2026 Award Winners:
Zink, DeSanto Receive the 2026 CASE Commonfund College and University Foundation Award
The Council for Advancement and Support of Education is pleased to announce that DeAnna Carlson Zink and Ginny DeSanto are recipients of the 2026 CASE Commonfund College and University Foundation Award.
The award recognizes individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the advancement, quality, and effectiveness of their foundations. The Commonfund Institute, which underwrites the award, is the research arm of Commonfund, which provides investment management services to nonprofit organizations and other institutions.
Since 2014, DeAnna Carlson Zink has been the Chief Executive Officer of the University of North Dakota Alumni Association and Foundation. In 2025, she led the UND Forever campaign to exceed its $500 million goal 20 months early and championed the increase to a $625 million target. She was also instrumental in the North Dakota Spirit Campaign which concluded in 2013 after raising $324 million. Zink holds a bachelor's degree in management and communications from the University of North Dakota. She serves on the boards of Center for Innovation Foundation, Energy and Environmental Research Center Foundation, Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges Council of Foundation Leaders, North Dakota Xcel Energy Advisory Board, and Sanford Health Plan. In 2023, she received Prairie Business Magazine’s top 25 Women in Business award. For CASE, she sits on the College and University Foundation Leadership Committee and has served on the planning committee for the Conference for College and University Foundations since 2021, including chairing the conference in 2024
Ginny DeSanto is Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Arizona State University’s ASU Enterprise Partners. She has led the nonprofit through a period of significant growth, from a base of total assets at $506 million to current total assets of $2 billion, with annual revenue growing from $101 million to $442 million. She also led ASU’s foundation through several restructurings, including new financial reporting and processing that occurred as a result. She holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from Arizona State University. For CASE, she is a CASE Laureate, volunteered for the Colleges and University Foundation Leadership Committee from 2012 to 2021, serving as its chair from 2018 to 2020, and chaired its 2023 Conference for Chief Business Officers & Chief Development Officers.
“DeAnna Carlson Zink and Ginny DeSanto exemplify the very best of foundation leadership and CASE volunteerism,” says Sue Cunningham, President and CEO of CASE. “Through their commitment to their work, they have strengthened their institutions and expanded opportunities for countless students. Beyond their extraordinary professional achievements, they have been steadfast champions of the advancement profession, generously giving their time and expertise to CASE and the broader education community. We are honoured to recognise their leadership and impact.”
Zink and DeSanto will receive their awards on April 9, 2026, during the CASE Conference for College and University Foundations in Seattle.
Recent Winners
Gretchen Wood
Gretchen Wood is Vice President of Institutional Advancement for Monroe Community College (MCC) and Executive Director of the Foundation in Rochester, New York. In addition to overseeing the College’s Community Relations, Institutional Research, Institutional Planning, Effectiveness and Accountability, and Institutional Compliance and Internal Audit departments, she facilitates a comprehensive fundraising program in support of the College led by a volunteer board of 59 business and community leaders. Gretchen holds a Master of Public Administration degree with a concentration in Nonprofit Management from SUNY Brockport and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and English Education from Syracuse University.
Kathleen M. Schmidlkofer
Kathy Schmidlkofer has been president and CEO of the University of Minnesota Foundation since March 2014. The Foundation is dedicated to raising and managing private gifts from individuals and organizations to build greatness at the University of Minnesota. Under Schmidlkofer’s leadership, the Foundation has achieved record levels of fundraising as part of Driven, the University’s $4 billion system-wide campaign. The Foundation also actively manages the $2.5 billion dollar philanthropic endowment as well as manages an extensive student housing and commercial property portfolio with master planning underway to develop a commercial and innovation district to serve the needs of the University.
Christy Devocelle
Christy Devocelle is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of the University of Illinois Foundation, where she is responsible for business development, technology strategy, and financial operations. She has been with the foundation since 1997 and has led a number of transformative projects, including: the redesign and development of the gift accounting process; the conversion of all advancement technology systems; and overseeing the design, construction, and operations of the new University of Illinois Philanthropy Center. Devocelle also has served on numerous nonprofit boards and committees. She is a financial accounting graduate of Illinois State University and has an MBA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Devocelle has been a member of the CASE National Committee for College and University Foundations since 2021 and she chaired the 2023 CASE Conference for College and University Foundations.
Brenda S. Lee
Brenda Lee joined the University of Toledo Foundation in 1991 and has served as its president for more than 20 years. Under her tenure, assets under management have grown from $30 million to approximately $700 million. She was also instrumental in the merger of the Medical College of Ohio Foundation and The University of Toledo Foundation, as well as adding development, alumni engagement, and special events under the foundation umbrella. Lee has also served on the CASE National Committee for College and University Foundations and she has assisted many other nonprofit groups. She holds a B.S. in accounting from Bowling Green University.
