Heather Arnet is Executive Director of the Women and Girls Foundation (WGF) and an Elected School Board Director of the Pittsburgh Public Schools. The mission of WGF is to achieve equality for women and girls in Southwest Pennsylvania. WGF recently led a successful “Girlcott” of Abercrombie & Fitch, which won them recognition from NOW and the International Women’s Funding Network as well as national and international media coverage. A board member of Grantmakers of Western PA, Forbes Fund and WQED, Ms. Arnet also wrote and directed “You Mama”– a play about the joys and challenges of motherhood.
Carrie Barmen has been an active member with Pittsburgh Social Venture Partners since 2001, participating in grant review processes, site reviews, chairing the Education Committee and Recruitment Team and serving on the Board. She is the founder and co-chair of PSVP Kids, which teaches young people about the responsibilities of giving both time and money to nonprofits in their communities. An avid community volunteer, she created Solutions for Society in 2007 to honor her late father – an annual event celebrating the leading thought and practice of social entrepreneurship, with the goal of informing, motivating and empowering individuals who want to make a difference.
Sheila Bell is the Quality Assurance Director for the System of Care Initiative at the Allegheny County Department of Human Services. She has over 10 years of experience working with social service programs and nonprofit agencies to design and implement process and outcomes evaluations and to analyze and report data results. Ms. Bell is also an adjunct faculty member of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. She holds bachelor’s degrees in political science and sociology and a master’s degree in social and public policy.
Doreen Boyce was the President of the Buhl Foundation. She was also the first President of the board of Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania, as well as President of the board of trustees of Franklin and Marshall College. Ms. Boyce has served on a number of other regional and national task forces and boards. She is a laureate of the University of Pittsburgh and a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania.
Dave Brewton is a native of Pittsburgh with a 25-year career working with faith-based nonprofits. He is Associate Executive Director of the East Liberty Family Health Care Center, a Christian ministry that provides health care for all people without regard to ability to pay. Mr. Brewton is responsible for raising more than $2 million annually and spearheaded a $5 million campaign that more than doubled the center’s capacity. Formerly the first Executive Director of Breachmenders, Inc., an Oakland housing and community development ministry, Brewton is a graduate of the University of Virginia.
Gregg Behr is Executive Director of The Grable Foundation, a local foundation dedicated to improving the lives of all local children – by advancing early childhood education, improving classroom learning, supporting out-of-school time activities, and providing outstanding informal learning opportunities. From 2002-2006, Mr. Behr served as President of The Forbes Funds, another local foundation that supports nonprofit capacity-building, research, and leadership development. In that role, Mr. Behr twice chaired the Pittsburgh Nonprofit Summit and launched the Greater Pittsburgh Nonprofit Partnership. Prior to assuming his position at The Forbes Funds, Mr. Behr practiced as a litigator with Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney.
Karen J. Bryant is an independent marketing consultant with over 25 years experience in the nonprofit, business and corporate sectors. Her unique blend of corporate and nonprofit experience has helped nonprofits develop marketing plans to recruit volunteers and win clients, launch major events, conduct successful fundraising efforts and attract celebrity spokespeople and corporate underwriters. Ms. Bryant coordinates the annual Pathfinders Conference attracting 300 participants to Pittsburgh’s premiere youth workforce development conference. She is a member of the International Association of Business Communicators.
Garrett L. Cooper is a Consulting Assistant at the Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management at Robert Morris University. Garrett holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in finance from The University of Maryland and has spent five years building expertise in strategic management, corporate finance, financial analysis, and accounting concepts. Garrett is a Pittsburgh-Literacy AmeriCorps alum and a volunteer mentor for Big Brothers & Big Sisters and Community Human Services. He is a board member for the Kelly–Strayhorn Theater and Yoga in Schools and is working towards his Master’s in Nonprofit Management at Robert Morris University.
