Nonprofit Day 2011 Presenters

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Nonprofit Day Presenters
 

Laura van Dernoot Lipsky

        Laura van Dernoot Lipsky has worked directly with trauma survivors for over two decades. At age 18, she regularly spent nights volunteering in a homeless shelter. From there, she went on to work with survivors of child abuse, domestic violence, acute trauma, and natural disasters. Simultaneously, she has been active in community organizing and movements for social and environmental justice and has taught on issues surrounding systematic oppression and liberation theory.

        Like so many of her colleagues, Laura initially engaged in her work with great passion and commitment, and with a sense that it was a privilege to serve others. But over time, the worked changed her, until she was no longer the person she had once been. She felt a rising despair about the brutality of the world and anger at those who had helped to create the conditions of trauma and suffering of humans, animals, and our planet. About 10 years ago, she finally faced an uncomfortable reality: The work she cared so much about was taking a toll on her. Her work had compromised her ability to be present in her life, enjoy her relationships, and even be an effective social worker and educator.

        Feeling that she could no longer work with integrity, she began the second stage of her involvement with trauma. In 2000, she quit her job as an emergency room social worker at Harborview Hospital in Seattle, Washington, and began an urgent quest for wisdom that would allow her to preserve her trust in life and its beauty even when doing work that guaranteed exposure to endless waves of pain. Her explorations took her from Buddhist monks and nuns to qigong healers to Native American medicine men and women to the latest scientific research on the effects of prolonged exposure to others’ trauma. Laura’s hunger to embrace both the joy and the sorrow of our life experiences is at the root of her concept of trauma stewardship.

        Laura offered her first version of a workshop on trauma stewardship to a group of public health workers in 1999. Since then, she has trained a wide variety of people, including zookeepers and reconstruction workers in post-Katrina New Orleans, community organizers and health care providers in Japan, U.S. Air Force pilots, Canadian firefighters, public school teachers, and private practice doctors. She has worked locally, nationally, and internationally.

        Recently, Laura turned her attention to the effects of trauma exposure on those doing frontline work in environmental and conservation movements throughout the world. She was among the first to talk publicly about the profound price that the witnessing of mass extinctions and other potentially irreversible ecological losses caused by global warming and other forms of human encroachment is exacting from the organizations and individuals who are attempting to save our planet.



Renato Almanzor
Renato P. Almanzor, Ph.D. is the director of programs at LeaderSpring. Renato’s experience emerges from many years consulting and training groups committed to multicultural organization development and social justice. His clients have included universities, nonprofits, clinics, and government agencies. Renato’s wide range of expertise includes: executive coaching, facilitating strategic planning processes and team development. He is frequently invited to deliver keynote addresses, conference workshops, and panel presentations on topics of leadership for equity, cultural diversity, community development, and organizational change with a social justice agenda.

Paula Smith Arrigoni
Paula Smith Arrigoni is an experienced nonprofit analyst, consultant and trainer.  She recently co-founded Smith & Daley, a nonprofit consulting practice based in the Bay Area.  Prior to Smith & Daley, Paula led Nonprofit Finance Fund’s (NFF) Bay Area Program where she served as a senior consultant, trainer and manager of regional initiatives to provide financial capacity-building assistance to small and mid-sized nonprofits.   Paula currently manages Women’s Community Clinic’s grants program and serves on the finance committee of Samaritan House.  She has an M.A. in Urban Planning from UCLA, School of Public Policy and Social Research.

Jeanne Bell
Jeanne Bell, MNA is CEO of CompassPoint Nonprofit Services —one of the country’s leading providers of training, leadership development, and consulting services to community-based organizations. She is the co-author of Nonprofit Sustainability: Making Strategic Decisions for Financial Viability (Jossey-Bass) and of Financial Leadership for Nonprofit Executives: Guiding Your Organization to Long Term Success (Wilder). In addition to frequent speaking and consulting on nonprofit strategy and finance, Jeanne has conducted a series of research projects on nonprofit executive leadership, including Daring to Lead 2006: A National Study of Nonprofit Executive Leadership and Securing the Safety Net: A Profile of Community Clinic and Health Center Leadership in California. Jeanne is Chair of the Board of the Alliance for Nonprofit Management and a board member with the Nonprofits’ Insurance Alliance of California (NIAC) and with Intersection for the Arts. She serves as a Contributing Editor to The Nonprofit Quarterly.

