CASE Podcasts:

Leadership Conversations:

Take a journey with President and CEO Sue Cunningham as she explores the issues that matter most to advancement leaders.

NEW! Listen to Episode 11: A Conversation with Deb Taft

Sue Cunningham interviews Deb Taft, CEO of the global executive search firm, and CASE Educational Partner, Lindauer. Their conversation provides thoughtful discussion on the importance of diversifying leadership in advancement, across education, and throughout the non-profit sector with Deb’s vital advice: “never blame diversity on the pipeline; be relentless; do the work – during the search, after the hire.” Deb also shares invaluable insights on the power of internationalization.  

 

Episode 10: A Conversation with Meg Bradley

In this episode of the CASE xChange, Sue Cunningham interviews Meg Bradley, Head of School at Santa Catalina School in Monterey, California. Meg’s path to her role was through the arts and also as an advancement leader. Their conversation explores the skills she has brought from those experiences to becoming the first lay leader of Santa Catalina, a school that includes a co-ed lower school and an all-girls boarding upper school. Hear how she leads her school with an eye for mission-driven change, renewal and growth, particularly in the challenging times brought about by COVID-19. 

 

Episode 9: A Conversation with Professor Rufus Black

Sue Cunningham speaks with Professor Rufus Black, Vice-Chancellor and President of University of Tasmania in Australia. They explore how the pandemic has provided focus upon the importance of the small things in life that truly make a difference. They look back on the innovations that arose in finance out of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, and what lessons those innovations may provide for higher education in this current context. 

Learn more about Tasmania, its role as the gateway to Southern Ocean and the Antarctic; its complex history; and how Rufus stewards the University through attention to its communities to ensure it meets Tasmania’s needs. 

Episode 8: A Conversation with Peter Mathieson

Sue Cunningham speaks with Professor Peter Mathieson, Principal, University of Edinburgh about his leadership of the University of Edinburgh, life under COVID-19, and the similarities and differences in leading universities in Hong Kong and in the United Kingdom. They discuss the importance of advancement, and how it is at different stages of evolution regionally. Professor Mathieson shares his view on the immense value of Edinburgh’s 200,000 – member strong “fantastic army of people with an interest in the university.” And finally, hear what he is most looking forward to once travel is a possibility again – it will make you smile. 

 

Episode 7: A Conversation with Tim Hands

Sue Cunningham interviews Dr. Timothy Hands, Headmaster of Winchester College, an all-boys boarding school in Winchester, Hampshire, England. Winchester College was founded in 1382. He became headmaster in 2016, after eight years as Master at Magdalen College School in Oxford, where Sue served on the Board of Trustees. 

Their conversation starts with a discussion of the parallel universes of those experiencing COVID-19 personally and those who are not directly affected. He discusses his interest in the conditions that produce the works of literature, as a parallel to the circumstances that enable educators to better understand and motivate their students through curiosity about their individual backgrounds so that educators are able to motivate them and understand them. The interview closes with an interesting discussion of “comms squared” and how communications is the backbone of community.

 

Episode 6: A Conversation with Glyn Davis

Sue Cunningham has a conversation with Professor Glyn Davis, AC, Chief Executive Officer of the Paul Ramsay Foundation, Australia’s largest philanthropic foundation. Its ambition is unambiguous: To break cycles of disadvantage in Australia. He began his role at the Foundation in early 2019. Prior to this role, Professor Davis served as vice-chancellor of the University of Melbourne from 2005 through 2018. Their conversation explores the excitement of leading a foundation with such an important mission, and how relationships with their funding partners help accomplish their goals. They discuss the threefold crisis Australia has encountered over the last year (a prolonged drought, the subsequent bush fires, and COVID-19), and how the foundation is working with its partners to move them through these crises and support them in achieving their own strategic work. 

They also discuss the differences in leading an institution of the scale of the University of Melbourne vs the intimacy of leading a foundation with a much smaller team, and the benefits that creates for the CEO to dig deeper into the execution of the mission. Hear his perspective on relationships with universities and other funding partners. He shares leadership advice and interesting insights about being in a two-vice-chancellor marriage, perhaps one of the only examples of such an interesting academic couple. Finally, learn about how this essential foundation confirmed its purpose even though its benefactor left no instructions for implementing his wishes.

 

Episode 5: A Conversation with David Dini

Sue Cunningham interviews David Dini, a longtime CASE volunteer, former CASE Trustee, who serves as the Eugene McDermott Headmaster at St. Mark’s School of Texas, where he has worked for more than a quarter-century. He came to St Mark’s to create a comprehensive advancement program in 1994 and was named headmaster in 2014. They discuss the challenges in managing crises as a leader through the unusual circumstance of facing both a devastating tornado that extensively damaged the school in the autumn of 2019 followed by the pandemic within months. They also discuss the path to school leadership through a career in advancement, and how that prepared him for his role, and the changing nature of his relationships with students, faculty, and the community of St. Mark’s supporters when moving from advancement to head of school. Finally, if you listen closely, you will hear a piece of advice that made a life-changing difference for Dini early in his career, which likely contributed to a similar result for St. Marks’s School of Texas. 