Luci Dabney is the Executive Director of Program to Aid Citizen Enterprise (PACE). Her eclectic career includes 30 years in for-profit, nonprofit and higher education arenas. Passionate about the role community-based nonprofits play in creating healthy communities, she has expertise in the areas of public and private funding, strategic and business planning, small and large group meeting facilitation, assessment and program development. She is a founding member of the Sankofa Fund of SWPA.
Joanna Deming is the Director of Outreach and Engagement at the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania. She is a Pittsburgh transplant who has worked at several nonprofits managing coalitions and programs, fundraising, planning events, educating, organizing, and engaging people in advocacy. An entrepreneur, she along with 6 friends operated a coffeehouse for over 3 years whose purpose was to build social capital on the Northside. In 2006, Ms. Deming was named one of Pittsburgh’s Top 40 Under 40. She has Bachelor’s in Social Work from Hope College and a Masters in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania.
Jeffrey Forster is a Senior Consultant at the Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management at Robert Morris University. He has assisted a variety of nonprofit organizations in the Pittsburgh area, specializing in the use of databases for process improvement. Previously, he served as Policy Analyst in the Pittsburgh Planning Department and as an Information Management Specialist at Carnegie Mellon University.
Debbie Foster supervised crisis and issues management worldwide for H.J. Heinz Company. During her 32-year Heinz career, she also was responsible for developing and implementing the company’s crisis management training program. As corporate spokeswoman, Ms. Foster was interviewed by an average of 15-20 journalists weekly, including reporters from The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, AP, Reuters and many others.
Ray Frankoski joined ESC as a volunteer in 2001 following his retirement as Director of Human Resources at Westinghouse Government & Environmental Services Company. In addition to serving as an ESC project manager, Mr. Frankoski has consulted with the Holy Family Institute; ALS Association, Western PA Chapter; Braddock’s Field Historical Society; Gwen’s Girls; The Mattress Factory; Parkinson Chapter of Greater Pittsburgh; and Peer Support and Advocacy Network (PSAN).
Saleem Ghubril is the Executive Director of Pittsburgh Promise, an ambitious initiative that promotes the reform of Pittsburgh Public Schools, leverages the development of Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods, and provides college scholarships to Pittsburgh’s students. Born in Beirut, Lebanon, civil war caused his family to emigrate to the United States in 1976. He attended college at the University of Iowa and received a Masters of Divinity from Dubuque Theological Seminary. An ordained Presbyterian minister, Mr. Ghubril served as Executive Director of the Pittsburgh Project for over 20 years, and is currently a co-pastor at Mosaic Community Presbyterian Church on Pittsburgh’s North Side.
Teresa A. Gregory, CFRE, is Director of Foundation and Government Grant Seeking at Robert Morris University. She has directed campaigns of $200,000 to $20 million for a wide variety of organizations, including major research universities, professional theaters, museums and small grassroots organizations. Ms. Gregory also has taught at the Foundation Center and in the Master of Arts Management program at the Heinz School of Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. She is an active member of the Western Pennsylvania chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
Sheila Hyland is a familiar face to Pittsburgh TV news viewers. She spent 22 years in broadcast journalism with three network affiliates (ABC, CBS and FOX) as anchor, reporter, managing editor, writer and producer. Ms. Hyland covered all major national crises in the last 20 years and conducted more than 10,000 interviews with business and political leaders including U.S. presidents, entertainers and national sports legends.
Alan James is recently retired from his position as Dean of Student Affairs at California University of Pennsylvania. His areas of expertise are in personnel management, leadership development and management coaching. He is a certified Stephen Covey Trainer, and has completed the Center for Creative Leadership’s Coaching for Development Program, and coursework in Administration and Leadership Studies from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. His recent clients include the Epilepsy Foundation and North Side Christian Health Center.