Liz Callahan
Liz Callahan, MA, ACC, was the founding executive director of The CBO Center before joining CompassPoint in 2010 as the Director of East Bay Services and Sr. Project Director. Liz has been consulting with nonprofit organizations for seventeen years and has spent more than 30 years working in nonprofit organizations, in academia, and in government, primarily on the East Coast. Liz is an ICF-certified executive coach, a trained organization & relationship systems coach, and a certified Team Diagnostic™ coach. She holds a Masters degree in Psychology from New School University in New York City.  Liz coaches leadership teams and collaborations, and has developed and delivered workshops in board governance, organizational accountability, project management, the board/e.d. relationship, and team effectiveness.

Emily Chan
Emily Chan is an associate attorney with the NEO Law Group, and principal contributor to the Nonprofit Law Blog. Emily has authored articles published in national publications, including The Chronicle of Philanthropy, ABA Business Law Today, About.com, and Blue Avocado, and spoken to several groups and professional associations on nonprofit legal issues. Emily is a graduate from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where she received several distinctions in appellate advocacy, and negotiation and mediation. In addition to her law degree (J.D.), Emily also holds undergraduate degrees in Business Administration (B.S.) and Rhetoric (B.A.) from the University of California, Berkeley.

Cheryl Clarke
Cheryl A. Clarke, JD, is a fundraising consultant with 20 years' experience working with nonprofit agencies. Her areas or special focus are grantwriting, annual giving programs, major donor campaigns and the board's role in fundraising. Currently, Cheryl is working on a book, with Susan Fox, on proposal writing. It will be published by Jossey-Bass Publishers. Cheryl is also the author of a book on grantwriting, Storytelling for Grantseekers: The Nonprofit Guide to Creative Fundraising, also published by Jossey-Bass Publishers. Cheryl is a graduate of Northwestern University and the University of San Francisco School of Law.

Marla Cornelius
Marla Cornelius, MNA, is a Senior Project Director at CompassPoint Nonprofit Services. She developed and manages several of CompassPoint’s nonprofit management and leadership programs and research projects. She co-authored the national research reports Ready to Lead? Next Generation Leaders Speak Out(2008) and Daring to Lead 2011: A National Study of Nonprofit Executive Leadership.  She develops curricula, trains, and consults in the areas of staff performance management, leadership, personal development, performance metrics, and governance/boards of directors.

Jara Dean-Coffey
For more than 15 years Jara has designed and implemented processes and tools that integrate strategic thinking with evaluative inquiry to support organizations in building their adaptive capacity and enhancing their mission-related impact.  In her roles as advisor, consultant and team leader, Jara focuses on the importance of strengthening the infrastructure of her clients’ organizations so that their missions remain the guiding framework for decision-making.  Jara holds a Master of Public Health degree from the University of California, Berkeley; a BA in Communications and Political Science from Temple University; and a certificate in Organizational Development and Evaluation from Fielding Graduate University.

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Alfredo De Avila
Prior to serving as the Senior Program Associate of the Applied Research Center, Alfredo De Avila has been a farm worker and community organizer, newspaper manager, radio show host, a community organizer trainer and campaign consultant. He has worked with communities of color across the country, working on issues of employment, education, health, environment, housing, transportation and immigration.  Through ARC, he provides social justice training and consultation services to various organizations.  Specifically, he helps organizations with problem solving, goal-setting and strategic planning.  He coaches executive directors and campaign-organizing directors with program implementation and campaign development. 

Noah Flower
Noah Flower has over six years of experience conducting research and analysis for clients across all three sectors, with an emphasis on using networked organizational structure to drive large-scale change. His work at Monitor Institute has addressed topics including social innovation, social media, and the changing context for philanthropy. He is the editor of the Institute’s blog, Working Wikily, about the opportunities for using new technologies and networked strategies that emphasize openness, collaboration, and leverage to achieve greater social impact. As the team's Director of Knowledge Management he helps the team capture new insight, hone its toolkit, and pioneer new approaches.  Noah graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College in 2004, where he earned his degree in philosophy and won high honors for an undergraduate thesis on moral character.

