:: Keynote Speakers

Wednesday Opening Plenary Session, November 3

Kathryn W. Miree, President Kathryn W. Miree Associates, Inc.

Kathryn W. Miree is President of Kathryn W. Miree & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm that works with boards and staff members of nonprofits and foundations to develop or fine tune major/planned giving programs and endowment.

She is a past president of the National Committee on Planned Giving and a past president of the Alabama Planned Giving Council.  She currently serves as Chair of the Editorial Advisory Committee of the Journal of Gift Planning, on the Editorial Advisory Boards of Planned Giving Today and Planned Giving Design Center, and as a member of the Merrill Lynch National Attorney Advisory Board.  Ms. Miree is a frequent lecturer, co-author of The Family Foundation Handbook with Jerry J. McCoy (CCH Publishers 2001) and author of The Professional Advisor’s Guide to Planned Giving (CCH Publishers, 2001). 

She received her undergraduate degree from Emory University and her law degree from The University of Alabama School of Law.

Friday Plenary Session, November 5

Dr. Frank Chong, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Colleges U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education

Frank Chong began his duties as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Colleges in the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, in January, 2010.

Prior to coming to Washington, D.C., Dr. Chong served as president of Laney College, the flagship of the Peralta Community College District in Oakland CA. Home to over 13,000 students and 400 faculty, Laney
offers technical and vocational education and training programs, transfer opportunities to four-year colleges and universities, basic skills and ESL instruction and many life-long learning opportunities.

Prior to assuming the Laney College presidency, he served as president of Mission College in Santa Clara CA and Dean of Student Affairs at City College of San Francisco. He was an appointed member of the San Francisco Children and Families Commission, and was elected to the San Francisco Board of Education in 1998. From 1987 to 1991, he served as special assistant to Willie L. Brown, Jr., the Speaker of the California
State Assembly.

Dr. Chong has served on numerous boards focused on higher education, and is the former president and founding member of Asian Pacific Americans in Higher Education (APAHE), a national advocacy organization.

Chong received a B.A. degree in Social Welfare and Asian American Studies from the University of California, Berkeley and a Masters degree in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He also completed the Institute of Educational Management at
Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, and earned his Doctorate in Educational Administration, Leadership and Technology from Dowling College in Oakdale, NY.

Closing Saturday Plenary Session, November 6

Dr. Kjell Christophersen, Co-founder & President Economic Modeling Specialists, Inc. (EMSI)

Dr. Kjell Christophersen is a senior economist with 30 years of international and domestic experience. He is the co-founder and President of Economic Modeling Specialists Inc. (EMSI), a company specializing in economic impact analysis, labor market / workforce development forecasting, and economic growth analysis.

He has extensive international experience in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and the Caribbean as an economic development consultant, both long- and short-term. Clients include USAID, The World Bank, African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, FAO, Club du Sahel, and numerous private clients.  He has worked in 60 countries and served as team leader on projects involving economic modeling, project designs and evaluations, natural resource management assessments, planning, feasibility and recurrent cost studies, training needs assessments, training in economic and financial analysis, economics of ecotourism, and environmental assessments from the economics perspective.

Before joining EMSI, Dr. Christophersen was a Senior Manager for the International Resources Group (1983–2001), Associate Professor at the University of Idaho (1977–1983), and an adjunct associate professor at Washington State University (1992–1998). He is fluent in English, Norwegian, and French.

Email Me To A Friend!