David Smith is the Chief Advancement Officer for Miami Country Day School, and Principal of David Smith Consulting, David develops fundraising strategies and practices that effectively address the modern concerns of independent schools.

Previously David served as the Director of Advancement at Saint Ann’s School in Brooklyn. He began his career as a history and government teacher in the New York City public schools and then taught at Friends Seminary in Manhattan. He started his career in development working with CCS Fundraising, where his clients included Women for Women International and the NAACP.

David returned to independent schools as the Director of Development at the Calhoun School and then became the Director of Development at The Allen-Stevenson School, where he led a successful $50 million capital campaign. He has presented sessions on major gifts, capital campaigns, and diversity, equity and inclusion in advancement at NAIS, CASE, AFP, NJ Associations of Independent Schools and New York State Association of Independent Schools conferences. He recently concluded two terms on the board of trustees of the Caedmon School in Manhattan and currently serves on the faculty of the CASE School Advancement Institute. 

David received a bachelor's degree in government from Georgetown University and a master’s degree in history from Rutgers University. 

Brent Caburnay is The John G. Levi Chief Development Officer at the Francis W. Parker School in Chicago. Brent serves as a key member of the school's senior administrative team overseeing all engagement, fundraising and stewardship efforts. With over 20 years in development, 14 of those years in private schools, Brent is an experienced fundraising professional. During his time at Parker, he completed the school's $100 million Founding Our Second Century Campaign, Library Renovation, EE Ford Foundation Challenge for the Principal's Fund for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging, and the Future Focus: Unrestricted Endowment Challenge. He currently leads Parker's $125 million campaign, Building a Complete Community, focused on expanding access and affordability for families across the Chicagoland area. 

Prior to Parker, Brent held key development positions with respected non-profit institutions throughout Illinois. He served as the Director of External Programs at Columbia College Chicago, helping to complete the College's $100 million campaign and as a Manager with the Resurrection Health Care Development Foundation, supporting three hospitals in the Resurrection Health Care system.

Brent has been a speaker at the INDEX and CASE NAIS Conferences, a faculty member for the CASE School Advancement Institute, and recognized with the CASE District V Chief Executive Leadership Award. Brent earned his BA from the University of Michigan and began his professional career as a ballet dancer with the prestigious Joffrey Ballet of Chicago and as a Principal Dancer with the Lyric Opera of Chicago.   

Tim Crouch has served as the Director of Development at St. Mark’s School in Dallas, TX since 2021. In his role, Crouch oversees the day-to-day operations of the Development and Alumni Relations Team, working closely with and reporting to the Assistant Headmaster for External Affairs.

In 2025, St. Mark’s opened a $75 million athletic facility, and the annual fund surpassed $7 million, with over 50% alumni participation for the seventeenth consecutive year.  Previously at Mercersburg Academy, he served as a faculty member, adviser, head boys basketball coach, and Associate Director of Capital Giving during the completion of their $300 million Daring To Lead Campaign.

Crouch earned his bachelor’s degree from Dickinson College and a master’s of business administration from the University of Maryland. 

Matt is the Chief Advancement Officer for the Lovett School in Atlanta, Georgia where is currently guiding a five year $150M+ comprehensive campaign. With a fundraising career of more than 20 years, he has led teams in higher education and independent schools. Prior to Lovett, Matt spent ten years at Georgia Tech in various leadership roles. While at GT Matt led the Regional Major Gift team and served on the principal gift committee for the $2 billion Campaign Georgia Tech. Matt also served as Director of Development at Porter-Gaud School (SC) for six years and as the Director of Annual Giving at Woodberry Forest School. His career started in investment banking working for Baring Asset Management. He has presented sessions at CASE/NAIS on major gifts, capital campaigns, and annual giving. He currently serves on the CASE Independent School Leadership Group and CASE School Advancement Institute. Matt received a bachelor’s degree in Russian Language from Trinity College and has an M.A. in Educational Leadership from George Washington University. 

