Rich Stanley serves as the Alliance Convener. In this role, Rich serves as the primary lead for AIA-affiliated initiatives. Stanley was appointed as senior vice president and University Planner in February of 2004 at Arizona State University. In this position, he works with the existing academic and administrative units; he coordinates the interaction of program, facility, and financial planning activities across ASU's four campuses. The focus of the work is medium-term and long-term planning to implement the vision of the New American University. He is a member of the ASU Executive Committee. He is also one of five members of the University Budget Committee, which coordinates budget planning for ASU.

Prior to joining ASU, Stanley spent 24 years at New York University, most recently as executive vice provost. During his tenure at NYU, he had planning responsibilities in the areas of space and facilities, academic budgeting, enrollment management, and faculty resources and support. He also had operational responsibility for admissions and financial aid and for information technology services. Earlier in his career, he held positions in internal auditing and in the publishing industry.

Dr. Sukhwant Jhaj serves as the AIA liaison for Arizona State University. Trained as a designer, Sukhwant Jhaj uses design thinking to discover new solutions for incremental and disruptive challenges facing higher education. In his role as vice provost at ASU, Jhaj pursues ways to create greater levels of student success for all learners across all degree types. He works to identify new ways the university can improve learning outcomes, and helps ASU set a new standard of quality and accessibility that can be shared with institutions of higher education around the country and the world. In addition to his role in the Office of the University Provost, Jhaj is the dean of University College, an instrumental and significant part of ASU’s efforts to enhance retention, graduation, and overall student achievement. Jhaj is a faculty member in The Design School within the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.

Jhaj is an active researcher. He is an expert in design thinking, design of student experience, managing change, open innovation and user centered design. He speaks extensively on these topics and has served on several national advisory groups focused on improving student success and institutional transformation.

In his book, “Delivering on the Promise of Democracy: Visual Case Studies in Educational Equity and Transformation,” Jhaj has crafted a new look at how imaginative leadership and a shift in perspective can guide institutions as they work to improve access and success for all students.

Anika Olsen is the AIA Liaison for Northern Arizona University, serving as the lead representative and advocate for AIA engagement on behalf of the institution. She is the Vice President for Enrollment Management at NAU. She brings 25 years of higher education experience to her role as Vice President for Enrollment Management. Anika has held posts that span a wide range of administrative areas, including Housing and Residence Life, Greek Life, Admissions, Communications and Orientation. In recent years, Anika has served as a Principal and Consultant with EAB Enrollment Services, advising some of the nation’s most notable colleges and universities on their operational and recruitment challenges.

Anika's team is at the center of the implementation of NAU’s Student Access and Success Plan, ensuring access for students to successfully meet their academic aspirations during this time of unprecedented change in higher education. She is passionate about placing the student experience at the core of the university’s decision-making process.

Dr. Christine Salvesen serves as the Chief Retention Officer and Associate Vice Provost for Student Success & Retention Innovation at the University of Arizona. She leads several retention leadership groups, coordinates many campus-wide persistence and retention initiatives, and oversees a unit that supports the success of all undergraduates at the University of Arizona through strengths-based programming, evidence-based practices, and robust assessment. Dr. Salvesen has worked at the University of Arizona for over 32 years in several capacities, primarily within Student Affairs. She has her B.S. in Psychology, M.A. in Educational Psychology, and a PhD in Higher Education, all from the University of Arizona.

Brittney Paulk serves as the Director of the Arizona Innovation Alliance. Reporting to the Alliance Convener and in council with campus Liaisons and Fellows, Brittney supports AIA institutions in identifying collaborative initiatives and new solutions, scaling proven innovations, and communicating and diffusing outcomes that advance the larger student success and cost effectiveness goals of the AIA. Prior to her appointment, Brittney served as a Projects Director in the Office of the University Provost at Arizona State University. Under the direction of the Deputy Provost and Provost executive leadership, Brittney planned and executed a portfolio of strategic initiatives to advance academic affairs, degree programming and student success. During her time at ASU, she was appointed the Fellow for the University Innovation Alliance, working across the 11-member consortium to scale innovations and promising practices to increase degree attainment among historically marginalized student populations

Emilee Trieckel serves as the Fellow for Arizona State University. Emilee has eight years of experience in various roles supporting higher education innovation. She began her career with ASU’s Office of University Initiatives, where she led strategic research efforts in support of designing and launching new, innovative university-wide initiatives. She then transitioned to the Presidential Advancement team at ASU Foundation where she assisted with philanthropic proposals. Most recently, Emilee worked at Northeastern University’s Center for the Future of Higher Education and Talent Strategy where she co-authored research on digital credentials and skills technology. Emilee is an ASU alumna, who is passionate about increasing access to and the quality of postsecondary education for the betterment of all Arizonans.

Taylor came to NAU for her Master of Education in Counseling-Student Affairs in 2019. Since then, she worked across multiple departments in Student Affairs and most recently managed commencement, university ceremonies, and academic events for the University Events Department. Prior to heading to Flagstaff, she was a wedding and event planner in Texas and Washington, D.C. She joined the AIA team in Fall 2023. In her free time, Taylor enjoys reading, playing tennis, and the Flagstaff sunshine.

Erin Whittig is an Idaho native who found her way to Arizona in 2014, when she was hired as a coordinator for the University of Arizona Writing Program. Since 2018, Erin has been the Assistant Director of Placement and Assessment for the program. In this role, she has worked on multiple projects to promote student agency and fair, equitable, and socially-just assessment. Erin is currently co-editing a special issue of the Journal of Writing Assessment focused on methods of Student Self-Placement in first-year writing; she is also part of a research team studying the validity of UArizona Writing Program's student self-placement process. When she is not doing these things, she is hiking and rock climbing in the mountains around Tucson with her spouse, and hopefully soon, her adventure cat.