Faculty
Conference Chair
Rebecca Tseng Smith
Rebecca Tseng Smith is the senior executive director of development for the University of California San Diego.
Previously, she served as vice president of development for the University of Hawai'i Foundation and associate dean for external relations at Stanford University's School of Education. Smith believes that the ideas of relational fundraising, as described by David R. Dunlop, provide the best principles to guide our practice, and she has had an opportunity to put these ideas to work at each of the universities she has served.
At Cornell University, she worked in the major and principal gift programs and later served as assistant dean for alumni affairs and development in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Cornell's $1 billion campaign for endowment was launched and completed during her years there and she participated in many different aspects of it, from developing strategies for the solicitations of lead givers and recruiting and motivating campaign volunteers to celebrating in the College of Agriculture when they completed the campaign at 45 percent over goal. In 1997, she joined the major gift program at Harvard University where she worked with alumni in New York City and Washington, D.C., and assisted with Harvard's campaign to raise $2.1 billion. At Stanford University she led the School of Education's participation in "The Stanford Challenge," which raised new funds directed toward solving complex problems, like K-12 school reform.
Smith served on the American Cancer Society's National Blue Ribbon Advisory Committee, which studied and advised the society on its fundraising practices and long-term goals. She is currently a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council of the Boston University School of Theology.
She earned a bachelor's degree in English literature and a master's degree in theology at Boston University. She spent her first undergraduate years at Eckerd College, a small liberal arts college in Florida.
Heather Coleman Trippel
After receiving her doctorate in political science from Purdue University, Heather Coleman Trippel began her career in academic advancement, working closely with alumni and donors as a major gift officer at the University of Chicago and, subsequently, at her alma mater, Santa Clara University.
In 2006, Heather joined the External Relations team at the Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE) where she focused on building the school's major gift portfolio and was responsible for managing the school's volunteer advisory council. In 2008, she was appointed director of development for the Stanford Initiative on Improving K-12 Education and later served as the director of development for the GSE’s fundraising efforts. In 2016, Heather embraced the role of associate dean of external relations at the GSE. Earlier this year, she became a senior associate director of principal gifts in Stanford’s central Office of Development.
Tia Graham
Tia Graham serves as the Vice President of Individual Giving. In this role, she works with a diverse group of donors to create outright and deferred gifts that meet a wide range of personal and financial goals. While at PBS, she also led a six-year capacity-building project that provided training to station development professionals, senior leadership, and governing boards. Tia previously served as the Director of Gift Planning at National Public Radio.
Prior to her time in public media, Tia held leadership positions in medical research, higher education, and community philanthropy. She has been responsible for starting and revitalizing fundraising programs in each of these sectors. Her allied experience includes a decade of work as a financial reporting accountant and estate planning attorney.
Tia is a frequent presenter for professional development organizations, most notably the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners (CGP), Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), and statewide estate planning councils.
She is a graduate of Northeastern State University (Oklahoma) with a BS in Accounting and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Tulsa College of Law. She is a member of CGP (Board Member 2021-2023), Women of Color in Philanthropy (WOC), the National Bar Association, and the Oklahoma Bar Association. She is a Freedman Citizen of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma.
Scott Mory
Scott Mory is Carnegie Mellon University’s vice president for University Advancement. He is responsible for overseeing the university’s overall advancement efforts and for building partnerships with all of CMU’s philanthropic and volunteer communities, including university alumni, parents and friends; charitable foundations; and corporate donors.
Appointed in 2015, Mory works closely with administrative and academic leadership to develop the philanthropic support that enables CMU to fulfill its potential and continue its ascent. Under his leadership, in October 2019 the university launched its most ambitious philanthropic campaign to date — Make Possible: The Campaign for Carnegie Mellon University. In Spring 2023, the university announced that it had achieved the campaign’s $2 billion goal more than 18 months ahead of schedule. To date, the university has received philanthropic commitments exceeding $2.26 billion from more than 66,000 supporters. Among the impacts these supporters have had include the creation of 62 new endowed faculty chairs, including 4 endowed deanships; more than 420 new endowed scholarships and fellowships; and new world-class facilities like the Tepper Quad, Alan Magee Scaife Hall of Engineering, the Highmark Center for Health, Wellness and Athletics, and the planned Richard King Mellon Hall of Sciences.
Mory was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) in July 2022. He is also a member of the advisory board of The Andy Warhol Museum.
Prior to joining CMU, Mory served as associate senior vice president and campaign director at the University of Southern California, managing the day-to-day activities of the Campaign for USC, a historic effort to raise $6 billion. He joined USC in 2007 as associate senior vice president for Alumni Relations, a position he held until his promotion to campaign director in 2012. Prior to USC, Mory served as assistant vice president for Alumni Relations and Annual Giving at George Washington University. He also was an adjunct professor in the university’s law school, teaching a first-year course on legal research, writing and oral advocacy.
Scott holds a bachelor’s degree from the George Washington University and a juris doctor from the George Washington University Law School. Following law school, he clerked for the Hon. John Garrett Penn of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and practiced as a litigation associate at the New York office of Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP.
Donna Palmer
As Chief Philanthropy Officer for the Gary Sinise Foundation, Donna oversees the planning and implementation of all philanthropic, marketing and communications activities and initiatives.
Donna is a visionary leader with broad strategic and tactical experience in nonprofit leadership and development. Prior to joining the Foundation, she helped grow and guide a number of the nation’s leading nonprofits, including St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, The American Diabetes Association, the LIVESTRONG Foundation, Compassion International, and most recently Upbring, one of the nation’s largest child service agencies.