Sharon Beales
Sharon Beales, who has more than 20 years of experience in fundraising leadership, joined Northampton Community College in 2014 as Vice President of Institutional Advancement. A few of her many accomplishments at Northampton Community College include growing the endowment from $40 to $65 million, growing programming and private foundation revenue, and conducting the college’s first Giving Day in fall of 2019 and exceeding their goal of $50,000 to raise $76,348 from 623 donors.
Jeffrey Mills, PhD
Mills, who has more than 29 years in educational advancement, was appointed to the University of Maine Foundation in 2012 as the President and CEO after serving previously as the Vice President of University Advancement and President and CEO of the University of Maine Alumni Association from 2002 to2005. Highlights of his accomplishments at the University of Maine Foundation include the launch of a comprehensive giving campaign with a $200 million goal, ending the campaign with over $208 million raised. The campaign also increased fundraising to an all-time high average of $36 million and secured the largest capital campaign gift in university history. Additionally, Mills launched the faculty, staff and administration giving campaign, which raised more than $1.2 million this past year.
Vita Pickrum
Dr. Vita Pickrum joined Delaware State University in 2008 and serves multiple roles including as the Vice President of the Division of Institutional Advancement, the President of the Delaware State University Foundation, and as of January 2020, Chair of the 12th President’s Transition Team. She is responsible for overseeing all private fundraising for the University, alumni relations, development, and donor relations. Under her leadership, both private fundraising and alumni participation have substantially increased.
All Winners
2020
Clark Cropp, Senior Vice President, Kansas University Endowment Association
Michael J. Morseberger, Chief Executive Officer, University of Central Florida Foundation
2019
Dexter Bailey, Senior Vice President for University Advancement, Stony Brook University
Barbara Breier, Vice President University Advancement/Executive Director of Texas State Development Foundation
2018
Lisa Gibert, Chief Executive Officer, Clark College Foundation
Tiffani K. Shaw, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, University of Iowa Center for Advancement
2017
Lynette Marshall, President and CEO, University of Iowa Foundation
Donna Vuchinich, President and CEO, University of Hawaii Foundation
2016
Lisa Eslinger, Senior Vice President of Finance & Operations, Iowa State University Foundation
Dr. Kimberly A Russell, Chancellor, Louisiana State University at Eunice
2015
James H. Moore Jr., president and chief executive officer, University of Arizona Foundation
Diane L. Shoger, executive director, Monroe Community College Foundation
2014
Leonard Raley, president and chief executive officer, University System of Maryland Foundation
2013
J. Michael Goodwin, president and chief executive officer, Oregon State University Foundation
James C. Miller, president and chief executive officer of the North Dakota State University Development Foundation
2012
John B. Carter Jr., president and chief operating officer of Georgia Tech Foundation
Betheny L. Reid, president of the Dallas County Community College District Foundation
2011
Lisa Heise, controller, Great Basin College Foundation
John R. Stropp, former president, University of New Mexico Foundation
2010
Thomas J. Mitchell, president, University of California, Irvine Foundation
Andrew A. "Sandy" Wilcox, president, University of Wisconsin Foundation
2009
Elizabeth King, president and CEO, Wichita State University Foundation
Rickey McCurry, chief executive officer, Southern Illinois University Foundation
2008
Ed Davis, president, Texas A&M University Foundation
Susan Kubik, executive director, Northampton Community College Foundation
2007
Brenda Babitz, president, Monroe Community College Foundation
Leslie Bram, associate vice president and chief operating officer, University of Florida Foundation
F. Duke Perry, retired president and chief executive officer, West Virginia University Foundation
2006
Gerald Fischer, president and CEO, University of Minnesota Foundation
Karen MacArthur, executive director, Delta College Foundation
2005
David W. Bahlmann, president and chief executive officer, Ball State University Foundation
2004
Brad Choate, president and chief executive officer, Minnesota Medical Foundation at the University of Minnesota
James Lanier Jr., president, East Carolina University Foundation
Russell M. Robinson II, chairman, University of North Carolina Charlotte Foundation
2003
Amos Orcutt, president, University of Maine Foundation
Cheryle Mitvalsky, vice president, resource development, Kirkwood Community College Foundation
Joseph F. Phelan, consultant, Newmarket, New Hampshire
2002
John K. Martin, president and chief executive officer, University of Maryland Foundation
Julia Kilduff, executive director, Lewis and Clark Community College Foundation
James W. Leslie, former executive director, University of Rhode Island Foundation
2001
Curtis R. Simic, president, Indiana University Foundation
John E. Clinton, executive vice president and chief executive, Shippensburg University Foundation
Eric B. Wentworth, former director of the National Clearinghouse for Institutionally Related Foundations, CASE