Wayne Jones is an officer with The Heinz Endowments’ Children, Youth & Families Program whose portfolio seeks to increase opportunities for adolescents to nurture their development as individuals and members of larger communities. Prior to joining the Endowments, Mr. Jones worked for Great Lakes Behavioral Research as a consultant to Allegheny County’s Department of Human Services. He returned home to Pittsburgh after serving as an analyst for Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission. Jones received his MBA from Yale University’s School of Management, and bachelor’s degree in government from the University of Virginia.
Tiffany Kuchta is the director of web development at Allegheny Graphics Web Development LLC, and has overseen more than 130 projects, including several large-scale nonprofit websites with strict accessibility requirements. She is chairwoman of the steering committee for Infinity Women’s Giving Circle and is a former chairwoman of the Tri-County Technology Consortium. Ms. Kuchta has a bachelor’s in computer science from Allegheny College, and has presented unique research at the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference that was published in the conference’s proceedings.
Rebecca L. Lucore is Executive Director of the Bayer USA Foundation and Manager of Community Affairs for Bayer Corp. She oversees Bayer’s corporate social responsibility programs including the STEM education partnerships, as well as U.S. donations management for the foundation. Besides chairing the Bayer Center’s advisory board, Ms. Lucore is on the board of ASSET Inc., an advisory committee member for the National Governors Association’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Match (STEM) Center grant program, and a member of the Conference Board’s Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability Council.
Maureen Mahoney Hill, CFRE, is an independent consultant working with nonprofit organizations to build fundraising, communications and marketing capacity, specializing in planning and strategy development for major and planned gifts. With almost 20 years experience in fundraising, she has held development positions with The Children’s Institute, the Pittsburgh Foundation, Penn State and The Women’s Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh. Ms. Mahoney Hill holds a bachelor’s degree in Human Development from Penn State and a master’s from the School of Social Work at Pitt.
Justin Laing serves as Chairperson for the Sankofa Fund of Western PA. Additionally, he is a Program Officer in the Arts and Culture Program of the Heinz Endowments, a private foundation contributing roughly $ 8 million annually to arts and culture programs in Southwestern PA. Mr. Laing’s major responsibilities include management of the Small Arts Initiative which supports roughly 50 small and mid-sized arts organizations, and arts education, where he plays a significant role in all arts education work and leads the Endowments’ early work in Culturally Responsive Arts Education.
Scott B. Leff is the Associate Director of the Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management at Robert Morris University. He has spent more than 25 years as a senior-level business executive, entrepreneur, consultant to nonprofits, and board member. His expertise is in strategic, financial, sustainability and business planning, marketing, social enterprise, mergers and alliances, organizational development and executive management. Mr. Leff has an M.S. degree from Carnegie Mellon University and is a graduate of Leadership Pittsburgh. He has served on over 20 nonprofit boards.
Cindy Leonard is the Technology Services Manager for the Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management at Robert Morris University. She has over nine years of experience in helping nonprofits to leverage technology, including having served as the Information Technology Coordinator for PA CleanWays. She has also assisted various nonprofits in the past as a private consultant. An experienced website designer, she adds website planning, design and assessment to the portfolio of services at the Bayer Center. Ms. Leonard holds a B.S. in computer science and an M.B.A. from Seton Hill University.
Mark Lewis is the President and CEO of POISE Foundation – a local community foundation focused on growing and developing philanthropy and self-sustainability within Pittsburgh’s African- American community. Mr. Lewis has over 20 years experience in both for profit and nonprofit arenas. His experience ranges from auditing and consulting at Big 4 accounting firms to assisting boards and nonprofits with accounting, financial and strategic planning. He counsels many nonprofits and individuals looking to start nonprofits. His vision is to see a self-determining, self-sustaining African-American community adding tremendous value to the city of Pittsburgh.
Vivien Luk is a Program Officer at The Forbes Funds managing the Cohort Grant portfolio, Sector Leadership programs and awards various publications, including the Community Threads, and the Greater Pittsburgh Nonprofit Partnership, a coalition of about 300 area nonprofits. In her spare time, Ms. Luk is one of three co-founders of PGH Party for a Purpose (PPP), hosting fun, creative, and affordable parties for diverse and young-minded individuals while raising funds and generating support for nonprofit organizations in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Founded in November of 2006, PPP has benefited over 13 organizations, raised over $20,000, and attracted thousands of party-goers.
