RAISE Podcast

As Vice Chancellor for Advancement and the Executive Vice President of the UC San Diego Foundation, Ann Spira holds the overall managerial responsibility for all university fundraising campaigns and transformational initiatives. In addition, Ann provides the strategy and facilitation of the top-tier volunteer leadership for the Campaign for UC San Diego, which successfully concluded at $3 billion.

Ann joined UC San Diego after a 30-year career in the performing arts, most recently as Deputy General Director of San Diego Opera. A natural innovator of marketing and development programs, Ann helped propel San Diego Opera into an internationally recognized company, hailed for both artistic and fiscal excellence. Responsible for leading the revenue team and board development units, she created a $100M long-range strategic plan and led the ongoing recruitment and leadership of the 60-member Board of Directors, one of the most highly contributing and respected Boards in the region.

Daniel "Dan" Frezza is chief advancement officer of Institutional Advancement and executive director of the College of Charleston Foundation. He began this position in February 2023.

Frezza leads an organization of professionals engaged in a coordinated, campus-wide approach to university development, alumni relations, stewardship and advancement services in efforts to establish and grow a culture of engagement and philanthropy. He is also responsible for overseeing institutional funds management and growing the endowed funds held for the College by the College of Charleston Foundation. He serves as a member of the president’s cabinet and works in close partnership with the president, provost, executive team, deans and volunteer boards.

Before joining the College, Frezza served as associate vice president of strategic operations and annual giving at William & Mary and the chief strategic operations officer for the William & Mary Foundation. Frezza’s leadership was instrumental in many of William & Mary’s most recent philanthropic achievements in their billion-dollar For the Bold campaign, especially in the areas of alumni participation and engagement. Before joining William & Mary in 2011, Frezza was the director of annual giving at Appalachian State University and, prior to that, assistant director of alumni programs at East Carolina University.

Frezza has a master of education in higher education administration from North Carolina State University and a bachelor of science in communication with a minor in business from Western Carolina University.

Education

2006: M.E., Higher Education, North Carolina State University

2004: B.S. Communication, Western Carolina University

Brittney Snyder is the Assistant Vice President for Unit Development at the ASU Foundation where she leads a team of fundraising professionals who are embedded within colleges at ASU. Brittney provides vision, strategy, and support to fundraising teams in advancement of the ASU charter.

With more than 12 years of industry experience, she has demonstrated expertise in the areas of major gifts, grants, parent philanthropy and annual giving. Most recently Brittney served as the Sr. Director of Development for Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. Brittney has a Bachelor's degree in Music Education and her Master's in Flute Performance.

Eloise Dunn Brice joined the University of Houston System in 2012 as vice chancellor for advancement for the University of Houston System and vice president for advancement for the University of Houston. Eloise is responsible for overseeing UHAA, fundraising, and volunteer engagement. Additionally, she serves as a member of the President’s Cabinet. She leads a system wide organization of over 175 employees, with private support of $202 million in 2019.

Prior to joining the University of Houston team, Eloise held leadership positions at the University of Oregon, Pennsylvania State University, and Vanderbilt University. She also served as a higher education fundraising consultant at Grenzebach Glier & Associates. Eloise is the author of "Don't Make Me Fundraise! A Guide for Reluctant Fundraising Volunteers," which was published in 2020.

Tamara Michel Josserand has more than three decades of successful experience working in institutional advancement, strategic leadership and stakeholder management roles. She currently serves as the vice president for development at the University of Washington. In this role, she leads the university’s fundraising efforts by partnering with the development team and University, philanthropic and civic leaders to galvanize support for the UW’s vision, mission and values.

Prior to joining the UW in 2022, she led advancement at the University of Redlands in California, where she successfully completed an historic $206 million comprehensive campaign. Prior to that, she held key roles and leadership positions at the University of Illinois at Chicago; the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; University of Chicago; Northwestern University; and Yale University. She also served as a senior consultant for the national fundraising consulting firm, Campbell and Company, and over the years, has provided support and strategy for numerous not-for-profits, as well as large and small colleges and universities across the country.

