2022 Individual Achievement Award Winners
Please join us in congratulating this year's winners for their outstanding accomplishments by registering for the online CASE District II Awards Celebration and Ceremony on Tuesday, June 7 at 4 p.m. ET. Register online to save your spot.
Jill Anderson | Professional of the Year Award
Jill C. Anderson serves as the Vice President for Development and Alumni Engagement at Moravian University & Theological Seminary (Bethlehem, Pa.) and Lancaster Theological Seminary (Lancaster, Pa.). Before her time at Moravian, Jill served in engagement and development leadership positions at Muhlenberg College (Allentown, Pa.), Drew University (Madison, N.J.), and at her alma mater, Lehigh University (Bethlehem, Pa.), where she started her career in higher education in 1999. Read more.
Poulomi Banerjee | 2022 Rising Star Award
Poulomi Banerjee (she/her/hers) is the Assistant Director of Annual Giving at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). Prior to this role, Poulomi was the Alumni and Development Coordinator planning regional programming for alumni and also worked in various offices in Student Affairs at UMBC. As a double alumna with her bachelor's and master's, she is dedicated to giving back to this community which gave her endless opportunities to grow personally and professionally. Read more.
Joel Bloom | Chief Executive Leadership Award
Dr. Bloom began his 28-year career at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) as a Vice President. NJIT is the state’s polytechnical university, baccalaureate through Ph.D. In 1998, Dr. Bloom was appointed as the founding Dean of the Albert Dorman Honors College, in addition to his vice president responsibilities. The Honors College currently enrolls over 750 scholars who come from 15 states and several foreign countries. The combined average SAT score (math and reading) is over 1525, and these honors STEM students are in the top 7 percent of high school graduates. Today, it is ranked among the nation’s top 10 honors colleges. Read more.
Pedro P. Govantes | Charles A. Wright Opportunity and Inclusion Leadership Award
Pedro Govantes is a recognized leader in professional development associations and in issues of diversity, equity and inclusion within the higher education advancement community. He is a past member of the board of directors of the Planned Giving Council of Greater Philadelphia. He served on two different committees at the University of Michigan that focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion and is currently serving on one at NYU. Pedro leads the Multicultural Advancement Professionals committee for CASE that focuses on helping young people, particularly young people of color, begin and thrive as professionals in higher education advancement. Pedro also mentors young professionals of color through the Association of Fundraising Professionals in New York City. Read more.
Norman Inkpen | 2022 Robert L. Payton Award for Voluntary Service Award
Norman Inkpen, a 1970 graduate of Kutztown University, is committed to giving current and future KU students the chance to fulfill their educational dreams. He is always the first to step up in order to provide his time, talent, and treasure to support the University and its initiatives. Norman has generously given to the University for over 30 years, and most recently established two endowed scholarships: one to benefit KU’s diverse student population and the other to assist with student retention.
Norman has served on the Kutztown University Foundation Board of Directors since 2015. In 2017, he accepted the role as Chair of the Foundation’s Campaign Committee. In the fiscal year 2018, the Kutztown University Foundation raised $3.1 million dollars. In the fiscal year 2021, $10.25 million was raised.
Learn More About the Awards
Charles A. Wright Opportunity and Inclusion Leadership Award
The Charles A. Wright Opportunity and Inclusion Award recognizes an advancement professional who displays leadership in fostering inclusion and diversity within the profession, on their campus, and/or within the surrounding community.
For more than 16 years, Chuck Wright has been a role model, a tireless advocate, and a relationship facilitator for hundreds of African-American, LatinX, and LGBTQ advancement professionals. Chuck’s own career success in the field of educational advancement provides him with a deep understanding of the challenges faced by underrepresented minorities in our field, particularly when it comes to leadership roles. As a dedicated leader within District II, Chuck advocated for resources to mobilize minority professionals and to create programming that moved beyond “diversity” to true inclusion. Beyond his professional contributions, Chuck has served as a mentor and trusted sage to a generation of minority advancement professionals. From presenting at conferences to being a friendly voice on the telephone or socializing at the end of the day, Chuck’s warm heart, quick wit, and solid advice have inspired many professionals to take the next step in their careers. For his unstinting efforts to identify, recruit and retain minority professionals to this industry and for convincing others that inclusion strengthens the fabric of our entire organization, the District II Cabinet created the Charles A. Wright Opportunity and Inclusion Leadership Award.
Learn more about submitting a nomination.
Chief Executive Leadership Award
This award recognizes a District II member institution's highest ranking officer for outstanding efforts in promoting the understanding and support of education. Nominees must demonstrate the ability to create vision and inspire others; establish a positive image of his/her institution's stature in the community; and encourage innovations and risk-taking among employees. The nominee also must be known as an active and supportive participant in significant advancement efforts.
Learn more about submitting a nomination.
Professional of the Year Award
This award recognizes a District II institutional advancement professional who has demonstrated exceptional achievement in the development of an institutional advancement program or innovative execution of programs within an area of advancement; contributed to the profession through work with CASE; and volunteered in service to the community or charitable organizations.
Learn more about submitting a nomination.
Robert L. Payton Award for Voluntary Service
Given annually to an individual who demonstrates leadership in advancement programs, the furtherance of the philanthropic tradition, and public articulation of needs, goals, and issues in education.
About Robert L. Payton
Robert L. Payton was a pioneer in the field of philanthropy and played a leading role in establishing philanthropy as an academic discipline. Payton was the nation's first full-time professor of Philanthropic Studies and the first full-time executive director of the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.
An active CASE volunteer, he served on the CASE Board of Trustees and on the CASE Commission on Senior Professionals and was a frequent speaker and author. He received the CASE Distinguished Service to Education Award in 1984.
In retirement, Payton spent a significant amount of his time writing and lecturing on the subject of philanthropy for foundations, community groups, scholars, and students. He died in 2011.
Learn more about submitting a nomination.
Rising Star Award
This award recognizes a professional, with less than five years of advancement experience, who demonstrates the potential for leadership in the areas of Advancement Services, Alumni Relations, Philanthropy, or Communications and Marketing. It honors the accomplishments of those whose early success demonstrates their enthusiasm for and commitment to the profession, and an understanding of the needs and goals of the philanthropic tradition.