Leadershipaasp is led by dedicated advancement services professionals who seek to strengthen their profession and those who work within it.The aasp Board of Directors is elected by the membership present at the organization's annual meeting, in accordance with the aasp bylaws. The Nominations Committee solicits nominations for the board from the membership and submits a slate of candidates at the annual meeting. Directors must be members in good standing of the organization. They are elected for three-year terms and are eligible to be reelected once, serving on the board up to six consecutive years. Board of Directors
Board Member BiographiesMark Walcott, President
Anne Marie Halsey, Vice President
Previously, she was at Children's National Medical Center for eight years, ultimately serving as the Director of Foundation Business Operations Administration. Prior to Children's, Anne was the Manager of Donor Relations at the Smithsonian Institution. Anne's 11 years at the Smithsonian included service on the Operations and Advancement teams. Anne has served on the Association of Advancement Services Professional Board as Director of the Membership Operations and Member Engagement Committees. She previously served two terms on the Board of the Association of Donor Relations Professionals and was Chair of their 2017 International Conference. Anne has a Certificate in Fundraising Operations from Rice University, a MS in Justice, Law and Society from American University, and a BA in Law and Society from Hood College. Jessica LaBorde, Past President
With nearly 25 years of experience in corporate sales, political and nonprofit fundraising, and philanthropy operations, Jessica is passionate about improving both internal and external processes to drive a leaner, more efficient business while supporting the UC Davis philanthropic goals and priorities. Jessica is active in CASE as both a speaker and an awards judge for Advancement Services Programs. She holds a BS in Mass Communications and a BA in English Literature from Appalachian State University and has completed her Executive MBA. When not fearlessly leading her team to new professional heights, she takes pleasure at home and abroad by gardening with her tween twins, supporting farm-to-fork initiatives, and sampling family-owned wineries and microbreweries with her charming husband. She is also a voracious reader who enjoys napping nearly as much as turning pages. Caroline Chang, Director of Strategic Partnerships
I have a 30-year career as a practitioner in Advancement, the bulk of that time (over 20 years) in Advancement Services specifically. I was on faculty for the CASE Summer Institute for Advancement Services for seven years, four as chair. I was also on faculty for at least 4 Gift Processing and Records conferences for CASE, and have presented at aasp, BBCon, and the precursor to Ellucian Live. I was also an annual giving fundraiser for seven years. After a relatively short stint as a higher education consultant, I've spent the last six years working for UC Innovation, now Kindsight. I sit at the intersection of sales, product development, and implementation, which means that I've kept in touch with users and their needs for a CRM. What I am excited about bringing to the position – My professional work as a practitioner combined with my vendor experience provides a unique perspective because I've been on both sides of the aisle, as it were. I care about this industry and want to do everything possible to see it succeed. In this particular board position, having served as the Sponsorship chair for two years and working closely with Terry, I've been successful in helping to reach our goals, and recruiting new volunteers. I know that there are more responsibilities which come with being on the board, and I look forward to helping in a broader fashion. Wayne Combs, Director of Education
Kate Nimety, Director of Knowledge Base
Kate Nimety (she/her) has been an active member in the nonprofit industry since 2010, and brings more than 20 years of systems and process development. She has been a people- and process-focused consultant for more than eight years, and was deeply involved in solution development and change management while in the Development and IT departments at Yale University for over five years prior. Kate is deeply engaged with the missions of all of her colleagues and clients in the nonprofit, higher ed, health care, and arts and culture verticals. She has made lasting connections with industry leaders across all sectors, including our other consultants and vendors. Kate has served aasp for seven plus years, first as a member of the Best Practices Review Panel (2017-2018), then with the Summit Program Committee (2019-present), and has orchestrated the Elevate pre-conference workshop at Summit for the last five years. Kate is a highly-rated speaker at aasp Summit each year, has recorded an aasp Podcast episode recently, and also presents at other industry events such as this year's 2024 CASE DRIVE pre-conference workshop. It is with this consistency and dedication to volunteerism and serving our industry that Kate approaches new opportunities to serve. Her breadth of experience, from process design expertise as a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB), to developing a holistic Organizational Change Management practice, to leading the Consulting practice at Zuri Group with a team of deeply experienced Management Consultants, contributes to her volunteer work in ways that support the growth of our industry. Jianell Present, Director of Technology
