Apra-IL Webinar: Higher Education Prospecting Roundtable
Join Apra-IL and colleagues from Caltech, the University of Illinois Foundation, Brown University, and Wheaton College for an engaging roundtable discussion on prospecting for higher education institutions!
Four of your fellow prospect development professionals will convene to discuss life working in the higher education space. Topics will include the characteristics of a "good prospect" for universities, multigenerational and legacy giving, unique tools and visualizations, and ways to mine alumni data for insights.
Registration is free for Apra-IL members and $10.00 for non-members.
Speaker Bios:
Cynthia Mikimoto, Caltech: Cynthia Mikimoto serves as Associate Director of Prospect Management at Caltech, where she partners with development officers to ensure their portfolios remain accurate, current, and strategically aligned. Cynthia plays an active role in onboarding new team members, and continues to meet regularly with frontline fundraisers to serve as their strategic partner. Collaborating with the information services team, she works to provide insights and the story within the data for fundraisers. Ms. Mikimoto brings more than 20 years’ experience in prospect management, prospect research, leadership briefings, donor relations and event management. At Caltech, she has implemented automations related to portfolio review notifications, list reviews and stage management. She has co-presented on the critical collaboration between fundraisers and prospect development at conferences in 2023 and 2024. In recognition of her leadership and contributions to the field, Cynthia was elected president of Apra’s California chapter, CARA, in 2025. She received her undergraduate degree in psychology from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
Trent Nichols, Wheaton College: Trent Nichols is the Director of Prospect Research and Management at Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL), where he has worked for the past ten years.
He oversees the College's prospect research and management work, three staff, and serves on a Principal Gift team of four, serving the President, VP, and major gift officers with strategy, tracking, and research. He also contributes to the College's comprehensive capital campaign planning and event activities, currently in the second comprehensive campaign of his time at Wheaton. Embedded in the Development Department with major gift officers, he enjoys working with them directly day in and day out, and recently helped the organization launch its nascent prospect management efforts. He is involved in various other activities, such as CRM customization project management, onboarding new major gift officers, and traditional prospect research of all kinds.
He has worked in prospect research at social service and arts/culture organizations in the Midwest in his 25+ year career in the fundraising field.
He has a BA in Art History from Bethel University and an MA in Historic Preservation from Goucher College.
He is a busy father and enjoys traveling, local history / architectural research, and time in the outdoors biking and running.
Misam Hussain, University of Illinois Foundation: Misam Hussain is a prospect development analyst (PDA) supporting the University of Illinois Chicago units of Cancer Center, College of Nursing, School of Public Health, and UI Health since April of 2024. In this role Misam helps develop and maintain the pipeline of suitable prospects for the fundraisers to pursue, by working closely with the colleges, the UIC data team and the University of Illinois Foundation. He also handles various data requests for the units he is supporting in Chicago, while also being tied to data and system improvement projects for the Foundation as a whole. Misam holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Depaul University, moving from Norway to the US in 2021 where he had previously worked at the University of Oslo for several years in various technical roles.
Megan Humphrey, Brown University:
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