Aaron has spent over a decade in direct marketing and fundraising and currently provides the Feeding America Network of food banks with education, training, and resources designed to build capacity and growth for the food bank’s fundraising program.

Abby is a Certified Fundraising Executive and brings a variety of nonprofit and development experience to Kesem. For more than 20 years, she has held positions with well-known, national organizations including Best Friends Animal Society, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the American Cancer Society. More recently, she provided marketing, communications and development expertise to a number of animal welfare and environmental organizations. She currently serves as the Vice President of Development for Kesem, a nationwide nonprofit whose mission is to support children coping with a parent’s cancer diagnosis with free, fun-filled programs and a lasting community. Abby is a graduate of Florida State University and currently lives in California with her husband, four sons and dog, Bo. In her free time, which is rare, she enjoys hiking, sailing and watching college football.

Alan Levine, a Partner with Barker & Scott, builds on over 25 years of senior IT and business leadership experience to guide organizations in creative uses of information technology to achieve their desired business outcomes. Alan has served as a consultant and virtual CIO for numerous regional, national, and global nonprofit organizations.

Before joining Barker & Scott, Alan served for many years as the CIO of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. Alan is past President of CIO/Arts, a founding member of the worldwide CIO Executive Council, has served on the Small Agency CIO Council of the US Federal Government. Alan was a founder and past Chairman of the Board of the Tessitura Network.

Alan spends his free time as an equestrian, spending time with horses as majestic, intelligent, powerful partners, as well as hiking, baking, and gardening.

Alyssa Boger serves as the Senior Vice President of Client Strategy at Pursuant. Through her experience working with organizations of varying size and purpose, she supports the creation of successful, comprehensive fundraising solutions across the donor pyramid. Alyssa’s client relationships are strengthened by her passion for data-informed strategies that inspire new and measured thinking. Alyssa’s expertise lies in omnichannel fundraising, data analysis and insights, comprehensive direct response strategy and execution, and program transitions to relationship fundraising.

Alyssa Zamora Henriquez leads marketing for a leader in pediatric healthcare, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. With 15 years of marketing experience working in healthcare, higher education and philanthropy, and another five in journalism, Alyssa’s expertise spans strategic communications, content strategy, digital marketing, storytelling and online fundraising. Since joining Nicklaus Children’s in 2020, she has led marketing for multi-million dollar fundraising events, directed a website migration, and quadrupled online fundraising. Prior, she held marketing roles at Miami Dade College Foundation, University of Miami and Duke University’s Global Health Institute. Alyssa completed Seth Godin’s altMBA and has formal training in broadcast journalism, graduating cum laude from University of Florida. Early in her career, Alyssa was a public radio journalist, with reports on Florida Public Radio and NPR. Alyssa believes in mission-driven work that impacts lives and facilitates change

Alyssa Young is a Program and Partnership Manager at KABOOM! working to end playspace inequity. Her work is primarily based in Philadelphia, where 2/3 of the city’s public schools do not have a playground. Children, especially children of color and children from low-income communities, are denied the physical, social, and cognitive benefits of play when they lack access to safe, high-quality playgrounds. She tests new ideas and solutions to reducing the impacts of playspace inequity, through projects that impact the lives and wellbeing of children. Recent projects include: a data-informed mapping effort that identified areas for playspace investment for Philadelphia’s youngest children, a collaborative project to install five new Story Trails in Philadelphia’s public parks with playful learning elements, and a pilot program designed to get community-built Play Everywhere spaces activated by a cohort of trained Playful Learning Ambassadors.

Amanda Brown Lierman is the Senior Director for Policy and Engagement for North America as well as the Executive Director of GoFundMe.org, the philanthropic arm.

Amanda most recently served as the Executive Director of Supermajority, an organization focused on training and organizing women across age, race and background to build women’s political power. She leveraged her experience as an organizer to build a multiracial and intergenerational coalition of women who are united in their values and vote together.

Amanda’s passion for community organizing was ignited through her earliest career experiences — first as an intern in then-Senator Barack Obama’s office. After graduating from Dartmouth, and shortly after Barack Obama announced his candidacy for president, she met him at a fundraiser where he convinced her to join his campaign. Two weeks later, she was knocking on doors and making phone calls, learning the power of organizing through storytelling. Through simple, personal conversations and connections, Amanda learned the power that storytelling has to connect, inspire, and move people to action.

After a successful presidential campaign and three years in the Obama Administration, Amanda went on to lead Rock the Vote as the national political director from 2011-2014. She managed the maintenance and development of the organization’s online voter registration tool, which was used by more than 2.5 million young people during her tenure. She returned to the Obama Administration from 2014-2016 to lead the National Women’s Business Council as its Executive Director. The Council conducted research on issues of impact and importance to women entrepreneurs. Amanda then launched and served as the campaign director for For Our Future, an $80 million organizing effort in seven battleground states in support of Hillary Clinton. And, during the 2018 midterm cycle, she served as the political and organizing director for the Democratic National Committee, when there was a surge in women’s participation as voters, volunteers, donors, and candidates themselves.

