background combines nonprofit fundraising acumen with a passion for championing technology in the sector, enabling her to build meaningful partnerships and empower fundraising professionals to do the best work of their lives.
Megan Rajski 🍎
Conference Committee
Megan Rajski serves as the Assistant Vice President for Alumni Engagement and Annual Giving at Fairfield University, overseeing a newly integrated team responsible for fostering alumni connections through philanthropy, volunteerism, and engagement. In this role, she provides strategic direction for annual giving programs, leadership donor initiatives, regional and young alumni engagement, and volunteer-driven efforts to ultimately align engagement and fundraising strategies, ensuring a seamless alumni experience from student to lifelong supporter. With a passion for data-driven decision-making and innovative donor outreach, she works to enhance giving participation, develop meaningful alumni programming, and expand regional engagement opportunities. Prior to joining Fairfield University, Megan held the position of Senior Associate Director, Donor Participation and Annual Giving at the University of Chicago, where she oversaw strategic initiatives supporting annual giving and donor participation goals across the institution.
Christene Riendeau 🍏
Christene Riendeau is Senior Director of Annual Giving and Volunteer Engagement at College of the Holy Cross.
Jennifer Lee Shea 🍏
Jennifer Lee (Jen) Shea is a strategic and dynamic marketing and fundraising professional with over 15 years experience in higher education. As Associate Director, Annual Giving Marketing Strategist at the College of the Holy Cross, she leads and executes a multi-channel direct marketing program for annual giving; project managing the College’s Power of Purple Giving Day, and crafting data-driven and donor-centric digital, email and direct mail campaigns that strengthen engagement and drive participation. Prior to her current role, Jen held admissions, operations, alumni relations and event management positions at UMass Chan Medical School, the Wisconsin School of Business, and the Medical College of Wisconsin. Jen earned her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her Master’s degree from The George Washington University.
Gina Simonelli 🍏
Gina Simonelli is Director, Annual Initiatives at the University of Rhode Island.
Rachel Spencer 🍎
Rachel Spencer is Senior Account Executive, Fundraising with VanillaSoft. Rachel is a true “phonathon” and Engagement Center expert, benefitting from nearly 15 years of tele-fundraising experience. She graduated from student caller, to telefundraiser-for-hire, to Engagement Center manager (and VanillaSoft client), and is currently salesperson-cum-consultant. In her role at VanillaSoft, Rachel works closely with more than 100 universities and her ability to imbue others with her unique brand of enthusiasm and joie-de-fundraising is truly unmatched.
Kyle Storms 🍏
Kyle Storms is the Director of Annual Giving at The Taft School and brings more than 15 years of experience in nonprofit fundraising with a commitment to the education sector. Before joining Taft, he served as the Associate Director of the Annual Fund for Reunion Giving at The Loomis Chaffee School. In that role, Kyle spearheaded the “Rally for Reunion” initiative, a focused effort to boost alumni participation, significantly enhancing reunion giving. His strategic approach and dedication have been instrumental in fostering philanthropic support and community engagement at both institutions.
Jake Strang 🍎
Conference Committee
Jake Strang is the Associate Vice Chancellor for Individual Giving, University Programs at the University of Pittsburgh. In this role, he focuses on the donor experience and pipeline from the first annual gift through the first major gift. Jake leads the donor experience officers (DXO), central major gifts, and alumni annual giving teams. He is a resource for Pitt’s regional campuses, Athletics, and has primary responsibility for the operations and staff of Panthers Forward, Pitt’s signature student debt relief program. Prior to Pitt, Jake has held leadership roles at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University, Columbia University in the City of New York, and with Ruffalo Noel Levitz at the University of South Carolina.
Alison Shore 🍏
Alison Shore is with Excalibur Direct Marketing.
Matt Sulzer is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for MCR, Inc. For the past 20 years, Matt has served more than 600 college, university and healthcare teams with their direct mail needs. He prides himself on providing clients with excellent customer service, while partnering with them to help achieve and exceed their organizational fundraising goals. In Matt’s tenure, he has achieved Sales Person of the Year eight times and regularly speaks at conferences on different annual giving and direct mail topics.
Yoni Sunshine 🍏
Yoni Sunshine is Assistant Director, Annual Leadership Giving at Brown University. He oversees the Brown Annual Fund Leadership Council, which raises over $2 million annually through peer-to-peer outreach. Prior to joining Brown in 2021, Yoni spent fifteen years working in volunteer management, programming and fundraising for human-empowerment focused organizations, including a decade working for the Boy Scouts of America in Southeastern New England and Louisiana, and several years with post-Hurricane Katrina community groups. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from Tulane University and an M.S. in Urban Policy Analysis and Management from The New School University.
Ryan Talbert 🍏
Ryan Talbert is Vice President of Client Services with
Excalibur Direct Marketing
Amanda Talbot 🍏
Conference Committee
Amanda Talbot serves as a Senior Annual Leadership Giving Officer for the Brown Annual Fund at Brown University. In her work, she solicits, increases and maintains gifts from alumni that qualify for the Carrie Tower Society, Brown’s recognition giving society. Amanda has cut her teeth in fundraising at Brown, spending the last five years working with student giving to class-based giving and then leadership and major giving. She received a B.S. in Business Management and Theater Arts at Providence College. Amanda has lived in Rhode Island since 2011 and is happy to recommend a restaurant or tell you where something “used to be”.
Amanda Tsapatsaris 🍏
Amanda Tsapatsaris is Director of Annual Giving and Alumni Engagement at Endicott College.
Ellen Walbrun 🍏
Ellen Walbrun is the Associate Director, RISD Fund at Rhode Island School of Design. She manages the direct marketing programs for the college and the museum. Ellen enjoys working with colleagues to strategize and implement the RISD Fund’s digital and print campaigns and collaborating with the donor relations team on broad-based stewardship. With more than 25 years of experience in academic and cultural organizations, she is passionate about raising funds for her alma mater and being part of a high-performing team. Ellen has a master’s degree from Boston University and a bachelor’s degree from RISD.
Shannon Wood 🍏
Shannon Wood currently serves as the Director of Annual Giving at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, a role she had held since January 2022. At UMass Dartmouth, she oversees traditional and leadership annual giving efforts consisting of direct mail, campaigns, giving days, crowdfunding, technology solutions and personal solicitation supporting current use and endowed funds for eight schools and colleges, athletics, student affairs and more. Prior to her current role, Shannon spent 5 and a half years in annual giving at the College of the Holy Cross managing outreach strategy and fundraising volunteers for young alumni and the senior class gift effort. Shannon is a 2020 CASE District I Rising Star Award Winner. A proud public school advocate, Wood graduated from the University of Connecticut with her Bachelors in Communication and will complete her Masters in Public Policy with an Educational Policy concentration in May 2025 from UMass Dartmouth. She currently lives outside Providence, RI.