Melanie Hoffmann has over thirty years of experience in fundraising, strategic planning, communications, and alumni and parent relations. Prior to her current position as Executive Director of Development & Alumni Relations at St. Albans School in Washington, D.C., Melanie was the Director of Advancement at Ransom Everglades School in Coconut Grove, Fla., where she completed an $82 million campaign for endowment, a new STEM Center, and a variety of other programs, while also growing their annual fund to $4.7 million. Melanie previously served as Assistant Head of School and Director of External Affairs at Vermont Academy in Saxtons River, Vt., and as Director of Institutional Advancement at The Pingry School in Basking Ridge, N.J. She began her career in fundraising in the arts and cultural organization sector, including the Smithsonian Institution, Central Park Conservancy, Save Ellis Island! Foundation, and the Museum of the City of New York. Melanie received her B.A. in art history and German from Hollins University and her M.S. in education (with a focus on school leadership) from the University of Pennsylvania.

Kerry Johnston brings more than 25 years of leadership experience in independent school advancement, with deep expertise in fundraising, marketing and communications, strategic planning, and alumni and parent engagement. Throughout her career, she has built and led high-performing teams that have significantly strengthened philanthropic support and deepened community connections.

In July 2025, Kerry joined Charlotte Latin School as Director of Advancement. Prior to that, she served as Chief Philanthropy Officer at McDonogh School, where she successfully led a $97 million comprehensive campaign focused on endowment growth, a new Middle School, and the annual fund. She also oversaw McDonogh’s year-long 150th Anniversary celebration, which culminated in a signature weekend attended by more than 2,000 guests.

Kerry has presented at multiple CASE-NAIS conferences and contributed to planning committees, sharing her insights on advancement best practices and leadership in education. Before her tenure at McDonogh, she was Director of Development at Calvert School, a co-educational pre-K through eighth-grade school in Baltimore.
Kerry earned her B.S. from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1996, where she served as Student Government Association President. She went on to earn a Master of Education in Student Affairs from the University of Vermont in 1998.

Crickett Kasper was Director of Schools at CASE from August 2023 to March 2026. Previously, Kasper served as the Chief Advancement Officer at Singapore American School (SAS) where she was responsible for leading a unified community engagement approach through the integration of parent relations, alumni relations, annual giving, and major giving. With more than 16 years of advancement experience, Kasper has hosted a variety of events to support school communities and non-profit organizations. Prior to joining SAS in July 2019, she led fundraising efforts at Shanghai American School as Director of Development and Alumni Relations for five years. Her background is in advancement in U.S. independent schools, universities, and non-profit radio.

Elizabeth Oswald (“Oz”) is the Director of Institutional Advancement at The Nightingale-Bamford School (all girls, K-12) in New York City, where she is leading the school’s most ambitious capital campaign to date—an effort to build the largest athletics facility of its kind among Manhattan independent schools. Over her 18-year advancement career, she has held nearly every role in the field across The Cathedral School of St. John the Divine, The Brearley School, St. Martin’s Episcopal School, and her alma mater, The Westminster Schools.

In addition to her professional roles, Oz has been an active volunteer leader across both independent school and higher education communities. She serves on the University of Virginia Alumni Association’s Board of Managers, where she chairs the Development, Business Development, and Membership Committee, and volunteers with her alma mater, The Westminster Schools, as a New York City Chapter Leader. A longtime contributor to the independent school advancement field, she has chaired the NYSAIS Advancement Conference twice over a decade of service and served on the CASE-NAIS Planning Committee in 2020.

She began her fundraising career at the University of Virginia, where she led the Class of 2007's 4th Year Class Gift, which raised $3.4 million—a record that remains unbroken to this day. 

A former semi-professional salsa dancer, Oz now performs with The Tailshakers parade dance team and is an avid scuba diver.

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Gustavo Segui serves as the Executive Director of Marketing, Advancement, and Admissions at the International School of Curitiba. In this role, he establishes the strategic framework for business growth and innovation, leveraging tools from AI, strategy, and design thinking.

As a strategy advisor, Gustavo is a Board Member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Curitiba and a Council Member for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) for Latin America. He has delivered workshops at several conferences in the US, UK, Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil on strategy, leadership, and marketing.

With an MBA in Business Management and certificates from Harvard, Stanford, and MIT, Gustavo’s theoretical expertise and professional experience in leadership, strategy, and innovation enable him to navigate complex environments, translating insights into strategic planning and results. 

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