ProSpeak

As a founding principal of Convergent Nonprofit Solutions, Mark focuses on empowering nonprofits to accomplish more for the communities and constituencies they serve by dramatically increasing their financial resources. He is a leading national expert in funding nonprofit organizations and community initiatives through large fundraising campaigns.

Mark has managed and consulted on fundraising campaigns for a broad array of nonprofits, including schools, community colleges, museums, hospitals, women’s and children’s services, workforce development organizations, associations, arts and culture organizations, Boy Scouts councils, historic theaters, human service organizations, community foundations, YMCAs, animal shelters, hospices, social service nonprofits, community centers, chambers of commerce, and economic development corporations.

Larry believes in the power of relationships and the power of philanthropy to create a better place and transform lives.

Larry is the founder of The Eight Principles. His mission is to give nonprofits and philanthropists alike the opportunity to achieve their shared visions. With more than 25 years of experience in charitable fundraising and philanthropy, Larry knows that financial sustainability and scalability is possible for any nonprofit organization or charitable cause and is dependent on neither size nor resources but instead with the commitment to create a shared vision.

Larry is the author of the award-wining book, "The Eight Principles of Sustainable Fundraising." He is the Association of Fundraising Professionals' 2010 Outstanding Development Executive and has ranked in the Top 15 Fundraising Consultants in the United States by the Wall Street Business Network.

Larry is the creator of the revolutionary online fundraising training platform, The Oracle League.

Reach Larry on social media at:

Twitter: Larry_C_Johnson
LinkedIn: larryjohnsonmegrace
Facebook: TheEightPrinciples

Mary Beth Westmoreland is Blackbaud’s chief technology officer, responsible for leading worldwide product, technology and analytics strategy, architecture, user experience and innovation across the company’s entire solution portfolio. Mary Beth joined Blackbaud in 2008 and has over 30 years of experience in software engineering and product development.

Prior to Blackbaud, Mary Beth was VP of research and development at Ipswitch, Inc. where she led software engineering, design and operations across the company’s global product portfolio. Before Ipswitch, she spent 15 years at the Savannah River National Laboratory, where she started as a programmer and eventually managed the company’s Enterprise and Technical Systems Engineering organizations.

In both 2019 and 2017, Mary Beth was named one of the Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Technology by the National Diversity Council — a definitive list that honors the most extraordinary female leaders, influencers and achievers impacting the technology industry. She has been recognized for her leadership in Blackbaud’s transformation to a cloud software company that is innovative, agile and successful, for her mentorship of other women and for her commitment to corporate citizenship.

Mary Beth is a trustee at her alma mater, Immaculata University, where she graduated with a degree in mathematics and physics. She is also a member of the advisory board of Clemson University’s College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences, a founding board member of Charleston Women in Tech, and is actively involved in a variety of STEM programs, Women in Technology initiatives and other nonprofits.

Katrina VanHuss is the CEO of Turnkey, a U.S.-based strategy and execution firm for nonprofit fundraising campaigns. Katrina has been instilling passion in volunteer fundraisers since 1989 when she founded the company. Turnkey’s clients include most of the top thirty U.S. peer-to-peer campaigns — Susan G. Komen, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the ALS Association, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, as well as some international organizations, like UNICEF.

Otis Fulton is a psychologist who joined Turnkey in 2013 as its consumer behavior expert. He works with clients to apply psychological principles to fundraising. He is a much-sought-after copywriter for nonprofit messaging. He has written campaigns for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, The March of Dimes, the USO and dozens of other organizations.  

Now as a married couple, Katrina and Otis almost never stop talking about fundraising, volunteerism, and human decision-making – much to the chagrin of most dinner companions.

Katrina and Otis present regularly at clients’ national conferences, as well as at BBCon, NonProfit Pro P2P, Peer to Peer Forum, and others. They write a weekly column for NonProfit PRO and are the co-authors of the 2017 book, "Dollar Dash: The Behavioral Economics of Peer-to-Peer Fundraising." They live in Richmond, Virginia, USA.

Charlie Hulme is managing director of DonorVoice. Part of the team that conducted the sector’s only empirical and applied study into donor loyalty. Today, he works with charity partners to radically alter the donor's experience and subsequent lifetime value.

Wayne Elsey is the founder and CEO of Elsey Enterprises. Among his various independent brands, he is also the founder and CEO of Funds2Orgs, a social enterprise that helps nonprofits, schools, churches, civic groups, individuals and others raise funds, while helping to support micro-enterprise (small business) opportunities in developing nations and the environment.

You can learn more about Wayne and obtain free resources, including his books on his blog, Not Your Father’s Charity.

Pamela consults with nonprofits, helping them develop their fundraising strategy and writing copy to achieve their goals. Additionally, she teaches fundraising at two universities, hoping to inspire the next generation of fundraisers to be passionate about the profession. Previously, Pamela led the fundraising programs for nonprofit organizations. Pamela is a member of the Advisory Panel for Rogare, the fundraising think tank at Plymouth University’s Hartsook Centre for Sustainable Philanthropy, a CFRE, a graduate of Wheaton College (IL) and Dominican University, and holds a Doctorate in Business Administration from California Southern University. Contact Pamela at pamela@pjbardeninc.com or follow her on Twitter at @pjbarden.

Steve Scheier, author of "Do More Good. Better. Using the Power of Decision Clarity to Mobilize the Talent of Your Nonproft Team," is the CEO and Founder of Scheier+Group, a consulting firm dedicated to helping organizations distribute power differently so they can do more good. Prior to founding Scheier+Group in 2010, Steve was vice president of human assets and training at College Summit, and president at Entrepreneurs Foundation. On the private-sector side, Steve has served as a vice president of human resources at Food.com and at CKS Group, and worked in marketing at Apple Inc. He is an occasional contributor to the North Bay Business Journal.

Kim Cubine is president of Chapman Cubine Adams + Hussey (CCAH), a full-service direct marketing firm with offices in Arlington, Va., and San Francisco. She possesses over 20 years’ experience as a strategist and communicator for progressive causes and political candidates. She has managed the direct marketing programs of some of the largest, most prestigious campaigns and global nonprofit organizations, including Obama for America, EMILY’s List, Clinton-Gore ’96, The Wilderness Society, NARAL Pro-Choice America, AARP and the Democratic National Committee. Since assuming the presidency of the firm, she has been instrumental in developing CCAH into the first and leading, full-service direct marketing agency in the country.

Shawn Kemp is cofounder of ActionSprout, where he helps power people’s ability to create lasting change by connecting organizations with their supporters.

John Oddy is senior philanthropic director with Foundation Source in Fairfield, CT. Based in New York, John works directly with private foundations, their donors and families. Before coming to Foundation Source, John was Executive Director of The Royal Oak Foundation, a U.S. charity supporting the National Trust of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Prior to that, he was Program Officer at the Getty Grant Program, the philanthropic arm of the J. Paul Getty Trust, supporting conservation of significant art and architecture internationally. John studied Art History as an undergraduate at Bard College and Urban Planning at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

Leigh Kessler is VP of Marketing and Communications at donor management software platform CharityEngine and a frequent speaker on branding, fundraising, data and technology. He is a former nationally touring headline comedian and has appeared on numerous TV shows including VH1’s “Best Week Ever”, CNN’s “Showbiz Tonight”, Discovery Channel & Sirius Radio.​ He has overseen and informed research and branding strategies for some of the most well known brands in America.

Adam Weinger is president of Double the Donation, an organization that helps nonprofit organizations and schools increase fundraising from corporate matching gift and employee volunteer grant programs. Reach him at adam@doublethedonation.com.

Ryan K. Sowers is the Assistant Director for Annual Giving at The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Individualized Studies with a minor in Marketing at Bowling Green State University in 2015 and would like to pursue a Master's degree in Business Administration. Before joining the University of Pittsburgh in 2015, Ryan worked in Corporate and Foundational Relations with Bowling Green State University, and was the Chairman and Founder of BGSU's Undergraduate Capital Campaign from Spring 2012 to Summer 2014.

Randall Anderson is the Chief Operations Officer of Listen Up Español, a leading bilingual call center. In his position, Randall uses his extensive experience in DRTV fundraising and call center operations to help nonprofit organizations reach out to the U.S. Hispanic market. In his spare time he enjoys golf, classical chorus, basketball, boating and travel.

Marc Bellanger is vice president of development for the Buzzards Bay Coalition, an environmental nonprofit based in New Bedford, Mass. For the last two years he has led the organization’s fundraising activities, including managing its signature peer-to-peer sporting events. Prior to joining the Buzzards Bay Coalition, Marc had a 15-year career in banking and management consulting. He has a BS from Georgetown University an MBA from Babson College. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Samaritans Inc., a Boston-based nonprofit dedicated to suicide prevention.

