John C. Everett is presently the acting COO, director, institutional advancement and enrollment management at Hood Theological Seminary in Salisbury, North Carolina. Prior to his current role, he served as major gifts officer at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and Wake Forest School of Medicine for the Comprehensive Cancer Center. He also worked as director, major gifts at Benedict College, financial advisor with UBS Financial Services, orthopedic sales representative with Biomet Orthopedics, senior specialty sales representative with Merck Pharmaceutical, and in sales and management with Baxter Healthcare Corporation. In addition, Everett served in the US Navy as an officer in the Medical Service Corp in hospital administration and financial and supply management. He is active in the community serving various boards and organizations including the Board of Trustees at Novant Health Rowan Medical Center, Minority Business Council of the Rowan Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club of Salisbury, and Military Officers’ Association Central Carolina Chapter. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Golden Gate University in San Francisco, Everett is currently pursuing a Doctor of Education in Higher Education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Paul Hillen, president of Informed Engagement Network—a full-service marketing agency that serves Fortune 500 companies globally—is currently a partner, and previously served as president and chief operating officer, of Revier Brand Group at the Revier Cattle Company. The author of the best-selling leadership book, How Goodness Pays, he also consults and speaks on key business topics and elements from his book. In addition to his current roles, Hillen is an executive coach and a strategic planning, brand strategy and Go to Market Consultant. Before joining Revier, he held several different positions for two Platinum Equity owned food companies, Cargill, and for Procter & Gamble. Hillen currently serves on the boards of Revier Cattle Company, tech start-up JourneyTellr, nonprofit Living Well Disability Services, and on the boards of Seminaries of Saint Paul (MN)—St. John Vianney and Saint Paul Seminary. He previously served two successive terms on the advisory board for University of Chicago Booth Business School, and two terms on the board for the University of Minnesota Carlson Business School.

Tori McGraw-Rowe serves as manager for seminary strategic partnerships at Trinity Lutheran Seminary at Capital University, where she is responsible for building the university's capacity to execute entrepreneurial/strategic plans in service of the seminary’s mission, long-term health, and sustainability. She achieves this through (1) the procurement and execution of strategic and budget-relieving grants, (2) the generation of new revenue through congregational partnerships and stewardship of current endowments, and (3) the cultivation of relationships with prospective students, alumni, and church networks through strategic communication and events. Her additional responsibilities include liaising on behalf of the seminary with university offices that have an essential role in communication and events, directing seminary office operations, and taking a leadership role in accreditation and evaluation. McGraw-Rowe earned her MDiv from Yale University Divinity School.

Kitty Norton is associate dean for development and alumni/ae relations at Vanderbilt University Divinity School. She has more than 15 years of development experience in theological education. A graduate of Vanderbilt University Divinity School, she is also ordained in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 

Erin Phillips joined Gonser Gerber in 2021 as a senior consultant, providing advancement consulting services to independent schools and higher education institutions, healthcare systems, cultural, social service, and other nonprofit organizations. Her areas of focus include advancement; board and staff development; annual, capital, major, and planned gift programs; campaign planning and execution; volunteer utilization and engagement strategies; partnership development; nonprofit management and net revenue generation strategies; integrated marketing and public relations; strategic planning and visioning, and other aspects of institutional advancement. Phillips brought more than 20 years of experience in a variety of advancement and executive leadership positions to Gonser Gerber. Her prior experiences in development and advancement include serving as assistant vice president for university advancement at California Baptist University, where she worked closely with deans and administrators to build donor-centered annual and major giving programs and supported the advancement team. She began her advancement career in alumni and constituent relations at the University of California, Riverside, where she focused on constituent relations with its alumni association board of directors and the parents and emeriti associations. Phillips also previously owned her own consulting practice, focusing on higher education and nonprofit organizations.

John Ranheim, senior consultant with The Focus Group, has nearly 20 years of experience working with organizations, leaders, and teams to fulfill their missions through effective fundraising strategies. His professional experience includes roles in annual giving, major donor development, and planned giving in higher education, politics, and nonprofit sectors. Most recently, while serving as vice president of advancement at Covenant Theological Seminary, Ranheim led fundraising for the institution including annual giving, major gifts, planned giving, and their capital campaigns. A frequent speaker on stewardship and fundraising, Ranheim served on the steering committee for the ATS Development Officers’ Conference for the last five years. In addition, he serves as an elder at Chesterfield Presbyterian Church and on the board of advisors for multiple organizations, and he loves finding ways of connecting donor passions with the needs of advancing the gospel. Ranheim eaned an MDiv in theology from Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis. 

Scott Rodin is senior consultant/chief strategy officer for The Focus Group. He has helped hundreds of organizations improve their effectiveness in leadership, fund development, strategic planning and board development during the past 38 years. His work has impacted individuals, ministries and churches in the US, Canada, Middle East, Great Britain, China, Philippines and Australia. Rodin currently serves as a senior fellow of the Association of Biblical Higher Education and as board chair for ChinaSource. In addition, he is past president of Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, the Christian Stewardship Association, Rodin Consulting, Inc., and Kingdom Life Publishing. He has written more than 14 books and speaks regularly at conferences, retreats, and professional development events. Rodin holds Master of Theology and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in systematic theology from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland.

Richard Thompson serves as director of advancement at Regent College in Vancouver, BC, Canada, where he has been fundraising for the school for the past 16 years. Following 15 years of pastoral ministry, he joined the staff of Regent in 2006. Thompson’s undergraduate degree was in electrical engineering, but his career as a memory chip designer was short-lived, sensing a call to pastoral ministry after only four years in the high-tech industry. He graduated from Tyndale Seminary of Tyndale University with a Master of Theological Studies degree and then earned a Master of Theology degree from Regent College.