Amanda’s work has earned her recognition as a 2014 Forbes 30-under-30 recipient in the law and public policy field and as a 2017 Washingtonian Magazine’s 40-under-40 recipient. She currently serves as chairman of the boards of Strong Schools Maryland and Rock the Vote, on the board of advisors for the Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College, and on the Dartmouth College Alumni Council.

Amanda lives in Takoma Park, MD, with her husband Kyle and three daughters, Belle, Leia and Hart. She loves exploring neighborhood parks with the kids, is always working to perfect her pancakes and pies, and takes advantage of any opportunity to treat herself to a “fancy coffee” as an escape from the chaos of her house.

Anna Rathmann is the Executive Director of the Jane Goodall Institute (USA). Anna has spent her career supporting and advancing international conservation by focusing on bridging science, conservation, education, and storytelling. Anna holds an MBA from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business in Washington, DC and is a graduate of Valparaiso University. She currently sits on several nonprofit boards that promote engaging conservation at all levels of community and government. Prior to her role at the Jane Goodall Institute, Anna spent a decade at the National Geographic Society and served as the inaugural Director of the Great Plains Conservation Foundation, supporting landscape, wildlife, and community-led conservation projects in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and South Africa. She is committed to advancing initiatives that protect our amazing planet through research, conservation, exploration, and education; believing firmly in the power of hope to inspire action.

With over 14 years of experience at The Salvation Army, Andrew is a seasoned professional currently serving as the Director of Digital Strategy at National Headquarters. In this role, he oversees the development and implementation of effective and efficient web-based technologies and strategies that support internal and external communications and online fundraising for all levels of Salvation Army administration and advisory organizations. He coordinates and manages all approved national online fundraising initiatives and serves as the primary point of contact with external vendors. Prior to this role, he oversaw donor services, marketing and branding, media and graphic arts, and assisted with special projects at The Salvation Army’s Central Territory Headquarters (in Chicago) and Eastern Michigan Division (in Detroit). Andrew is married with two daughters, a dog, and enjoys reading history and traveling to explore US National Parks.

Avril Benoît is the executive director of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières in the United States (MSF USA). She has worked with the International Medical Humanitarian Organization since 2006 in various operational management and executive leadership roles. Prior to this, she was a journalist and radio broadcaster in Canada for 20 years.

Amir Pasic is the Eugene R. Tempel Dean of the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy; the world’s first school devoted to research and teaching about philanthropy.

Prior to joining the school, Pasic was vice president of international operations at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), a global professional association serving educational institutions and their advancement professionals.

Previously, Pasic was associate dean for development and strategic planning at the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) as well as executive director of its Foreign Policy Institute, where he continues to serve as a fellow.

Pasic served as deputy director of the world security project at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and was deputy vice president for advancement at The George Washington University. A former librarian at the Library of Congress, he began his career with faculty appointments at Brown University’s Watson Institute.

Pasic earned his doctorate in political science at the University of Pennsylvania. He holds a master’s degree in international relations from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from Yale University.

Bernard R. Mauricia is the CEO of Oncology And Kids, Inc. (OAK), a 501(c)3 non-profit focused on providing quality of life support programs for children battling cancer and their siblings. He helped co-found the group in 2020 with his colleagues Robby Medina and Brian Bonert. Together they oversee Camp Reach for the Sky (CR4TS), a free camp program for kids affected by cancer that has led the region since 1983. CR4TS is one of only 3 Gold-Ribbon children’s oncology camps in the state of California.

Prior to co-founding OAK, he served as CEO of The Seany Foundation. His work before the focus on childhood cancer consisted of oversight of Corporate Partnerships and Volunteer Resources for the American Cancer Society in San Diego. Prior to this he was the statewide program director for the California Council on Economic Education, working with 1,000+, K-12 school districts to implement teacher trainings in economic education.

Bernard is extremely active in his community serving on the boards of Project New Village, San Diego Center for Economic Education, and San Diego Professionals Against Cancer.

Brea Kratzert Todd is the Vice President of Business Development for Wounded Warrior Project, a national veteran service organization headquartered in Jacksonville, FL. She has been with WWP for 13 years in various roles dedicated to business development. In her current role she sits on the executive team and oversees a national team with responsibility for multiple fundraising channels. These channels include: major and planned giving, foundations, corporate partners, signature events, livestreaming & gaming as well as community events.
Brea came to WWP from the University of North FL. where she oversaw marketing for the athletic department. She also spent time at the PGA TOUR and in the pharmaceutical industry. She is a graduate of West Virginia University with a Bachelors degree in Psychology and she also holds a Juris Doctor from Florida Coastal School of Law. She is an avid equestrian, competing nationally. She resides Jacksonville Beach with her husband Ryan Todd.

Cindy currently serves as SVP and Chief Marketing Officer for the March of Dimes, where she brings 20 years of experience in marketing, public relations, crisis communications, corporate communications, nonprofit brand building and more.

Prior to joining March of Dimes, Cindy spent more than 15 years specializing in health, wellness and social responsibility initiatives at a boutique marketing agency. Cindy’s clientele included Walmart/Walmart Foundation, Sam’s Club, Inova Health Foundation, MedStar Institute, and Massachusetts General Hospital among others.