Anthony Clervi is the vice president of growth at UNA Purchasing Solutions, a group purchasing organization (GPO) dedicated to helping businesses and organizations across multiple industries improve their financial and operational performance. With extensive experience in sales, marketing, and business consulting, Anthony provides consistent leadership and strategic direction for company success.

Jason Stone is the vice president of sales and marketing for Engage, a St. Louis-based, full-service web and mobile design and development firm servicing clients in a variety of markets, including associations and nonprofits.

Angela Struebing is president of CDR Fundraising Group, a multichannel agency focused on helping nonprofits maximize their online, direct mail, telemarketing and DRTV fundraising results. As president, Angela is responsible for overall agency management and strategic planning for national nonprofit clients to include The Wounded Warrior Project, Shriners’ Hospitals for Children, MoMA and the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation. Angela is a frequent speaker at industry events and is recognized for her strategic expertise. She has also served as Education co-chair for the Bridge Conference.

Jeanne C. Zepp is a freelance writer with an interest in direct marketing techniques, especially as they apply to the nonprofit world. She works at DPR Group, directing its public relations function.

Bill Tedesco is a well-known entrepreneur in the field of philanthropy with more than 15 years of experience leading companies serving the fundraising profession.

Bill has personally conducted original research to identify markers of philanthropy and has developed modeling and analytical products that use those markers to accurately predict future giving.

Since 2007, Bill has been the founder, CEO and managing partner of DonorSearch.

James Gilmer is a compliance specialist for Harbor Compliance, which establishes 501(c) nonprofits and helps them stay compliant. Harbor Compliance assists charities in every state and several countries abroad. James serves on the board for two nonprofits in Lancaster, Pa.

Katie Zwetzig is executive director of Verified Volunteers, an organization that aims to help nonprofits and service organizations better fulfill their missions by reducing the time and costs associated with volunteer screening.

Katie is excited to lead the revolutionary change Verified Volunteers is bringing to the nonprofit and volunteer industry. She has been at the forefront of the screening industry for the last 14 years and founded her own background screening company, Tandem Select. She feels strongly that nonprofits and volunteerism are at the heart of strong communities.

Josh Gerben is U.S. trademark attorney and principal of Gerben Law Firm in Washington, D.C. Named the No. 3 U.S. trademark filer in 2009 by Trademark Insider, Josh has represented clients in more than 5,000 trademark filings with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Josh has been a featured panelist on FOX News and has provided insights and opinions to a variety of national news outlets, including The Wall Street Journal and NPR. Learn more about trademarks on Gerben Law Firm’s blog.

Scott Bailey is executive vice president of Target Data, which unlocks the power of customer data through highly targeted marketing campaign execution.

Robyn Mendez is a peer-to-peer fundraising rock star. Over the last 15 years, she’s done everything from setting up pop-up tents in the rain to deploying multi-national fundraising websites. She has a passion for using technology to raise money and believes that the collective few have the power to change the world. Robyn lives in Houston, Tex., with her husband, two kids and French bulldog.

Co-owner of NonProfit Central and MoneyMinder Software, Cyndi's career spans decades in the marketing and research and development field. It was while serving as board president for a local networking group that she discovered the pressing need for a simple, easy and affordable accounting software system. MoneyMinder Software launched in 2003 with the basic mission of simplifying volunteer activities of nonprofit leaders across the country.

Tivoni Devor, MBA, has spent his entire career in the nonprofit sector. While working for diverse institutions in many roles, Tivoni has often found himself developing earned revenue models and designing strategic partnerships. Tivoni currently works as manager of partnerships and outreach at Urban Affairs Coalition, where he helps social entrepreneurs leverage fiscal sponsorship to jumpstart their nonprofit endeavors. Tivoni lives in Philadelphia, with his wife Jennifer and daughter Ava. The thoughts and content of his columns are his and his alone.

George Crankovic is an experienced, award-winning fundraising copywriter and strategist, he helps nonprofits reach and engage their donors through multichannel direct response, combining strategy, messaging, offer and audience to maximize results for acquisition, cultivation and reactivation. With a proven track record in marketing communications and fundraising, George has worked with blue-chip nonprofits from The Salvation Army, to Project HOPE, to World Relief, to The Red Cross and more nationwide.

An in-demand writer, George has published articles in Fundraising Success magazine, Nonprofit Pro magazine and other national publications. He is a guest blogger at Jeff Brooks’ Future Fundraising Now site, and he blogs at www.marketing-fundraising.com.

Tracy Vanderneck is president of Phil-Com, a Florida-based training and consulting company where she works with nonprofits on fundraising, board development and strategic planning. Tracy has more than 20 years of experience in fundraising, business development and sales. She holds a Master of Science in management with a concentration in nonprofit leadership and a graduate certificate in teaching and learning. She is a Certified Fund Raising Executive and an Association of Fundraising Professionals Master Trainer. Additionally, she designs and delivers online fundraising training classes and serves as a Network for Good Personal Fundraising Coach.

Moshe Hecht, winner of the 2017 NonProfit PRO Technology Professional of the Year, is a philanthropy futurist, public speaker and chief innovation officer of Charidy, a crowdfunding platform and consulting company that has helped 3,000 organizations raise over $700 million.

Moshe's passion lies at the intersection of technology and charitable giving. When Moshe is not at the office, he is writing music and enjoying downtime with his wife and three redheaded children.

Craig Shelley (@craigshelley) is a managing director at Orr Group, which provides nonprofits with strategy, fundraising, leadership and management solutions and has offices in New York City and Washington, D.C.

Craig brings an entrepreneurial approach to fundraising, nonprofit management and strategy. Prior to joining Orr Group, Craig served in a variety of positions with the Boy Scouts of America, most recently as the national director of development and corporate alliances. He serves on the executive committee of the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ New York City Chapter and the editorial advisory board for Nonprofit PRO, and is a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE). 

Nick Rawitsch is a researcher and strategist working in arts, design and creativity-driven industries. Nick is currently the senior research analyst for UC Berkeley's Arts + Design Initiative and will graduate with an MBA in Design Strategy from CCA in May.

Marla Altberg is president, Nonprofit Engagement Solutions Division, for Ventura Associates International LLC. Reach her at maltberg@sweepspros.com.

Laurence is author of "The Nonprofit Fundraising Solution," the first book on fundraising ever published by the American Management Association. He is Chairman of LAPA Fundraising serving nonprofits throughout the U.S. and Europe.

Dale Nirvani Pfeifer is changing the way we connect online by making social giving simple. An award-winning researcher and native Kiwi, Pfeifer applied the theory of Allophilia (like or love of others) to Maori leadership, demonstrating how the power of love and effective leadership can bring together big, diverse groups of people. She ran the Victoria University of Wellington’s Center for the Study of Leadership and collaborated with institutions like Harvard University. She later began working with organizations across the U.S. and New Zealand—from security think tanks to the Rockefeller Foundation—to help them understand their purpose; develop and implement programs and communications strategies; and design, lead and program a number of initiatives. Pfeifer’s work in the nonprofit and foundation sector led her to recognize the power of business to drive large-scale impact, and she founded Goodworld. She was recently named one of Washington Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 business leaders in Washington and one of Trending 40’s New Power Women of DC Tech.

Cindi works with nonprofit boards and executives to build healthy boards that raise more money and execute on their vision. She is an author, educator, speaker, president of Create Possibility and a former ED. Known for asking the tough questions, she is on a mission to change the mindset of nonprofit leaders, so they move from intention to execution and maximize their impact.

Her popular book, “The Impact Triangle: The 3 Essentials to Accelerate Your Nonprofit Enterprise,” is recommended as mandatory reading for executives and volunteers. Cindi teaches fundraising at the University of San Diego, serves on various boards and is a Viewpoint partner for Social Venture Partners.

Cindi spends her free time jogging on the beach, snowboarding or watching her beloved Philadelphia Eagles!

Reach her at cindi@possibility-cp.com. 

Follow her on social media:
@CindiPhallen
facebook.com/cindiphallen.strategy
linkedin.com/in/cindiphallen/

Brett Meyer is the founder of Donation Spring, an online crowdfunding platform easily installed on a nonprofit organization's existing website, and the owner of 3River Development. Working with nonprofits throughout the last two decades, Brett uses his software engineering experience in the Fortune 500 world to help nonprofits survive and thrive in a digitally-driven world.

