Meet the team
Director and Team Heads
Shaun leads the University’s supporter engagement and fundraising activities in the UK and overseas, and led the delivery of Exeter’s largest ever fundraising campaign ‘Making the Exceptional Happen’, which raised over £71m at its close in December 2020. Over 100,000 volunteering hours had also been secured. The Global Advancement team is now in the planning stage of a new £150m philanthropic campaign.
Shaun joined the University as Director of International Exeter in August 2009, where he delivered the University’s first ‘Internationalisation Strategy 2010-2015’.
Previously, Shaun was the inaugural Head of the UK Higher Education International Unit (now Universities UK International) influencing and advising universities and agencies on the opportunities of internationalisation, and delivering a range of bilateral education agreements between the UK and overseas governments.
Over three decades Shaun has worked in the public and private sectors in several countries. He studied Politics at the University of Exeter, and holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Toronto.
e: S.Curtis@exeter.ac.uk
t: +44 (0)1392 723668
Extn: 3668
David manages a diverse team that encompasses volunteering, regular giving, alumni benefits in the UK and Internationally, in addition to our events, communications and alumni relations programme. For the 10 years previous to joining the University, David has been involved predominantly in the charity sector, and has a wide range of experience in fundraising and marketing, latterly as a Director in an agency owned by a charity, the Aspinall Foundation.
Lisa graduated from Exeter with a Math degree in 2003 and since graduation has worked in various roles across the Global Advancement team. Lisa now leads the Operations team, which is responsible for identifying potential supporters, managing the data of alumni and supporters, ensuring that financial donations are processed in line with donors wishes and that all donors are thanked appropriately for their support.
e: L.C.Williams@exeter.ac.uk
t: +44(0)1392 725636
Extn: 5636
Olivia supports all areas of Global Advancement, helping to organise meetings, travel and events, as well as administering systems and monitoring Campaign activity. Prior to working at the University she was a Personal Assistant and Corporate Administrator at a housing association.
e: O.Atcheson@exeter.ac.uk
t: +44 (0)1392 723668
Extn: 3668
Philanthropy
Stephanie joined the University in 2015 having spent her career in the charity sector. She has a wide range of experience working for local, region and national charities, has held trustee positions and has a proven track record in fundraising and programme development.
Stephanie leads the environment focus for Global Advancement, where philanthropic support helps to drive forward innovations in climate change, ecology, conservation, low carbon agenda, renewable energy, food security, sustainable finance and circular economy. In addition, philanthropy helps Exeter improve access for students from all backgrounds and nations to gain vital skills, knowledge and experience in sustainable climate solutions from world class researchers.
Simon graduated from the University of Exeter in 2008 in Exercise & Sports Science. He was then elected Athletic Union President, a role that exists to ensure the quality of the student sporting experience. Simon has held various positions within the University since then before taking up his current role of Head of Development - HLS. Simon also coaches the University's Men's Hockey 1st team and represented England at junior level in the sport.
e: S.Tyson@exeter.ac.uk
t: +44 (0)1392 722152
Extn: 2152
Eve is the first member of the Global Advancement team to be based in the United States. She received her MA in History from Exeter in 2013 and then began her career in the nonprofit sector. She worked for Devon Air Ambulance, before moving back to the states and beginning a role with the Connecticut Humane Society where she managed a robust and transformative capital campaign. Since 2019, Eve also served as Secretary of the Board of the University of Exeter US Foundation, connecting with US-based alumni and supporters, and was pleased to join the University in an official role to share and expand Exeter's impact stateside.
As Head of Development, Jess leads fundraising activity for the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. Jess has 10 years of experience in development within higher education, having previously undertaken various Alumni Engagement and fundraising roles across ESE and HLS.
As a Development Manager, Josh is tasked with securing philanthropic support for a number of areas including Widening Participation initiatives and the Law School. Josh graduated from the University of Exeter in 2013 before joining the Global Advancement team, and has previously worked in roles across both the Operations and Supporter Engagement teams, most recently managing the Alumni Engagement team facing the Business School, as a member of its College Professional Services Leadership Team. Josh is also a current part-time MBA student.
e: J.Papanicola@exeter.ac.uk
t: +44 (0)1392 726683
Extn: 6683
Alison joined the Global Advancement team in 2019 after having worked for disability and hospice charities in the UK, and for NGOs in Hungary and Bosnia-Herzegovina. She has covered a range of fundraising roles but always specialised in trust and grants fundraising.
Niamh supports University fundraising for research, scholarships and capital projects from philanthropic trusts and foundations. She works with researchers and University stakeholders to foster partnerships with philanthropic leaders and teams. Key skills include identifying shared priorities between University and funder, drafting and project managing funding applications, and supporting long-term strategic engagement.
Prior to joining Exeter, Niamh led trust and foundations fundraising at the University of Cambridge. She is a PhD graduate at University College Cork, Ireland.
