Eliza leads the university’s fourteen-person central donor relations team and works with senior development staff and colleagues across campus to shape the vision for comprehensive donor relations at Stanford. Prior to Stanford, she held donor relations, communications, and development positions at YMCA of the USA, Loyola University Health System, and the Elks National Foundation. Eliza is a past President of the Association of Donor Relations Professionals (ADRP). While serving ADRP, she advocated for and promoted the donor relations profession, representing the association’s nearly 1,800 international members. Eliza shares her passion for gratitude by speaking, writing, and presenting on effective practices in donor relations and stewardship.
Dr. Cuenca-Carlino is a professor who serves as the Special Education Department (SED) Chairperson at Illinois State University. The Department serves over 850 students and offers three undergraduate teacher preparation programs in special education, leading to licensure and various graduate programs. In this role, she is responsible for managing the fiscal affairs of the Department, leading and coordinating curriculum development for enhancing offerings and creating new programs, leading the evaluation of faculty members for retention, tenure, and promotion, promoting excellence in instruction, scholarly and creative productivity, and service, supervising and evaluating staff (including advisors, clinical coordinators, office managers, business administrator, etc.), overseeing student success initiatives, and developing and maintaining partnerships with various stakeholders, including school districts and donors. Prior to this position, she served for a little over three years as the Assistant Vice President for Faculty Development, Diversity, and Learning in the Office of the Provost at ISU. In this role, she led, expanded, and enhanced on-campus professional development programming for faculty and staff within Academic Affairs, bringing an equity, diversity, and inclusion lens in which she developed support systems for faculty and built inclusive and collaborative faculty communities. Dr. Cuenca-Carlino also coordinated data collection efforts to gather input about […]
Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics at the University of Guelph. Dr. Lyons’s main area of research concerns inter-generational differences and their impacts on workplace dynamics and managing people. He is co-author of the book Generational Career Shifts: How Matures, Boomers, Gen Xers and Millennials View Work and co-editor of Managing the New Workforce: International Perspectives on the Millennial Generation. His research on generations has been featured in a number of media outlets, including Time Magazine, the Globe & Mail, the National Post, the Daily Mirror (UK), Macleans magazine, as well as on CBC’s The National, CTV News Channel, the Business News Network and CBC Radio’s The Current. Dr. Lyons works frequently with private and public sector organizations to identify and address inter-generational issues.
Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) champion, communications and marketing expert, brand strategist, leadership coach, and engagement professional are just a few words used to describe Keisha Dabrowski. Throughout her nearly 20-year career, she has leveraged communication and DEI to help organizations, leaders, and individuals bridge understanding, inspire trust, and build loyalty. Keisha places an emphasis on sustainable community engagement and has served on several boards to advance social responsibility through fundraising and the utilization of communication and marketing as a catalyst for change. She has co-authored two chapters on visionary and inclusive leadership in a book published by Business Expert Press titled “Leaderocity: Leading at the Speed of Now.” Keisha holds a Bachelor of Science in Business from the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) with a concentration in Marketing, and a Master of Communication and Media from Rutgers University with a specialization in Strategic Organizational Communications and Corporate Purpose & Social Impact (CSR). Keisha currently serves as the Associate Vice Chancellor of Administration and Planning at Rutgers University, and serves on the Board of Directors for the American Marketing Association–New Jersey Chapter as their inaugural Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She is also the co-owner of the […]
Julian R. Williams was appointed as the University of South Carolina’s first Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in June 2020. In this role he serves as the university’s Chief Diversity Officer and leads the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ODEI). Reporting directly to the President, the VP/DEI is responsible for providing vision and leadership for diversity and inclusion efforts across the university. This role capitalizes on the varied ways DEI are and can be embedded in the university’s curriculum, infrastructure, policies, and programs. Prior to coming to UofSC, Julian served as Vice President for Compliance, Diversity and Ethics at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. In this role he provided leadership to Mason’s Compliance, Diversity and Ethics division, and lead the University’s efforts to ensure a diverse student body and workforce. Previously, he served as the Director of Equal Opportunity and Title IX Officer at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. Julian has also served as the Director of the Office of Equity and Diversity at Monmouth University in New Jersey. Julian earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and a Juris Doctorate from Michigan State University College […]