Julia is a nonprofit digital marketing, an online fundraising strategist and the author of the book, "Storytelling in the Digital Age: A Guide for Nonprofits." Reach her at juliaclairecampbell@gmail.com.

http://jcsocialmarketing.com/

Mark believes in the often-untapped power of data and testing for more effective fundraising. For over 15 years, Frisina has been at the forefront of delivering highly targeted, data-driven direct response programs for a wide array of organizations. As VP of Strata Company, his efforts have helped numerous clients reach more of the right people the right way, generating higher response rates and a greater return on investment. Mark received an MBA in marketing from Villanova University and when he’s not in the office, you can find him out on the golf course or cheering on his favorite sports teams.

Jeremy Silverstein is vice president of operations and vehicle dispatching at Goodwill Car Donations. Silverstein has handled tens of thousands of donated vehicles and has become quite an expert in the past five years he has been with Goodwill Car Donations.

Ify Aduba is a nonprofit compliance specialist for Harbor Compliance, a leading provider of compliance solutions for organizations of all types and sizes. Headquartered in Lancaster, Pa., Harbor Compliance partners with organizations in every state and over 28 countries abroad to help solve the most challenging compliance problems. With clients that range from the largest organizations in the country to fast-growth startups, Harbor Compliance fully manages government licensing compliance in both nonprofit and business sectors.

In her spare time, Ify actively volunteers within her community. She currently serves as president of the Board of the Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations, president of the Administrative Ministries Team at Doylestown United Methodist Church and board member for the Bucks County Women’s Advocacy Coalition. She is also a member of the Doylestown Branch of the American Association of University Women and Doylestown Rotary.

Ashley Thompson is the managing director for the Blackbaud Institute. She is responsible for driving Blackbaud’s extensive research, thought leadership, and best practice content.

Through this role, she builds thoughtful strategies and solutions for the philanthropic sector utilizing the most comprehensive data set in the social good community. She also manages internal and external relationships for the Institute, including the convening of the Blackbaud Institute Advisory Board.

Ashley is active in the Austin community and participates in numerous groups as a volunteer, active board member, and collaborative partner.

She is a regular contributor to sgENGAGE, serves on the Giving USA Editorial Review Board, and is a member of the NonProfit PRO Editorial Advisory Board.

Follow Ashley on Twitter at @AshlyThmpsn.

Payman Taei is the founder of Visme, an easy-to-use online tool to create engaging presentations, infographics, and other forms of visual content. He is also the founder of HindSite Interactive, an award-winning Maryland based digital agency specializing in website design, user experience and web app development.

At Merkle, Chris is a senior leader in the Quantitative Marketing Group and leads a team of talented analysts leveraging advanced predictive techniques to drive net revenue and build donor pipelines for some of the leading nonprofits in the country. He strives to drive insight into donor data across all fundraising programs, use this knowledge to build constituent engagement that maximizes long-term donor value and ensure his partners thrive today while building a foundation to advance their mission over the long term.

Chris brings to Merkle over 10 years of experience in nonprofit marketing, analytics, and thought leadership, having previously served on the executive committee at the leader in higher education marketing. Chris has had the opportunity to partner with some of the largest and most recognizable institutions in the country to leverage personalized marketing to achieve their enrollment and advancement goals. Prior to his time in higher education, Chris held various analytic positions in financial services. Chris holds a BS in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the Darden School of Business.

Kylie Hutchinson is principal consultant with Community Solutions Planning & Evaluation and the author of “Survive and Thrive: Three Steps to Securing Your Program’s Sustainability,” which has been nominated for the Terry McAdam Nonprofit Book Award.

Rod Arnold is the strategy and marketing lead at Leading Good. As the former COO of Charity: Water, Rod helped lead the young organization through a period of tremendous growth. Now he helps other nonprofits grow by applying principles and strategies that are proven to work. Learn more at leadinggood.com

Anna Murray is a technology consultant and the CEO of eMedia, LLC. She is the author of the best-selling book in the Wiley CIO series, "The Complete Software Project Manager: Mastering Technology from Planning to Launch and Beyond." Reach her at AMurray@tmg-emedia.com. Further information can be found at www.emediaweb.com

Kayla Matthews writes about AI, the cloud and retail technology. You can also find her work on The Week, WIRED, Digital Trends, MarketingDive and Contently, or check out her personal tech blog.

Lee Mikell, CFRE, is a professional fundraiser with 30 years of experience—half as a staff member for five nonprofits and half as a consultant for three firms.

Taylor Shanklin is the VP of product marketing and strategy at Pursuant. Follow her on Twitter @tshankcycles. Hook ‘em.

James E. Sullivan is the project director of Optic Nerve Digital Direct Marketing. Reach him at dmresults2@gmail.com.

M.L. Donnellan has more than 30 years of experience as a nonprofit CEO, motivational speaker, consultant, trainer, mentor and writer. She is the author of more than 60 books, guides and webinars on nonprofit management, which are in use in more than a dozen countries. She just recently published a series of 12 webinars for Nonprofit WebAdvisor's Nonprofit Executive Director Certification program. She has an M.S. degree in administration and a B.S. degree in human resources management. She can be contacted at mldonnellanauthor@gmail.com. 

www.mldonnellan.com

Tammy Zonker is the founder of Fundraising Transformed. Reach her at tammy@tammyzonker.com

Nick Ellinger is the VP of marketing strategy at DonorVoice. Reach him at nellinger@thedonorvoice.com

Angel A. Aloma is the executive director for Food for the Poor. Reach him at aaloma@foodforthepoor.com

As a “top-in-the-field” Certified Fund-Raising Executive, who has been billed as one of LinkedIn’s top philanthropy voices of the year, Robin Cabral has the skills and experience to focus your efforts, drive your results and enhance your ability and confidence through easy-to-understand and informative strategies, tools and templates. 

Helping fundraisers just like you excel and succeed in their careers through her unique programs, her approach is customized for those new to fundraising, wanting to excel in their new fundraising job or role, or advance in their career. She serves both fundraising professionals and executive directors alike.

She provides fundraising strategies, tactics and tools, including coaching, training and content for fundraising success.

Find out more at www.developmentconsultingsolutions.com.

Mark Gilbert is the founder and CEO of MBS Accounting Technology & Advisory, which provides bookkeeping, accounting technology integration, and C-level financial management solutions to SMBs and nonprofits. The firm is based in NYC and Portland, Ore. and hosts an annual event, MBSCalcutech.

www.mbsata.com www.mbscalcutech.com

Beth Kotz is a contributing writer to Credit.com. She specializes in covering financial advice for female entrepreneurs, college students and recent graduates. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications and media from DePaul University in Chicago, Ill., where she continues to live and work.

Allison White serves as a VP of Graham-Pelton Consulting, a leading global fundraising and nonprofit management firm.

Sam Momin is the founder of Custom Water Bottle and handles outreach and sales for the company. Sam oversees orders and customer service, while constantly managing and updating the website from the Houston, Tx. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends, going to the gym, and keeping up with a healthy lifestyle—despite the occasional binge sessions she has with food and Netflix.

Mary Walton is a professional editor at Write My Essay Educational Center. She helps business people with resume editing and proofreading at Resume Writing Service. Read Mary's blog, Simple Grad.

Eric Burger is the marketing communications manager for VolunteerHub, an organization that provides volunteer management solutions for nonprofits across the globe. Eric has worked in the B2B software industry for the past two years and has over five years of experience in digital marketing. 

Jim Alvarez is the founder and CEO of full-service fundraising technology company Gesture By Community Brands. Gesture has helped nonprofits across the country raise over $500 million since 2011 through the use of technology. Alvarez is the recipient of the Chicago Innovation Award and Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce James Tyree Emerging Business Leadership Award for his innovative idea and launch of Gesture. He is an avid speaker and author helping nonprofits to embrace mobile fundraising technology to increase fundraising efforts. Alvarez drives the growing company to make hope happen for nonprofits developing innovative ideas that embrace technology.

Lori L. Jacobwith, founder of Ignited Fundraising™, is a master storyteller and fundraising culture change expert. With a passion for the positive, she has provided coaching and training for more than 4,500 organizations and 500,000 people. Her work has helped nonprofits raise $300 million from individual donors… and counting.

Follow Lori: Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Karrie Wozniak is VP of marketing for BidPal, leading mobile fundraising platform helping nonprofits raise more money and connect with more donors.

Jimmy Park is the CEO and founder of Codejockey, and the former director of digital media at the Robin Hood Foundation.

Jason Lewis, CFRE & AFP Master Trainer, is the managing partner of BetterSchools LLC, an Austin-based firm partnering with independent schools throughout the U.S. In addition to this role, Jason owns Lewis Fundraising, a company he founded and currently operates. Together with his team of fundraising professionals, Jason serves as fundraising counsel for a growing network of nonprofit organizations.

