Meet the Advancement Team
We are here to serve and each of us is eager to make a connection with you.
We are here to serve and each of us is eager to make a connection with you.
Erin Alvarado
Alumni Communications & Content Manager
Erin oversees the Florida Tech Alumni social media accounts, Florida Tech Connect, email content creation, the www.fit.edu/alumni website, and AlumNotes for Florida Tech Magazine. She graduated from Florida Tech in the spring of 2016 with a bachelor's degree in business administration - marketing and has stayed active in the Panther community ever since. In her spare time, you can find Erin reading, running, going to the movies with her husband (also a Florida Tech alum), binge-watching reality TV, and visiting her second home...Disney World!
Jessica Cartagena Assam
Event Coordinator
Jessica manages The Scott Center’s Evening of Hope and weVENTURE’s Wine, Women & Shoes. Her primary focus is to maintain partnerships with vendors and oversee all elements of an event while keeping supporters informed of the event and the organization’s mission. Jessica is the mother to Brandon who studies at the University of Miami Herbert School of Business ’24 and Karis who is at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts ’26. Jessica volunteers and/or supports local organizations including Brevard Zoo and The Aquarium Project, The Henegar Center, and Junior Achievement of the Space Coast.
Stephanie Bacon
Major Gift Officer-West Region
Since 2011, Stephanie enthusiastically touts Florida Tech's can-do culture and champions our stellar faculty. She strives to involve alumni and friends of the university to further Florida Tech's mission. Depending on the day, this may be connecting an accomplished alumnus with a student, corporate partners with a community leader, or listening to their aspirations and intentions. Most often, you will find Stephanie in the kitchen, pretending to play golf or gardening.
Marjorie Beckett
Budget Specialist
Marjorie handles all things accounting and budgetary for the department and plays a vital role in setting the organizational processes for our team. She earned both her B.S. & MBA at Florida Tech and has worked as Assistant Director of Alumni Affairs as well as worked in the Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering Departments. Marjorie has also taught several Florida Tech College of Business online courses as well as courses at the local community college.
Daniel Blucker
Manager of Gifts &
Financial Reporting
Daniel handles all areas of gift entry and gift processing for the department as well as accurately records all data in the Raiser’s Edge database ensuring all is reconciled with the Controller’s Office. In addition, he is responsible for completing various financial reports.
Steffanie Brown
Director of Prospect Research and Development Services
Steffanie has been part of the Florida Tech community since 2011. She also serves as Membership Director for the Florida chapter of APRA (formerly Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement) and has been a featured speaker for APRA and AFP (Association of Fundraising Professionals) events across the United States on various topics related to prospect development and engagement. In her free time, she enjoys running and walking all over the beautiful Space Coast.
Alyssa Carney
Admin III
Alyssa provides administrative support to the Sr. VP for the Office of Advancement, as well as undertakes the responsibilities of being the department's Stewardship Coordinator. This includes ensuring all donors are appropriately recognized and celebrated so that philanthropy for the department grows. She earned a degree in business administration (’14) and her M.B.A. (’16) from Florida Tech. Alyssa was a part of the cheerleading program while attending Florida Tech and enjoys spending time with her dog, Cooper.
Donna Cassario
Major Gift Officer, Parent Philanthropy
Donna is a graduate and a parent, so naturally, she leads our parent programs, working with the Parent Leadership Council and spearheading parent giving and engagement.
John Cornell
Director of Annual Giving
John manages a diverse Student Philanthropy Team that is a growing initiative to connect alumni with students as well as establish giving habits to increase participation rates. He also directs our Day of Giving activities. He has long had a passion for higher education, along with athletics, the arts, and live music. Originally from Connecticut, John has lived up and down the east coast, always gravitating to the water. While he is not yet ready to take on Gary in chess, he plays a mean game of backgammon and a not-so-mean game of tennis.
Gary Grant
Senior Vice President for Advancement
Gary is our fearless leader for the Advancement team and works closely with major donors, trustees and leadership volunteer groups. He thinks he has a witty sense of humor, but he’s wrong. Plays a decent game of chess though.
Shelley Johnson
Major Gift Officer-East Region
Shelley’s role is to engage with alumni, industry, the local community, and constituents along the mid to northeast coast of the United States in support of the university’s mission and values. Originally, from Palm Beach County she has lived in Indialantic for more than 20 years and has been with Florida Tech since 2010. When not serving as a vital ambassador for Florida Tech, she is often found on the golf course, tennis court, or boating with her family.
Ameena Kero
Foundation Relations Officer
Ameena started her career in higher education, working in different departments in the U.S. and at the international level. As the Foundation Relations Officer of Advancement at Florida Tech, she searches for foundations and funding opportunities, writes proposals and grants for funding requests, and assists the Deans and faculty in completing proposals and submissions of independent proposals for grant opportunities.
Lindsey Turner
Major Gift Officer-South Region
Lindsey is responsible for the qualification, cultivation, and solicitation of major gifts in the southern region of the country. Lindsey holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Eastern Mennonite University and a master’s in organizational leadership from Florida Tech. In her free time, you can find her playing with her rescue dog, Tex, cooking new food, hanging out with friends, beachin’ it, or volunteering in the animal rescue world. She was born and raised in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of VA!
Mary Ida Spradlin
Major Gift Officer-Central Region
Mary Ida is responsible for the qualification, cultivation, and solicitation of major gifts in the midwest region, as well as the greater Tampa and Miami areas. As an alumnus herself, graduating in the spring of 2018 with a bachelor's degree in business administration - marketing, she has stayed an active ambassador and become passionate about building long-term relationships with the university. Outside of Florida Tech, Mary Ida spends most of her time training in a ballroom studio or spending time with her fellow Florida Tech Panthers!
Zulfa Sultana
Annual Giving Manager
Zulfa is originally from Bangladesh and prides herself on being a very ambitious person. She received her master’s degree in business administration and was recently awarded “First Winner” on her research paper published with CBERUK. She might sound super-serious but she is a goofball at heart! Her sports car is her other half and she is obsessed with music. You can often find her humming lyrics to herself. In her spare time, she also loves to sing karaoke, cook, and dance. As a proud multi-lingual person, she is passionate about learning new cultures and their languages.
Alaena Wade-Meadows
Sr. Manager, Advancement Services
Lanie makes sure that our constituent relations database plays nicely. She gets everyone the lists they need and ensures data integrity (that means accuracy). She’s good with computers and people!
Timothy Worzick
Donor Engagement Coordinator
Tim is our Donor Engagement Coordinator. Together with Gary, he manages our volunteerism programs for alumni, parents, and friends. In addition, he oversees donor stewardship, RE NXT mass emails, and Online Express event registrations. You can often catch him pairing students with interviewers using his favorite mapping tool.
Gina Yates
Assistant Vice President, Alumni Affairs
Gina and the Alumni Affairs team are working together to strengthen our alumni community for lifetime engagement with the university and with one another. Gina conceptualizes, implements, and manages a wide range of alumni engagement activities to advance the university's mission. Working closely with the Advancement team, the Alumni Board, and university leadership, she is an advocate for the university to increase awareness of Florida Tech among potential students and the broader public and in relevant industries. Her goals are to increase the number of actively engaged alumni and maximize their engagement's impact.
Joanne Zito
Director of Leadership Giving
Joanne is responsible for stewarding the Galaxy Society donors. She also oversees the academic advisory boards and the Board of Fellows engaging leadership and major donors to strengthen the relationship between Florida Tech and the community. In this role, she manages the event coordinator who conducts the Evening of Hope and the Gala for weVENTURE along with other donor and stewardship events.