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Brooks Hull, VP University Advancement, Texas State University
Brooks Hull brings 30 years of leadership experience in advancement, fundraising, and strategic communications to his role as Vice President for University Advancement at Texas State University and Executive Director of the Texas State University Development Foundation. Throughout his career, Brooks has been driven by a deep commitment to expanding access to education and strengthening institutions through meaningful, mission-aligned relationships that endure well beyond his tenure.
A frequent presenter at national and international conferences, Brooks’ recent work focuses on ethical and autonomous AI in fundraising, holistic corporate engagement strategies, and positioning foundations for next-level impact. He has led workshops and sessions on autonomous fundraising models, donor response to AI-driven engagement, volunteer board leadership, and the future of advancement operations. In 2025, he was selected to participate in the Association of Governing Boards’ Institute for Foundation Board Leaders and Chief Executives.
Brooks holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Oklahoma and is a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE). He has been recognized with numerous awards, including designation as a CASE Stellar Speaker, multiple CASE awards for fundraising performance and innovation, and the Ruffalo Noel Levitz Fundraising Innovation Award.
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Amanda Trabue, VP Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement, Western Kentucky University
Amanda L. Trabue is Vice President for Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement at Western Kentucky University, where she leads the institution’s comprehensive advancement, alumni, and engagement strategy. Since returning to WKU in 2019, she has modernized the division through a focus on culture, accountability, data-driven performance, and digital innovation, strengthening philanthropic and alumni relationships across the university. Under her leadership, WKU achieved the top fundraising year in its history and completed a transformational scholarship campaign. She has also launched new engagement and analytics platforms and aligned advancement strategy with institutional priorities. Previously, Amanda held senior development leadership roles at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College and at Washington University in St. Louis. A two-time WKU alumna, she holds degrees in marketing and business administration.
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Christy Bertolo, Co-Founder, UNITE
Chris Svec, Co-Founder, UNITE
Christy Bertolo and Chris Svec are the co-founders of UNITE, a technology, training, and strategy company developed to help unite university and industry partners. UNITE uses a licensed Ohio State technology invented by Chris and Christy and is an Ohio State portfolio company.
Prior to starting UNITE, Christy and Chris were hired at The Ohio State University to set up the institutions first, central, holistic corporate engagement office and initiative. In the process of launching this new office and successfully activating the corporate engagement work, the duo developed a technology to help universities assess the value of corporate partnerships. After five years, they took their practitioner experience and technology and started UNITE, which has almost 40 university clients across the US – institutions of all sizes, publics, privates, and HBCU’s.
Prior to working at Ohio State University, Christy led Business Services at the Columbus Chamber of Commerce where she witnessed the challenges the business community had working with higher education. Chris worked at Nationwide Insurance where he managed top tier sports marketing relationships with touchpoints across various areas of the enterprise.
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