Since graduating from Eastern University’s nonprofit management program in 2010, Jason has been re-certified as a CFRE and recognized as a member of the AFP’s Master Trainers. Most recently, he graduated from the College of Executive Coaching. Jason’s forthcoming book, "The War for Fundraising Talent," is a critique of contemporary fundraising and an introduction to his provocative fundraising philosophy.

Reach him at jason@lewisfundraising.com

Gary Wohlfeill is the director of Brand & Marketing at CrowdRise. He works with partners to develop highly engaging fundraising campaigns and leads the marketing team in developing the CrowdRise brand. Gary has been named as having the “third best haircut of people under 6 feet tall at CrowdRise" and hopes one day to slip to fourth.

Timothy R. Burcham, CFRE, is the president and chief solutions officer at Burcham Solutions Group. Reach him at tim@burchamsolutionsgroup.com

Andrew Inderwick is the VP of business development at Informed Communications Group. He is responsible for client acquisition and strategic partnerships across all sectors providing solutions that focus on client/donor affinity, retention and growth.

As a business owner and senior account executive, with over 25 years of experience in communications and marketing in both the business and not-for-profit sector, he knows how to grow business and create efficiencies.

He brings a holistic perspective and skill set to provide clients with the power and partnerships to hone ROI while achieving their strategic goals across a range of activities including data analysis, strategy and design and multichannel deployment and fulfillment services.

David Heitman is the VP of communications at Wiland. Reach him at dheitman@wiland.com

Brad Shorr is director of content strategy at Straight North, an Internet-marketing company in Chicago that provides SEO, PPC and web-design services. With more than 25 years of sales and marketing experience, Brad has been featured in leading online publications including Forbes, Moz and American Marketing Association.

Jeff Miller is director of marketing at OceanX, which is reinventing the membership economy by transforming customer-brand interactions and providing a powerful engine for subscriptions. Jeff is also the president of Jimmy Miller Memorial Foundation, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that heals at-risk kids and injured military personnel via surfing and ocean therapy.

Kate Thomas is a senior digital designer at Crosby Marketing, bringing smart solutions and empathy to user's experience. She loves helping nonprofits, government and health care clients more effectively Inspire Actions That Matter ^TM with her digital powers. 

Scott is the regional director and performance consultant at Crouch & Associates. Reach him at scott@crouchandassociates.com

Lauren’s “why” is to build trusting relationships with those around her. She is motivated by the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others. Lauren does this by doing things the "right way" to achieve client's goals for fundraising, revenue generation, staff and board productivity, and strategic planning.

Lauren joined Crouch & Associates in September 2017 after a decade-long successful tenure at multiple national-brand nonprofit organizations in the health-cause arena. While Lauren’s development expertise is wide-ranging, she retains particular expertise in staff and board strategic development, large-scale special events, corporate revenue cultivation, volunteer recruitment and management, and young professional leadership.

A graduate of James Madison University with a degree in Public Policy & Administration and Nonprofit Studies, Lauren also enjoys cooking, reading, skiing and spending time with her family and friends. She resides in the western suburbs of her hometown of Pittsburgh.

­­­­Carol Wick is partner at Convergent Nonprofit Solutions. She started her career working with at-risk children and quickly gained national attention of her ability to create and implement innovative and sustainable solutions to century old problems. Over the years, she has developed a proven method that can be applied to any organization to help them grow, build their brand, and attract and retain investors. She has more 20 years of executive director experience and is the published author of several evidence-based studies on program effectiveness. Carol utilizes this wealth of experience to assist nonprofit organizations assess their capacity and take their organization to the next level.

Ikhlaq Hussain is a philanthropy and high-end events specialist, currently head of major gifts at Orphans In Need, trustee at Mind in Harrow, board member at Institute of Fundraising (South East and London), founder of Ment-Hour and regular blogger on the topic of fundraising.

Dan Harris is a Workplace Insights Analyst at Quantum Workplace, a company dedicated to providing every organization with quality engagement tools that guide their next step in making work better every day.

Bethany is the director of programs at Progressive Multiplier, a funding intermediary helping nonprofits scale their independent revenue generation efforts. She is a skilled nonprofit strategist with a passion for working at intersections — where fundraising and marketing meet, where consumer experience affects philanthropic behavior, where technology enables strategy, and where brand understanding incites activation. She has a 19-year track-record of developing successful integrated fundraising plans, creating new revenue opportunities and delivering optimal constituent experiences for some of the nation’s most respected charities. Before joining PMF, Bethany spent the first half of her career as a fundraiser at local, chapter and national nonprofits and the second half agency-side as a fundraising and marketing strategy consultant.   

Kevin O’Brien is the co-founder and COO for Engage, a St. Louis-based, full-service web and mobile design and development firm servicing clients in a variety of markets, including associations and nonprofits.

Dr. Gleb Tsipursky is on a mission to protect leaders from dangerous judgment errors known as cognitive biases by developing the most effective decision-making strategies. A best-selling author, he wrote" Never Go With Your Gut: How Pioneering Leaders Make the Best Decisions and Avoid Business Disasters" (Career Press, 2019),"The Truth Seeker’s Handbook: A Science-Based Guide" (Intentional Insights, 2017) and" The Blindspots Between Us: How to Overcome Unconscious Cognitive Bias and Build Better Relationships" (New Harbinger, 2020). He has over 550 articles and 450 interviews in Fast Company, CBS News, Time, Business Insider, Government Executive, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Inc. Magazine and elsewhere. His expertise comes from over 20 years of consulting, coaching, and speaking and training as the CEO of Disaster Avoidance Experts, and over 15 years in academia as a behavioral economist and cognitive neuroscientist. Contact him at Gleb@DisasterAvoidanceExperts.com, Twitter @gleb_tsipursky, Instagram @dr_gleb_tsipursky, LinkedIn and register for his free Wise Decision Maker Course.

Kevin Schulman is founder and managing partner at DonorVoice. Reach him at kschulman@thedonorvoice.com

Ximena Hartsock is the founder, chief operating officer and president of Phone2Action, a venture- backed, award-winning, civic-engagement and communications technology company. Prior to founding Phone2Action, she was a member of the executive cabinet of former Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, serving as the director of the  department of parks and recreation and later as the chief of staff of the City Administration.

As parks director, she managed a $41 million annual operating budget and more than 1,000 employees. During her tenure, she oversaw renovations of Washington D.C. public pools, the completion of the city's state of the art olympic facility, Wilson Pool, the construction of numerous athletic fields and parks and the implementation of wellness programs for seniors, youth and families.

Clay Boggess has been designing fundraising programs for schools and various nonprofit organizations throughout the U.S. since 1999. He works with administrators, teachers, as well as outside support entities, such as PTAs and PTOs. Clay is a senior consultant at Big Fundraising Ideas.

Dan Quirk is the Marketing Manager at Salsa Labs, the premier fundraising software company for growth-focused nonprofits. Dan's marketing focus on content creation, conversion optimization and modern marketing technology helps him coach nonprofit development teams on digital fundraising best practices.

Leeann Alameda has more than 20 years of experience in directing and implementing best practices in marketing, branding, communications and advertising in both the private and nonprofit sectors. She is the founder and principal consultant of Alameda Marketing Solutions, which provides marketing strategy and branding services for nonprofits, foundations and mission-driven businesses.

Visit www.alamedamarketingsolutions.com for more information.

Anissa possesses over 25 years of experience in nonprofit and chamber of commerce management and currently splits her time between her boutique consultancy, Swingbridge Consulting, and serving as a project director for Convergent Nonprofit Solutions.

Passionate about helping businesses and organizations grow customer, member and donor relationships, she has presented training and workshops to more than 30,000 business owners and nonprofit executives to help them build their capacity.

Patrick Coughlin is project director at Convergent Nonprofit Solutions, a nonprofit consulting and fundraising campaign management firm.

Wanda Urbanska is a performance consultant at Crouch & Associates, a nonprofit coaching firm serving clients across the U.S. Urbanska is also an author of 37 books, former host of an award-winning PBS television show, "The Simple Life," and a corporate social responsibility guru.

She is also heading an American-based philanthropy initiative in support of the Polish History Museum in Warsaw. Urbanska is a Harvard University graduate.

Maureen Wallbeoff brings more than 20 years of strategic and technical experience working inside nonprofit organizations and supporting nonprofit staff as a trusted advisor. Maureen was a founder of Firefly Partners, a creative digital agency providing services exclusively to nonprofits, in 2008. She spent the past decade as VP of Firefly, directing a team of twenty designers, developers and strategists. Her clients include Be The Match, Boston Medical Center, New Hampshire Public Radio, Living Beyond Breast Cancer, Greater Yellowstone Foundation, American kidney Fund and the National LGBT Task Force.

She has authored two popular guides to nonprofit engagement software. Maureen’s sweet spot is merging the 30K foot strategic view with practical, hands-on-keys recommendations. She is focused on helping nonprofit staff solve technology challenges, so they can use their marketing, fundraising, and CRM systems more effectively.

maureen@meetmaureen.com

508-744-3366

Michael Krucker is a senior consulting manager with Plante Moran’s Employee Benefits Consulting practice.

Nate is a CFRE and was the co-founder of DonorPath.org, which merged with Network for Good, where he now serves as their senior program director of impact & sustainability. In this capacity, Nate is primarily responsible for helping grantmakers to evaluate and redesign their grants process to better accomplish strategic impact objectives.

Since beginning work in professional fundraising, Nate has helped more than 500 small and emerging nonprofits address their most pressing fundraising challenges. As a Millennial who has dedicated his career to the fundraising professional, he is a sought-after speaker and workshop leader, helping Generation X and Baby Boomer fundraisers understand donor acquisition, digital, social and online fundraising.

Bonnie O. Meyer, CFRE, is the executive VP and chief creative officer of Meyer Partners.

Allison Larsen is principal of TadZo LLC and a Certified Economic Developer. With over 20 years of economic development experience and more than 10 years in international business management and sales, she serves businesses, economic developers, nonprofits and communities with unconventional approaches to engagement.

She believes her role is to ask insightful questions to explore what’s possible, what’s of greatest interest and, ultimately, what stakeholders find most important to commit resources for action. She employs well thought-out questions and astute listening to get to the core of issues and solutions. Her extensive experience with business leaders, community stakeholders and hard-working professionals contributes to her recognition of what is true excitement and commitment, enabling her to facilitate positive change for clients.

Allison’s core competencies include community competitiveness assessments, site selection screening, action-oriented strategic planning, target industry analysis, talent strategies, marketing, graphic facilitation; and liberating structures for engagement.

Allison is a graduate of the University of California, Davis; the University of Oklahoma Economic Development Institute; and a Fellow of the California Agricultural Leadership Program.

Her company is named after her two dogs: Tadich and Enzo (a.k.a. TadZo).

Jeff Frey is the academic director at the McNair Center for Entrepreneurship and Free Enterprise at Archie W. Dunham College of Business at Houston Baptist University.

Drew Sementa is CEO of Tidal Commerce, a merchant solutions company that focuses on helping small and medium-sized businesses grow. Drew has years of industry experience in the merchant services and financial technology industries, and started his business in his own basement back in 2003. Since then, he’s grown Tidal Commerce into a leading merchant provider.

A third-generation entrepreneur, Randy Fox is a founder of Two Hawks Consulting, LLC., and EzCharitable, LLC., an online training resource for professional advisors who wish to expand their capabilities in philanthropic giving. EzCharitable has created original content that is useful for attorneys, financial advisors, CPAs all of which will facilitate better philanthropic advice for families of wealth.

He is also currently the Editor-in-Chief of Planned Giving Design Center, a national newsletter for philanthropic advisors.

Randy has recently been named the Distinguished Co-Honorary Chair 2017 Improving Financial Awareness & Financial Awareness Movement by the Financial Awareness Foundation. In 2015, Randy was awarded the Fithian Leadership Award by the International Association of Advisors in Philanthropy

Randy was a founding principal of InKnowVision, LLC., a national consulting and marketing firm that developed estate and wealth transfer designs for clients of exceptional wealth. During his tenure, more than 300 families were served and more than $500 million was directed to philanthropic purposes.

He served as director and faculty member of the InKnowVision Institute, which provided professional advisors with the advanced technical and interpersonal tools required to attract and work successfully with high net-worth clients.

Lt. Col. Ron Busroe, who recently retired from The Salvation Army at the end of 2017, was raised in Louisville, Ky. He has a bachelor's degree in history from Asbury College. He was commissioned as an officer of The Salvation Army, along with his wife, Lt. Col. Carol Busroe, in 1978.

Kenan Pala is the 13-year-old founder of Kids4Community, a nonprofit that helps kids and their families give back to their communities in meaningful ways. Kenan also founded Kids Tri Hard, a clothing line that provides more affordable clothing options for youth triathletes.

Arthur Criscillis, EdD, is a managing partner at Alexander Haas, Inc., a leading campaign consulting firm. Arthur has over 25 years of development and nonprofit experience specializing in colleges and universities. Consistently garnering the highest accolades for his speaking, including the CASE Crystal Apple Award, Arthur has chaired the CASE Conference on Major Gift Solicitation six times and the CASE Conference on Successful Annual Giving Strategies twice.

Waldorf, Md.-based Heather R. Huhman is a career expert, experienced hiring manager and president of Come Recommended, the PR solution for job search and HR tech companies. She writes about issues impacting the modern workplace.

Adam Moskowitz is the marketing manager at Greenworks Lending. 

Brandon Stec, director of marketing of GiveSmart by Community Brands, the leading provider of cloud-based software to associations, nonprofits, K-12 schools and faith-based groups.

Brandon is an Indiana University graduate who spent nine years in the sports industry until transitioning into the technology world. Brandon sits on the board of the Chicago Chapter of Leukemia and Lymphoma Society; is a former candidate for Man of the Year; and is personally engaged in supporting nonprofits, including AFP, BBYO, Jewish United Federation and Lincoln Park Zoo.

Michelle Arnold is the messaging & creative lead at Leading Good. As a StoryBrand Certified Guide and copywriter, she’s trained and certified in a seven-step framework that leading nonprofits are using to clarify their message and engage more donors. The result? They fundraise with confidence and raise the money their cause deserves. Learn more at leadinggood.com

Andrea J. Rogers is a consultant for Community Resource Exchange. Reach her at arogers@crenyc.org

Bill Crouch is founder of Crouch & Associates. He serves on the PGA Tours Diversity Committee.

Rick Gentry is director of customer strategy at Merkle. 

Angel Rutledge, chief operations officer and chief marketing officer at SignUpGenius, the leading online sign-up site for online volunteer and event management.

Jolynn Berk, Rise Against Hunger director of channel development, has more than 25 years of experience as a strategic marketing consultant to corporate and nonprofit brand managers. Born and raised in the heartland, she has a passion for building relationships, the hungry around the world, big blue skies, wheat fields and business jets.

Scott Rodgville, CPA, is an officer at Gorfine, Schiller & Gardyn and has more than 20 years of experience in public accounting. He is the team leader of the firm’s nonprofit and employee benefit plan service areas.

As an auditor and accountant, Scott provides valuable support to clients in streamlining and strengthening their internal controls and operating efficiencies. His understanding of the needs of nonprofit organizations, labor unions, employee benefit plans and real estate operations provide an opportunity for him to help clients manage their organizations more effectively.

Scott is currently chair of the BrightFocus Foundation, formerly the American Health Assistance Foundation, a Clarksburg, Maryland-based organization that funds research and provides education in connection with Alzheimer’s, Glaucoma and Muscular Degeneration. Scott is also a member of the Finance Committee for Paul’s Place, Inc., located in southwest Baltimore. Paul’s Place is an outreach center that provides quality of life services, programs and resources for the community.

Jen Linck is the chief marketing officer for Corporate Giving Connection. She can be reached at jen.linck@cgcgiving.com

Lisa A. Cohen is the CEO of Capital Motion, a consulting firm that works with charitable nonprofits and mission-driven organizations. Engagements focus on key drivers of success including strategic and business planning and board development services.

Karmit J. Bulman, Esq., is the executive director of Minnesota Association for Volunteer Administration.

Eve Smith is an experienced fundraiser with over 20 years of nonprofit direct response marketing expertise. Eve brings extensive knowledge and practice to Merkle’s nonprofit clients including integrated strategy, omni-channel fundraising and marketing, and program innovation. She specializes in both scaling up already-successful fundraising programs to raise more funds and crafting new programs that leverage peer-to-peer fundraising and social giving to bring in new revenue. At Merkle, her clients have included major national health charities, international relief and faith-based organizations, and animal welfare nonprofits, among others. Before joining Merkle, Eve was lead consultant to national cause-based nonprofits and worked with leading nonprofits and foundations to advance their online marketing and fundraising programs.

Tarsha Whitaker Calloway is executive director of corporate relations for Emory University. Previously, she was director of executive engagement and integration at American Cancer Society. She is a frequent contributor to NonProfit PRO.

Gary C. Smith is the president of NAEIR, National Association for the Exchange of Industrial Resources, the largest gifts-in-kind organization in the U.S. Since its founding in 1977, the Galesburg, Illinois-based NAEIR (www.naeir.org) has received donations of excess inventory from more than 8,000 U.S. corporations and redistributed more than $3 billion in products to nonprofits and schools.

He can be reached at 800-562-0955.

Aly Sterling is the president and founder of Aly Sterling Philanthopy.

Allison Jensen is the marketing coordinator for Compu-Mail. Allison specializes in helping organizations seamlessly integrate their marketing efforts through high response direct mail & digital retargeting. She works with marketers to uncover the best way to deliver the right message to the right person at the right time. In prior roles, Allison has worked directly with agencies and non-profit organizations. She is a graduate of Niagara University.

Steve Johns is CEO of OneCause (formerly BidPal), developers of user-friendly fundraising software that helps nonprofits engage donors year-round, raise more money and save valuable time and resources.

Christy McWilliams is the senior strategy director at Merkle. 

Great is a next-generation charity project that will use its platform to bring change and goodwill to the world through philanthropy and powerful content initiatives.

Clay Braswell is the founder and CEO of Commit Good, a reward-based, charitable marketplace, fundraising and philanthropic ecosystem. 

Ray Gary is CEO of iDonate, a donor engagement platform.

Chief revenue officer Christian Valiulis at APS is a member of the Forbes Business Development Council. As a national human capital management and full-service payroll processing company, APS delivers a unified cloud solution backed by guaranteed payroll tax compliance services. Christian oversees marketing and sales, channel partnerships, and strategic product and service alliances.

Stewart A. Grubman is the partner-in-charge of the PKF O’Connor Davies’ Bethesda, Md., office and has over 30 years of experience in public accounting. His main focus is on auditing and tax services for affordable and special needs housing.

Paul Wolf is co-president of Denham Wolf, a real estate services firm serving New York City nonprofits since 1998.

Paul is an established leader in the field of real estate and nonprofit consulting, with over 25 years of development, brokerage and consulting experience. Paul’s expertise has been shaped by his long history and deep experience in New York City real estate, and is proven by his strong record of successfully realizing complex projects. As a principal of Denham Wolf, Paul’s projects have included providing guidance and financial expertise for a range of arts, cultural, community development and educational organizations. He has advised nonprofits on major development projects, represented tenants in acquiring and developing property, helped to finance projects through both traditional and less conventional routes, and represented developers and property owners to secure commercial tenants.

Looking for Jeff? You'll find him either on the lake, laughing with good friends, or helping nonprofits develop to their full potential.

Jeff believes that successful fundraising is built on a bedrock of relevant, consistent messaging; sound practices; the nurturing of relationships; and impeccable stewardship. And that organizations that adhere to those standards serve as beacons to others that aspire to them. The Bedrocks & Beacons blog will provide strategic information to help nonprofits be both.

Jeff has more than 25 years of nonprofit leadership experience and is a member of the NonProfit PRO Editorial Advisory Board.

Dan Lafferty is the director of voice and music at PHMG.

With more than 15 years of marketing and PR experience, Jen Ribble is passionate about the art of storytelling and the science of creating high quality, data driven content. In her current role as director of public relations for Return Path, the world’s leading expert in email deliverability, Jen is responsible for elevating the company’s reputation in the marketplace, crafting engaging thought leadership content, enhancing customer relationships, and driving inbound leads.

In her spare time, Jen is an aspiring chef and food lover, a movie fan and a travel junkie.

Phil is the SVP of Customer Success at MobileCause and drives strategy, training and support services that help our customers achieve their fundraising goals through smart donor engagement. He is a versatile executive with 15 years of operational experience at high-growth, venture-backed, B2B SaaS startups. 

Prior to MobileCause, Phil was the Managing Director of Customer Success at ClearCare and the VP of Customer Success at Moovweb. Phil has also held a variety of roles at previous technology companies in services and support.

Ansley Jackson is an account supervisor at DRUM Agency. She has an extensive background in developing and managing consumer-facing marketing strategies and programs, account management, nonprofit marketing and direct response strategy, digital campaign strategy, event management and team collaboration.

Cody J. Riebe is the public relations & content specialist at BillboardsIn

Talena Barker has been working with nonprofit organizations on fundraising strategy and events for 16 years, raising millions of dollars for charities and their world-changing missions. She is passionate about philanthropy and designing tools to make it easier for businesses to give meaningfully and strategically and to lessen the barriers to success by and mutual communication across the giving lifecycle for charities and donors alike.

Michael Beville is VP of Marketing & Sales at Blackbaud Corporate & Foundation Solutions.

David H. King, president & CEO of Alexander Haas, a leading nonprofit fundraising counsel firm in the nation, has been in the field of nonprofit development for more than 30 years. In his 27 years at Alexander Haas, David has provided counsel to hundreds of organizations in the areas of higher education, independent schools, hospitals, conservation, human services, churches and faith-based organizations.

A frequent presenter and lecturer, David has authored articles featured in The Chronicle of Philanthropy and Forbes, as well as contributing information for two books: Black Tie Optional and the Essential Principles for Successful Fund Raising. More information about Alexander Haas, Inc. is available on their website https://fundraisingcounsel.com.

Nora Snoddy is the director of demand programs at Campaign Monitor, a global email marketing company that offers a range of solutions to help marketers create meaningful, lasting connections with their audience.

Richard Heimsoth is the senior director of Customer Strategy at Merkle.

Ann Adrian serves as the executive director of Vital Life, a Marquis and Consonus Foundation. Ann comes from an entrepreneurial background as the visionary and owner of Goodnight Room, a multi-million dollar children’s specialty store in Portland.

Previously Ann was an executive at Nordstrom serving numerous leadership roles. Ann’s role as executive director includes fundraising, community engagement and strategic planning for the organization to bring the mission of The Vital Life Foundation to a wider audience across the United States. Click here to learn more about The Vital Life Foundation.

Evan La Ruffa is a curator and entrepreneur who lives at the intersection of art and impact. Working as an artist, organizer, and consultant, he builds, creates, organizes and connects.

His unorthodox and innovative approach has led to the success of IPaintMyMind, a Chicago-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to transform people and spaces through the power of art, and does so by leveraging art services that fund the organization’s continued work bringing art experiences and programs to underserved communities throughout Chicagoland.

He believes in a better world, likes to create new solutions to big problems, and loves talking to people who are excited about the future of good work. He’s a father, a world traveler, and a foodie.

Evan has written for a variety of online and print publications, including Upper Playground, Beautiful Decay, IPaintMyMind, Beinsports, Profile Magazine and HispanicExecutive.com.

Pete Kimbis is an independent nonprofit consultant and grant writer.

Entrepreneurship and a passion for social change drive the trajectory of Vanessa Wakeman’s career.

As Founder and CEO of one of the country’s leading social change agencies, Vanessa is a trusted advisor and influential futurist in the nonprofit world. Her company, The Wakeman Agency, addresses the entire ecosystem of what nonprofit organizations need to succeed: strategic counsel, public relations, events, fundraising, and thought leadership. Vanessa is one of the few black women to found and own a social change agency – helping to shift the paradigm of an industry that is led primarily by white men.  

In 2016, Vanessa evolved the agency’s core services to include She Roars, the first thought leadership program for women working in social change. Through She Roars, Vanessa enables women leaders to harness their ideas and expertise to advance important social causes by driving conversations, building credibility, strengthening support, and inspiring activism. 

Growing up in New York, Vanessa’s activism and commitment to social justice was instilled early on. She organized the workers at her first job, a catering company, to demand and win better labor conditions—when she was only 15. After working her way through college as a telecommunications manager at a law firm, Vanessa landed a position at Morgan Stanley. There, she re-engineered a technology department and expanded its services. While at the firm, she created career opportunities for women and people of color.

Ultimately, her natural predilection for entrepreneurship compelled her to leave the corporate world and establish her own company. IShe established her thriving agency without any prior experience in the sector.

Since launching The Wakeman Agency in 2003, Vanessa has been recognized as a champion for social change and building support for mission-driven causes. She masterminded campaigns for clients that include: U.C.L.A.’s Civil Rights Project, Metropolitan College of New York, YWCA of New York City, New York Urban League, Africa-America Institute, Harlem Education Activities Fund, Grace Institute, ROC-NY, Real World Scholars, ChemoCars, Help for Children, Animal Farm Foundation, and others.

Vanessa has been consistently recognized for evangelizing innovation and disruption in the nonprofit sector. In 2017, PRNews named her as one of “50 PR Game Changers” and she earned a spot on PRWeek’s list of “Champions of PR.” She was also designated one of the leading women in business in the New York metro region by 914Inc. magazine.

