2026 Agenda

Fireside Chat with Congresswoman Alma Adams (NC-12)

Moderator:Paul Brathwaite, Chief Strategist, Federal Street Strategies

9:00 am - 9:15 am

Opening Session

Dr. Tony Allen, President, Delaware State University; Dr. LaShawne Pryor, Interim Vice President, Institutional Advancement, Delaware State University

Plenary Session: Dr. John Wilson, Executive Director for McGraw Center for Educational Leadership

How Booker T. Washington Did Philanthropy and How It Informs Our Actions Today

Dr. A.L, Fleming, Chief Business Officer and Vice President for Development, Tuskegee University

HBCU Presidents Discussion

Dr. Javaune Adams-Gaston, President, Norfolk State University; Dr. Patricia Ramsey, President, Medgar-Evers College; Dr.Makola Abdullah, President, Virginia State University, General (Ret.) Darrell Williams, President, Hampton University; Moderator: Zaldwaynaka Scott, Esq., President Chicago State University

12:00 pm - 1:30 pm

12:30 pm

Lunch

AI Basics: Margie Vela, PhD, MBA, Lead for Strategic Academic Initiatives, Machine Learning University | Amazon Web Services

Woodrow Wilson Ballroom A

Using the Strada Scholars Model to Develop a Stronger Pipeline of Donors

Daryl Graham, Senior Vice President, HBCU and Engagement, Strada Education Foundation

Professional Development Breakout Sessions

• Presidents and Chancellors (Closed Session)
  • Location: Fort Washington Board Room 
• Advancement Vice Presidents and Vice Chancellors (Closed Session)
  • Dr. Marcus Ward, Sr. Vice President for Institutional Advancement, Alcorn State University and Ret. Col. Gregory Clark, Vice President for Institutional Advancement, Alabama State University
  • VP Only Roundtable Discussion - Mrs. Leandra Burgess, Vice President for Institutional Advancement, Benedict College
  • Location: Baltimore 4
• Advancement Services
  • The Art and Science of Fundraising – Where Advancement Services Meets Development
  • Jeff Shaw, CFRE, Vice President for University Advancement, Prairie View A&M University; Isoke Frank-Williams, Executive Director of Advancement Services, Texas Southern University
  • Location: Annapolis 1
• Alumni Relations 

  • Golden Opportunities: Inspiring Philanthropy Among 50-year Alumni

    This presentation explores how Alabama State University has transformed its Golden Class Reunion into a meaningful engagement and philanthropic initiative for alumni celebrating 50 years since graduation. It highlights the university’s yearlong planning process, relationship-building strategies, reunion traditions, class leadership model, and fundraising approach that inspire alumni to reconnect, give back, and leave a lasting legacy.

    Participants will learn practical strategies that can be replicated by other HBCUs to strengthen alumni engagement, increase philanthropic participation, and cultivate a culture of giving centered on student success and institutional advancement.

    Presenter: Ms. Aisha Ali, MPH, Alumni Relations Director - Alabama State University

  • From Engagement to Investment: Turning Alumni Affinity into Sustainable Philanthropy. This session will explore how Alumni Relations and Advancement professionals can work collaboratively to build stronger pipelines for engagement, stewardship, and giving. The session is designed to provide practical strategies, actionable takeaways, and meaningful discussion around creating a culture of philanthropy through alumni engagement. Karyn Nooks, Director of Alumni Relations, Fort Valley State University
    • Location: Baltimore 1

• Frontline Fundraisers
  • The Future of Fundraising: Skills tomorrow’s advancement teams need for success (presented by Give Campus)

  • Dr. Franklin Johnson-Norwood, Assistant Vice President for Alumni Engagement and Advancement Services at Virginia State University

    Princess Gamble, Vice President of Development and Alumni Relations at Howard University

    Shana Z. James, Assistant Vice President for Development at Norfolk State University

    John Michael Lee, Jr., Ph.D., CFRE, Vice President of University Advancement, South Carolina State University

    Jarietha Smallwood (formally Bennett), Partner Success Manager, GiveCampus (Panel Host)

  • Advancement is evolving rapidly. Institutions are navigating shifting donor expectations, expanding opportunities for corporate and philanthropic partnerships, rapid digital transformation, and the need to build sustainable fundraising capacity across campus. To thrive in the decade ahead, advancement teams must develop new capabilities that extend beyond traditional fundraising approaches. This forward-looking panel will explore the skills, partnerships, and mindsets that will define high-performing advancement teams in the years ahead. 
  • Location: Annapolis 2

• Amazon Web Services (AWS)

  • Building with Agentic AI — No Code Required

    A Hands-On Session for University Administrators Agentic AI is moving from talking point to daily workhorse, and you don’t need to write a line of code to put it to work. In this hands-on seminar, you’ll use Amazon Quick — an agentic AI assistant — to build a working internal tool and run a grounded research agent over your own institutional documents, all through plain-language prompts. Working from real administrator scenarios — policy lookup, accreditation evidence mapping, peer benchmarking, and turning meeting minutes into action items — you’ll learn how agentic AI reasons, uses tools, searches the web, and grounds its answers in your documents rather than guessing. Along the way we’ll cover the skills that actually matter in practice: writing effective prompts, steering an AI that makes mistakes, evaluating its output for accuracy, and handling sensitive campus data responsibly.