Throughout her career, Cindy has received numerous industry accolades including: PR News Agency Elite Award Winner and American Marketing Association Integrated Marketing Campaigns Winner. In 2022, She was named American Marketing Association Nonprofit Marketer of the Year.

Cindy earned a BSBA degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her MBA from The George Washington University School of Business.

Clayton Davenport is the Director of Development and Marketing for one•n•ten, Arizona’s largest LGBTQ+ youth organization. After leaving the private sector in 2011, Clayton began his fundraising career with the GLBT Community Center of Colorado, now called The Center on Colfax. He quickly found his passion for serving the LGBTQ+ community. In 2015, Clayton moved to Arizona to lead the Phoenix Pride team as their Director of Development before joining one•n•ten in June 2019. Clayton has helped secure over $16M in gifts during his fundraising career and recently embarked on his CFRE journey. When Clayton isn’t fundraising, you will find him in nature, camping and hiking with his husband and their two dogs.

Dale Bannon has twenty years of nonprofit executive leadership experience and currently serves as the National Community Relations and Development Secretary (Director) and National Spokesperson for The Salvation Army National Headquarters. In this role he provides leadership in the areas of brand awareness, fundraising, strategic partnerships, and public relations/communications.

His experience also includes serving as Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer for The Salvation Army National Capital region in Washington, DC; Director of Development for Washington County Public Schools; Executive Director for the United Way of Washington County; and Corps Officer of The Salvation Army in Dallas and Lakeland, Florida.

A part of the Marketing and Communications team, Dan manages Concern’s marketing campaigns, assists with measurement and reporting, and guides marketing strategy. Prior to starting with Concern, Dan worked as a Senior Account Strategist for a digital marketing agency, helping clients maximize their digital marketing budgets. When not knee-deep in spreadsheets, Dan enjoys reading, running, and obsessively refreshing his podcast feed.

Dana Bond is the Senior Vice President of Strategic Alliances at First Book, an award-winning nonprofit social enterprise focused on advancing educational equity for children in need. With more than 18 years of experience in sales and marketing in the for-profit and nonprofit space, her passion for education, children, and serving underserved communities helps connect some of the world’s most well-known brands to the First Book mission. Her team is responsible for generating significant revenue for First Book through the development of unique and innovative corporate partnerships across a variety of industries.

Growing up in Milwaukee, WI, Dana lived and attended school in the exact communities First Book serves. This authentic connection, coupled with the desire to lean into work that drives systemic change is what drew her to the mission. Before joining First Book, Dana spent 10 years with Make-A-Wish® America in corporate partnerships, partnership marketing and brand campaigns. Prior to her move to the nonprofit sector, Dana started her career in the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry working for Pepsi and the Campbell Soup Company in sales and marketing roles. Dana holds a B.S. in Marketing from the University of Minnesota and an MBA from Arizona State University.

With a lifelong commitment to service and volunteering, David entered the nonprofit sector following a long career in higher education advancement. He enjoys working for organizations with impact on human needs. With almost 30 years working in the University System of Georgia, he now uses those experiences to address hunger relief and poverty issues with the Food Bank for New York City. David leads the teams at Food Bank responsible for Donor Relations, Annual Giving, Prospect Research & Management, Database Administration, and Gift Processing. Most of those functions were informally managed or outsourced prior to the tremendous growth of philanthropy at Food Bank for New York City during the pandemic. David joined Food Bank in April 2021, helping them close record-setting fundraising totals while serving the 1.6 million neighbors experiencing food insecurity across the five boroughs of NYC

Eric Pannese is the Chief Product and Technology Officer at Classy. Eric joined Classy in 2021 with more than 20 years of experience in technology and has lead product organizations at Medallia, Zingle, NuORDER, Kyriba and Intuit Turbotax. He has a passion for working directly with customers to deliver best-in-class user experiences that solve challenging problems. He has served on the boards of Meals on Wheels of Greater San Diego and the Rancho Penasquitos Little League. He lives in San Diego, CA with his wife, two sons and two dogs. He is a Boston native and will always be up for discussing the current state of the Red Sox (one of his dogs is even named Fenway!)

Eric Tostrud established Peloton4Parkinsons in 2016 to honor his mother Judy who was battling the disease. What started as one person on a spin bike for 12+ hours, with a few friends joining in throughout the day, has turned into a MOVEMENT. Since 2016 Peloton4Parkinsons (or “P4P” for short), has raised over $350,000 to support local people affected by Parkinson’s Disease, as well as help fund critical research being done by The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

Fundraiser, Storyteller and Senior Director of Development

Gabrielle A. Perry, MPH is an epidemiologist, writer, and executive director of The Thurman Perry Foundation, a nonprofit providing direct-giving resources to women impacted by incarceration nationally, with emphasis on Black women. The biological daughter of an incarcerated mother, Gabrielle’s experience with incarceration began at birth and peaked when she was arrested at 21. In 2016, 2 years after her arrest and experiencing homelessness, her conviction was settled and later expunged in 2019.

