For the past 15 years, school advancement has been my world. I have led teams, managed budgets, built campaigns from scratch, and sat in the meetings where heads and governors wrestle with the questions that keep them awake at night. I know what it feels like to be the person in the room making the case for advancement investment, and I know how much it matters to get that right.
At the moment, it matters more than ever. Schools are navigating one of the most turbulent periods any of us can remember. Economic uncertainty, shifting demographics, pressure on fees, and a political and social landscape that feels more volatile by the year. Yet in the midst of all of that, schools are being asked to do something more important than ever: prepare the next generation to be thoughtful, kind, resilient, and responsible global citizens. That is not a small thing. It is, arguably, the most important work there is. And the people in this community are the ones who make it possible. Without strong, sustainable advancement, schools cannot invest in the bursaries, the staff, the facilities, and the programmes that allow them to fulfil that mission. You are not a support function. You are central to everything.
In a previous career, I spent many years as a newspaper journalist and then as a broadcast journalist and producer at the British Broadcasting Corporation. This experience taught me something that has stayed with me ever since: The people closest to a story are rarely the ones telling it loudest.
That feels true of school advancement right now. The professionals doing this important work—recruiting families, raising funds, building alumni communities, and making the case for their schools to parents, donors, and boards—are in many cases doing extraordinary things quietly, without much of a platform and sometimes without much of a support network.
Schools make up a significant and vital part of CASE’s global membership. The breadth of what this community offers—from benchmarking data and professional development to peer connection across regions—can make a tangible difference to advancement professionals at every career stage. In my new role, I aim to get that message across to as many school advancement professionals as possible.
What excites me most is the international opportunity ahead. Schools in the U.S., Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America are doing serious, ambitious advancement work, and connecting those colleagues to a truly global peer network, sharing what works, building on common challenges, learning from each other across continents, is exactly what CASE is built to do. There is real momentum here and I am looking forward to building on it.
My first task, though, is to listen. Over the coming weeks I will be speaking with as many member schools as I can, and I would love to hear from you. Not just about what is working well, but about what you need more of. Are there topics you would like to see covered in a webinar? Networking opportunities you wish existed? Programme ideas that would make a real difference to you and your team? Your instincts about what would be most valuable will shape what we build next. Please do get in touch at [email protected]. I genuinely welcome the conversation.