Supporter Engagement
Claire manages Legacy giving and brings a variety of Higher Education experience to the team having previously worked in Alumni Relations, delivering programmes of alumni engagement in the Humanities. Prior to working at the University Claire worked in Advertising before moving to Marketing and Communications in the Charity sector. Outside of work Claire enjoys running and spending time with her young family.
Guy joined the team after 8 years with the Jurassic Coast Trust, a small environmental charity based in Dorset. Guy's background is in direct marketing and fundraising, and he's looking forward to the challenge of driving donor acquisition and retention within the Individual Giving team.
Outside of work, Guy enjoys cooking and cafe-hopping with his young family.
e: V.Drinkwater@exeter.ac.uk
Angela is responsible for delivering a wide range of alumni events across the UK including informal gatherings, black-tie receptions and seminars. As well as delivering events, Angela also provides professional advice for alumni events that are delivered by colleagues working in Colleges to ensure the consistency in standard, style and approach of University events is maintained.
Julie is the Alumni Relations Assistant for the Supporter Engagement Team. Responsibilities include; responding to alumni enquiries, providing admin support around the planning and management of alumni events, undertaking travel and accommodation bookings for the Supporter Engagement team. Prior to joining Exeter, Julie worked for the Devon Partnership NHS Trust and the Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust.
e: J.M.Passmore@exeter.ac.uk
t: +44 (0)1392 723141
Extn: 3141
Kate manages the Alumni Engagement and Volunteering team for Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. She was previously responsible for designing and delivering programmes of alumni engagement for both Humanities and for Sport at Exeter. Kate has a variety of experience, having worked at the University since 2010 in different roles supporting Student Experience and Employability, Careers and Alumni Relations and Event Management. She also volunteers as a Trustee for a disabled children’s charity.
Liz is responsible for alumni engagement and volunteering across the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. Prior to joining the university, she was Alumni Relations Officer at Exeter School where her work focused on alumni relations and event management. Liz has a wide range of experience having previously worked at Oxford University, in academic publishing and as an archaeologist.
Alison has been supporting alumni engagement for the College of Social Sciences for the past two years. This is her second role in Higher Education, having worked in the past at UCL developing course specific volunteering opportunities for students. Aside from this she has worked primarily in the charity field, beginning as a youth worker specialising in supporting young homeless people. She has been a volunteer manager within a number of different housing and children’s charities, previous to the university in a charity retail context.
Laura manages the Alumni Engagement and Volunteering team for Health and Life Sciences. Prior to this role, Laura worked at King’s College London in various roles which supported the student experience, this included supporting foundation-level international students transition into university life in the UK. Laura also has experiance in Events and was involved in the organisation and delivery of Graduation Ceremonies and Welcome activity for new students.
An Exeter alumna Kate is responsible for alumni engagement and volunteering across the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences. Prior to moving into the Supporter Engagement team, she held a position within Operations leading on the stewardship of donors to philanthropically funded scholarships and awards for five years.
Prior to joining Exeter in 2018 she worked in roles supporting alumni engagement, fundraising and donor relations at the University of Surrey.
Sabrina manages the Alumni Engagement and Volunteering team for the Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy and the University of Exeter Business School. Sabrina joined the University in 2020 and has worked in Admissions, Corporate Events and Global Advancement. Prior to joining the University of Exeter, Sabrina worked at Edge Hill University in alumni relations and student recruitment roles, and at the Girls' Day School Trust supporting alumnae relations and fundraising activity.
Ruth is responsible for devising and delivering a programme of alumni engagement activity for the Business School, in tandem with work across the Global Advancement team. Ruth joined the University in 2014, and has since worked within the areas of marketing, outreach and within the careers team.
Claire is responsible for alumni engagement and volunteering across the Business School and Environment, Science and Economy Faculty. Prior to joining the university, she worked in digital marketing and fundraising recruitment before moving into volunteer coordination and supporter engagement at Great Western Air Ambulance Charity, overseeing all volunteer activity including fundraising, retail and CPR training in secondary schools.
Amelia is responsible for alumni engagement and volunteering across the Business School and Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy. Before joining the team, she built experience in marketing, communications, copywriting, social media and events management. A proud Exeter alumna, Amelia graduated in 2017 with a BA in English.
Outside of work, Amelia enjoys musical theatre and walking with her Labrador, Percy.
Jane is responsible for developing and delivering Exeter’s programme of international alumni engagement activity across Americas, Australasia, Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Jane has worked at the University since 2012, and prior to this she lived and worked overseas. She has a wide range of experience in event and volunteer management, marketing and fundraising both across the charity sector and private sector.
Vacancy
Natalie is responsible for supporting alumni engagement in sport. Since graduating from Exeter in 2013, she has worked across various sporting events in and around London as well as yachting events on the South Coast. Natalie now works on delivering a programme of events and volunteer opportunities across the university’s sports clubs.