In 2021, Gabrielle used the power of social media to create The Thurman Perry Foundation, named in memory of her father. TPF provides scholarships, housing relief, and public health resources to justice-impacted women. Since inception, TPF has awarded almost $60,000 in scholarships, paid the rents of formerly incarcerated mothers, and donated over 140,000 organic menstrual products to correctional facilities. To date, The Thurman Perry Foundation has aided over 2,000 women across America.

Geraldine is an Account Director at Community Boost with over 10 years of experience in Nonprofit work and Marketing. She received her MA from USD in Nonprofit and Leadership Management, and continues to be deeply involved in the sector within her role at cBC. She currently spearheads strategy and partnerships for the Obama Foundation, San Diego Bloodbank, Westside Foodbank, and more.

Greg is a 36-year direct response fundraising veteran with experience and expertise in creating dynamic fundraising programs. Throughout his career, he has raised over $6 billion for many of the largest and most respected nonprofit brands, including organizations like ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Hospital, Heart Association, Disabled American Veterans, the American Cancer Society, Susan G. Komen, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, to name a few.

Greg currently serves as SVP, Chief Strategy Officer at Moore, bringing transformational growth to the nonprofit sector through enhanced data, analytics, technology, and one-to-one marketing strategies.

Prior to joining Moore, Greg spent 20 years at Merkle, where we launched and led the company’s first full-service database marketing agency, serving the nonprofit sector.

Heather currently serves as Vice President of Partnerships and Philanthropy at Direct Relief, a humanitarian organization that mobilizes medical resources to healthcare facilities in nearly 100 countries every day and during times of disaster. In her role, she is responsible for managing strategic communication with philanthropic partners, aligning fundraising efforts with programmatic design, and leading the acquisition of financial resources from individuals, corporations, and private foundations. Since starting at Direct Relief in 2009, she has developed and strengthened relationships with a number of large foundations and corporations, resulting in increased revenue streams to improve access to medicine and health for millions of vulnerable people around the world.

As Senior Strategy Manager, Isabelle helps her fellow Whalers to provide best-in-class digital marketing services to her clients. She specializes in helping clients actualize their missions and maximize impact through digital campaigns and online fundraising. Isabelle is passionate about education and sharing data-driven fundraising insights; she has spoken on nonprofit marketing strategies at AFP ICON, the Bridge to Integrated Marketing Conference, and Whole Whale’s very own WWULive events.

Isabelle has spent her career focused on social impact, education, and the arts. She is a graduate of Kenyon College, where she studied International Studies and Studio Art. Isabelle began her career by serving a year as a City Year AmeriCorps teacher, working as an English Language Interventionist in New Orleans. A native of the Bay Area, Isabelle currently resides in Brooklyn.

Jarrett is passionate about helping nonprofits fundraise and further their mission with technology. As VP of Product Marketing at Classy, he leads a team that crafts GTM strategies, innovation, storytelling, and campaigns to help nonprofits better engage supporters.

Prior as Sr. Director of Product Marketing at Salesforce for Nonprofits, he led a team that worked across Fundraising & Marketing solutions. Jarrett’s background has been in marketing, consulting, and business development with software companies and nonprofits over the last 20 years. Connect with Jarrett here.

As President of NextAfter, Jeff is responsible for leading client relationships by growing the capacity and effectiveness of their fundraising programs. In this capacity, he’s helped lead research efforts to produce large conversion rate increases for more than one hundred nonprofit clients.

Jennifer England, Head of Partner Success at Food Rescue Hero®, oversees the growth of the Food Rescue Hero Network of food recovery organizations. As part of the founding team behind 412 Food Rescue, and director of food recovery operations, Jen learned first hand the complexity of running a food rescue. That’s why her team developed Food Rescue Hero, to address these time-consuming tasks associated with daily operations. Jennifer believes food recovery has the power to not only move the needle on hunger and food waste, but to transform food access and nutrition security resulting in a more just food system. Jen aims to expand the movement to 100 cities by 2030, to measurably make progress against the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and transform communities. Jennifer serves on the board of the national organization #MEAction and is Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of the Pittsburgh Food Policy Council.

Jessica founded the Harrington Agency on the belief that we needed a better way to create integrated campaigns and to bring big, bold ideas to the nonprofit industry. Jessica is known as one of the industry’s most dynamic, exciting fundraisers. She’s admired for her ability to pull truth and actionable recommendations from raw data, for her determination to seize every challenge as an opportunity, and for her bedrock belief that “best practices” are only the launching point for the results-boosting advances she creates. For over 25 years, Jessica has been working with nonprofit organizations to keep learning and testing new ideas, new technologies, and new concepts.

Justin is an industry-leading marketer, with two decades of guiding commercial and nonprofit organizations to success. He oversees brand management and thought leadership for RKD, and hosts the award-winning Group Thinkers podcast. Justin is also Co-Chair for the 2023 Bridge Conference–and a nerd for soccer, professional wrestling and dad jokes.

