Julie Brady is a strategic and empathetic leader with 20 years of event leadership, design, and marketing experience. As Assistant Vice President for University Events & Advancement Marketing at Seattle University, Julie is responsible for overseeing the university’s events program in addition to development and alumni marketing and communications. Known for developing high-performing teams, fostering a culture of curiosity, collaboration, and continuous improvement, Julie and her teams lead initiatives, communications, and high-impact events that foster purposeful constituent engagement though storytelling and stewardship. She has successfully organized and coached over 250 events, which have raised more than $35 million. 

Bobby Dunlap is the director of alumni engagement at the Northwestern Alumni Association. He oversees the programs team, managing events and programs that speak to the passions and interests of Northwestern alumni, including alumni education, career services, mentorship, kid-friendly, athletics, recent alumni, and student engagement. He started at Northwestern in 2014 as the associate director of recent alumni engagement, building programs and events to engage alumni who are ten years or fewer out from their undergraduate experience. He was promoted to senior associate director taking on the management of all recent alumni and student engagement. Prior to Northwestern, he served as the assistant director of student and young alumni relations at Loyola University Chicago and as the assistant director of student activities at Elon University. He has a Bachelor’s degree from Miami University in Ohio and a Master’s degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs from Ohio State.

Brent Waugh serves as Associate Vice President, Campaign and Development at Washington State University. In this role, Brent leads the strategy and execution of the university’s comprehensive campaign which is currently in a silent phase. He serves on the advancement leadership team and provides oversight to three distinct teams: Annual Giving, Communications and Marketing, and Donor Relations and Stewardship.

Brent brings nearly two decades of advancement leadership experience at major institutions, including Vanderbilt University, Northwestern University, Colorado State University, and Washington State University. Throughout his career, he has supported numerous multi-billion-dollar campaigns, with a strong focus on events, communications, donor engagement, and managing high-performing teams.

In his free time, Brent enjoys trail running, movies, college athletics, and spending time with his family.

Carolina Silva Acevedo is the Director of Events and Experiences at the University of Central Florida, where she leads strategy and execution for stewardship-focused events within the Donor Experience team in Advancement and Partnerships. She oversees a team responsible for delivering more than 50 engagements annually, ranging from intimate donor experiences to large-scale university events.

With over a decade of experience in nonprofit and advancement work, Carolina is known for combining creative vision with operational excellence to deliver high-impact experiences. She partners closely with presidential leadership, boards, private organizations, and top university donors to design and execute events that deepen engagement and strengthen institutional relationships. Most recently, she led the planning and execution of logistics for the university’s most ambitious campaign launch for a $3.5 billion philanthropic initiative, creating an immersive donor experience through innovative storytelling and high-production elements.

Carolina is driven by a commitment to mission-focused work and is motivated by growth and the tangible impact her work has on students and the broader community.

Emma is the Senior Data Strategist for CASE Insights at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. She discovered her passion for data and analytics as a grant writer, using budgets and audience numbers to help tell the story of small arts organizations looking for funding. Since then, she has worked in social services, arts, higher education, and, for the last ten years has found her professional home in independent schools. Previously, she served as the Interim Director of Development at The Bay School of San Francisco. 

Her experience as a front line fundraiser, combined with her deep belief in the power of data and analytics, has enabled Emma to help grow annual giving, strategically project revenue, and facilitate leadership’s understanding of fundraising.

Emma is the past chair of the member engagement committee for the Association of Advancement Services Professionals, a member of the 2025 CASE-NAIS Conference Committee, and co-founder of Databases Supporting Development, an independent school database professionals meet-up in the Bay Area.