As a thought leader, Vanessa has been quoted by “ABC Eyewitness News,” Crain’s NY Business, New York Daily News, Black Enterprise, Smart Money, Philanthropy Journal, Chronicle of Philanthropy, and many other outlets. She is an increasingly sought after speaker, having presented this past year for UN Women, Hive, Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits and the Women’s Leadership Institute of New York. She also hosts “The Social Change Diaries” podcast, where she interviews leading figures in the nonprofit world about addressing the most pressing issues of our time.

Shoham Nicolet is the founding and present CEO of the Israeli-American Council, the fastest-growing Jewish organization in the U.S. He is an entrepreneur specializing in educational technologies and community-based collaborative networks.

Laura Zumdahl is the president and CEO of New Moms. New Moms is a Chicago-based nonprofit that works to interrupt the cycle of poverty for both mothers and their children by providing stable housing, job training and family support. Its program model is unique, and it’s one of the only nonprofit organizations in the U.S. caring for women and children in this way. This year marks the organization’s 35th anniversary.

Laura has nearly 20 years of leadership experience in the nonprofit sector, and she has a Ph.D. in leadership as well. Under her leadership, New Moms has doubled in size, expanding its geographic footprint and capacity to transform the lives of mothers and children in Chicago.

With 25 years of executive search experience, John Fazekas works with colleagues in Witt/Kieffer’s not-for-profit and health care practices to identify outstanding leaders for clients' specific cultures and strategic needs. He has led and supported a range of engagements for CEOs/presidents, executive directors, COOs, CFOs and other key senior roles. Based in the firm’s Boston office, John's clients include foundations and trusts, major civic and cultural organizations, hospitals, health systems, community health centers, disease-based associations and research institutes, and many other mission-driven organizations.

As VP, CJ Orr is responsible for a portfolio of work that includes operations, business development and partner relationship management.

On the operations side, CJ is responsible for setting and driving achievement of Orr Group’s financial targets and overseeing office real estate and management. Additionally, CJ leads and supports the efforts of Orr Group’s sales and marketing team to identify and cultivate new business opportunities and build relationships with nonprofit partners, ensuring that the services offered are best aligned with our partners’ needs.

CJ has a broad background in fundraising and development, strategic planning, campaigns and event management. He has led strategic initiatives and fundraising for several large galas and campaigns. As a project and relationship manager, he executes on the development of strategies and tactics to ensure highly memorable events and campaigns that meet or exceed fundraising targets.

Raymond Prather is a partner at Prather Ebner LLP. Ray’s practice focuses on estate planning, advising tax-exempt organizations and consulting on tax issues in trust and estate litigation. Ray has advised hundreds of clients who require tailored estate planning advice due to contentious family dynamics, ownership in closely-held businesses and taxable estates.

Ray is a member of Lambda Legal’s National Legacy and Planned Giving Council and Advocate Charitable Foundation’s Planned Giving Council. Ray received his J.D. from the DePaul University College of Law.

Matthew G. McCrosson is a Partner of the Firm and has more than 20 years of experience in public accounting. He provides a broad scope of management advisory services to a diverse range of clients, including business finance, operations, technology and performance improvement. Matt has significant experience in planning for organizational change, helping his clients remain on track in a rapidly-changing corporate environment.

Prior to joining PKF O’Connor Davies, Matt held a senior position at a Big Four accounting firm and focused on clients in the not-for-profit, higher education and government sectors. Earlier in his career, Matt served as the Chief Operating Officer or Chief Financial Officer for several national and regional not-for-profit organizations, including the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation and the New York Urban Coalition.

Matt regularly speaks on the topics of financial reporting, organizational efficiency and operations management. He is a dedicated volunteer and sits on numerous not-for-profit organization Boards.

As the president of Kars4Kids, Robert applies his keen business and management sense to growing and expanding the Kars4Kids operation and brand. Highly creative and innovative, he is widely regarded as an expert on nonprofits and taxation matters.

Robert started in the nonprofit world as a volunteer and worked his way up the ranks of the organization to his current position. Besides developing Kars4Kids’ business growth, Robert finds time to be involved in the charity’s programs as a youth mentor, inspiring the next generation of business leaders.

Jeb is the founder and CEO of Phone2Action. Jeb, who has been featured or quoted in The New York Times, Forbes Small Business, the Chicago Tribune, Politico, and Campaigns in Elections, is a thought-leader in the civic technology industry. He’s on the selection board for Stanford University’s Social Impact Grants, an advisory member of Designing Chicago, and an alumnus of IMI Plc’s graduate development program. Jeb’s work has spanned three countries, including Singapore, Shanghai, and the United States, where he led a business unit at DCI Marketing, now a Marmon company and subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.

Ory, who has a B.A. in International Relations from Stanford University and an MBA from Chicago Booth, has cofounded three technology companies. He lives in DC with his wife, Lea and his daughter, Sybil.

Margaret Rogers is a vice president at Pariveda Solutions, a consulting firm driven to create innovative, growth-oriented, and people-first solutions. With more than 17 years of experience, Margaret enjoys empowering organizations with impactful and sustainable transformation to realize their full potential. Read more about the work Pariveda Solutions does here.

Lisa is the CEO and Principal of Capital Motion, a boutique consulting firm serving charitable nonprofits and mission-driven organizations. Engagements with Capital Motion develop, grow and support organizational capacity for sustainable mission delivery over time, focusing on key drivers of success including strategic and business planning and board development.

Wendy Orleman is the nonprofit strategy director at Merkle.

Charity Abate is the account director for Meyer Partners. 

Christopher Foster is the VP of Business Development at Modern Postcard. 

Jennifer is a senior Manager of Audit and Accounting Services with Gorfine, Schiller & Gardyn. She has more than 10 years of experience in audits, reviews and reconciliations for nonprofit organizations and small and medium-sized businesses. Additionally, Jennifer is a member of the firm’s employee benefit plan niche team.

She received her Bachelor of Arts in Accounting with a minor in Spanish from Towson University in 2004. During her senior year at Towson, she served as president of Beta Alpha Psi, an accounting honor society. She received her CPA certification in 2006 and is licensed in the state of Maryland. She sits on the Board of Arrow Child and Family Ministries. She also helped to begin a program to teach Spanish-speaking adults the English language at St. Pius X Church in Towson, Md.

F. Duke Haddad is currently associate director of development, director of campaigns and director of corporate development for The Salvation Army Indiana Division in Indianapolis, Indiana. In addition, he is also president of Duke Haddad and Associates, LLC in Fishers, Indiana.     

He has been a contributing author to NonProfit PRO for the past 12 years.

He received his doctorate degree from West Virginia University with an emphasis in education administration, master's degree from Marshall University with an emphasis in public administration and a bachelor's degree from West Virginia University with an emphasis in marketing/management. He has also completed post graduate work at the University of Louisville.

Nicole Bendel is a creative copywriter at DRUM Agency. She writes about how a great story can influence human behaviors, inspire action, and create social advocacy.

Grant Hensel is the founder of Nonprofit Megaphone, an agency focused exclusively on acquiring and managing the Google Ad Grant for nonprofits. His team takes pride in their 100 percent success rate helping nonprofits receive the grant and in helping dozens of organizations use the funds to make a difference.

Andréa Schiller is a senior product marketing manager on the Salesforce.org team focused on nonprofit fundraising and artificial intelligence. She is passionate about using technology for social good and excited to be furthering the Salesforce.org mission. Andrea is president of Latinoforce, the employee resource group focused on the latino community, and she also co-founded TeachTech Inc, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that focuses on bridging the gap between older and younger generations when it comes to technology literacy. She is based in San Francisco.

Dr. Renee Rubin Ross, founder of The Ross Collective, is a nationally recognized leader on board and organizational development and strategy. Committed to racial equity in the nonprofit sector, Dr. Ross supports organizations and individuals in practices that celebrate and amplify diverse voices and perspectives. 

France Hoang is the co-founder and chief strategy officer of boodleAI, which builds people-focused predictive applications using artificial intelligence. He can be reached at france@boodle.ai.

Caleb Cosper is an SEO strategist at Portent—a Clearlink Digital Agency in Seattle, WA. He earned a bachelor’s degree in zoology from the University of Oklahoma (Boomer!) and has turned his passion for all things data-driven and scientific into passion for SEO. Outside of Portent, his life consists of games (video and board), food (at-home and in-restaurant), and craft beer (any and all).

Brian Dhaniram is a senior development associate at LAPA Fundraising. 