Kalpana Kanthan is Chief Development Officer at the American India Foundation. In this role, she oversees the philanthropic portfolio of the US and India teams, as well as the marketing vertical—in conjunction with communications—to drive AIF’s strategic growth, expansion, and programmatic impact. Her responsibilities span the strategy and management of AIF’s fundraising landscape—including major gifts, individual and institutional giving, retail fundraising, planned giving, and digital fundraising—donor and stakeholder stewardship, thought leadership enhancement, and strategic communications.
Kalpana’s extensive career spans higher education, nonprofits, consulting, and media. She is a passionate storyteller and relationship-builder, whose initial training is in journalism and television writing and production from Mumbai, India, where she had worked as a writer, producer, and anchorperson. She started working with New York City nonprofits in 1997 in development and communications and has also worked as a consultant and volunteer on projects in education, curriculum building, and community engagement for several organizations in the city.

Do-gooder at the intersection of fundraising, strategy and operations.

Kate Roberts is a Senior Product Manager at Classy, with a focus on the Integrations and Login experiences. She joined Classy in 2021, and loves finding ways to turn complex customer problems into simple, delightful solutions. A lifelong New Englander, she resides in Boston with her husband and dog. Kate spends her free time gardening, keeping up her Duolingo streak, and bingeing the latest sci-fi titles (but will always happily talk classic Star Trek).

I serve as the Director of Digital Marketing for To Write Love on Her Arms. I curate our supporters’ experience through all digital communications which include social media, email marketing, SMS, the TWLOHA website, and more. I work with a team of amazing folks to help tell the story of TWLOHA and share our mission via the internet.

Since 1989, Katrina has been developing successful revenue programs and counseling executives for organizations like the American Cancer Society, the ALS Association, March of Dimes, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Special Olympics, and the Alzheimer’s Association. Her clients’ successes and her dedication to research and learning about human behavior have made her a sought-after speaker, presenting at national conferences for the likes of Blackbaud, Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum, Nonprofit PRO P2P and her clients’ national meetings. Katrina also regularly shares her wit and business experiences on NonProfit PRO as a blogger on “Peeling the Onion” and is co-author of the 2017 book  Dollar Dash – the Behavioral Economics of Peer-to-Peer Fundraising and the recently published Social Fundraising: Mining the Peer-to-Peer Landscape. Katrina’s mantra for life is “Be nice. Do good. Embrace embarrassment”.

Kevin Schulman is an academically trained social scientist focused on answering the why behind human behavior.

He’s the founder of DonorVoice, a full-service fundraising agency, and DVCanvass, a canvassing and telefundraising firm who share the red thread of applying behavioral science for better outcomes.

Kevin developed the Commitment Model to measure donor relationship strength and the TrueQuality Score, a real-time, forward-looking measure of donor quality.

His work serves as foundation for the number one, best-selling fundraising book, “Retention Fundraising, The New Art and Science of Keeping Your Donors for Life” and he’s Managing Editor for the Agitator/DonorVoice blog, a top 5 fundraising blog globally.

Krystn has more than 20 years of experience fundraising on the local, regional, and national level. She has developed and launched three national fundraising campaigns engaging corporations, executive-level volunteers and major gifts. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and two kids and raises money to build playgrounds in her local community.

Larry Olson is the Senior Vice President of Marketing & Communications at the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. He has global executive-level experience in non-profit, publishing, content development and marketing, branding and communications at companies that include Wiley and Oxford University Press.
He served on the Board of Directors at The Fuqua/Coach K Center on Leadership & Ethics (COLE) at Duke University, the Board of Directors at The Hesselbein Global Academy for Student Leadership and Civic Engagement at the University of Pittsburgh. Larry was a founding member and served on the Board of Directors at Team Red, White and Blue. In 2014, he completed an Executive Certificate in Transformational Nonprofit Leadership at the University of Notre Dame, Mendoza College of Business.
He met his wife of thirty-four years while pursuing his BA in English Literature at Niagara University. They have three children and live in Briarcliff Manor, New York.

Laura S. Nieto serves as Director of Community Outreach at Southwest Airlines, where she leads the Company’s corporate giving and stewardship strategy. Founded on the principles of loving people, building resilience and living responsibly, Laura oversees Southwest’s strategic community investments, employee engagement and volunteerism, foundation giving, sustainability programs and social impact initiatives. She and her team work to ensure Southwest is a trusted partner by nurturing authentic relationships and championing causes that help communities thrive. Laura has a passion for developing innovative programs that engage and empower diverse communities. Under her leadership, Southwest has been recognized as an industry leader and outstanding corporate citizen. Laura graduated from Texas Tech University and was named a 2016 Distinguished Alumni. Laura achieved her goal of becoming a Six Star Finisher by completing the six World Marathon Majors

Lisa is a non-profit veteran with over 17 years of experience in fundraising, data management, and donor relations. As Robin Hood’s Director of Development Operations, Lisa leads the team responsible for using data, technology, and research to inform revenue generating strategies and building and managing systems to streamline and support all aspects of fundraising. In addition to her role on the Development Operations team, Lisa also serves as a frontline fundraiser, managing a portfolio of loyal supporters at the largest poverty fighting organization in New York City. Prior to her work at Robin Hood, Lisa held Development positions at The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts and the Children’s Museum of Manhattan (CMOM). A true New Yorker through and through, she holds a Bachelor of Arts from Hunter College and a Master of Arts from Brooklyn College.

