Faculty
Meet Your Co-Chairs
Robert F. Sharpe Jr.
Robert F. Sharpe, Jr. is a nationally recognized leader and authority in the field of philanthropy. During more than three decades of service to thousands of America’s nonprofits, he has consulted with educational, health, social service, arts and religious organizations and institutions in the planning and implementation of their major, planned gift and endowment development efforts. He has mentored many of the nation’s leading nonprofit executives whose efforts have raised tens of billions of dollars that have helped fuel the transformation of the American experience.
An honors graduate of Vanderbilt University and Cornell Law School, he served as a development officer for a liberal arts college prior to practicing law with a major law firm specializing in taxation and estate planning.
Robert has been a pioneer in the area of “blended gifts” beginning in 1995 when he coined the term as part of a presentation at the national conference of the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners (CGA).
Robert is chair of the philanthropy editorial board of Trusts & Estates magazine and co-author of the CGP Model Standards of Gift Valuation. He has served on the board of Giving USA and on a number of strategic task forces for the CGP. He currently serves as an Advisory Council member for the Alliance for Charitable Reform in its efforts to preserve and expand favorable tax treatment for charitable gifts.
Shannon Woodward
Shannon Woodward oversees all individual and gift planning for the Gary Sinise Foundation and manages a national team of frontline major gift planners supporting a mission of veterans, first responders and their families. Before joining the foundation Shannon spent 17 years serving higher education with major and principal gift work. Most recently she was the sr. philanthropic advisor at Tulane University and previously served as the executive director of gift planning where she implemented and managed the Office of Gift Planning for the university, which integrated major and planned gifts and changed the development culture at Tulane. Her greatest joy is working with donors who make transformational philanthropic investments and sharing innovative ways to make their goals come to fruition.
Shannon has presented on faculty for many years at CASE and is a regular presenter with AFP, Association of Charitable Gift Planners, and Partnership for Philanthropic Planners. She offers consulting and training to various nonprofits and worked closely with the late Robert Sharpe, Jr. as a member of his Encore team. Shannon lives with her husband and four year old son in The Woodlands, TX.
Ashley Buderus
Ashley Buderus has worked in the field of advancement for over 15 years. Since joining the Aspen Leadership Group in 2018, she has focused her attention on executive search for leaders in higher education, arts and cultural organizations, health care, and social and community services.
Ashley most recently served as the Chief Executive Officer for Quarterly Forum, a non-partisan, not-for-profit leadership organization that educates and empowers Colorado’s most influential community leaders from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. She previously led the gift planning program for Children's Hospital Colorado Foundation, one of the nation's top children's hospitals, during their $400 million campaign. In addition, she served in a variety of major and planned giving positions for the University of Denver (DU), during their $500 million comprehensive campaign. One of her primary strengths is bringing together major, annual, planned, and corporate giving teams to enhance fundraising efforts at all levels.
Ashley has frequently presented at regional and national conferences, including the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners, and the Colorado Planned Giving Roundtable. She is active in several local community initiatives, including serving on El Pomar Foundation’s Trustee Council and Metro Regional Council.
Shari Fox
Shari Fox joined the University of Illinois Foundation in July 2014 and has senior responsibility for the principal gifts and gift planning programs across the three universities comprising the University of Illinois System. She also coordinates the University of Illinois System President's advancement activities.
Prior to joining the University of Illinois, she was assistant vice president for development at the University of Michigan, where she had senior responsibility for the Office of Gift Planning, Stewardship and Donor Relations, the faculty and staff campaign, and several constituent fundraising programs. She previously served as director of gift planning with the University of Cincinnati Foundation and began her career in banking and trust administration.
Fox is a past chair and former board member of the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners and a past president of the Greater Cincinnati Planned Giving Council. She has served on the faculty of the Planned Giving Institute at University of Richmond and on the Editorial Advisory Board for the monthly newsletter Planned Giving Today. She is also a fellow of the Advancement Leadership Academy.
She received her bachelor's degree in business administration with a major in finance from Miami University and her master's degree in business administration with a concentration in management from Xavier University.
Tia Graham
Tia Graham serves as the Vice President of Individual Giving. In this role, she works with a diverse group of donors to create outright and deferred gifts that meet a wide range of personal and financial goals. While at PBS, she also led a six-year capacity-building project that provided training to station development professionals, senior leadership, and governing boards. Tia previously served as the Director of Gift Planning at National Public Radio.
Prior to her time in public media, Tia held leadership positions in medical research, higher education, and community philanthropy. She has been responsible for starting and revitalizing fundraising programs in each of these sectors. Her allied experience includes a decade of work as a financial reporting accountant and estate planning attorney.
Tia is a frequent presenter for professional development organizations, most notably the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners (CGP), Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), and statewide estate planning councils.
She is a graduate of Northeastern State University (Oklahoma) with a BS in Accounting and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Tulsa College of Law. She is a member of CGP (Board Member 2021-2023), Women of Color in Philanthropy (WOC), the National Bar Association, and the Oklahoma Bar Association. She is a Freedman Citizen of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma.