OIC: Opportunity and Inclusion Center
Advancement is the pathway to social change. CASE's OIC: Opportunity and Inclusion Center™ is answering the call to drive change and provide social justice solutions that will advance education to transform lives and provide educational attainment for all. The OIC is building a global network of scholars, advancement experts and advocates who critically evaluate the social norms, values and practices within advancement that stifle institutional change.
Looking to hire? Looking to advance your career? Visit the CASE Career Central jobs board.
Answering the Call
CASE's OIC: Opportunity and Inclusion Center is answering the call to drive change and provide social justice solutions that will advance education to transform lives and provide educational attainment for all. Download the brochure to learn more.
Key Priorities
Identify and dismantle systemic barriers in advancement.
Establish Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging acumen in the advancement profession.
Aid historically under-resourced institutions and Indigenous communities.
Cultivate and grow a diverse advancement pipeline for the profession.
CASE Advancement DEIB Continuum Services
CASE provides the services needed for an organization to assess its DEIB maturity and make the critical changes needed to identify and create strategies to dismantle the systemic barriers in advancement. This continuum of services is foundational to the development of a robust organizational DEIB journey.
Diversity Mission Statement
CASE has adopted the following diversity mission statement:
We aspire to help institutions connect with their diverse constituencies and create pathways for current and future employees of diverse backgrounds. CASE defines diversity as age, culture, disability, ethnicity, gender (identity and expression), nationalities, sexual orientations, religion, and race.
Advancement Capacity Building Services
The OIC offers a comprehensive set of capacity building DEIB products and services designed to transform organizational systems and processes for quantitative and qualitative goals.
An advancement-centric assessment tool created to aid member organizations in taking inventory of DEIB maturity and organizational DEIB readiness.
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging Training
CASE provides bespoke DEIB training to operationalize DEIB goals and expand leadership, staff and DEIB committee capacities.
Advancement Leadership Consultation
Expert OIC staff provide assessment and custom consultations grounded in research & practitioner experience.
Conferences, Seminars, Workshops, and Toolkits
Continued education content and resources delivered to advancement professionals to expand DEIB acumen. In addition, content from the CASE Library can be curated to supplement toolkit resources.
A retention solution performed by identity-centered executive advisors who offer confidential counsel and serve as a credible sounding board to help diverse senior leaders navigate dynamic organizational cultures.
CASE offers two early career programs to assist with recruiting diverse professionals into the advancement profession: the CASE Graduate Trainee Program (year-long residency) and CASE Advancement Internship Program (summer eight-week program).
CASE Career Central provides employers access to applicants of diverse backgrounds to assist with recruiting needs.
DEI Legislation Tracker
The Chronicle of Higher Education is tracking a variety of prohibitive legislation in U.S. states and the U.S. Congress:
Meet Our Team
Rob Henry (he/him)
Vice President, People, Culture, and Talent
Ben Fiore-Walker, Ph.D. (he/him)
Senior Director, Opportunity and Inclusion Center
Jessica Elmore, Ed.D. (she/her)
Senior Director, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Training
Robyn Neeley (she/her)
Director, Talent Management
Carl Simien, Ph.D. (he/him)
Senior Manager, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Training
Maeva Ofranc
Talent Programme & Project Manager
Thaís Andrade (she/her)
Talent Coordinator
Gracie Perine
CASE Associate, People, Culture, and Talent
Will Thomas
CASE Associate, People Culture, and Talent
Opportunity and Inclusion Chairs
CASE's eight district Opportunity & Inclusion chairs play a vital role in supporting CASE's ongoing efforts in DEIB. During their tenure as chairs, they work closely with the CASE Senior Director of the Opportunity and Inclusion Center to develop, coordinate and shape DEIB programs at both the district and national level.
Goals for the chair group include:
- Create, advocate, and facilitate DEIB programming at the district level.
- Increase the number of presentations, broaden the topics and build an audience of professionals at the district conferences.
- Welcome and engage new professionals of diverse backgrounds to the district and or the profession.
- Identify names of senior-level professionals of diverse backgrounds for consideration in the nomination process.
- Serve as a mentor for professionals and students of diverse backgrounds.
US/Canada
District I
Meret Nahas
Director of Leadership and Planned Giving, The Rivers School
Miriam McLean
Senior Director, Alumni Engagement, Office of Alumni Engagement at Tufts University
District II
Amy Brokl
Director of Development, Regional Programs
Development and Alumni Relations | Johns Hopkins University and Medicine
District III
Renee Bazemore
Senior Director, Advancement, Alumni Affairs
Georgia State University
District IV
Courtney Strickland
Associate for Development in the Office of University of Relations and Development at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
District V
Justin Gibson
Director of Development, Carl H. Lindner College of Business The University of Cincinnati Foundation
District VI
Jamie Hurst
AVP for Strategic Engagement at Metropolitan State University of Denver
District VII
Erin Keller
Vice President Advancement Nevada State University
Manaf Mansure
Nonprofit Consultant and Freelance Project Manager
District VIII
Jason Thomas
Director, Talent Management
Oregon State University Foundation
Christina Bauzon
Associate Director, VCC Foundation
Vancouver Community College
STAFF
Benjamin Fiore-Walker
Senior Director, Opportunity and Inclusion Center
Council for Advancement and Support of Education
bfiorewalker@case.org