During her distinguished career, she has been responsible for the management of broad-based giving programs, major gifts, planned giving, special events, foundation relations, corporate sponsorship and partnerships, donor relations and stewardship, marketing communications, advocacy, and volunteer and community relations.
Donna received a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, Marketing, and Public Relations at Drake University and a Juris Doctorate at Tulane Law School.
Ronald J. Schiller
Ron Schiller is a nationally recognized advisor to presidents, chief advancement officers, board members, and other leaders and emerging leaders in the nonprofit sector. Since 2011, he has focused his attention on executive search, strategic consulting, writing, and speaking about philanthropy, drawing on his experience as fundraising leader, executive team member, board member, and search consultant built over a 30-year career.
Ron has held leadership positions in seven educational and cultural institutions, including the University of Chicago, where he led a team of more than 450 that completed a $2.3 billion campaign and facilitated two nine-figure gifts. He serves on the faculty of the annual CASE conference, "Inspiring the Largest Gifts of a Lifetime" and has served as co-chair of CASE's Winter Institute for Chief Development Officers. He is the author of four books: The Chief Development Officer: Beyond Fundraising (Rowman & Littlefield); Belief and Confidence: Donors Talk About Successful Philanthropic Partnership (CASE), Raising Your Organization's Largest Gifts: A Principal Gifts Handbook (CASE), and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Advancement: A Guide to Strengthening Engagement and Fundraising Through Inclusion (CASE), co-authored with Angelique Grant. He is a regular speaker for regional and national conferences of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, CASE, the League of American Orchestras, and gift planning organizations, among others, and he is a recipient of CASE’s Crystal Apple Teaching Award.
Ron has served on the Cornell University Council and on the boards of the American Friends of Covent Garden, Chicago's Harris Theater for Music and Dance, the Cornell University Glee Club, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Aspen’s Buddy Program, the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, the Salt Bay Chamberfest, and the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh.
Prior to founding the Aspen Leadership Group, he served as President of the NPR Foundation, Vice President for Alumni Relations and Development at the University of Chicago, and in various leadership roles at Carnegie Mellon University, Northeastern University, New England Conservatory of Music, and the Eastman School of Music. He began his career in philanthropy at Cornell during the university’s groundbreaking $1.25 billion campaign in the late 1980s.
Ron earned a bachelor’s degree at Cornell University.
Guest Speakers
John B. Ford
John B. Ford is vice chancellor emeritus of university development and alumni relations at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and vice president for development, emeritus at Stanford. Ford has 49 years of experience leading development programs, including 30 years at Stanford University, where he helped organize and successfully implement three campaigns with goals of more than $1 billion, including the first billion-dollar campaign in support of undergraduate education in the United States. He began his Stanford career at the medical center, eventually leading development for the School of Medicine and Stanford University Hospital. In addition, he directed the capital campaign to build Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. Ford was appointed Stanford’s Vice President for development in 1988, one year into the public phase of Stanford’s $1.1 billion Centennial Campaign.
Ford launched his development career at the California Institute of Technology and subsequently served as a major gift officer at the University of Chicago. In 2008, after retiring from Stanford, he helped launch the ClimateWorks Foundation in San Francisco. He also served as chair of the board of Marts & Lundy, a consulting firm to nonprofits based in New Jersey.
Cara Giacomini
Cara Giacomini is the vice president of data, research, and technology for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. In this role, she leads CASE Insights — a primary resource and service provider for data, benchmarking, analytics, and original research to the educational advancement community worldwide, launched by CASE in 2018. She is also currently the Interim Executive Director, Asia-Pacific.
Before starting at CASE, she spent 20 years at the University of Washington, most recently as the director of advancement analytics. In university advancement, she was instrumental in building a strong data culture where she improved donor outcomes at all levels and pioneered efforts to build infrastructure and expertise in digital analytics. Prior to her work in advancement, she served as a senior research scientist in the information technology department, studying the adoption of educational technologies and the effectiveness of IT services. She received her PhD in English and Textual Studies from the University of Washington in 2003. She is passionate about putting data into action—empowering CASE’s members to utilize CASE Insights resources to answer their most pressing questions and address their evolving needs.
Tonia Karr
Tonia Karr (San Francisco, CA) devotes her time to working with nonprofit organizations that serve youth from under-resourced communities. She previously served on the boards of Meritus College Fund, a college access and persistence program in San Francisco, and KIPP: Bay Area Schools, a national network of college preparatory charter schools. She currently serves on the board of Town School for Boys. Previously, Tonia worked as an investment banker in New York where she focused on real estate finance. At Stanford, Tonia is a member of the Board of Trustees and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Board. She earned a BA from Stanford in Economics and an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business.
William Jarvis
William Jarvis heads strategic thought leadership for institutional and private nonprofit organizations in Bank of America’s Endowment and Foundation Group. An authority on investment policy and governance for endowed nonprofit organizations, Bill brings 39 years of experience to this role. Bill is the Managing Editor of the Bank of America Study of Philanthropy and the author of numerous white papers on investment policy and endowment governance. He is well known as a speaker and moderator at events convened by leading industry associations and by Bank of America, and also advises the Bank’s nonprofit clients.
Prior to joining Bank of America in 2017, Bill served as the Executive Director of the Commonfund Institute, where he edited many of the leading studies on endowment investment and governance, including those for the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO), the Council on Foundations and the National Business Officers Association.
In 2021 Bill was honored with NACUBO’s Rodney H. Adams Endowment Management Award for outstanding individual contributions to professional development activities in the area of college and university endowment and investment management.
Bill holds a B.A. in English Literature from Yale University, a J.D. from the Northwestern University School of Law, and an M.B.A. from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management.