Luke Dringoli is the VP of Technology at Media Cause, a leading agency specializing in digital marketing for nonprofits. With over 14 years of experience, he is a thought leader in the industry and has spoken at events such as INBOUND, NTC, and ActCON. Luke has worked with notable clients like the United Nations Development Programme, Direct Relief, and Starlight Children’s Foundation. He is also an active board member of the Madelyn James Pediatric Cancer Foundation. Luke is based in Connecticut.

Marc Ferris is the Chief Growth Officer of Classy, leading a team of high-performing, impact-driven sales and customer growth professionals all working toward the mission of mobilizing and empowering the world for good. Ferris has spent the majority of his career at the intersection of technology and social impact and brings decades of experience learning from customers, partners and colleagues into his leadership role at Classy. For over a decade, Ferris has seen the power of technology and its role in improving the state of the world. Prior to joining Classy, Ferris spent 12 years at Salesforce, where he helped launch Salesforce.org, a social enterprise focused on providing nonprofit and education organizations with purpose-built, affordable solutions. He served as Salesforce’s SVP of Growth for the Americas, where he led sales and distribution organizations, serving more than 55,000 organizations and delivering more than $1.8 billion in annual social value. Before that, he held a variety of sales and marketing leadership roles with leading educational technology companies in the PeopleSoft and Cisco ecosystems.

Marcie Maxwell is the Managing Director of the Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum. Marcie joined the P2PPF team in 2021 after 15+ years as a front-line fundraiser, national events & campaign director and fundraising consultant. She started her career in fundraising with 10+ years at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, where she ran local fundraising events, managed national volunteer partnerships and launched their national walk program. She then spent 5+ years as the Director of Chapter Fundraising Events with Make-A-Wish America, where she provided strategy, support & training to 60 chapters on the full event portfolio – walks, school fundraising, an endurance hiking program and galas & social events. In her most recent role at Charity Dynamics, she partnered with clients to provide strategic guidance and analysis to help them optimize and grow their peer-to-peer fundraising events & campaigns. She resides in Memphis, TN.

Martin Quessenberry is the Executive Director of Digital Projects and Innovation at Shriners Hospitals for Children, where Martin creatively directs, manages, and leads enterprise, large-scale digital integration projects that provide foundational and functional support for creative fundraising campaigns, micro-site development, landing page optimization, recurring giving programs and design. Before starting with Shriners Hospitals for Children, Martin was a valuable member of the International Walt Disney digital team responsible for launching Disneyworld/Disneyland.com, as well as a ten+ year career in professional sports, providing digital vision and guidance for the 2004 Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning, 2003 World-Champion Tampa Bay Storm, and the National Hockey League.

Mary Beth is responsible for all fundraising, marketing and communication efforts of the food bank. Her non-profit career began in college when she conducted an alumni fundraising effort to help cover the significant medical expenses her friend, the college mascot, incurred after being struck by a drunk driver.

Prior to the CAFB, Mary Beth was Senior Vice President, Development for a national cancer research organization and has decades of experience in resource mobilization and partnership development in the non-profit world.

Mary Beth earned Bachelor of Art and Bachelor of Advertising degrees from the Pennsylvania State University, a Certificate of Association Management from the University of Maryland and holds the prestigious CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation.

A resident of Cape Cod Massachusetts, Maureen has developed a proven process that maps your nonprofit’s strategic and operational goals to the right software and business processes – helping you make good decisions about the systems you use to engage your supporters and run an efficient, effective organization.

Now in her 18th year as a nonprofit technology consultant, Maureen is a solo practitioner focused on helping the Accidental Techies working at nonprofits learn to navigate today’s complex technology platforms and get a good ROI on their technology investments.

In addition to her work with clients, Maureen has authored multiple guides on nonprofit engagement software, blogs at her website and answers questions about nonprofit technology live on Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube every Friday afternoon. A sought-after speaker and trainer, she has led many live workshops and video webinars around the country and is one of TechSoup’s expert trainers.

Megan Toscano serves as the Director of Performance Marketing at charity: water, where she owns the organization’s paid acquisition strategy. In this role, Megan spearheads the strategic development, execution, and optimization of all paid marketing efforts aimed to grow and scale the organization. Prior to her work at charity: water, Megan worked in the for-profit space leading acquisition strategy for subscription-based brands.

Meghan Freeman is the Director of Marketing and Communications at Riley Children’s Foundation. Meghan leads creation of paid, earned and owned marketing and communication strategies to drive broader awareness of the Foundation and increase giving. This allows her to work closely with Riley Children’s Health patients and families, physicians and team members, as well as our collaborative partners, to take on the biggest challenges and greatest opportunities in children’s health.

Michelle Boggs has more than 17 years’ experience in fund development, community partnerships, team and constituent building and strategic planning for nonprofit organizations.

