Lee Rodwell is Director of Development and Alumni Relations at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), one of the world’s leading public health institutions. Joining the School in 2024, he leads on all philanthropic income and alumni engagement globally. A former SIEF delegate, he is proud to have joined the SIEF Faculty in 2024 and will take over as SIEF Chair in 2027.

Previously, he served as Director of Development for almost nine years at University of the Arts London (UAL), the second-ranked university for Art and Design in the world, with responsibility for fundraising, alumni relations, and events across the university.

Prior to working in higher education, Lee has had a varied career fundraising across a number of charitable sectors, including the arts, human rights, and international development, with almost two decades now spent as a Director of Development. This has included fundraising for the Art Fund, the Serpentine Gallery, Liberty, and Sightsavers. He has also been a Trustee of five charities, with a combined experience of eighteen years as a Board member to date, including two Vice-Chair positions.

Margaret Clift is Head of Strategic Philanthropy at the University of Glasgow. She has been a major gift fundraising specialist for two decades, with a career spanning the higher education, culture and voluntary sectors. Prior to joining the University of Glasgow, she worked on successful major capital campaigns at National Museums Scotland, the University of Edinburgh and Amnesty International UK.

Margaret has acted as speaker, trainer and panellist at conferences, workshops, training sessions and webinars for CASE, the Chartered Institute of Fundraising, RAISE, Global Arts Summit, and Arts and Business Scotland, and provided fundraising advice to charities, museums and galleries across Scotland. She has also served on the Professional Development Committee for CIOF Scotland. As a member of Advisory Panel for Rogare, The Hartsbrook Centre for Sustainable Philanthropy’s 2019 fundraising think tank at the University of Plymouth, she co-authored the Critical Fundraising Report: Scotland (2017).

Margaret won the GLAMi award for most ground-breaking project (Museums and the Web, 2018) and Best Fundraising Campaign over £100,000 at the EMCEEs Arts and Culture Awards for Excellence in Fundraising, 2018. She has been listed in the UK’s Top 25 Most Influential Fundraisers (Fundraising Magazine).

Antony Green is Oxford’s Executive Director of Development, with responsibility for major giving across the breadth of the University’s academic departments and historic collections. Following a career in music, Antony joined Oxford’s Development team in 2004. Following eight years at the Ashmolean Museum during a major capital campaign, from 2012 to 2016, Antony led fundraising for Oxford’s Humanities division, before moving to the role of Associate Director. Antony took on the Executive Director role in June 2023.

Antony was educated at Oxford Brookes University, receiving his degree in Social Anthropology.

Joanna McGarry joined the University of Bristol in 2019 as Assistant Director of the newly established Marketing and Communications team within the Development and Alumni Relations Office. Joanna and her team deliver integrated marketing and communications activity to further the University’s strategic objectives around philanthropy, fundraising and alumni engagement. The team lead on content and channels for Bristol’s mass alumni audience, including the University’s annual alumni awards campaign, its digital communications programme, and its alumni magazine. The team also work closely with DARO colleagues on integrated activity for specific audiences, including new alumni on-boarding, mass fundraising and stewardship, and collateral to support major giving activity.

Prior to her role at the University of Bristol, Joanna worked in marketing, communications, brand and editorial roles at Imperial College London; City, University of London; and the educational publisher Palgrave Macmillan.

Fiona is Fundraising Manager at the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust and also a freelance Fundraising & Development Consultant. Fiona was previously the Director of Development at Giggleswick School, where she led the creation and delivery of the school’s first major Development Strategy. Before this, she was the Director of Development at the Grammar School at Leeds, having joined the school from the University of Leeds, where she was the lead on the Student Theme of their first major campaign, “Making a World of Difference”, which successfully raised over £60 million. Fiona has experience with multidimensional campaigns and is particularly skilled in fundraising for bursary and outreach projects. Her roles at GSAL and Giggleswick have had the same focus on the professionalisation of development activity; establishing protocols and procedures, developing events and engagement strategies, and, of course, fundraising using a variety of channels from direct mail to principal giving.

Lisa Williams has worked in the Development and Alumni Relations team at Exeter for over 17 years. During that time, Lisa has held a variety of roles including regular giving, legacy and major gift fundraising. In 2014 Lisa was appointed to the newly created role of Head of Operations and now oversees the prospect research, data and insight, finance and donor relations functions.

Fran Sponsler is Executive Director, Proposition Development and Campaign at London Business School and has twenty years of experience in higher education management. Since moving from the US in 2011, she has served in a variety of fundraising roles. She joined LBS nine years ago, focusing on annual and leadership annual giving. Now sitting within Advancement Operations, Fran and her team oversee proposition development, Advancement communications and the delivery of the School’s £200m Forever Forward Campaign.

Amy has played a leading role at Pears Foundation since 2007 and has been Director since 2012. She works closely with Sir Trevor and the Pears family to help them achieve their philanthropic vision, leading the Foundation’s strategy, operations and professional team and overseeing a varied portfolio of programmes and grants. 

Amy has been instrumental in building the professional infrastructure that has enabled the Foundation to grow from modest beginnings to its current size, whilst retaining its strong focus on relationships and trust-based grant-making. She has worked with leaders and organisations across the voluntary sector, from grass-roots start-ups to universities and large charities, building strong relationships and helping them to make a real impact.

Amy leads Pears Foundation’s higher education work that spans causes from autism education to public health to the teaching of digital literacy. She also played a leading role in the establishment of the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education. She currently sits as a Commissioner on the Foundation's Commission into Countering Online Conspiracy in Schools.

In her spare time, she is Chair of Trustees of the Miscarriage Association.

Sarah is an economic historian and has a PhD in the history of philanthropy. In the 10 years that she has worked in HE fundraising (first at LSE & currently at Imperial College), she has raised nearly £110 million from USA foundations. Prior to being a fundraiser, Sarah was a research analyst at the Bank of England with specific responsibilities for policy recommendations and data provision relating to gilt-edged securities.

Spencer is the Head of Development- Legacies at the University of Oxford, having joined the University in 2022. For many years, a one-person operation, the Legacies team at Oxford will soon increase to four members of staff, reflecting the scale and future growth potential of this important source of funding to the University. 

Spencer’s background is in the Law and in national charity legacy fundraising. He is a Solicitor, specialising in Charity Law and Trusts and Probate and was Head of Legacies & Stewardship at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home from 2008 to 2022.