WASHINGTON, DC – The Council for Advancement and Support of Education announced that it has received $300,000 from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to support the launch and growth of its Opportunity and Inclusion Center (OIC).

The OIC was conceived during an 18-month planning grant from The Kresge Foundation and guided by a volunteer task force. The center focuses on improving diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) in advancement, enhancing the advancement capabilities in Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) and increasing the diversity pipeline for advancement professionals in service of educational attainment for all.

The OIC will serve as a resource on and for MSIs, contributing to the development, training and research associated with generating capacity and building external support for student success.

“We are thrilled to bring the CASE Opportunity and Inclusion Center to fruition with this generous grant from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation,” says CASE CEO and President Sue Cunningham. “CASE is proud to be part of a community that is collaborative, inclusive and embracing of diversity as our member institutions focus on the role that education plays in advancing a more just and equitable society. I am grateful to our dedicated volunteers who helped CASE develop this concept, and to Rob Henry, CASE Vice President of Development, Culture and Talent who leads this crucial work for CASE.”

Some of the services and resources the OIC will provide include advancement program and alumni association assessments; development, mentoring, diversity talent pipeline development and search; and data, benchmarking and metrics.

“This grant represents an incredible opportunity for CASE to bolster our DEIB programs, trainings and resources, building on the work we have already done to develop industry best practices and increase the diversity of advancement professionals at all levels,” says Henry.

This includes recruiting and hiring a seasoned professional to lead the OIC that will work with DEIB experts and CASE volunteers including the District Opportunity & Inclusion chairs to develop, coordinate and shape DEIB trainings.

“We’re happy to support the launch and growth of the CASE Opportunity and Inclusion Center,” says Larry Kramer, president of the Hewlett Foundation. “Higher education is still the leading pathway for achievement, and advancement is the lifeblood of higher education. Helping make the field more diverse and inclusive and capable of supporting minority serving institutions can be catalytic for efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion across a wide array of fields.”

CASE is dedicated to helping institutions connect with their diverse constituencies and to creating pathways for current and future advancement professionals from diverse backgrounds. In addition to the OIC, CASE has DEIB programs across the globe such as Advancement Internship and Graduate Trainee Programs, the Minority Advancement Institute and the Conference on Diverse Philanthropy and Leadership, an inclusion statement and toolkit for members, and DEIB communities for connecting and sharing best practices including the CASE Europe Multi-Cultural Network. The OIC will conduct its first Institute for Minority Serving Institutions on September 22-23.

“The work that CASE is doing to improve diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in the advancement profession and at MSIs with the Opportunity and Inclusion Center will be a boon for all educational institutions,” says Terry Flannery, CASE Board of Trustees chair-elect and interim vice president for marketing and communications at Stony Brook University. “I look forward to using and sharing the resources and programming that will emerge from the OIC as CASE members and volunteers look to embrace understanding and accountability as we collaborate with each other and our institutions to transform lives and society.”