AT20. The Future of Alumni Boards and Strategic Planning with Gary Olsen Artwork

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Alumni Trending Podcast

AT20. The Future of Alumni Boards and Strategic Planning with Gary Olsen

October 11, 2020 • Paul Clifford • Season 1 • Episode 20

What's Up Trendsetters!

On this episode of the podcast, I visit with Gary Olsen, former associate vice president for alumni engagement at Villanova University and vice president for university advancement at the University of Scranton.

Trend lines include:

career in higher education advancement;
the future of alumni boards; and
strategic planning.

Bio
Gary Olsen is widely respected as one of the most knowledgeable alumni engagement professionals in the country. His career in higher education spans more than 27 years. He served for 20 years as associate vice president for alumni engagement at Villanova University. Following this, he served for five years as vice president for university advancement at the University of Scranton. He now provides consulting services to numerous educational institutions in the United States and beyond. His areas of expertise include strategic planning, alumni board training, alumni engagement metrics, program review and assessment, executive leadership coaching and interim executive leadership services.
A recognized leader in the advancement profession, Gary has served on the CASE Board of Trustees and has chaired the CASE Commission on Alumni Relations. He has presented at numerous CASE conferences including the CASE Summit for Senior Advancement Leaders, the CASE Latinoamerica Conference, the CASE Summer Institute on Alumni Relations, where he served as faculty chair and the CASE peer review team. Gary also chaired the CASE Alumni Relations Metrics Task Force, which established a comprehensive alumni engagement metrics model which serves more than 3,500 CASE institutional members worldwide.

As a consultant Gary has served public and private institutions, liberal arts colleges, independent schools, and faith-based institutions.

Gary is a principal with eAdvancement Consulting and a senior consultant with MPK&D Partners. Gary earned both his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Villanova University.