Michelle Milkovich is a donor relations professional with more than eight years of experience in the industry. She currently serves as the Senior Director of Donor Relations and Stewardship for the University of Maryland where her responsibilities include leading donor relations strategy across sixteen schools and colleges, implementing and overseeing policies and procedures across divisions and managing principal gift stewardship. Previously, Michelle served as the Director of Donor Relations for the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland. At the Clark School, Michelle managed all aspects of donor relations including the awarding process and stewardship for more than 500 scholarships and fellowships among eight different departments and business offices. Michelle has also held donor relations positions within Maryland Athletics and the University of Central Florida Golden Knights Club.
Dr. Paige J. Gardner (she/her/hers) is currently an Assistant Professor of Student Development Administration. Prior to this role, Dr. Gardner served as an Assistant Dean of Students at Loyola University Chicago and has 12 years of experience in crisis management, facilitating diversity & equity trainings, identity development workshops, and professional development retreats for college students, staff, and faculty. Her research agenda centers race/gender-equity in the workplace, the experience of emotional labor at historically White institutions and scholar-practitioner identity development. As a queer, Black, cis-Woman of Color, Dr. Gardner is deeply invested in advocating, empowering, and building solidarity-based coalitions with and for those on the margins of society. Inspired by the African proverb, Ubuntu, “I am, because we are,” Paige builds community, cultivates change, and creates space for others to take lead.
Christine J. Quinn, Ph.D. is a certified executive and team coach, a motivational speaker, a facilitator and organizational development expert. She has over 26 years of higher education leadership experience, thus bringing practical fresh perspectives to your organization. She will empower you and your team to unleash your talents and achieve success. Christine’s work is grounded in systems theory, positive psychology and appreciative inquiry. She supports teams to FOCUS and to get results while building strong relationships and shared leadership. Deep engagement is at the core of her work. She entered academia as a faculty member and has since held a variety of leadership positions including Provost, Dean, Department Chair, and Associate Vice President at land-grant universities, public comprehensives and private institutions. She has also attended a wide range of leadership development programs offered by Harvard University, the American Council on Education, and other well-respected institutions. She is currently an ICF certified Team and Executive Coach. She is the CEO of Christine J. Quinn, Inc.
Lynn works within our Business Office as Academic Impressions’ Bookkeeper, making sure that our accounts are balanced, accurate, and up-to-date. She brings over 15 years of experience in operations and bookkeeping to AI and we would be lost without her diligence and attention to detail. In her spare time, Lynn enjoys reading and her favorite holiday is Halloween.
A relentless explorer, John has over 25 years of experience in international education and has taught and lived in 4 countries including Belgium, Morocco, Japan and the United Kingdom. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in French and international relations from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, John served as a Peace Corps Volunteer teaching English at a university in Morocco. Upon completion of his service, he received a master’s in international management from the Thunderbird-American Graduate School of International Management at Arizona State University. As the Associate Provost for Global Learning and International Affairs, John is responsible for WKU’s comprehensive international efforts including international student recruiting and support services, study abroad and exchange programs, international programs and scholar development, strategic partnerships and agreements, and other global engagement activities. John also oversees partnerships and collaborations with sponsored international student agencies and government entities and serves as the liaison between ESLi and WKU. Prior to his arrival at WKU, John has held leadership roles with IES Abroad, the University of Texas Austin and the University of Colorado. He focuses on long-term, multi-level strategic engagement for Western Kentucky University students and academic departments with universities, governments and agencies around the world to provide […]
Patrick Sullivan is an experienced international education and immigration professional with over 9 years of experience in international development and education program support. In addition to holding a BA in International Relations and a MA in Immigration and Settlement Studies, he is also a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant. As NAIT’s Manager of International Services and Programs, he cultivates and leverages strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders to deliver holistic transition programing and services aligned with international student life cycle. Patrick has developed arrival and settlement infrastructure to better position students to adapt to North American systems, persist in their studies and progress academically. His leadership advances internationalization across his campus, city, and province, ultimately supporting recruitment efforts by elevating the international student experience.
Mary leads Gray DI’s relationships with educational leaders from a diverse range of institutions representing all sectors and sizes, including state-wide systems such as Kentucky State. Mary’s background includes more than 25 years of management experience with AT&T, where she led Consumer Strategy and key positions in Product Marketing, Operations, and Customer Care. She was named AT&T’s Catherine B. Cleary “Woman of the Year.” Her work with Gray includes institutional strategy development, market location, segmentation, and program portfolio analysis including new program identification, assessment of current program market vitality, program economics, and offer optimization. She specializes in facilitating the critical engagement processes needed to support various governance models and ensuring transparency of process for institutional alignment and success. Her prior experience in successfully navigating public and private stakeholder participation for the benefit and improvement of outcomes added to her depth of skills in working with cross-functional teams, respecting different perspectives and facilitating an aligned outcome. Ms. Upchurch currently chairs the Advisory Board of Arizona State University’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Fresh Start Women’s Foundation and its Nominating & Governance Committee. She also served two terms as its board chair. […]
Greta has a Master of Fine Arts in History from California State University, Fresno where she researched Early Modern print culture, tradesmen, and consumerism. Prior to joining Academic Impressions, she worked at her alma matter supporting post-graduate education by offering digital support services to graduate students. She’s excited to have joined the Academic Impressions’ team where she can continue to apply her passion for online learning and higher education.
Lana joined Academic Impressions in 2018 as our Office Manager and has been indispensable since. She is the first friendly face you see as you walk into the office and is always ready to jump in and help wherever she can. As an integral part of our Business Office, Lana is likely the first person you’ll talk to on phones or chat and provides friendly, consistent, and helpful customer service. She works closely with every department at AI to ensure that our events go smoothly, our systems are accurate, and our customers are taken care of. When she’s not at the office, she enjoys spending time with her two teenage children, her boyfriend and his kids, hanging with friends and family, camping, creating art, and unwinding after a long day with a cold one.
Molly is the Executive Assistant to AI’s President. In this role, she manages his day-to-day affairs and supports the leadership program offerings. Prior to joining AI, Molly served as the Operations Manager for the Vice President of Student Affairs at the University of Central Oklahoma. She has a BA in Communication Studies from the University of Iowa (Go Hawkeyes!). In her spare time, Molly enjoys spending time with her family. As a family, they enjoy playing sports, experiencing the many sites of Colorado, and listening to music.