  • Location: Baltimore 3
• Foundation Directors Retreat (Closed Session)
  • Location: Annapolis 3

Leadership Reception (Invitation Only)

• Lower Atrium

The Business of HBCU Athletics: Building Sustainable Program

• Moderator: Cesley Tafoya, Deputy Commissioner, MEAC; Sonja Stills, Commissioner, MEAC; Cyrus Russ, Chief Operating Officer for Athletics, Alabama State University
• This panel discussion will explore critical lessons learned in revenue generation for HBCU collegiate athletics. MEAC and SWAC representatives will emphasize why sustainable financial growth depends on cultivating strong alumni relationships and implementing fiscal discipline through diversified revenue streams. Additionally, they will share insights into why strong Development teams and the embrace of technology are critical to building strong athletic programs.

Reimagining Completion – Pathways, Policy, and the Future of the Adult Learner

• Dr. Vanessa Power Anderson, Moderator – Sallie Mae Research Fellow, Delaware State University; Dr. Brian Bridges – Former Secretary of Higher Education for the State of New Jersey; Mr. Antoine Oakley – Director, Government & Community Relations, Sallie Mae
• The American economy is in motion, and so is the policy ground beneath higher education. With the most significant overhaul of Title IV and federal financial aid in more than a generation now taking effect, institutions face new funding requirements, tightened accountability metrics and a renewed expectation that programs deliver measurable return on investment for the students they serve. Higher education’s focus is expanding and being renewed to meet this moment, and at its center sits a population too significant to overlook, the 43+ million Americans who hold college credit but no credential, many now searching for a way to be retooled, upskilled, and reconnected to opportunity. According to Sallie Mae’s How America Completes College (2022), 82% of non-completers remain open to returning to finish their degree, with 69% citing financial support and 65% pointing to flexible schedules and coursework that applies directly to their work as the conditions that would bring them back. Higher education is responding. From the emergence of Reduced Credit Undergraduate Degrees, with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) among the first accrediting bodies to approve the model, to refreshed pathways designed around the realities of working adults, institutions are rebuilding the bridge between credit earned and credentials awarded. Together, they will examine what this moment demands of higher education — and how policy, partnership, and accreditation must evolve to serve the adult learner who is ready, willing, and waiting to finish what they started.

Building Bridges: Leveraging the Continent for Philanthropy, Partnership and Culture

• Ambassador Waleed Shamsid-Deen; Dr.Yolanda Watson Spiva, President, Complete College America; Dr. Marcus Burgess, Senior Vice President of Entreprise Partnerships and Innovation, Florida A&M University?

Legislative Overview: An Update on HBCU Opportunities at the Federal Level

• Victor Santos, Associate Vice President, Government Relations, Thurgood Marshall College Fund; Brian FlahavenVice President, Strategic Partnerships, Council for Advancement and Support of Education ​​​​ 

Intentional Career Preparation to Advance Economic Mobility.

• While HBCUs have been outsized engines for economic mobility, right now only about 30% of our country’s 1.4 million first-generation or low-income college enrollees are predicted to land a strong job after graduation. Now more than ever, students at HBCUs and across higher education need the skills, networks, confidence, and experiences to put their hard-earned degrees to work. This session will explore innovative strategies for HBCUs, nonprofits, and employer partners to collaboratively expand talent pipelines, strengthen career pathways, and ensure students are ready to compete in a rapidly changing world. 
• Danielle K. Craig, Senior Director, Braven - Delaware State University; Charles A. Madden, Executive Director, Braven - Delaware; Fareeda M. Griffith, Ph.D., Associate Provost for Academic and Student Success, Delaware State University; Jaden Weatherspoon, DSU + Braven Fellow & 2026 DSU graduate (Barclays)