Tamara has a breadth of experience leading development efforts at both public and private institutions, and a deep belief in the value of higher education, passion for student success, and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Tamara earned her B.A. in Government from Connecticut College, and a Master of Education at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education. She also holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

With over 30 years of experience in higher education advancement, David Lively has directed successful development strategies across five comprehensive fundraising campaigns. Lively joined Northwestern University in January 2012 and in his current role managed "We Will. The Campaign for Northwestern," a $6.1 billion University-wide fundraising campaign. At Northwestern, he oversees a team of 60 development professionals responsible for principal gifts, regional and international major gifts (including offices in New York and San Francisco), and gift planning.

Lively earned a bachelor's degree in history from Southern Methodist University, a master's degree in history from Colorado State University, an MBA from the University of Denver's Daniels College of Business, and a certificate from the Management Development Program at Harvard University's Graduate School of Education. In April 2017, he authored Managing Major Gift Fundraisers: A Contrarian's Guide (published by CASE).

Jenna Goodman is Co-Founder & CEO of Generous Change. As a fundraiser, she managed the largest team at KU Endowment, contributing toward a record total for the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences in a $1.6B campaign. Previously, she raised funds for her alma mater, the University of Central Missouri. While still in college, she bought, ran, and sold a drive-thru espresso shop.

Justin Fincher is Vice President for Advancement and Executive Director of the Stony Brook Foundation. Reporting directly to President McInnis and serving as a member of her senior management team, Fincher provides leadership for the university’s development and alumni relations operations.

Since 2013, while at Ohio State University (OSU), Fincher has been responsible for strategy, operations, and resources to mobilize multibillion-dollar campaigns effectively and engage hundreds of thousands of alumni and donors in developing philanthropic support for the institution’s mission and goals. In that role, he manages a team of 125 staff and cultivates philanthropic support for academic departments and medicine.

He led the successful conclusion of OSU’s previous $3 billion campaign, one that engaged 750,000 donors, and oversaw the planning and launch of its latest $4.5 billion campaign. He served as Chief Operating Officer of the OSU Alumni Association and worked closely with its board, and is providing interim leadership for the 80-person fundraising team for Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center and Health Science Colleges, which raises $200 million annually. Before his work at OSU, Fincher held leadership roles at Rutgers University and Johns Hopkins University.

A higher education leader with a growing national reputation in the advancement profession, Fincher is an active volunteer leader in the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). He also developed and leads the Advancement Leadership Lab, a joint venture of nine public research universities to accelerate the growth of senior leadership in their advancement organizations.

Bill Miller is passionate about working with nonprofit organizations. He has assisted regional, national, and international organizations with major gift initiatives, annual giving programs, planning and feasibility studies, development audits and philanthropic capability assessments, endowment programs, board training and development, corporate and foundation relations, prospect research, and campaign management. During his career, he has been involved with fund development projects that have raised more than $1 billion.

Bill has received a number of awards for his contributions to philanthropy and fundraising including the coveted Robert J. Smythe Award for Outstanding Professional Fundraiser. He regularly presents at industry conferences, authors articles for leading nonprofit and professional publications, and serves as a guest speaker on radio segments as well as podcasts. Bill has taught at Duquesne University and started an internship program with Carnegie-Mellon University students interested in philanthropic resource development.

Bill also has many years of experience working as a nonprofit management and fundraising consultant with CCS, which is one of the largest and most respected international fundraising firms in the country. During his time with CCS, he served as the Executive Director for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh’s $125 million capital and endowment campaign, which has received more than $233 million in philanthropic commitments and was, at the time, the most successful Catholic fundraising initiative on record. As a consultant, Bill also managed an international campaign for a nonprofit organization based in Paris, France. This particular campaign, which was conducted in both the United States and Europe, solicited gifts in various currencies and involved the management and training of volunteers on two continents.

Bill lives with his daughter in Rahway, NJ.