Speakers
Meet the Speakers
Dondi L. Cupp
A veteran of public higher education fundraising, Dondi Cupp serves as senior vice president of development at the OHSU Foundation where he is responsible for leading comprehensive fundraising activities and strategic philanthropic initiatives that support OHSU’s multi-faceted mission and advance a broad range of education, research, and clinical activities.
Before joining OHSU, Cupp served as associate vice president at the University of Michigan, where he played a leadership role in the Victors for Michigan campaign, the first campaign at a public university to raise $5 billion. At Michigan he led the national major gifts team and supervised constituency fundraising programs including annual giving, foundation relations, parent and family giving, student life, and the Business Engagement Center. He also led the operations teams including finance and administration and talent management.
Cupp came to Michigan from the University of Washington, where he led the office of corporate and foundation relations and advancement teams in the health sciences. He joined the University of Washington in 1999 as director of development for the sciences. While at the Washington, Cupp founded the Advancement Leadership Class, a comprehensive leadership development program for advancement staff. In 2012, he was nominated by his peers for the UW's David B. Thorud Leadership Award. In 2006, he received the Marilyn Batt Dunn Endowed Award for Excellence in University Advancement.
Earlier in his career, Cupp served as associate director of the Western Washington University Foundation and as director of the annual fund at his alma mater, the University of Oklahoma. Dondi holds a bachelor's degree in journalism and public relations. He is a fellow of the Advancement Leadership Academy and a CASE Laureate.
Earl Granger
Earl Granger, III, has been a higher education practitioner for close to thirty years. He recently took the helm at The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation as the chief development officer/vice president in Williamsburg, VA. Colonial Williamsburg has the distinction of being the largest living museum in the country.
Prior to his role at Colonial Williamsburg, Earl served as the associate vice president for development at William & Mary where they successfully completed a $1B For the Bold fundraising campaign which ended in June. Additionally, Earl also served in senior enrollment roles at William & Mary, Tufts University and UNC’s Kenan Flagler Business School.
As part of his advancement related work, Earl has worked to engage and secure private support from populations that have been historically under-represented. Earl is a recipient of the 2018 CASE District III Opportunity and Inclusion Award.
He received his B.A. degree in public policy and M.Ed. in higher education administration from William & Mary.
Anthony Heaven
Dr. Anthony Heaven is higher education scholar-practitioner who specializes in advancement and diversity/inclusion work. He currently serves as the Associate Director of Development for the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College (SMBHC) at The University of Mississippi. In addition, he assists with strategizing on diverse donor engagement strategies and is leading an effort to provide a healing and reconciliatory space for African American alums who graduated during the 60s, 70s, & 80s. Previously, Heaven served as the Associate Director of Donor Engagement at The University of Florida. He also done diversity/inclusion and student services work at The University of Texas at Austin.
Heaven completed a Bachelor of Arts in History and a Bachelor of Arts in Religion/Theology at Stillman College. At The University of Texas at Austin, he attained a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership with a concentration in Public Affairs. His dissertation focused on the experiences of African American frontline fundraisers at predominately White institutions. Heaven was a recipient of the Dissertation of the Year Award presented by The American Association of Blacks in Higher Education.
Jeff Jackanicz
Jeff Jackanicz serves as the Vice President of University Advancement at San Francisco State University. In this role, Jeff is responsible for creating awareness and raising private support for SF State's academic, research, and public service missions.
Jeff joined SF State in 2020, with nearly two decades of experience and demonstrated success in helping universities advance their missions via fundraising, alumni relations, constituent communications, and partnership development. Before his arrival at SF State, he served as Vice President of Institutional Advancement at Mills College in Oakland, leading all aspects of the college's advancement efforts in support of its commitments to academic excellence, women’s education, and social justice. Prior to Mills, Jackanicz spent over a decade at UC Berkeley in a range of advancement leadership positions, leading teams and securing support on behalf of the university's research, teaching, and public service missions.
He earned a B.A. in English from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Texas at Austin.
Crystal K. Jones
Crystal credits the success of her 16-year career in philanthropy to strategy, integrity, and her ability to navigate personal connections with institutional goals. The combination of these skills enables Crystal to secure not only gifts, but more importantly, longstanding, fruitful relationships. Currently, she serves as the director of development and major gifts at Scripps College in Claremont, California, while pursuing her Master’s of Arts in Philanthropy from the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at IUPUI. Her extensive background in fundraising comprises steady advancement in appointments with prestigious nonprofit and academic institutions, including UCLA, the California Community Foundation, and Smith College. A California native and graduate of Scripps College, Crystal completed a six-year term as a Board of Trustee in 2008 for her alma mater. Through her involvement with All Saints Church in Pasadena, she maintains a deep and meaningful commitment to social justice work. Prior to her career in the nonprofit sector, Crystal worked in the entertainment industry for eight years where she specialized in public relations and artist management.
David Lively
With 27 years of experience in higher education advancement, David Lively has directed successful development strategies across five comprehensive fundraising campaigns. Lively joined Northwestern University in January 2012 and in his current role manages "We Will. The Campaign for Northwestern," a $5 billion University-wide fundraising campaign. Additionally, he oversees a team of 60 development professionals responsible for principal gifts, regional and international major gifts (including offices in New York and San Francisco), and gift planning.
Lively earned a bachelor's degree in history from Southern Methodist University, a master's degree in history from Colorado State University, an MBA from the University of Denver's Daniels College of Business, and a certificate from the Management Development Program at Harvard University's Graduate School of Education. In April 2017, he authored Managing Major Gift Fundraisers: A Contrarian's Guide (published by CASE).