12:30 pm - 1:00 pm

1:00 pm

Lunch 

Keynote Speaker: Anwar Miller, Head of Google MSI Strategy, Google

From Data to Dollars: Why Research Is the New Advancement Strategy

• Dr. M. C. Brown II, Executive Director, The Payne Center, Thurgood Marshall College Fund
• In an era of disruption, modern HBCU advancement requires more than compelling stories and urgent appeals. It requires evidence, institutional intelligence, donor insight, and disciplined stewardship. This presentation will explore why research is now essential to fundraising, strategic partnerships, and long-term institutional sustainability. The keynote will examine how HBCUs can strengthen advancement by knowing the landscape, knowing their campuses, and knowing their donors. The session will highlight the role of the TMCF Payne Center in moving institutions from anecdote to evidence, from assumption to analysis, and from isolated stories to national strategy. Attendees will gain an understanding of the connection between institutional research and donor stewardship, from inception to reconnection, showing how data, impact, and relationship-building help institutions make a stronger case for support, deepen trust, and sustain philanthropic investment. Ultimately, this session invites HBCU leaders and advancement professionals to see research not as a back-office function, but as the bridge between mission and money.

Professional Development Breakout Sessions

• Presidents and Chancellors (Closed Session)
  • Shaping the Future through AI Education, Discussion led by Margie Vela, Amazon
  • Location: Fort Washington Board Room
• Advancement Vice Presidents and Vice Chancellors (Closed Session)
  • Dr. Kemal Atkins, Senior Consultant, AGB, Associate Professor, DSU, Board member, SFBU; Cristin Toutsi-Grigos, Senior Vice President  and chief content & programs officer, Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB), Board member, CNU; Jeffrey Shaw, Vice President for University Advancement, Prairie View A&M University: Developing a Forward-Looking Game Plan for Impact and Alignment in Uncertain Times
  • Brent Swinton, Vice President for Philanthropy, Bowie State University
  • Location:Baltimore 4
• Corporate Foundation Relations (CFR)
  • The Blueprint for Belonging: Building Partnerships That Reflect Your Mission
  • This session is designed for Corporate and Foundation Relations professionals at all levels who are seeking to build more meaningful, mission-driven partnerships.
  • Facilitator: Maria Martineau, Director of Development, Corporate Sponsorships, Howard University Panelists: • Jenelle Howard, Director of Development, Institutional Giving, Howard University • Etoulia Salas-Burnett, Executive Director, Center for Digital Business, Howard University, School of Business
  • Location: Annapolis 1
• Alumni Relations

  • Radical Response: Reimagining Alumni Engagement & Philanthropy in Critical Times.

  • Carla Henry Hopkins,Director for Alumni Engagement and Stewardship, Bowie State University

  • Location: Baltimore 1

• Marketing and Communications- Institutional Growth

  • Growth Through Storytelling: Growth Through Storytelling™ is a strategic executive workshop that equips higher

    education leaders, foundation boards, institutional advancement professionals, and

    executive teams to use storytelling as an institutional growth strategy. Rather than

    treating storytelling as a marketing or communications function, this framework positions

    narrative as the bridge between mission, strategy, philanthropy, stakeholder engagement,

    and measurable organizational growth.

  • Danielle D. Blackwell, CFRM, Founder & CEO, D’Image Productions & PR Management LLC
  • Location: Baltimore 2
• Frontline Fundraisers
  • How AI is Transforming Advancement From Gift Processing, to Trip planning to Annual Giving to Major Gifts (presented by Salesforce)
  • Location: Annapolis 2
• eHBCU Session
  • The power of partnership and collaboration: This presentation will highlight how 6 HBCUs collaborated through ideation and innovation to expand accessibility to HBCU educational experiences. The presenters will share how the eHBCU team worked with Acadeum to develop their own online course-sharing consortium to support each other’s robust course availability needs and reach, retain, and graduate today’s broad learner base. This session will also explore how this additional technical infrastructure allows for bringing dynamic special topics, like the Ruth Carter Design Master class, as a for-credit elective for students within their consortium and beyond.
  • Location: Baltimore 3
• Foundation Directors Retreat (Closed Session)
  • Location: Annapolis 3

Diageo School Cohort (Invite Only)

• Baltimore 1

Closing Session: Insight into the $150 Million Moody Foundation Grant to Huston-Tillotson University

Dr. Melva Wallace, President and CEO, Houston Tillotson University;

Moderator - Dr. Mautra Jones, President, Oklahoma City Community College

Insights from Mackenzie Scott Gifts: HBCU Readiness for the next Mega Gift

• Moderator: Rob Henry,Vice President, People, Culture and Talent, Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE)
•  Endia Decordova, Vice President for Institutional Advancement, Morgan State University; Dr. Marcus Ward, Senior Vice President for Institutional Advancement; Alcorn State University; Lt. Col. (Ret) Gregory Clark, Vice President for Institutional Advancement, Alabama State University; Jeff Shaw, Vice President for Institutional Advancement; Prairie View A&M University; Brent Swinton, Philanthropic Engagement, Bowie State University