 

Episode 4: A Conversation with Paul Ramsbottom

Sue and Paul discuss the importance of philanthropy today, why the relationship between funders and their recipients must be considered a partnership toward shared goals, and that these institution to institution relationships depend on the involvement of academic leaders in order to realise the outcomes that the foundation and the institution are seeking to achieve. Mr. Ramsbottom underscored the need for professionalised advancement and development teams especially when as they interact with philanthropies and foundations. They discuss the changes taking place in how work gets accomplished, how the Wolfson Foundation has shifted its operations in the face of the pandemic, and why they continue to focus on their core mission instead of pivoting completely to funding for covid-19.

Paul Ramsbottom is Chief Executive of the Wolfson Foundation and its sister charity, the Wolfson Family Charitable Trust. Paul takes a wider interest in issues relating to philanthropy in the UK as a speaker and writer. He has undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in History from the University of Oxford. 

Outside of philanthropy, he has an interest in international development which includes founding the Savannah Education Trust—a charity which works in West Africa—and sitting on the Board of Mercy Ships UK. His hometown university, the University of Bedfordshire, awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2013. In January 2020 he was awarded an OBE for services to charity.  

Episode 3: A Conversation with Cheryl de la Rey

Sue Cunningham has a conversation with Professor Cheryl de la Rey, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Canterbury, on what turned out to be the first day of ‘Level Two’ reopening on the country of New Zealand after seven weeks of lockdown during the covid-19 pandemic. Their conversation covered similarities and differences across universities, countries, and academic cultures; the impact of the pandemic on international education; and the vital importance of bringing multiple global perspectives to our campuses and even more importantly bringing a diversity of intellectual approaches to problems we are trying to solve. The conversation wraps with a focus on why our network matters, the importance of connecting to one another even in times like the current pandemic, and how we can emerge from this situation even stronger.

 

Episode 2: A Conversation with Amy Carrier

In this episode, Sue Cunningham interviews Amy Carrier, senior director, advancement information management at the Oregon State University Foundation, about her experience working from home during COVID-19. They discuss the innovations and changes taking place at Oregon State University. They also have a heartfelt conversation about how Amy cares for her mother who lives with Amy, and who has Alzheimer’s disease. The conversation explores how advancement leaders may need to consider the experiences their teams are having during this time of telecommuting where the stresses may even be more considerable than during normal times. 

 

Episode 1: A Conversation with Serge Sych

Sue Cunningham, president and CEO of CASE, speaks with Serge Sych, vice president for enrollment management, career services & alumni relations at Central European University. Serge explains how his advancement team at a global university manages in times of change, including building new strategies to be flexible, virtual, and authentic. He also shares how his team is looking at long-term planning to deliver a new student experience based on changing economics and psychology.

 

Voices from the Field:

In this podcast series ‘Voices from the Field’, we will hear from members of our community as they share their knowledge and insights, covering all facets of advancement from a practitioner, leader and industry expert’s point of view. Join Heather Hamilton, Executive Director of CASE Asia-Pacific and Brad Entwistle, Founding Partner of imageseven as they chat with our guests.

Episode 10: Voices from the Field - A Conversation with Rossie Ogilvie - Celebrating our CASE Circle of Excellence Award Winner and Economics of Advancement

Heather and Brad chat with Rossie Ogilvie, Vice-Principal (Advancement) at The University of Sydney about the recent AU$20 million donation received for immunology research from CLEARbridge Foundation; the award-winning publication ‘A Billion Possibilities: Stories from the INSPIRED Philanthropic Campaign’ and how it was used for high-touch donor engagement, leading to bequest confirmations and a major gift. Rossie also shares her thoughts on why engagement has to be even more intentional in our new environment, where trust is extremely critical, and what is next for her team. The conversation wraps up with a discussion on how we can frame the role of advancement in bringing in funding for the University in an era where all universities will be tightening their belt, and three tips to overcome future challenges in advancement.

 

Episode 9: A Conversation with Ruth O’Hanlon - Planned Giving

Having relocated from Australia to the UK, Ruth O'Hanlon joins us for a conversation on planned giving. Ruth currently leads the Advancement team as the Director of Development at Sevenoaks School Foundation, an almost 600-year old independent school built on philanthropic giving and legacy. Listen in to pick up pointers on starting and maintaining a planned giving programme, why it is important to start early, and how to be an effective planned giving manager. Ruth also shares how Sevenoaks maintained their planned giving programme where in-person contact is reduced, and their strategy to ensure legacy enquiry is a part of an overall appeal.

