Monica Jacobe is currently the Director of Advising for the Undergraduate Division of The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where her team supports diverse students from pre-matriculation to graduation. She has spent nearly 25 years in higher education focused on faculty development and student success, as well as on assessment and management of student learning in a variety of leadership roles serving domestic, international, and multilingual learners. Her focus has always been on questions of equity in and access to education for diverse students, leading data-informed decision-making, and seeking to “educate educators” on contemporary student realities. As a first-generation college student herself, Monica seeks to empower students to be agents of their own success, and to ultimately give voice to those who do not arrive feeling authorized to speak. As the author of dozens of essays and book chapters, her research and writing interests include higher education and academic labor, humanities education, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. She holds a PhD in English Language & Literature from The Catholic University of America, an MFA in Creative Writing from The American University, and a BA in English and Mass Communication from Emory & Henry College.
Wayne is the inaugural Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion and a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences at Michigan Technological University. As Vice President, he is responsible for providing vision, strategic leadership, and thoughtful change management for campus diversity, equity, inclusion, and sense-of-belonging (DEIS) initiatives. Wayne works collaboratively with Michigan Tech faculty, staff, students, alumni, and external constituents to advance the University’s commitment to all aspects of diversity and inclusion. His senior leadership role includes communicating the value proposition of DEIS initiative educational and innovation impacts on the University’s overall performance-related scholarship and research. Additionally, he coaches University leaders to become culturally proficient in order to promote and sustain culturally responsive leadership. Prior to joining Michigan Tech, Wayne served as Assistant Research Professor and Chief Diversity Officer for the Applied Research Laboratory at Pennsylvania State University. He is the founder and principal of Oasis Strategic Consulting LLC and earned his PhD in Workforce Education and Development, with emphasis on Human Resources, along with an MEd in Counselor Education (both from Penn State). Additionally, he holds certificates from the Harvard University Institute for Management and Leadership Education (Cambridge, Massachusetts), and the Cornell University School of […]
Louis Diez advises nonprofits in annual fund development, digital fundraising, and engagement strategies. He is the founder of the Donor Participation Project and the Annual Fund Toolkit. He teaches at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Previously, he was Executive Director of Annual Giving at Muhlenberg College, Director of the Annual Fund and Development Business Operations at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and Associate Director of Development at Johns Hopkins SAIS. In these roles, he led teams that created growth in number of donors and dollars raised through a model he calls the Sustainable Revenue Engine. Of varied interests, Louis holds an MBA from CUNEF, a PhD in Business Administration from Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (both in Spain), and an MM in Music Performance from the University of Tennessee. His thesis applied neural networks to predict economic performance indicators. He has also published articles on the investment value of musical instruments, edited peer-reviewed papers exploring applications for economic theories of legitimacy, and been featured in the music business section of the College Music Society’s journal.
Daryl Van Tongeren is an Associate Professor of Psychology and recently served as Interim Associate Provost for Academic Affairs at Hope College. His research focuses on the social motivation for meaning and its relation to virtues and morality. Specifically, he and his students adopt a social-cognitive approach to study meaning in life, religion and virtues, such as forgiveness and humility. His research has been funded by generous grants from the John Templeton Foundation. Daryl holds a BA in psychology, an MA in experimental psychology, and a PhD in experimental social psychology.
Michelle has been in fundraising for nearly 2 decades, having worked with donors of all types—from annual fund donors to third-party volunteers, principal gift donors, and corporations and foundations. From start-up non-profits in Tanzania, to complex institutions of higher learning in Canada, Michelle takes great pride in her passion for philanthropy and her drive to make a tangible impact in our communities and the world. Michelle is a strategic thinker with a track-record of turning vision into reality. She is an intuitive leader who identifies threads of opportunity across organizations and pulls them together to create organizational partnerships that drive results. She thinks big and inspires her colleagues to do the same. Her enthusiasm is contagious, and she uses that enthusiasm to create cultures of learning, innovation, and empowerment within the teams she leads. Michelle ultimately lives by the Dan Rockwell quote, “Fitting in is unsophisticated self-sabotage, but effectively standing out requires finesse,” and she aspires to see the fundraising profession modernize to better meet the needs of donors and the communities served through philanthropy.