Lucy joins the team from Millfield School in Somerset where she was the Communications and Events Manager for the alumni community. She has a background in working within the education sector having also previously worked at Blundells School and Sidmouth International School in Devon doing similar roles. Her experience includes marketing, communications, social media, events management, and relationship building with a wide range of audiences. Lucy graduated from the University of Plymouth in 2018 with a BSc degree in Events Management.
Megan works on alumni communications alongside the Communications Manager. Her portfolio includes various communications aspects such as news stories, the annual magazine, website and she manages our alumni social media channels.
Prior to this role Megan as a Communications Assistant split between internal communications and alumni communications, and before that worked in the College of Humanities as an Employability and Alumni Assistant, planning and delivering a range of events as part of the Employability programme, and communicating with students.
Laura is an Alumni Communications Assistant and works closely with the Alumni Communications Manager and the Alumni Communications Officer to contact all our alumnae.
As a graduate of the University of Exeter herself (quite a while ago now!), Laura has been part of the alumni community for a number of years. She comes to the role from a freelance copywriting background where she focused on content for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) purposes, as well as organic social media copy.
As a new member of the team in January 2023, Laura is excited to be able to deliver communications to our alumni, alongside the staff team.
Operations
Tom has worked in research at Exeter since 2015 and is responsible for identifying potential supporters and maintaining database records. Before joining the University he worked as a Marketing Consultant and Statistical Analyst. Tom also volunteers as a co-ordinator and commentator of football matches and Exeter City FC for Soccer Sight – providing communications for visually impaired fans.
After a number of years supporting the data team, Matt now works as a Prospect Research Officer. Matt is a Plymouth graduate (Media Arts/Music), and prior to the University worked within the health, finance and local government sectors.
Coming from a background in web advertising and account management Kayleigh joined the Global Advancement team in October 2016. She now holds a varied role within the operations team where she’s responsible for managing online event listings, coordinating a busy email schedule, data preparation and processing financial gifts.
Alan has come to the team after working for Learn Devon, Devon County Councils Adult Education branch for 4 years. Starting as an Apprentice they gained experience in Finance, Data, Apprenticeships and Administration. Alan has 2 science degrees one from University of Portsmouth and one from University of Reading and along with a mixed work history, provides a rounded background. Which I am looking forward to using my role as an Alumni Data Officer.
Alex graduated from Plymouth University in 2018 with an undergraduate degree in Politics and International Relations and comes primarily from a customer service background, his last position involved supervising an extremely busy contact centre, this has given Alex lots of experience working with and accurately processing large volumes of sensitive customer data under strict time constraints.
Darius is a Journalism Graduate from the University of Gloucestershire, Darius has decided to swap broadsheets for spreadsheets as he joins the Data Team as an Alumni Data Officer. Most recently Darius worked for a criminal record background checking provider, assisting employers with their DBS, safeguarding, and data management needs.
Nico graduated from the University of East Anglia with a BA in Intercultural Communication with Business Management. After completing his internship with Optix Solutions, an award winning digital agency based in Exeter, he joins the global advancement department as part of the data team.
Louise leads the Donor Relations team and is responsible for the delivery of an institution-wide Donor Relations programme that supports the University’s philanthropic strategies, and informs supporters about the impact of their gift. Prior to joining Exeter, Louise developed a career in fundraising within the charity sector, having worked with Cancer Research UK and the West of England School and College for visually impaired children and young adults.
As a Donor Relations Officer, Julia is responsible for delivering strategic stewardship plans in support of the University’s philanthropic priorities. She ensures donors and supporters at all levels are thanked appropriately, informed of the impact of their gift and remain engaged. Prior to this role, Julia worked in Regular Giving after completing both of her degrees at Exeter - BA in International Relations and Middle East Studies with proficiency in Spanish (Hons) and MA in Politics and International Relations of the Middle East.
Georgia is responsible for maintaining and developing a stewardship framework for all donor and supporter levels, this includes coordinating personalised stewardship plans for major and principal donors . Her role ensures that donors are thanked appropriately and kept up to date with the impact of their donation.
Prior to joining Exeter, she graduated from the University of Exeter with an LLB in Law has various legal and regulatory experience. Most recently working in a top 15 international law firm in Real Estate investment and development. Outside work, she is a keen rower.
Catherine is responsible for delivering strategic stewardship plans and touchpoints for donations in support of the University’s philanthropic priorities. Her role ensures donors and supporters at all levels are thanked appropriately, informed of the impact of their donation and remain engaged.
She joined the Donor Relations team from a supporting role in Child Protection at Devon County Council. Catherine has a background covering Event Operations Management at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, corporate hospitality and international hotel management.
Melissa previously worked in local government finance for over thirty years and is genuinely excited to be working at the University.
She originally joined in November 2022 working in the FAS Team before moving to Global Advancement in May 2023.
Outside work, her main interests are painting and reading.
Ella supports all areas of Global Advancement, helping to organise meetings, travel and events, as well as administering systems and finance task. Prior to working at the University she worked in Learning and Development in the Business Administration team at Devon and Cornwall Police.