AeXIS Conference Opening Session:
Fireside Chat with Brian Niccol, chairman and ceo, The Starbucks Coffee Company
Join Harbor Day's Head of School Angi Evans for an illuminating conversation with Brian Niccol for the opening of our 2025 AeXIS Annual Conference. This exclusive session will explore critical insights from the corporate landscape that apply to independent schools, including:
Don't miss this opportunity to gain valuable perspective from a corporate leader offering fresh approaches to leadership and advancement challenges facing our institutions today.
AeXIS Conference Keynote:
Business Improv for Independent School Advancement Professionals
This is not your typical session! Dynamic, interactive, energizing, fun and incredibly informative, this program will highlight the tenets of improvisation and deftly tie them to real-world applicability in an extremely entertaining and thought-provoking way. Business Improv programs are a blend of up-on-your-feet experiential learning exercises, case studies, high-energy discussions, and custom simulations to real-world challenges.
For the AeXIS conference, our Business Improv team will work with groups to simulate solicitations, difficult conversations, and self-advocacy.
In our session, we'll practice techniques that develop your skills, including:
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Creating foundational communication and collaboration tools, to be used in various situations, both internally and externally
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Defining and removing the barriers to communication, collaboration, and creative decision making
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Integrating ideas quickly and balancing reactions thoughtfully (actively listen to respond in open and agile ways)
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Shaping interactions while being considerate of style, interest, culture, and focus of others in the exchange
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Providing tools that build trust, drive positive relationships, and encourage creative thinking
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And more!
From a participant’s perspective, Business Improv programs are very dynamic experiences. Each participant learns every exercise en masse (concurrent learning), which strengthens muscle memory (unconscious competency) and core decision-making. Further, our approach creates a safe environment wherein no one is “singled out” as an example and each participant has the opportunity to learn from doing (procedural knowledge), rather than learn from watching (declarative knowledge).
Conference Closing Keynote Speaker
Hali Lee, Author of THE BIG WE: How Giving Circles Unlock Generosity, Strengthen Community, and Make Change
Critiquing the technocratic, “I alone can fix it” landscape of billionaire philanthropy, Hali Lee argues that the brighter future of philanthropy belongs to community action, specifically giving circles—a group of people who come together to pool their resources to do something good in their community. Born of traditions of generosity rooted in many of our ancestral cultures, giving circles provide a way for us to overcome our sense of overwhelm at the many problems we face.THE BIG WE takes on the daunting category of activism and philanthropy and shows individuals how they can get involved in their communities on a realistic and approachable scale. Through stories of real giving circles around the country, including her own experience starting the Asian Women Giving Circle, Lee shows us a more expansive vision for the future of giving big.
In 2025, Hali Lee was added to 2025 TIME100 Philanthropy list. In 2021, Lee was named to Forbes’ 50 Over 50: Impact in recognition of her work as a founder of the Donors of Color Network, the first-ever national network of wealthy folks of color, and Philanthropy Together, a national collective giving support organization. Today, she leads a boutique consulting practice, Radiant Strategies, whose clients include Fidelity Charitable, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Lee is a frequent public speaker who, in the last year, has made appearances at more than thirty conferences and events.
We are thrilled to have Hali Lee join the AeXIS 2025 Conference to be in conversation with us. THE BIG WE will be available for purchase.
In addition, conference sessions will include:
One Size Doesn’t Fit All: Cracking the Code of School Culture in Advancement Work
Kate Merritt, Director of Advancement, The John Thomas Dye School (K-6)
Integrating the Advancement Office into the Life of the School
Charlotte Brownlee, Consultant, Carney Sandoe
Janiece Richard, Director of Development, Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences (K-12)
Julie Kim-Beal, Director of Alumni Relations, Head-Royce School (K-12)
Stephanie Kastner, Associate Director of Development, San Francisco Friends School (K-8)
Power of Personality: The Role of Authentic Voice and Having Fun in Marketing & Philanthropy
Kim Kerscher, Director of Marketing and Communications, Westridge School for Girls (3-12)
Building Endowment Through Major and Planned Gifts
Phil Higginson, Consultant, ISM
Showcasing Every Donor’s Why: Scalable Parent Engagement Tactics for FY26
Alexin Tenefrancia, Director of Annual Giving, Polytechnic School (K-12)
Bryan Armas, Associate Director of Annual Giving, Polytechnic School (K-12)
Holman Gao, CEO & Founder, Boost My School
Collaborative Connections on Alumni Relations
Lisa Lee, Director of Development, The Willows Community School (DK-8)
Aubrey Rakoska, Associate Director of Advancement, Alumni Relations & Planned Giving, Campbell Hall (K-12)
Your Advancement Career Trajectory
Betsy Berman, Assistant Head for Advancement and Strategy, Crystal Springs Uplands School (6-12)
Nancy Kehoe, Director of Advancement, Mount Tamalpais School (K-8); Consulting Partner, Marts&Lundy
Deb Rockwood, Advancement Consultant; Campaign Consultant, Crystal Springs Uplands School (6-12)
Marlene Sloger, Advancement Consultant
From Galas to Growth: Transforming your Annual Fund using Major Gift Strategies
Emma Balina, Director of Development, Crane Country Day School (K-8)
Fundraising Dashboards and How to Transform Your Board Reporting
Kaitlin Windle, Apte
Mattingly Messina, Consultant; Trustee and Alumni Association President, St. Margaret's Episcopal School
Navigating Difficult Trustees and Donors
Jim Zimmerman, Chief Advancement Officer, Branson School (9-12), Senior Consultant, Marts&Lundy
Shifting Giving Culture
Alyssa Brakey, Director of Giving, Brentwood School (K-12)
Gennifer Yoshimaru, Assistant Head of School, Brentwood School (K-12)
Leadership and Management From Many Angles
Sara Billings, Director of Advancement: Alumni and Development, The Thacher School (9-12 boarding)
Restricted Gifts: Legal Essentials
Casey Williams, Partner, Liebert Cassidy Whitmore
Worst Case Scenario: Surviving and Thriving after a Natural Disaster
Katie Convoy, Director of Advancement, St. Matthew's Parish School (PK-8)
Alley Michaelson, Head of School, St. Matthew's Parish School (PK-8)
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