Kathy Mahoney has worked in public accounting with Arthur Andersen & Co., and has audit experience with nonprofits, financial institutions and manufacturing companies. She has used QuickBooks for various clients including nonprofits, publishers, restaurants, service industries and a private school.
Bob Moll joined ESC in 2004 after serving as the manager of IT Security & Policy for PPG Industries for 20 years. He has been a consultant for various organizations for the past 7 years, including The Allegheny County Coalition for Recovery, Andrew Carnegie Free Library, Central Northside Neighborhood Council, Focus on Renewal, Peer Support & Advocacy Network, Pittsburgh Cares, POWER, Sewickley Community Center, and the School Performance Network. His expertise is in accounting and finance, information systems, and strategic planning.
Peggy Morrison Outon is the founding Executive Director of the Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management at Robert Morris University. She is also the founding Director of the Centers for Effective Nonprofit Management in Austin, Texas, and New Orleans, and the founding board Chair of the Alliance for Nonprofit Management. A nationally noted consultant and trainer, Outon has worked with more than 500 nonprofit clients. She served as founding member of the Drucker Foundation’s international training team and as a trainer and advisor to the Institute of Global Ethics. In August 2006, she was named to the national Nonprofit Times Top 50 for Power and Influence.
Jack Owen is an attorney in the Pittsburgh law firm of Rhoades & Wodarczyk, LLC, where he concentrates his practice in the areas of tax-exempt organizations, employee benefits, business law and tax law. He received the Outstanding Volunteer Attorney award from ESC in 2004 and serves on the advisory board for the Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management and as president of the Pittsburgh Planned Giving Council.
Dr. Lisa Palmieri is the Senior Manager of Learning + Development at American Eagle Outfitters, Inc., where she is responsible for developing leadership training, infusing technology into training, and helping teams grow stronger. She holds a Ph.D. in Instructional Management and Leadership from Robert Morris University. In addition, she holds a Master’s in Marketing and Multimedia Technology from Duquesne University.
Leon D. Pamphile, Ph.D., is a pastor and the founder and Executive Director of the Functional Literacy Ministry of Haiti (FLM-Haiti). This organization aims to empower Haitians with education, healthcare and hope. He is the author of five books and twenty articles in Haitian-American relations. He is married to Rozelle Gousse. They have three children and three grandchildren.
Jeanne Pearlman is the Vice President for Program and Policy of the Pittsburgh Foundation, responsible for leading the implementation of the Foundation’s grantmaking strategies locally, nationally and internationally. She currently holds adjunct faculty appointments at the H. John Heinz III School at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, Department of Urban Studies. Ms. Pearlman is a certified Project Management Professional and earned Masters Degrees in Education and in the History of Art and Architecture at the University of Pittsburgh. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Administrative and Policy Studies in the School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh.
Sharon Perelman is the Associate Foundation Director of the United Jewish Federation Foundation. In addition to providing professional leadership for the UJF Foundation with managed assets in excess of $100M, Ms. Perelman is an attorney with 22 years experience and serves as lead staff for a $12M Endowment campaign. She founded and developed a Teen Philanthropy Project securing matching funds for teens to participate in a grant-making organization that has distributed in excess of $50,000 since its inception in 2006. The project won the Association for Fundraising Professionals Outstanding Philanthropic Innovation award in 2008.
Shirl Regan is the Executive Director of Women’s Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh, a program for abused women and children that serves over 6,000 clients a year. She is recognized statewide and nationally as an authority in domestic violence program management. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 2006 named Regan to its Top 50 in Business: Women at the Helm for her leadership role at the center.