Jianell has been an avid aasp volunteer and presenter since attending her first Summit in 2017. She has served on the Membership Committee for the Survey Subcommittee and was a founding member of the Mentorship Subcommittee, helping to implement aasp’s Mentorship Program. Jianell currently serves as the Chair of the Technology Committee and is a host and interviewer for aasp’s Podcast, All About Supporting Philanthropy. Outside of work, Jianell enjoys cooking with her sons and volunteering as a firefighter/EMT. She is the Power Platform and training subject matter expert for the local fire and rescue system’s IT Committee. Becky Frantz, Secretary and Director of Membership Operations
Becky holds a PhD in Education and Human Resources from Colorado State University and a Master’s degree in Higher Education Administration from Penn State University. She is also trained specifically in applied statistics and was a National Data Policy Fellow sponsored by the NSF and Association for Institutional Research. Before UC Davis Becky spent time in the Development and Alumni shops at Stanford and Penn State. When not at work, Becky enjoys gardening, rock climbing, and watching all sorts of sports. Efraim Hernandez, Treasurer
Necie Liggeons, Member at Large and Director of Diversity & Ethics
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Dr. Mark Walcott has more than 20 years of experience in technology-related and advancement services roles focused on Data Analytics, Data Management, and technological innovation. He serves as the Assistant Vice President of Technology and Business Intelligence within the division of Advancement and Alumni Engagement at Emory University. Dr. Walcott actively speaks on a variety of topics and has served on Blackbaud Higher Education Executive Advisory Board, Multicultural Leadership Institute (MCLP) Board, and other organizations focused on community and technological Advancement. Dr. Walcott is focused on continuing to build the profession through the strategic growth of aasp.
Anne Marie Halsey is the Director of Mission Finance & Operations at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). She serves as a member of the leadership team of the Enterprise Operations department. Anne joined EDF in 2018 and was previously the Director, Donor Stewardship and Gift Administration.
Jessica Schrider LaBorde is the Assistant Vice Chancellor of Advancement Services for the University of California, Davis. Jessica and her team develop and provide advancement services solutions with the front-line fundraiser in mind.
Dr. Wayne Combs is a leader in campaign and advancement management with more than 25 years of experience supporting higher education and healthcare. He serves as Associate Vice President of Operations and Administrative Services for CHOC Children's Foundation. At USC Rossier School of Education, Dr. Combs teaches courses on Creativity and Innovation, Strategic Communications and Economics and Finance in the Organizational Change and Leadership program. In support of philanthropy, Dr. Combs delivers presentations on emerging trends and as Chair/Faculty for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
Jianell Present is a Senior Microsoft 365 and SharePoint Content Developer at The Nature Conservancy (TNC), where she works with staff worldwide to use technology for business process improvement. She started her TNC career in Development Operations before joining Advancement Services as a Fundraising Systems Specialist and later as a Revenue Compliance and Quality Assurance Specialist. Jianell is an inaugural recipient of both TNC’s Development Achievement Award and aasp’s Sapphire Aspire Award in the Technology & Innovation category for her work on a Submission and Review Framework. Built using the Microsoft Power Platform, SharePoint, and Office 365, this framework has been integral in reducing bottlenecks, increasing efficiency, ensuring data security, and improving transparency for revenue processing at TNC. Additionally, this framework allowed for the behind-the-scenes collection of previously unavailable data, providing the ability to report on and analyze the revenue process lifecycle.
Becky Frantz is the Executive Director of Customer Services at UC Davis Advancement Services. In this role she oversees the Business Relationship Manager team, focused on user data and system needs, as well as the Service Desk and Training team, who supports getting users access and onboarded to the division-supported systems. She finds joy in having users engaged with data and systems so they can do their jobs more seamlessly. In addition to her other responsibilities, Becky serves as a campus expert in data security, risk assessment, and business continuity. Becky has been an active volunteer with 
Mr. Efraim A. Hernandez has over 20 years of higher education experience. He has spearheaded the Advancement Services office for the past 11 years at Nova Southeastern University (NSU). Under his leadership, Mr. Hernandez assisted NSU in completing its first-ever comprehensive campaign which surpassed its fundraising goal three years early by over $20M. He currently serves as the Executive Director of Advancement Services and Operations. His areas of oversight include the advancement database, communications, donor relations, donor engagement events, gift processing, prospect development, finance, and talent management. Mr. Hernandez has been a member of the Association of Advancement Services Professionals ( 
Liggeons works as the Chief Development and Alumni Engagement Officer at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM), where she is responsible for providing comprehensive leadership and strategic support for all fundraising and alumni engagement efforts. In addition to helping PCOM achieve its frontline fundraising goals by establishing and directly managing prospects, Liggeons also has responsibility for campaign management, database administration and reporting, gift processing, stewardship and donor relations, fiscal management, and prospect development.