Craig L. Jackson, Jr. serves as Associate Vice President of Development and Principal Gifts at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He oversees unit fundraisers for eight colleges at UNLV (Business, Engineering, Education, Hospitality, Urban Affairs, Fine Arts, Sciences, and Liberal Arts). Before he arrived at UNLV, Craig served as Senior Director of Development for the College of Engineering at UC Davis and the lead fundraiser for the UC Davis Coffee Center, the first of its kind in the country. Additionally, Craig writes and presents on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and its application in the business practice for development and alumni relations. Craig began his career in advancement as a Clarence J. Jupiter fellow. This honor is bestowed by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), which is the professional organization for fundraising professionals in higher education. He received this honor as an undergraduate student at Upper Iowa University, a private liberal arts college in Iowa. Given this honor, Craig was recruited to the University of Kansas (KU) to serve as a Graduate Assistant at KU Endowment, where he worked to engage alumni of color in the university’s philanthropic efforts. Craig possesses an extensive and robust career […]
Kristin Daiber is the Director of the Office of Student Retention at Western Carolina University—a regional comprehensive university in the mountains of Western North Carolina where access is part of their mission. Kristin’s work in retention focuses on fulfilling that mission as she leads efforts to support traditionally underserved students including those who are first-generation, low-income, or conditionally admitted, as well as students who have aged out of foster care, who are emancipated, orphaned, or experiencing housing insecurities. She creates data-driven retention initiatives that center around the individual student experience. Kristin is honored to lead an incredibly talented, thoughtful, and innovative team dedicated to the success of all students. She holds an MBA from Western Governors University, an M.A. in College Student Personnel from Bowling Green State University, and a B.S. in Marketing from Quinnipiac University.
“I help faculty members and academic leaders use their personal strengths and values to build successful and joyful careers.” Katharine has been a faculty member since 1996 and has been mentoring other faculty members and academic leaders (department heads and deans) for over two decades. As a professor and senior vice provost, she is responsible for most policies and processes related to faculty success (including promotion and tenure) as well as for faculty development programming at her university. A significant part of her current role is to work closely with department heads and deans in managing their academic units. The two things that motivate everything Katharine does are her love for faculty life and her desire to help other faculty members and academic leaders be both successful and joyful in their careers. She uses her extensive experience as a clinical psychologist, NIH-funded researcher, award-winning classroom teacher and mentor, and long-time academic leader along with what she’s learned from the dozens of faculty, department heads, and deans that she has mentored over the years to inform her practice. Using a strengths-based and cognitive coaching approach, Katharine will help you set clear goals that make the most sense for you, strategize about […]
Mary has worked in the field of stewardship and donor relations for 15 years, beginning at the University of Illinois Foundation in 2006. In 2009, she joined the University of Chicago’s Donor Relations team, leaving in 2012 to become Director of Alumni Relations & External Engagement for Loyola University’s Health Sciences Division. Mary next managed stewardship for a portfolio of corporate and foundation donors at YMCA of the USA, the national resource office for local YMCAs across the globe. Mary returned to the University of Chicago in 2016 to serve as Director of Donor Relations, leading the Donor Relations team in their work to create meaningful donor experiences that deepened relationships with the University. Mary is an active member of the Association of Donor Relations Professionals (ADRP) and chaired the 2018 International Conference in St. Louis as well as the 2019 International Conference in Miami. Currently, she serves as Chair of the Education Committee and is an ex officio member of the ADRP Board of Directors.
“Our unique backgrounds, experiences, and identities will reveal themselves in the divergent goals for which we advocate and in the behaviors we exhibit,” comments Dean Paaige Turner. “By putting in place structures that bring together diverse groups in productive, action-based collaboration, and by retaining a sense of optimism, purpose, and belief in the ability of those around us those differences will lead to creating programs, opportunities, and a world each of us, alone, could never have imagined.” Paaige is an experienced higher education administrator, communication teacher-scholar, and organizational consultant with an extensive background in gender in the workplace, strategic planning, mentoring, change management, budgeting, education technology, and international education. Her focus upon collaborative working partnership has allowed her to support the creation of year-round high school to college programs, assessment practices with 100% compliance, faculty and student mentoring programs, award-winning faculty educator/learning technology platforms, budget/mission alignment for net revenue gain, and award-winning international programs. Her background in organizational communication and her commitment to achieving goals that fulfill an organization’s mission have garnered her the opportunity to serve higher education in a variety of roles. Currently she serves as Co-Director for the ACE Women’s Network of Indiana, Vice Chair of Operations […]