Michelle Gislason
Michelle Gislason is the Senior Project Director, Leadership at CompassPoint and is responsible for the program creation and management of several leadership programs, including Executive Coaching, Leadership Circles, and the Fannie Mae Foundation James A. Johnson Fellowship Program. She is also a co-facilitator and coach for the "Thriving as an Executive Director" series. Michelle has extensive experience in marketing, communications, and project management for nonprofit and educational businesses and is a trainer, consultant and certified organizational coach. Michelle is currently pursuing her Masters degree in Organizational Psychology. She focuses on working with women leaders and aspiring leaders, with a special interest in social change ventures for women and girls.

Darian Rodriguez Heyman
After five years of service, Darian recently stepped down as Executive Director of Craigslist Foundation.  While there, he helped launch Nonprofit Boot Camp, the Environmental Nonprofit Network, and the Next Generation Leadership Forum.  His new book, Nonprofit Management 101, includes practical tips and tools from 50 recognized experts across 35 topics, and he recently launched a nationwide Social Media for Nonprofits  nationwide conference series and his Advancing Social Impact blog on Skoll Foundation’s Social Edge.

Lisa Hoffman
Lisa Hoffman has been happily working with nonprofits for 25 years. As a coach and consultant, Lisa helps individual and organizational clients build strengths and transform weaknesses, and raise more money. As a facilitator, she guides dynamic, focused, enjoyable and goal-oriented meetings and retreats. As a Zen priest, Lisa integrates compassion, deep listening, and leaving the ego at the door throughout her work. Lisa leads meditation groups, classes and workshops, and teaches mindfulness and stress reduction. www.lisahoffman.net

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Matt Huckabay
Matt Huckabay is currently the Executive Director at The Center for Violence-free Relationships. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault (CALCASA). He served two terms as President of the El Dorado County Human Rights Roundtable and three terms as President of the Placerville Downtown Association. Matt is a Senior Fellow with the American Leadership Forum, Mountain Valley Chapter. He and his spouse of 16 years reside in Cameron Park, California.

Diana Kimbrell
Diana is President of Kimbrell & Company, a strategic marketing firm based in Sausalito, California, whose specialty is creating mutually beneficial partnerships and sponsorships between business and social enterprises. Since 1996, her firm has implemented many cause-marketing programs, representing both corporations and community-based organizations, achieving outcomes for both sectors. Diana has had an extensive 15-year background in media advertising, which gave her the marketing, event and sponsorship skills that she now applies to working on projects witha  purpose.

Kim Klein
Kim Klein is the founder and publisher emerita of the bimonthly Grassroots Fundraising Journal, which celebrated its 25th birthday in 2006. She is also the author of the classic Fundraising for Social Change, (fifth edition, 2006), Fundraising for the Long Haul, Ask and You Shall Receive, and Fundraising in Times of Crisis. She and Stephanie Roth edited Raise More Money: The Best of the Grassroots Fundraising Journal. She is the featured writer for the e-newsletter of Grassroots Fundraising, with her column of answers to questions posed by readers called "Dear Kim." In addition to writing for her own publications, she has contributed many articles to the leading books, periodicals and websites in the field of fundraising. Widely in demand as a speaker, Kim has provided training and consultation in all 50 states and in 21 countries.

Nayantara Mehta
Nayantara Mehta is Senior Counsel with Alliance for Justice in Oakland, CA.  She works through Alliance for Justice's Nonprofit Advocacy Project and Foundation Advocacy Initiative to help strengthen the capacity of the public interest community to influence public policy.  She conducts trainings throughout the country on the rules governing advocacy and lobbying by public charities and private foundations.  Nayantara holds a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall), an M.A. from the University of Chicago, and a B.A. from the College of William and Mary in Virginia.