Michelle currently serves Nonprofit Industry Advisor with Classy, a fundraising software company, and subsidiary of GoFundMe. Classy supports thousands of nonprofits with their online fundraising and together, with GoFundMe, strives to be the most helpful company on the world. Before joining CLassy, Michelle was the Vice President of Advancement with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society where she was responsible for building long-term, high-impact relationships with philanthropic individuals and foundations, as well as providing strategic direction to Territory Advancement Directors and the regions they support.
Prior to that, Michelle served as President of Nicklaus Children’s Hospital Foundation, the fundraising arm of Nicklaus Children’s Health System. There she was responsible for raising $35 million annually. She also served in leadership roles with the American Heart Association, including National Market Development Director charged with consulting to top markets across the country with revenue goals totaling $800 million. Prior to that she served as Executive Director for the American Heart Association in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

Michelle is a member of Association of Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP), Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce, CouTOURe club and is founding member of Chief for women executive leaders. She was named as a member of the South Florida Business Journal “40 Under 40” Class of 2020 and is a Lifetime Member of Leadership Florida and was part of Connect Class 12. Michelle is a volunteer mentor with Take Stock in Children and works with several mentees on college and career planning. She is a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE). Michelle graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in English and recently completed an executive MBA from Florida International University. She lives in Lake Worth Florida with her husband Ryan, her four awesome children and her two goldendoodles.

Natalie A. Collier is a transformative writer who’s been telling stories on the page and throughout her career with the work she’s done. She compels audiences to think deeply about girls and women in all communities, particularly those in the U.S. South. Collier is the founder and president of The Lighthouse | Black Girl Projects where her dream is to see Black girls and women live lives free from unnecessary outside pressures and barriers.

Through TL|BGP, Collier and her team implement programs and support structures that ingress and create deep, abiding change for the people whose hopes and heartaches reverberate with her deepest: Black girls.

Collier has combined experiences from her years in undergraduate and graduate school studying political science/philosophy and marriage and family; a myriad of fellowships; and work in the field fighting the injustices pervasively affecting girls and women’s chances at socio political advancement.

Neil Batiancila currently serves as Philadelphia Zoo’s Chief Development Officer, where he oversees all contributed revenue activities, including charitable operations and government affairs. He has led the Zoo through the turnaround of its fundraising operation positioning the Zoo for the activation of a campaign. Prior to his current role, Mr. Batiancila served as Executive Director, Campaign Operations at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Foundation where he led efforts for its $1 billion comprehensive campaign, For Tomorrow’s Breakthroughs. He got his start as an AmeriCorps member with City Year, where he ultimately rose to Co-Executive Director in Philadelphia. He has also served as Aramark’s Director of Community Relations, executing the community involvement strategy for one of Philadelphia’s most recognizable corporate brands. Neil received his undergraduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania and graduate degree at Temple University’s Fox School of Business.

Nick Palmisciano is a New York Times bestselling author, an award-winning filmmaker, a Founding Board member of the international rescue nonprofit organization Save Our Allies, and the CEO of Diesel Jack Media.

Nick’s marketing journey began in 2006 when he founded the first military apparel brand, Ranger Up. His journey with that brand culminated with production of the cult-classic film Range 15, the first and only independent film to ever top the charts at Amazon, and the critically acclaimed follow on documentary, Not a War Story.

In August of 2021, when Afghanistan fell, Nick was one of 12 veterans who went to Kabul to assist in the evacuation of Afghans. That team, nicknamed Task Force 6:8, was responsible for the evacuation of 12,000 Afghans. In 2022, Nick’s film about that event, Send Me, qualified for Oscar voting.

He is the host of the podcast Neutral Position.

Pradnya has more than 25 years of development and management experience in myriad national and international settings. She has focused on uniting philanthropists, corporations, and foundations with strategic projects and priorities. She is an experienced and creative development professional who excels at building big ideas and strong relationships.

She comes to ISC with experience from prestigious academic medical institutions such as Children’s National Medical Center in Washington DC, Mount Sinai Health System in New York City, and Boston Children’s Hospital, as well as think tanks, global development organizations, and the arts. Over her career, she has raised more than $175M to support research, capital projects, endowment, operations, and programmatic projects.

Pradnya was born in Mumbai, India but grew up in New Jersey. She resides in Silver Spring, MD, with her husband Joe Clemons, their children, Mirza Cate and Xavier Anant.

Sarah is Chief Marketing Officer at Feed More, Central Virginia’s food bank. Sarah has spent 30 years studying human behavior and implementing growth-driving marketing strategies. Prior to joining Feed More, Sarah led a marketing consulting practice helping a diverse client base radically improve marketing effectiveness and customer loyalty. She also held a variety of executive leadership roles during her 18-years at Capital One to include Customer Growth Marketing and Operations for US Card and Canada, Product Development, Digital and Direct Performance Marketing and Consumer Research. Sarah is thrilled to leverage those experiences to power a mission that truly helps those in need – and work with best-in-class talent to reimagine non-profit marketing and development.

Sarah Jo (she/her) has spent over a decade working at the intersection of nonprofits, data, and program management. She is passionate about solving complex business problems utilizing smart, scalable technology, and is always eager to find new and improved ways to structure and display organizational data. Sarah Jo lives in Philadelphia with her partner, rescue dog, and occasional foster dog guests.

Shane Michael is a website specialist with a passion for helping nonprofits grow. As the Founder & CEO of Mittun, Shane has helped hundreds of nonprofits raise millions of dollars online. Through his success as a website entrepreneur, digital innovator and online fundraising expert, Shane has developed a proven formula for success for launching high-converting landing pages & donation campaigns. His unique blend of industry insight and experience makes him an invaluable resource in the nonprofit sector. Attendees at the conference can expect to leave energized, empowered, and ready to make a difference.