David K. Roger is the President and a Trustee of the Hillman Foundation whose mission is to improve the quality of life in Pittsburgh and southwestern Pennsylvania. Since joining the foundation in 2001, he has been involved in numerous projects including the Hillman Fellows Program in Innovative Cancer Research at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Hillman Pediatric Transplant Center at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, and Hillman Center for Future-Generation Technologies at Carnegie Mellon University. He is a graduate of Saint Vincent College and holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh.
Tara Simmons is the Director of Community Initiatives for the Women and Girls Foundation, responsible for managing the regional outreach efforts and programs that serve donors and grantees throughout southwest Pennsylvania. In this role, she manages WGF’s Regional Change Agents program – an expansion of the successful 2005-2007 Girls as Grantmakers. Tara has spent nearly her entire professional career in the nonprofit sector. Prior to joining WGF, she served as Director of Member Services for Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania and held several positions at Carnegie Mellon. Ms. Simmons serves on the board of the Three Rivers Community Foundation.
Janera Solomon is the Executive Director of the Kelly–Strayhorn Theater, a performing-arts center based in East Liberty which brings local, national and international artists to Pittsburgh. A native of Guyana and a member of the Solomon family known for its steel drum expertise, she has 10 years of work experience with arts programming and a lifetime of cultural diversity. Prior to taking over at the Kelly–Strayhorn, Ms. Solomon was a curator with Philadelphia Live Arts Festival, a sixteen-day contemporary performance festival, and developed and curated the August Wilson Center’s first international performing arts festival, “First Voice.”
Gary J. Stern is president of Stern Consulting International, specializing in governance, strategic planning, business planning and marketing with nonprofit organizations, associations, philanthropies, and multi-sector collaborations. He is author of Marketing Workbooks for Nonprofit Organizations Volume I: Develop the Plan and Volume II: Mobilize People for Marketing Success. Mr. Stern is a contributing writer and editor for many Drucker publications including: Drucker Foundation Strategic Self-Assessment Tool, Tool Process Guide, and Meeting the Collaboration Challenge Workbook: Developing Strategic Alliances Between Nonprofits and Businesses.
Frederick W. Thieman was named President of the Buhl Foundation, Pittsburgh’s oldest multi-purpose foundation, in June of 2007. Prior to his current role, he pursued a 30-year legal career that included both private practice and serving from 1993-97 as United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Mr. Thieman has served on numerous nonprofit and foundation boards including the Heinz Endowments and the Buhl Foundation, and is the recipient of numerous civic leadership awards from organizations such as the University of Pittsburgh, the Urban League and the Mentoring Partnership of Southwestern Pennsylvania. He is a lifelong resident of the Pittsburgh area and an active member of Church of the Ascension.
Maria Zeglen Townsend, Ph.D., is the President of Townsend Associates LLC and adjunct faculty at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs where she has taught evaluation, statistics and policy analysis. Over the past ten years, Dr. Townsend has conducted needs assessments and evaluations across Pennsylvania. She also has trained staff from local and county human service agencies in Western Pennsylvania, county and state mental health and developmental disability providers, and countrywide child care planning committees on evaluation methodology.
Yvonne Van Haitsma has been a Consultant at the Bayer Center since 2000 and is Coordinator of the ESC program. She has 14 years of experience with nonprofit organizations locally and internationally and has consulted with nonprofit organizations in collaboration development, strategic planning, board development and executive transitions locally and in El Salvador and Ecuador. Ms. Van Haitsma earned her master’s in community organizing and nonprofit management at the University of Pittsburgh.
Michael Weiss is CEO and co-founder of imagistic, a Los Angelesbased Internet strategy, marketing and development firm. Mr. Weiss is a contributor for the Nonprofit Technology Network as a conference speaker and offers expertise to nonprofits through webinars, online office hours and writing articles. Mr. Weiss holds a B.A. in Psychology from Boston University, and M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Loyola-Marymount University. He is on the Advisory Boards for the Ojai Foundation and the Wildwoods Foundation.