Insiders' Summit

Sue Cunningham is President and CEO of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), which supports over 3,100 schools, colleges and universities worldwide in developing their integrated advancement work (alumni relations, communications, fundraising and marketing operations). As CASE President and CEO, Ms. Cunningham provides strategic and operational leadership for one of the largest associations of education-related institutions in the world with members in over 80 countries. She started her leadership role at CASE in March 2015.

While at CASE, Ms. Cunningham engaged CASE and thousands of its volunteers in a comprehensive strategic planning process resulting in Reimagining CASE: 2017-2021, an ambitious and comprehensive framework for serving CASE’s members and championing education worldwide, resulting in a comprehensive restructure of CASE’s volunteer leadership and governance structure. This plan has been followed with Championing Advancement: CASE 2022-2027, which went into effect January 1, 2022.

Among the key initiatives that have developed under her leadership include the acquisition of the Voluntary Support of Education survey and the development of CASE’s global research and data efforts; a reinvigorated advocacy agenda; the redesign and delivery of a new global governance structure; the creation of an ambitious competencies model across all advancement disciplines and a related career journey framework; and the first global and digital edition of CASE’s Global Reporting Standards and Guidelines, which operate as the industry-leading set of standards for the profession. She is most proud of CASE’s work in building the leading educational advancement association in the world, and of CASE’s commitment to diversifying the advancement professions.

Ms. Cunningham serves as a Trustee for the University of San Diego, and is a member of the Signature Theatre (Arlington, Virginia) Board of Directors. She is a member of the Washington Higher Education Secretariat steering committee, the International Association of University Presidents Executive Committee, and the International Women’s Forum. She is the author of the forthcoming publication ‘Global Exchange: Dialogues to Advance Education’.

Prior to her appointment to CASE, Ms. Cunningham served as Vice-Principal for Advancement at the University of Melbourne where she led the Believe campaign resulting in surpassing its original $500 million goal; and the Director of Development for the University of Oxford where she led the development team in the execution of the largest fundraising campaign outside of the United States (at the time): The Oxford Thinking Campaign, with a goal, when launched, of £1.25 billion. She served as Director of Development at Christ Church, Oxford and as Director of External Relations at St. Andrews University.

Before working in education, Ms. Cunningham enjoyed a career in theatre, the arts and the cultural sector. She is an Honorary Fellow of the Melbourne Graduate School of Education and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. In 2012, Ms. Cunningham received the CASE Europe Distinguished Service Award, and in 2008, she was awarded a CASE Crystal Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching. Ms. Cunningham was awarded a master’s degree from the University of Oxford and a bachelor’s degree in performing arts from Middlesex University and is a graduate of the Columbia University Senior Executive Program.