Message From Your Chair

The best time to start building a relationship with your alumni is while they are students and young alumni. By engaging alumni early, you can set them on a course to commit to your institution throughout their lifetime. Whether you are interested in developing these sorts of programs, or looking to take your current program to the next level, this conference will review the latest trends and best practices, and will offer the opportunity to learn from the experiences of other institutions.

Conference Chair

Scott Mory
Associate Senior Vice President, University Relations, and CEO, USC Alumni Association
University of Southern California

Scott Mory joined the University of Southern California in August 2007. As associate senior vice president for university relations, he is responsible for advancing the mission of the university by planning, developing and implementing diverse programs to engage USC's alumni constituency. Mory also serves as chief executive officer of the USC Alumni Association and works closely with its Board of Governors.

Mory came to USC from the George Washington University, where he served as assistant vice president for alumni relations and annual giving. Additionally, as an adjunct professor in the university's law school, he taught a first-year course on legal research, writing and oral advocacy. From 2002 to 2003, he was a member of the George Washington University Board of Trustees, and he was a member of the GW Alumni Association Board of Directors from 2000 to 2003.

In the broader community, Mory is a frequent presenter at conferences for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and is a member of CASE's Commission on Alumni Relations. He also served a term as secretary of the Board of Directors of the Association of Private College and University Alumni Directors and is a member of the Council of Alumni Association Executives.

Mory holds a bachelor's degree from the George Washington University and a Juris Doctorate from the George Washington University Law School. His previous professional experience includes clerking for the Hon. John Garrett Penn of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and practicing as a litigation associate at the New York office of Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP.

Faculty

Armin Afsahi
Assistant Vice Chancellor for Alumni Affairs and Executive Director, UCSD Alumni Association
University of California, San Diego

Armin Afsahi is the assistant vice chancellor for alumni affairs at the University of California, San Diego and also serves as the executive director of the UCSD Alumni Association, an organization that serves 116,000 alumni and 24,000 students.

A UC San Diego alumnus of Revelle College, Afsahi is a seasoned advancement executive with over 17 years of private and public sector experience in institutional advancement, strategic management, business development, marketing, technology and operations gained in public and private universities, as well as technology, education and consulting firms. He is longstanding member of the UC San Diego community and a former member and officer of the UCSD Alumni Association Board of Directors.

In his previous roles, Afsahi has provided creative engagement, alumni development and fundraising services to the UC San Diego and to Georgetown University. Serving on the senior advancement teams at both institutions, he has demonstrated leadership in working with academic, administrative and volunteer leadership in the areas of alumni engagement, campaign planning, organizational alignment, strategic business initiatives, board management,and corporate development. Previously at UC San Diego, he served as the senior director for external relations and helped craft strategic initiatives for the $1 billion "Imagine What's Next" campaign. In this role, he developed the blueprint for a new corporate relations and fundraising model, and led multiple business functions. At Georgetown, he worked closely with the vice president for advancement and university leadership to provide direction for constituent engagement strategies and participated in the planning and early implementation phases of a $1.5 billion campaign.

Afsahi earned a bachelor's degree in communications from UC San Diego and a master's degree in business administration from the University of San Diego.

Zach Briton
Assistant Director, Young Alumni & Student Giving
George Washington University

Zach Briton is currently the assistant director of young alumni & student giving at The George Washington University. In his current role, Briton works to create a culture of philanthropy on campus by overseeing the Senior Class Gift Campaign, GW's underclass giving initiatives and educational partnerships with Student Affairs offices. He is also responsible for GW's young alumni philanthropy programs which aim to create higher participation rates and better connections between recent graduates and the university.

Prior to his current role, Briton served as the program manager in the GW annual fund, overseeing the "GW Colonial Connection," the year-round telemarketing campaign. Before joining the GW development team, he worked at Prudential Financial as a marketing assistant, serving the marketing needs of a team of financial planners. He has also worked in the fields of government affairs and political fundraising.

Briton holds a bachelor's degree in American studies from The American University. He is currently pursuing a master's degree in political management from GW.

Kate Lawlor
Senior Director, Alumni Relations, Emory College of Arts and Sciences
Emory University

Kate Lawlor currently serves as chief alumni officer for Emory College of Arts & Sciences at Emory University. She is responsible for leading the alumni relations efforts for the college, including board management, strategic initiatives, and student outreach. She has also served as director of alumni and student leadership at Emory Alumni Association. As director of alumni and student leadership, Lawlor was responsible for managing Emory's regional chapter and interest group program and all aspects of student leadership and programs. She also advised student leadership groups such as the Student Alumni Association and the Senior Experience Committee and serves as an alumni relations resource for any student group on campus interested in connecting with their alumni.

Prior to her roles at Emory, Lawlor was the director of Thomas Arvid Fine Art, Inc., a boutique art publishing firm. She was also an active young alumni volunteer with the Emory Alumni Association.

Lawlor holds a bachelor's degree in English and in history from Emory University. She is currently pursuing a master's degree in business administration from Goizueta Business School at Emory.