As a first-generation college student, Dr. Patti Helton learned early on that education has the power to transform. As a seasoned leader with over 25 years of experience as a Senior Student Affairs Administrator, Patti serves as the Regional Vice Chancellor of Student Success at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. Dr. Helton is committed to ensuring transformative learning experiences for all students. Patti has a deep-rooted commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and has actively worked to create anti-oppressive campus climates and cultures for students and colleagues at the institutions that she has served. She oversees co-curricular programs in career services, campus recreation, dean of students’ office, enrollment planning and management, health and wellness, housing and residence life, multicultural affairs, student accessibility services, student life and engagement, veteran services and the University Student Center. Prior to her arrival in St. Petersburg, Dr. Helton served as Associate Provost for Student Life and Senior Adjunct Faculty at the University of Denver for 13 years. In this role she developed a culture of care highlighted by Student Outreach and Support and helped conceptualize and create the Center for Advocacy, Prevention and Empowerment (CAPE)—a resource for survivor healing through advocacy and support. […]
Dr. Kimberly Barrett currently serves as the Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion and Associate Dean of the Faculty at Lawrence University. This position provides leadership for creating a more inclusive campus which supports each student, faculty, staff and community partner to help them reach their unique potential. Barrett has more than 30 years of experience working with various constituencies including governing boards and local businesses to promote learning, diversity, adult development, equity and inclusion. Prior to joining Lawrence University, she served as Vice President for Multicultural Affairs & Community Engagement at Wright State University. Before joining Wright State, Dr. Barrett held several senior administrative positions in the United States and Canada including, among others, Vice President for Student Affairs, Vice Provost and the founding director of a Women’s Center. She has also taught at the undergraduate and graduate levels, published in professional journals and newspapers, and served as a diversity consultant for more than 25 years. Dr. Barrett has been active in a variety of community organizations working to promote social and economic justice such as the Board of Directors for the United Way of Greater Dayton and Harbor House Domestic Abuse Programs in Appleton, Wisconsin. Currently she serves […]
Jim leads NC State’s University Development Office, consisting of the Gift Planning, Annual Giving, Central Major Gifts, and Corporate and Foundation Relations functions. He also works closely with NC State’s college and unit-based programs, in his role as manager of the university’s Think and Do the Extraordinary Campaign, to assure productive partnerships that enhance NC State’s collective fundraising results. Jim’s work centers primarily on building fundraising capacity across the university. He also serves in a coordinating role for The Division of University Advancement’s development of a five-year strategic plan Roadmap, aimed at elevating NC State, its colleges and its units to unsurpassed levels of impact and success. Prior to North Carolina State, Jim served as Vice President for Advancement at Binghamton University and Vice President for College Advancement at Hartwick College in Update New York. Jim holds a B.S. from Ithaca College and an M.B.A. from Binghamton University.
Christine joined Husch Blackwell LLP in 2024 as Senior Counsel working with higher educational institutions. Prior to joining Husch Blackwell, Christine served as the Institutional Equity Officer and Title IX Coordinator for the University of Oklahoma. In this role, she was the designated agent for the university, responsible for overseeing university policy and coordinating the university’s response and compliance with Title IX and associated regulations, as well as with federal, state, and local laws concerning nondiscrimination, equal opportunity, and affirmative action. Christine oversaw and investigated sex discrimination and harassment matters, as well as other protected characteristic discrimination and harassment matters filed by University of Oklahoma students, faculty, and staff. She serves as a faculty member and Title IX subject matter expert for Academic Impressions. Before this, Christine served as Wichita State University’s Executive Director for the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance, where she led the Title IX and EO offices and oversaw the University’s ADA/504, Affirmative Action and Clery Act compliance. While at WSU, she was responsible for drafting and implementing the University’s Sexual Harassment, Discrimination and Retaliation policy. She also designed and implemented training for advisors and hearing officers to comply with the Department of Education’s 2020 Title […]
Dr. Kathleen Martin serves as Chief of Staff at Springfield College, bringing to the role over 20 years of experience in higher education administration. Throughout her career, Dr. Martin has gained a reputation as an “institutional knitter,” skilled in synthesizing information and happenings from across a campus into a compelling institutional story that enhances decision-making and messaging. Dr. Martin previously served Bay Path University as Vice Provost and Chief Educational Compliance Officer where she provided leadership to assessment, accreditation, institutional research, policy development and academic affairs operations, including the Registrar’s Office. She also served as Bay Path’s Title IX Coordinator. Prior to joining Bay Path, Dr. Martin was a Principal in the executive search firm of Greenwood/Asher and Associates, where she assisted colleges and universities in searches for senior level administrators. She previously served Susquehanna University and Bucknell University as Executive Assistant to the President. Dr. Martin began her career as a full-time faculty member, serving at Springfield College and Westfield State University.
