Sessions & Speakers

Billie Jo Hamilton is the Associate Vice President for Enrollment Planning and Management at the University of South Florida where she supervises the offices of the University Registrar and Financial Aid. Her career has spanned 43 years and five states. She has held numerous elected positions in state, regional and national financial aid associations, and served as National Chair of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) in 2017-18. She is sought after as a presenter on enrollment management and financial aid topics and has a particular passion for helping prepare aid administrators for leadership roles not only in financial aid, but also in enrollment management.

Dr. Angel B. Pérez is CEO of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC). In this role, he represents over 27,000 admission and counseling professionals worldwide committed to postsecondary access and success. He is the primary voice of the association to government, media, and global partners. Pérez is recognized as a national thought leader and sought-after speaker on issues of educational equity, access, and success.

Michele Scott Taylor, Ed.D., is the President of College Now Greater Cleveland, the first college access organization in the nation. For the past 14 years, she has served as Chief Program Officer, leading the organization’s programmatic efforts, and ensuring that its initiatives reflect best-in-class thinking and cutting-edge research in college access and success. Her work has focused on increasing postsecondary educational attainment in Greater Cleveland through providing college and career access advising, and financial aid counseling to help guide the future decisions of middle and high school students. In her current role as President, Michele is overseeing the implementation of a new strategic plan aimed at strengthening the organization’s impact on the community.

Doug Shapiro, Ph.D., is the Executive Research Director of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, which advances student success by providing the education community with data and insights from the nation’s largest student-level dataset of college enrollment and degree information. In his work at the Clearinghouse he established over a dozen new reports and benchmarks on student enrollment, persistence, transfer and completion. He also developed research and data services to help high schools, states, postsecondary institutions, and researchers to measure student educational outcomes.

Beth is the executive vice president of NASFAA. She has worked for the association since 2008, and in the higher education space for more than two decades. She works closely with the President/CEO and NASFAA Board of Directors, and oversees multiple key functional areas at NASFAA, including communications and communities, web, membership services, operations and accounting. In prior positions she has served as a reporter, editor, public relations and media relations strategist and spokesperson, and corporate communications executive. She has served as an appointed board member to the National Association of College Admissions Counselors. Beth earned her undergraduate degree at the College of Charleston and a certificate in nonprofit leadership from Georgetown University; she lives in Washington, DC with her family.