Caring. Daring. Human. (CDH) Solutions. Independent consulting for the non-profit sector. Focus areas include staff development, organizational development, program support and evaluation, mid-level transition planning and coaching. Project/contract based work.

Senior leader of development team including Annual Giving/Community Engagement Manager, Database Manager and major gifts operations aligned to support the philanthropic goals of Hillside. Strategic and operational oversight of gift processing and financial reconciliation, annual appeals, organization-wide Special Santa program, donor and stakeholder relationship management with major gift donors and prospects, planned giving society and event planning. Partnered with Board of Governor members and Advancement Committee Chair, establishing metric tracking and helping to build their capacity as philanthropic ambassadors for the organization.

In this role, I had comprehensive managerial and training oversight for a staff of 30. Daystar Kids is New York State’s first and only Pediatric Day-Respite Center that supports families with medically fragile children, ages four months to five years. Highlights included initiating a culture founded on collaborative leadership and process improvement and designing the agency’s formalized training process to optimize performance outcomes, retention rates, and expectations.

It is always an honor to work for an industry leader, particularly when that leader is a national model for excellence in the delivery of youth and family services. In 2009, I joined the critically acclaimed youth development program, the Hillside Work-Scholarship Connection, as the Rochester Region Zone Director. Managing a program aimed at supporting 1200-1500 Rochester City School District students in overcoming the structural deficits that have typically led to exorbitant high school dropout rates and lives lacking focus. I oversaw a $4.5M operation involving the supervision and mentoring of 6-10 program supervisors and 40-60 service staff pursuant to academic and job readiness development. Leveraging a strong background in staff mentoring and leadership, resource allocation, expense tracking, and site development, I was successful in increasing enrollment from 1,800 to 3,000 students; increasing graduation rates 8-16% higher than non-participants; strengthening the direct service staff and management team compliance with data tracking systems as well as analytical reports; and advancing agency priorities of evaluation and evidence-based best practices in the schools, district, home, and community. From April 2015 through September of that year, I was named Interim Operations Manager, and following on the success of that role, I was appointed Director of the Jobs Institute. My resume will reflect the specific highlights of this role but essentially, my leadership in supervising the cultivation, management, and support of national and regional partnerships and community associations led to a myriad of opportunities for our students, from college matriculation to new employment, military training, and vocational training opportunities.

As an instructional designer and trainer at this public health institute, which is committed to leveraging equitable resources to foster healthy people in healthy communities, I provided technical assistance and coaching on youth development and public health topics. Primary activities included designing new programs; implementing evaluation processes; writing bid proposals, grants, and reports; and coordinating and leading peer leadership programs. Additionally, I was responsible for developing/presenting workshops to youth on diversity and inclusion, youth power and leadership, youth overweight, body image, conflict resolution, communication, violence prevention, and tobacco prevention. Highlights included co-developing BEST enhancement training (Supporting Girls: A Gender-Sensitivity Training for Youth Workers) and managing an annual city-wide adult conference and state-wide youth conference for approximately 200-250 attendees per event.

This was another outstanding affiliation in which I was hired to rebuild a severely underperforming program. Managing talent acquisition and management as well as new initiatives, I successfully led 25 full and part-time staff members in a thorough turnaround effort. Highlights included effectively managing a $400K budget; developing senior classes, a yoga program, and health promotion workshops; promoting a more welcoming Spanish-inclusive culture; and developing risk management tools & protocols leading to a reduction in facility closures by 30%.