Dannielle Pope is the director of innovative technology at America’s Warrior Partnership, a national veteran-serving nonprofit that empowers communities to empower veterans. She is responsible for overseeing WarriorServe® and the WarriorServe® Partner Portal, which help community organizations streamline systems and enhance holistic support for hometown veterans, military service members, their families and caregivers.

Mary Noel is the business development director of DoSomething Strategic. Starting from a core belief that there is massive potential at the intersection of positive social good and smart business growth, Mary helps clients identify opportunities to reach young people in ways that are authentic and impactful.

Prior to joining DoSomething Strategic, Mary led strategy and growth efforts for mission-driven tech startups Andela and Zocdoc. Once an impassioned and bold eighth-grader with an idea to volunteer on six continents before she was sixteen, she is now hoping to finally make it to Antarctica. Mary lives in Connecticut with her husband and one-year-old twins, where she is always on the hunt for the perfect avocado.

Jay Love is the co-founder and current chief relationship officer at Bloomerang. He has served this sector for 33 years and is considered the most well-known senior statesman whose advice is sought constantly.

Prior to Bloomerang, he was the CEO and co-founder of eTapestry for 11 years, which at the time was the leading SaaS technology company serving the charity sector. Jay and his team grew the company to more than 10,000 nonprofit clients, charting a decade of record growth.

He is a graduate of Butler University with a B.S. in business administration. Over the years, he has given more than 2,500 speeches around the world for the charity sector and is often the voice of new technology for fundraisers.

Turnaround Life, Inc., aims to help organizations with programs that make it possible for people to turn their lives around. For more information, visit the website.

Jeb Banner is the founder and CEO of Boardable, a nonprofit board management software provider. He is also the founder of two nonprofits, The Speak Easy and Musical Family Tree, as well as a board member of United Way Central Indiana and ProAct. Jeb is based in Indianapolis, Ind.

Boardable is an online board management portal that centralizes communication, document storage, meeting planning and everything else that goes into running a board of directors.

Kevin Xu is the CEO of MEBO International, a California- and Beijing-based intellectual property management company specializing in applied health systems. He also leads Skingenix, which specializes in skin organ regeneration and the research and development of botanical drug products. Kevin is co-founder of the Human Heritage Project.

David is a marketing executive, public speaker and author who specializes in the effectiveness of storytelling in building revenue. As the VP of marketing for Togetherwork, David leads an in-house marketing agency that provides a depth of services to the numerous partner companies within the enterprise. Prior to his current role, David was the VP of marketing for OmegaFi where he established lead generation and nurturing systems and, most notably, oversaw unprecedented marketing growth for the software company.

Early in his career, David built a new content marketing team from inception as the content strategist for Regenerative Medicine Solutions, a cutting-edge medical firm.

David holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida, and an MFA from the University of Tampa–both in creative writing. He has published various pieces of fiction and authored "Kingmakers: A Content Marketing Story," a reflection on the use of creative writing skills in modern marketing practices.

David is a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity and enjoys volunteering at educational programs around the county for the organization.

Sudeshna Sen is the Nonprofit Vertical Lead for Analytics at Merkle. She brings 12+ years of experience in nonprofit marketing, analytics and strategy; leveraging predictive and advanced analytics to build strong donor pipelines, drive growth in revenue, and maximize donor value for some of the world’s largest fundraising organizations. She also seeks to deepen understanding of constituents through research and analysis, and leverage these insights to drive stronger constituent engagement and transform their experience.

Prior to joining Merkle, Sudeshna held a key leadership position at NuStats, a market research firm, heading its analytics practice and managing several strategic client engagements. She has a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, MS from University of Illinois at Chicago, and BS from the Indian Institute of Technology at Kharagpur.

Dave Nevogt is the co-founder and the CEO of Hubstaff. The 100% remote team builds time tracking software for growing organizations such as nonprofits, along with Hubstaff Tasks, the Agile project management tool.

Spencer Kashmanian is a fundraising consultant at American Philanthropic, a national firm dedicated to strengthening civil society by providing strategic consulting and services for philanthropies and nonprofits. Spencer graduated from The King’s College in New York City with a B.A. in politics, philosophy and economics. 

Scott Koskoski is the managing director of Changing Our World. Prior to joining Changing Our World, Scott served for four years as the co-founder and principal of a fundraising consulting firm that led a significant percentage of its clients to secure the single-largest gifts in their histories.

Prior to this, Scott spent 20 years as both a frontline individual contributor and development administrator, both participating in and leading fundraising teams and campaigns. His experience has been largely in major gifts, board engagement, corporate and foundation relations, annual giving, special events and staff leadership development.

Scott is a graduate of Mercyhurst University and Robert Morris University. He is a past trustee and National Alumni Association board president at Mercyhurst and currently serves on its Presidents Associates group. He is a former AFP board member for both the Denver Metro and Western Pennsylvania chapters.

Scott currently serves on the boards of Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Resurrection Power, Washington Youth Baseball and is an elder at First Presbyterian Church in Washington, Pa.

Augustus Franklin is founder and CEO of CallHub, a California-based Voice and SMS service company bridging the communication gap for political campaigns, advocacy groups and nonprofits. When he is not working, he is either making toys with his kids or training for a marathon. Find him on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Before becoming a camp professional, Glen Greenstone enjoyed many other pursuits. A native San Diegan, he worked through college as a 911 dispatcher. He has a passion for literature and the outdoors, and is a veteran of U.S. Coast Guard, so he naturally loves to get out on the water with his wife and two kids whenever possible. He loves hearing camp cheers outside his office window during the summer, while helping camps across the country overcome their unique challenges!

Brittany LaGanke joined Corporate Giving Connection (CGC) as the director of nonprofit development after several years in the nonprofit sector. Initially starting her career in program management and later transitioning into development, Brittany has gained valuable insight into the common obstacles that organizations face while attempting to secure funding.

Brittany leans on her extensive experiences in event/auction management and proven track record in cultivating corporate donors to provide strategic solutions for nonprofit consulting clients.

Barbara Wolf is the VP of philanthropy at The NHP Foundation. She has over 25 years of distinguished fundraising, program management and advocacy leadership experience in both not-for-profit and for-profit environments.

Gregg Mellinger is the VP of Employee Benefits with USI Insurance Services. He works out of USI’s Chicago and Oak Brook, Illinois, offices and has 35 years of experience in the employee benefits industry. Gregg serves as a board member and VP of Membership with the Association of Consultants to Nonprofits.

Chris Budnick, MSW, LCSW, LCAS, CCS is the executive director at Healing Transitions and has been working in the addiction treatment and recovery field since 1993. Chris became a Certified Substance Abuse Counselor in 1998. He graduated from East Carolina University in 2000 with a Master of Social Work. He has been fully licensed as a Licensed Clinical Addiction Specialist since 2001; a Licensed Clinical Social Worker since 2002; and a Clinical Certified Supervisor since 2003. He was an intern from 1999 to 2000 with Healing Transitions and has been employed with them since 2000.

Chris has been an adjunct instructor with the North Carolina State University Department of Social Work since 2002, and has served on their Advisory Board since 2003, serving as chair on two different occasions. He also serves on the Recovery Africa Board.

Chris has conducted training and presentations nationally and internationally. Some of his most rewarding work has been collaborating with Mr. William White and Mr. Boyd Pickard on the history of mutual aid recovery fellowships.

Tony Martignetti is the principal of Martignetti Planned Giving Advisors, which helps nonprofits build appropriate, scalable and successful planned giving fundraising programs. He is the host of the popular fundraising podcast Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio and author of "Charity Registration: State-by-State Guidelines for Compliance."

Michael Wasserman is CEO and co-founder of Tiltify, the most popular fundraising platform for content creators and livestream fundraising. With more than 10 years of experience in charitable fundraising, Michael has helped raise over a $100 million through innovative strategies for major charities as a consultant and executive prior to starting Tiltify in 2014. Since then Tiltify has re-invented the telethon with interactive technology that has shown to raise funds up to 37x faster than offline fundraising. Tiltify currently works with over 1000 charities around the world including St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Save the Children, HSUS, American Red Cross, Make-A-Wish America, United Way Worldwide and many more.

Paul D'Alessandro, JD, CFRE, is founder and chairman of D'Alessandro, Inc., a fundraising and strategic management consulting company. He is also a lawyer and a tax law specialist for nonprofits.

Pat Duffy, co-founder of The Giving Block, began as a federal consultant for pharmaceutical companies, focused on collaboration with nonprofits. He then shifted to the nonprofit sector, focusing on executive leadership and fundraising for voluntary health associations. Merging his nonprofit experience and passion for Bitcoin trading, The Giving Block was born, creating the turnkey solution for cryptocurrency donations now used by charities around the world.