Board Notes
The spring and fall 2025 meetings of the William & Mary Alumni Association Board of Directors
October 1, 2025
By
University Advancement Staff
SPRING 2O25
The spring 2025 meeting of the William & Mary Alumni Association Board of Directors was held at the William & Mary Alumni House from June 5-6 in conjunction with Mosaic Weekend.
Board members voted to approve the following awardees, who will be recognized during the Alumni Medallion & Service Awards Ceremony on Feb. 7, 2026, during Charter Day Weekend:
- Alumni Medallions (read more about each awardee in the upcoming winter edition of the W&M Alumni Magazine):
- Elizabeth Cabell Jennings ’85, P ’17
- Leanne Dorman Kurland ’75, P ’05
- Devin Murphy ’82, P ’10, P ’14
- Stuart “Stu” Spirn ’67, J.D. ’70
- Alumni Service Awards
- Nancy Coté Kane ’84, P ’22
- Rebecca McBride Klepser ’99, P ’26 and David Klepser ’97, P ’26
- Susan Snediker Newman ’79, P ’12
- Anne “Win” Winslow Whitehurst ’69, M.Ed. ’72
- Coach of the Year
- Erin Dickerson Davis, head coach of women’s basketball
- Faculty/Staff Service Award
- Vicente “June” Lao, W&M facilities management
- Steve Tewksbury, retired executive director for university events
They also voted to name Jane Batten HON ’17, L.H.D. ’19 as Homecoming grand marshal.
In his report, Matthew “Matt” L. Brandon ’92, CEO of the W&M Alumni Association and vice president for alumni engagement, outlined four ways the Alumni Association is well-prepared for the year ahead:
- Longitudinal data-informed decisions
- Staff in cross-functional roles aligning talents with opportunities
- Scalable and accessible engagement — recent class sizes are larger, but still need individualized attention
- Maintaining and expanding personal connections among board members and alumni
He applauded the launch of a new Lifelong Learning portal at wmalumni.com, part of W&M Alumni Experiences.
Brandon introduced a new staff member, David “Dave” Lanza, senior director for alumni engagement. He was previously at Drexel University, where he led alumni engagement strategy, event production, regional outreach, annual giving and donor stewardship, and also served as executive director of the Alumni Board of Governors.
Brandon also introduced the new director for finance & budget for the W&M Alumni Association, Tyler Walinsky, who previously served as associate director for finance & budget for university advancement.
Walinsky presented an overview of FY25 financial performance and the proposed budget for FY26, which the board approved. Brian Hiestand, CEO/CIO of the 1693 Management Company, shared the 1693 Partners Fund performance and forecast.
President Katherine A. Rowe and Matthew T. Lambert ’99, senior vice president for university advancement, engaged in a discussion of William & Mary’s many successes during fiscal year 2025 — among them achieving R1 status, playing in March Madness, establishing the Batten School for Coastal & Marine Science & VIMS and the Stravitz Scholars program, and the way W&M students are demonstrating civil discourse and civic leadership. They took questions from the board and explored how to build on these achievements.
Carlane Pittman-Hampton Ph.D. ’03, chief of staff for the president’s office, presented to the board on the work of W&M’s Rankings Task Force. The task force was established to better understand William & Mary’s place in the national landscape, including how new and evolving rankings impact its position and national preeminence.
Kelly S. Holdcraft, executive director for alumni success, led a discussion of W&M Weekend in D.C. in 2026. She encouraged board members to provide programming ideas as well as suggestions for committee members and chairs.
The board’s four committees — board development, engagement strategy, finance & investment and recognition & outreach — met and then reported out to the board.
The meeting then adjourned for members to participate in Mosaic Weekend.
The next regular meeting of the Board of Directors was held Sept. 11-12, at the W&M Alumni House (see notes below).
FALL 2O25
The fall 2025 meeting of the William & Mary Alumni Association Board of Directors was held at the William & Mary Alumni House from Sept. 11-12, in conjunction with W&M Women’s Weekend.
The board welcomed six new members:
Board President Brian Focarino ’11, J.D. ’15 provided the board with an overview of their strategic priorities and the goals within each one:
- Create opportunities to engage alumni with each other and alma mater and raise the global prominence of William & Mary and its alumni
- Promote an inclusive culture of alumni engagement and philanthropy (going, giving and serving)
- Sustain and grow a diversified and stable financial model
- Implement best practices for board and staff recruiting, retention and leadership
Matthew “Matt” L. Brandon ’92, CEO of the Alumni Association and associate vice president for alumni engagement, gave an overview of alumni engagement during fiscal year 2025 and encouraged board members to embrace their roles as ambassadors of William & Mary, including being fully versed in the university’s top initiatives and the Alumni Association’s full engagement model.
Heather Golden P ’24, chief marketing officer, shared William & Mary’s successes over the past year in each of the areas of Vision 2026. She also described the challenges and opportunities she sees for University Marketing.
Chris Marshall, founder and CEO of Chris Marshall Advancement Consulting, provided a summary of preliminary results from the all-alumni experience survey conducted between July 31 and Sept. 3. The survey was conducted by Washburn McGoldrick and was sent to all emailable alumni. It had 6,632 responses, an 11.2% response rate with a +/-1.1% margin of error — a higher rate with more accurate results than similar surveys. A final report with segment analysis, programmatic recommendations and reviews of open-ended comments will be given to the board later in the fall. In the meantime, staff are reviewing feedback from respondents who indicated on their survey that they would like a followup conversation.
After lunch with Students for University Advancement student leadership, board members heard from Kelly S. Holdcraft, executive director for alumni success, about planning for W&M Weekend. The next William & Weekend will be held May 28-31 in Washington, D.C., and a save the date email with hotel block information will be sent out to all alumni and friends after Homecoming & Reunion Weekend. Robert Waggoner, executive director for regional advancement, discussed changes to the benefactor levels of support for the Weekend, based on board feedback.
The strategic events team provided an overview of Homecoming & Reunion Weekend 2025, which will take place on campus Oct. 16-19. As of the board meeting, registration was slightly higher this year than last year.
That afternoon, the board engaged in an entrepreneurial thinking exercise with Graham Henshaw, assistant provost for entrepreneurship.
On Friday, Sept. 12, individual board committees met to discuss progress on current projects and upcoming initiatives, which were then shared with the full board.
The Engagement Strategy Committee met with Advancement staff responsible for social media channels to discuss best use of social media and email marketing. They also discussed how to connect alumni and students.
The Finance & Investment Committee reviewed the audit report presented the day before by representatives from PBMares from the Alumni Association’s fall audit.
The Board Development Committee shared candidates they are considering for the board of directors and asked current members for assistance in identifying additional candidates. The slate of candidates for the FY26 elections will be announced via email in November and the winter edition of the W&M Alumni Magazine in January. Voting will conclude on Feb. 7, during Charter Day Weekend.
The Recognition & Outreach Committee proposed adjustments to the way award nominations are routed through the board for consideration. They also created a new, simplified nomination form that applies to all Alumni Association award offerings. Finally, they discussed plans for the board’s table at registration during Homecoming.
On Friday afternoon, the board attended the groundbreaking for the Memorial Garden expansion project. The W&M Memorial Garden serves as the final resting place for many in our university community. When the expansion project is completed in 2026, the garden will feature a columbarium alongside walls of remembrance, a welcoming entryway, additional seating and improved walkways.
The meeting adjourned for members to attend Women’s Weekend events.
The next regular meeting of the Board of Directors will be held Feb. 5-6, 2026, at the W&M Alumni House, and the notes will be published in the spring edition of the W&M Alumni Magazine.