 

Episode 8: A Conversation with Barbara Miles - Advancement Insights and Career, and Volunteering with CASE

In this episode, we speak to Barbara Miles, who has recently been conferred the John Lippincott Award for Global Advancement and Support of Education under the 2020 CASE Distinguished Service Awards. Barbara takes us on her global career journey from a music teacher in the UK and Bahamas, to the first Vice-President (Advancement) at Australian National University, ANU. She discusses how she navigated her first 100 days at ANU, and how she learnt about CASE and got involved as a volunteer. Also, hear about ANU’s three-year campaign – ‘Support Australia’s Students’ – that raises funds to support equity scholarships at ANU, and their award-winning fundraising video Students + You: Aled and Arun's Story.

Listeners can also look forward to hearing Barbara’s insightful perspectives on how the advancement profession has changed and grown, as well as on leading a new advancement team.

 

Episode 7: A Conversation with Kevin Lynch - Everything Is a Canvas – Branding and Marketing Through Storytelling

In this episode, we talk to Kevin Lynch, Director of Marketing & Communications at Shanghai American School (SAS). Previously from BBDO, Kevin shares how he combined his advertising experience with his experience as a parent of an SAS student and started his journey as the first Director of Marketing & Communications at SAS. We explore with Kevin why storytelling is important, how to tell a good story, and how it can give supporters the ability to be transformed into advocates and drivers of the brand - building a solid and vibrant community.

Kevin also discusses how SAS came up with a masterful piece of storytelling (click here for the full video) for SAS’s 2020 online graduation ceremony to captivate their audience with a powerful message to celebrate the graduating cohort's accomplishments. Listeners can also pick up a few interesting anecdotes from SAS' story finding on who is responsible for restarting the school in 1980, and on how they named a new conference room.

 

Episode 6: A Conversation with Karen Brown - Building Your Talent Pool in Advancement

What is the CASE Asia-Pacific Graduate Trainee Programme (GTP)? Is it valuable to help my institution identify passionate advancement talent?

In this episode, we hear from Karen Brown, Senior Manager, Planned Giving, External Relations, Development and Alumni, Office of the President and Vice-Chancellor at Monash University about her journey as a GTP supervisor since 2018. Now in its 3rd year, Monash has successfully recruited their past 2 graduates as full-time employees. She shares her experience working with current trainees and how Monash plans their programme in the current environment, including job rotations within different departments. She also touches on the importance of mental wellbeing of the trainees, ensuring they have a support system to rely on. Hear from first-hand experience on how the GTP is a two-way learning process, with not only the trainees learning from experienced colleagues, but also making an impact on the work environment at Monash.

 

Episode 5: A Conversation with Liza Boffen-Yordanov, CFRE - Annual Giving

In this episode on annual giving, Heather and Brad chat with Liza Boffen-Yordanov, CFRE, Chief Development Officer and Executive Director, Development Office, Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Liza starts by taking us on her career journey from US to India and Singapore, sharing what motivates her in the work that she does, and what she enjoys most in her current role. Liza then delves into NTU’s annual giving campaigns, particularly about staff and faculty giving and how they achieved a higher giving rate over the last month than before. She also shares about NTU’s first ‘evergreen fund' - the NTU Priorities Funds that aims to continue the cycle of philanthropy. Listen in to find out how you can enhance your annual giving campaigns as well as Liza’s pointers on her top three success factors in annual giving.

 

Episode 4: A Conversation with Mark Bentley - Organisational Culture and Advancement

How do organisations maintain a healthy culture, particularly in this environment? Mark Bentley, Director, Alumni Relations and Development from The University of Auckland talks about organisational culture and advancement - the importance of team culture and striking a balance between a performance, caring and mission-based culture. He also shares how his team maintained a positive culture and worked together to ensure it's business as usual. Listeners can also look forward to tips on maintaining positive organisational culture into the future.

 

Episode 3: A Conversation with Susan Wan - Alumni Engagement and Support

In this episode, we caught up with Susan Wan, Director of Development at The Alice Smith School in Malaysia. Susan shared details of the KLASSicscares campaign, her school’s recent initiative in response to the pandemic. Learn how being creative and impactful in the current uncertainty shaped some of The Alice Smith School’s upcoming plans, including their 75^th anniversary milestone next year.

 

Episode 2: A Conversation with Dr. Imad Baalbaki - Philanthropy During Times of Crisis

In this episode, Dr. Imad Baalbaki, Vice President for Advancement, American University of Beirut, shares his thoughts on leading a USD650 million fundraising campaign during times of crisis and driving efforts to secure philanthropic funds for students in financial need. He also provides some insights as to how critical the university leadership team is in helping to achieve their philanthropic objectives.

 

Episode 1: A Conversation with Sue Cunningham - Global CASE: What Does the Future Look Like?

In the first episode of ‘Voices from the Field’ series, CASE President and CEO Sue Cunningham chats with Heather Hamilton, Executive Director of CASE Asia-Pacific, and Brad Entwistle, Founding Partner of imageseven. In this conversation, Sue shares how the work of CASE has pivoted digitally, as well as the current global environment being a motivation to bring forward our determination in developing more virtual content. She also affirms our commitment to digital strategies and providing you with a stronger set of blended educational opportunities in the future.

Coming Soon:

• CASE Latin America Podcast