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Holly Minch
Holly has spent her entire career helping do-gooders do better. Holly is a generalist who aids and abets good causes poised to leverage a shifting context to change the world in bigger, better, faster ways than ever before. Her experience includes her work as Vice President of Spitfire Strategies, where she created communications programs for grantees of the nation’s largest foundations, and as Executive Director of the Communications Leadership Institute, where she helped nonprofits use high-impact communications to achieve social change.

Nancy Otto
Nancy Otto is a consultant to nonprofit organizations in the areas of grassroots fundraising, fundraising training, and organizational development. She has over seventeen years of experience as both staff and board member of several leading nonprofit organizations. For over ten years, she worked at the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California, first as the field representative, and then as the director of the Howard A. Friedman First Amendment Education Project. She also worked at the National Immigration Forum in Washington, DC and the National Center for Lesbian Rights. She has served on the boards of many nonprofit organizations, most recently as co-chair of the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

Maria Ramos-Chertok
Maria Ramos-Chertok is an organizational development consultant whose skills include training, coaching and mediation.  Her areas of expertise are effective supervision, conflict resolution, sexual harassment prevention, change management, teambuilding and leadership development.  She has extensive experience as a group facilitator that includes a twenty year history of nonprofit experience in crisis counseling, advocacy and teaching.  She received her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law (Class of 1987) where she was the recipient of the Fordham Human Rights Award for the most outstanding contribution to the advancement of individual freedom and human dignity.

Cali Ressler
Cali Ressler, along with her partner Jody Thompson, is the Founder of CultureRx and co-creator of the Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE). Her first book, Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It, was named “The Year’s Best Book on Work-Life Balance” by Business Week. She has been featured on the covers of BusinessWeek, Workforce Management Magazine, HR Magazine, Hybrid Mom Magazine, as well as in the New York Times, TIME Magazine, USA Today, and on Good Morning America, CNBC and CNN. Cali is also a nationally recognized keynote speaker and has presented to numerous Fortune 500 companies and prominent trade associations. Cali and Jody created ROWE based on the belief that the traditional solution of flexible schedules is not the answer to managing life’s many twists and turns.

Rashad Robinson
Rashad Robinson serves as Executive Director of ColorOfChange. With over 750,000 members, ColorOfChange is the largest online black political organization. For well over a decade, Robinson has helped to mobilize communities across the country to create more inclusive cultural and political institutions.  A recognized expert on how popular culture impacts American attitudes and values, he has served as a thought leader, widely sought-out speaker and strategist on utilizing media to shift public opinion concerning progressive and civil rights issues.  He has appeared in hundred of news stories, interviews, and political discussions through outlets such as ABC, BET, CNN, MSNBC, OWN, The New York Times, Fast Company, and NPR.  In 2010, Robinson was selected as one of "The Root 100," a list of emerging and influential African Americans.  He has previously held leadership roles at GLAAD, the Right to Vote Campaign, and FairVote.

Adriana Rocha
Adriana Rocha leads CompassPoint’s program services group in developing and achieving the organization’s annual goals, the evaluation of the organization’s programs and the marketing of CompassPoint’s services.  Prior to joining CompassPoint, Adriana served as a program officer at the New York Foundation where she managed a portfolio of 40 grantee organizations. She worked at Community Resource Exchange in New York City providing planning, fundraising and board development consulting to community organizing, immigrant, youth and HIV/AIDS organizations. Adriana received a bachelor’s degree in Politics from the University of California at Santa Cruz, and earned her Masters degree from Columbia University, Social Organizational Psychology Program.

Yvonne Rodriguez
Yvonne received her PhD and conducted postdoctoral research in physics at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her work has been focused on thin film photovoltaics and luminescent solar concentrators. She now leads the SACNAS programs team—heading the organization’s year-round mentoring and leadership activities. A first generation college student, Yvonne has long been committed to supporting underrepresented students in STEM fields and is thrilled to bring her expertise as a scientist and mentor to SACNAS. Yvonne continues to be engaged in research by advising students and attending conferences in physics. She welcomes SACNISTAs at levels to contact her to share their experiences, as well as ideas for programs.

