Kerrie joined Aston University in 2018, leading alumni and supporter engagement and development services. Aston exists to serve its beneficiaries – students, business, our region and society – and Kerrie works strategically across the University to develop alumni support for these, and to address international and employability priorities. Kerrie worked in recruitment at a senior level before seeing the light and entering the world of alumni relations in 2011. She joined the University of Birmingham as their first Volunteer Relationship Manager, becoming Deputy Head of Alumni Relations in 2014 and then Head of Engagement, leading an award-winning team producing innovative work across communications, events, student engagement and donor relations. Kerrie is passionate about collaboration and development communities. She is a member of the CASE Talent Management network, an Advisory Board member for TEDx Aston University and has been a speaker for IDPE and AUA as well as CASE.

Tristan is currently the Deputy Director of Alumni Engagement & Annual Giving at Durham University and is responsible for both the strategic and operational delivery of key integrated activities including events, communications, volunteering and annual giving to a global alumni community of over 200,000 alumni and supporters. With over 17 years extensive business experience of alumni and corporate relations, fundraising, business development, international recruitment, communications, marketing, sales and customer led service provision, Tristan has held senior management roles both in the UK and Australia and brings a global perspective from over a decade of international stakeholder engagement. Tristan is a passionate supporter of, and long standing volunteer to CASE and is focused on enhancing the Advancement profession through mentoring, the sharing of best practice and ideas and networking with colleagues across the world.

Nena brings over fifteen years of international experience in the higher education sector. At Hertie School, the University of Governance in Berlin, she is responsible for alumni engagement and the strategic growth of the School’s global alumni network in 110 countries. Prior to Hertie, Nena was in charge of alumni relations at the Central European University (CEU) in Vienna and Budapest. A number of successful initiatives were developed under her leadership, including the Thesis Buddy Project, which won a CASE Circle of Excellence Award 2022 in volunteer engagement category. Prior to CEU, Nena had managed programmes at leading global organisations, including CASE in London, the Institute of International Education (IIE) and Open Society Foundation (OSF) in Budapest. A firm believer in collaboration and the power of sharing best practice, Nena is active CASE volunteer and has served as speaker, editorial board member, conference co-chair and task force member. A North Macedonia native, Nena has lived and worked internationally for nearly two decades, is fluent in number of languages and considers herself a citizen of the world. 

Sarah Sherwood is a communications and advancement specialist. She has spent nearly 25 years developing and executing high-impact communications, engagement and advancement strategies at organizations such as the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (Barcelona, Spain) and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, a large-scale intergovernmental organization dedicated to the life sciences, based in Heidelberg, Germany. She has extensive experience in institutional and science communications, international alumni relations, stakeholder engagement, and fundraising. She is now working as a freelance consultant, based in Lyon, France.