The Development Debrief Kathryn Van Sickle

This week we talk about management and leadership. Elizabeth has developed training materials to help managers at all levels increase the performance and retention of their teams.

Elizabeth Keppel is the Senior Director of Annual Giving & Digital Strategy at Johns Hopkins University, where she leads a comprehensive, university-wide annual giving program. Prior to joining the Hopkins team in 2020, Elizabeth served in several roles at the University of Florida, most recently as the director of development for annual giving and strategic initiatives. In that role, she led UF’s leadership annual giving program which served as the organization's talent pipeline for major gift fundraisers. At the outset of her fundraising career, she worked as an assistant director on the advancement team at her alma mater, the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Elizabeth has a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Education in Higher Education Administration from William & Mary and a Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification.


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This week we hear from Heather who just relocated to Houston, Texas for a new role as Executive Director, Annual Giving at Rice University. She talks to us about how we can get started using AI in our work and she suggests a few places to start. She equates learning new systems like training for a marathon--start small.



A few places to start include but are not limited to: Google Gemini, Microsoft co-pilot, learning how to write prompts, developing an awareness of bias within what AI creates, and large language models.









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This week, we continue to drill down into the burning questions about AI and how it will change our work. What comes up again and again with Mark is, how do we work alongside this? Listen to discover the answer to that overarching question.

 Mark Koenig is the vice president for technology and chief
innovation officer for the OSU Foundation. In this role, he serves as the Foundation’s technology strategist, including oversight of relationship insights, pipeline development, analytics, data and CRM operations, and technology services.

Mr. Koenig is the past chair of the Ellucian Advancement Executive Advisory Committee and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District VIII.

In 2019, he received the Distinguished Service Award from CASE District VIII recognizing his many years of service to the organization and in 2018, he received the Ellucian ‘EllumiNation’ Community Award recognizing his dedication to infusing innovation throughout the advancement profession.

Mr. Koenig earned his bachelor’s in history and economics from the University of Houston and a master's in adult education and organizational capacity from OSU.


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This week, Deb shares her perspective as a corporate and
foundation relations professional. In the second episode on this topic, we compare it to individual giving and learn more about how the space is unique. Deborah Lin is the Director of Corporate, Foundation, & Association Relations at Stanford Medicine, leading the team closing and facilitating organizational philanthropic support to the School of Medicine and Stanford Healthcare. She has built over a decade of experience in academic research fundraising and programmatic strategy and operations.
Before Stanford University, Deborah was the Associate Director of Corporate Relations at UCLA Engineering, spearheading engagement and partnerships for the school with industries such as tech, aerospace, and energy. She was a founding team member of Partnership UCLA, a department that engages alumni in helping student career development, creating and launching campus-wide programs supporting thousands of students' professional and academic development. In addition to academia, she has also worked in the media and tech industries. Before UCLA, Deborah worked in the Television and Film industry for companies such as Disney ABC Studios and 20th Century Fox, managing global marketing partnerships, production, talent management, and television comedy development.


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This week we get some AI forecasting from Andrew Gossen. He reflects on how much technology has developed over the past six years, and shares predictions about ways our work will change and evolve. Andrew outlines the risks and rewards of keeping up with artificial intelligence and how we should think about the use of human time verses machine time.

Andrew Gossen is the executive director for communications, marketing, and participation in Cornell University's Division of Alumni Affairs and Development. He joined Cornell in 2010 to integrate emerging digital technologies – among them social media and crowdfunding – into the division's strategic plan. Previously, Gossen spent eight years at the Alumni Association of Princeton University in a number of diverse roles. His focus is using digital technologies and approaches to engagement to build audiences and mobilize them on behalf of a range of causes and organizations.

In addition to speaking frequently on this topic to domestic and international audiences, he has served CASE Commission on Alumni Relations, co-chaired the CASE Joint Commission Task Force on Social Media, and received a CASE Crystal Apple Award for Teaching Excellence in 2018. Gossen holds a bachelor's degree from Princeton and a
doctorate in social anthropology from Harvard University.


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This week, I get the opportunity to talk with Stephanie Cook
about her career journey and most recent experiences with the National Audubon Society. We talk about how her broad higher education experience prepared her to work in a more niche area with a non-natural constituency base.  

Stephanie Cook brings over 20 years of experience to her work as a fundraising executive for the National Audubon Society—leading operations, donor services, and fundraising teams on behalf of the international conservation NGO.

Prior to joining Audubon, she led NYC-based regional advancement teams for Syracuse University and Villanova University, where she led teams of development professionals charged with building relationships with and securing philanthropic support from alumni, parents, and friends.

Her early career included service as a major gift officer for Columbia University and the Wildlife Conservation Society as well as in support of the fundraising efforts on behalf of the Central Park Conservancy. She is a native of Madison, Wisconsin and holds a BFA from the University of Kentucky in acting/theatre and an MS from Columbia University in fundraising and non-profit management.


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