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Alicia Santamaria
With 18 years of experience in the non-profit, education, government, and philanthropy sectors, Alicia Santamaría brings creativity, passion, skill, dedication, and a commitment to excellence to her coaching, consulting, and training work.  Alicia's organizational experience includes over 8 years at the Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center (PCRC), where she provided conflict resolution, communication, and organizational development consulting, training, and support to non-profits, local government entities, schools, and colleges. Alicia also worked for the City of San Mateo as a management analyst in both the city manager’s office and the police department, and most recently at Raising A Reader, a national non-profit, supporting organization of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. In 2010, Alicia launched adelante coaching + consulting and currently serves as principal.

Aron Sumii

Gene Takagi
Gene Takagi is the managing attorney of the NEO Law Group, a Certified B Corporation that focuses its representation on nonprofit and exempt organizations. He is also the contributing editor and publisher of the Nonprofit Law Blog. Prior to opening his independent practice in 2005, Gene practiced corporate law at Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton, during which time he was awarded Outstanding Barrister of the Year by the Bar Association of San Francisco. Gene has over 15 years of management experience in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors and speaks and writes regularly on nonprofit legal issues for local and national audiences. Gene has a J.D. from UCLA School of Law and a graduate degree in nonprofit administration.

Marissa Tirona
Marissa M. Tirona, J.D., is a Senior Project Director with CompassPoint Nonprofit Services. She is responsible for the development and management of several leadership initiatives, including the Strong Field Project, a four-year effort aimed at building a strong, coordinated network of domestic violence service providers in California. In 2009, she co-authored a study of leadership and workforce issues across community clinics in California, which culminated in the publication of four reports, including The Pipeline Promise: A Study of Emerging Leaders in California Community Clinics. Marissa recently completed her coaching training through the Coaches Training Institute and provides management and leadership coaching to individuals and teams.  In addition, Marissa develops curricula, trains and consults in the areas of leadership, nonprofit finance, business planning, impact metrics and governance.

Amy Sample Ward
Amy Sample Ward is dedicated to supporting and educating organizations and change-makers in the use of evolving technologies that cultivate and engage communities.  Amy co-authored Social by Social, a handbook in using social technologies for social impact, and contributes to the Stanford Social Innovation Review with monthly posts on the Opinion Blog.  In addition to her independent work with organizations and communities, in March 2011, Amy joined NTEN as the Membership Director. She previously served as the Community Development Manager for CDI (Community-Driven Innovation) at TechSoup Global, leading the strategy for the global NetSquared Community both on and offline, as well as steering the development of programs, services, and events that build community around the world.

Kevin Williams

Judith Wilson
Judith Wilson is one of only 600 International Coach Federation, Master Certified Coaches. She is a gold medal winner of the 2010 Axiom Business Book Award, for Coaching Skills for Nonprofit Managers and Leaders, based on her well established training program. Judith brings years of organizational leadership and management providing expertise in leadership development and employee excellence.  Judith has addressed over 6000 managers and executives world-wide in the nonprofit sector, municipal government, education, biotech, finance, consulting services, and technology fields. She’s known for helping leaders inspire today’s workforce to take more responsibility, more accountability and more initiative. Judith is someone who helps you improve relationships, communication and connections up, down, and around.

Tim Wolfred
Tim Wolfred, Psy.D., is director of Executive Leadership Services (ELS) at CompassPoint Nonprofit Services in San Francisco. After having served as interim executive director in 16 Bay Area nonprofits, he developed CompassPoint's Executive Transitions program in 1998, which has since been accessed by over 160 nonprofit agencies. Recent additions to the ELS program include an executive coaching service, succession planning services, leadership training seminars, and a sabbatical awards program. Tim is also co-author of two seminal studies of executive director tenure and experience, Leadership Lost (1999) and Daring to Lead (2001), which were published by CompassPoint and have received extensive national attention.

Steve Zimmerman
Steven D. Zimmerman, CPA, MBA is Principal of Spectrum Nonprofit Services based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he performs training and consulting in the areas of finance and strategy for community-based organizations throughout the country. He is co-author of the book Nonprofit Sustainability: Making Strategic Decisions for Financial Viability (2010). Steve previously was a Projects Director at CompassPoint and has served as a Chief Financial Officer, Development Director and Associate Director at several community-based nonprofits.
 

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