Shane Woods began her career as a middle school science teacher in the Fort Worth Independent School District. In her 17 years with the district, Shane was able to make her mark in every position she held from department chair to leading the entire district as the K-12 Science Director. From 2019-2022, Shane acted as the Senior Director of the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas STEM Center of Excellence, which is a 92-acre living laboratory where kids of all ages can explore and develop their competence and confidence in STEM. In her newest role, Shane serves as the Executive Director for Girlstart, a nonprofit focused on empowering girls in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. She remains active in the formal and informal education community as a highly-sought after nationally recognized and award-winning leader and speaker in science education, equity in STEM and leadership.

Soraya Alexander is the Chief Operating Officer at GoFundMe and President of Classy, a social enterprise that creates world-class online fundraising software for nonprofits. Prior to being named President, Soraya was the COO of Classy, building system and processes for the teams responsible for customer engagement, retention, growth, and success, in addition to driving awareness and interest of the Classy platform. Previously, Soraya led customer retention and engagement, direct marketing, and omnichannel experience for DICK’S Sporting Goods, and also spent time on the Consumer Marketing Strategy team at Time Inc. Soraya sits on the Board of Directors at Urban Surf for Kids, a nonprofit that provides surf therapy for foster and adoptive youth who have experienced complex trauma. She has a BA from University of California, Berkeley and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Sterrin is a nationally recognized leader in the nonprofit community, with nearly three decades spent working with some of the most prestigious organizations in the country, including UCSF Medicine, Duke Medicine, American Red Cross, United Way and the March of Dimes. In addition, she founded her own consulting practice in 2010.

Sterrin partners with organizations to ensure they can access the affordable creative support and counsel necessary to scale their operations — and their impact. She’s conducted more than two dozen capital campaigns throughout the United States with combined fundraising goals in excess of $5.5 billion. In 2020, she joined Salesforce as a Nonprofit Industry Expert.

Thomas Turner is the Vice President, Data & Insights at International Justice Mission, a global team of lawyers, social workers, community activists and other professionals in 40 offices across 27 countries who share in the mission of protecting people in poverty from violence.

With over fifteen years of experience in research and data analysis in the corporate and non-profit industries, Thomas currently leads a team that provides prospect management, business intelligence, financial planning, data science and data stewardship to US and Canada fundraising and marketing teams.

Tim Krueger is a non-profit marketer, analyst, troubleshooter, and jack of [many] trades. He specializes in helping organizations make the most of their resources to maximize their impact through data-informGeraldine Zamora ed strategy. When he’s not working, he can be found making spreadsheets for fun or trying to convince his kids that maps and sci-fi are actually very cool. Tim leads digital marketing at Feed My Starving Children, a Minneapolis-based organization that believes food is the foundation for individuals and communities to thrive and provides hundreds of millions of emergency meals each year to kids and families experiencing food shortages around the world.

As a philanthropic next-practice thinker, Tina believes that philanthropy is fundamentally about meetings supporters wherever they might be in their journey to changing the world. Over the last 15 years she has honed her skills as an individual giving strategist leading national fundraising programs and focusing on exploring the intersection of social justice, equity, and philanthropy. In her current role as Director of Community at The Trevor Project, she leads the team responsible for more than $30M in community, peer-to-peer, and social fundraising revenue. In her free time, she enjoys true crime podcasts, exploring the Shenandoah Valley with her partner, and hanging out with her nieces and two cats.

Usha’s professional background includes key strategic operations and project management roles at leading non-profit organizations and advertising firms across the country.

Prior to POW, Usha worked for Rocky Mountain Institute, University of Colorado Foundation, Colorado Public Radio, and top advertising firms such as Rapp Collins Worldwide and Young & Rubicam in Chicago and New York. Her professional career spans 25+ years and includes experience with strategic planning, project management, risk management, organizational policy/process development, fundraising, database management and advertising.

Usha has her Bachelor of Arts in Communication Arts and Sciences from Queens College-CUNY, New York and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Barry University in Miami Shores, Florida. She also has her Graduate Certificate in Project Management from the CU Boulder Engineering Management Program.

Usha lives in Boulder, Colorado with her husband and chocolate lab mix puppy, Riley.

As Chief Data Officer for GivingTuesday, Woodrow has been instrumental in shaping the global generosity movement and has led ground-breaking research and analysis of individual giving behaviors. He leads the GivingTuesday Data Commons, bringing together a coalition of more than 100 collaborators coordinated through working groups, as well as data teams in 50 countries, to understand the drivers and impacts of generosity to inspire more giving of all types. Woodrow brings expertise in moving markets and transforming audiences from passive participants to active and vocal ambassadors. Woodrow is also the Founder of With Intent Strategies, an international agency specializing in brand reimagination. Woodrow is a member of the Generosity Commission Research Task Force, serves as a Co-Chair for Global Impact Canada’s Board of Directors, and was named a Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School with the Technology and Public Purpose project.