Denise A. Barge offers a solid background in finance and community development to mission-driven organizations that need guidance in financial management and program development in their growth stages. She has dedicated the last ten years to non-profit administration as the Executive Director for two agencies providing access to capital and technical assistance to underserved small businesses in Rhode Island. Nearly $1.5 million was raised for the non-profit Rhode Island Coalition for Minority Investment (RICMI) in the early years of her leadership. Additionally, she has more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry in retail and commercial lending operations.
She brings expertise in the areas of fiscal management, staff development, board development, and program and resource development, merger and acquisition planning, and social venture implementation. She has provided consultancy and coaching to numerous small businesses, non-profits, and entrepreneurs since 1990 offering recommendations for increased efficiencies and strategies for successful operations. During her career, she has actively participated on fifteen diverse community boards in a variety of roles, resulting in an extensive and influential network of valued partnerships both locally and nationally. Denise is a graduate of Leadership RI, Sigma Class, which is a vital component in the development of her collaborations and resources.
An Executive Services Corps consultant, Sue Belles has more than 20 years experience in senior level executive positions for various nonprofit ambulatory and community health care companies. Among these positions, she was president/CEO of Lifespan Diversified Services, Inc., an organization she initiated in 1996 by merging five separate service companies with Lifespan Health System. Sue joined ESC as a consultant in 1999 and served as the Rhode Island liaison. Sue also is the former president of Leadership Rhode Island. She resides in Providence.
Michael G. Daigneault, Esq. is the principal of D4 Consulting & Training. The firm provides consulting, training, research, facilitation, and retreat services to corporations and nonprofits throughout the United States.
He also is a senior governance consultant with BoardSource, formerly the National Center for Nonprofit Boards. BoardSource is the premier resource for practical information, tools and best practices, training, and leadership development for board members of nonprofit organizations worldwide.
Michael provides corporations, large and small businesses, nonprofits, credit unions, professional associations, and governmental entities with state-of-the-art and cost-effective governance, facilitation, fraud, and ethics services. He provides a full range of targeted training opportunities in the form of customized seminars, workshops, retreats, and keynote speeches. Michael is an experienced consultant, a thoughtful speaker, and a dynamic workshop facilitator. Through his work with BoardSource, he regularly works with organizations of all types to help them improve the effectiveness of their governance and leadership. In particular, he has worked with credit unions large and small to review bylaws, write committee charters, offer governance advice, and provide assistance to governance committees and supervisory committees.
Michael has been a frequent keynote or breakout speaker as well as the primary seminar presenter for various national, regional and professional conferences. He is an expert on topics such as governance, ethics and strategic planning for businesses, credit unions, nonprofits, professional associations, and governmental entities. He has published articles on these topics for a wide variety of trade journals and magazines.
Michael also is a senior fellow with the Business Learning Institute (BLI) at the Maryland Association of CPAs. Through BLI, he teaches ethics classes that meet the Maryland and Virginia CPA requirements. He also is a member of the United Way of America’s Membership Appeals Panel.
He has substantial experience in the field of organizational ethics, having been the president of the Ethics Resource Center (ERC) for six years. The ERC is one of the nation’s oldest and well-known independent ethics and consulting institutions, having been formed in 1922. Its mission is to be a leader and catalyst in fostering ethical practices in individuals and institutions. In his capacity as the president of the ERC, he had opportunities to reflect on and apply a variety of leading-edge business concepts both domestically and internationally. He has substantial “in the field” experiences in designing business programs with corporations, nonprofits, and multilateral organizations, and has hands-on experience in successfully running both for-profit and nonprofit institutions.
Michael is a three-time graduate of Georgetown, holding a B.A. from the College in Philosophy where he graduated first in his class in philosophy, a J.D. from the Law Center as well as a Masters Degree in Law from the Law Center. He was the first person to graduate from the Law Center with a Masters in Law with a concentration in legal ethics and professional responsibility.
Prior to becoming president of the ERC, he was the founder and president of Ethics, Inc., a private consulting and training firm specializing in business ethics for the private, nonprofit, and public sectors. Prior to that, Michael ran the American Inns of Court Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to enhancing the skills, ethics, civility and professionalism of judges and lawyers.
Ellen Donahue-Dalton – and the team at Dalton Marketing Group - helps CEOs and management teams of high-growth organizations define, plan, and manage growth plans. With years of experience working as a consultant and coach to commercial and social entrepreneurs, Ellen now provides strategy and marketing counsel and program formulation for nonprofits as well as high-growth companies and divisions within major organizations. Since 1998, the DMG team and specialty network have expanded to include personnel in three major market areas and expertise in a variety of industry verticals.
Ellen currently serves on the board of Social Venture Partners – RI, a state affiliate of an international organization that helps nonprofits grow social enterprises (businesses that create jobs and/or revenues for a mission). As an active member of SVPRI, Ellen provides advice, planning and marketing program management services to nonprofit management teams who seek to build sustainable businesses.
Prior to DMG, she was vice president, worldwide marketing and divisional president of GTECH Corporation, a $1B+ (revenue) global systems, software, and services provider, where she helped drive double-digit annual growth. Ellen has a BS from Dickinson College, an MS from Boston University, and has done post-graduate work at Wharton.
Deborah Elizabeth Finn is a self-described cyber-yenta, who lives to bring resources and needs together seamlessly. She does this mostly by helping nonprofit and philanthropic organizations use information and communication technologies to support their missions. Her current and past clients include Third Sector New England, Massachusetts Nonprofit Network, Social Markets, the Public Conversations Project, the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, TechFoundation, and the Boston Foundation.
For over 30 years, Gayle Gifford, ACFRE, has been helping nonprofits make a difference in the world by creating the internal change that strengthens their governance and management, improves their programming, builds stronger relationships with their constituents, or boosts their revenues. Her clients have included WaterFire Providence, The Diaper Bank, and The Trust for Public Land New England Regional Office.
A regular columnist for Contributions Magazine, Gayle is also the author of How are we Doing? A 1-hour guide to evaluating your performance as a nonprofit board, Meaningful Participation, an activist’s guide to collaborative policy making, and co-author of Bringing a Development Director on Board, #3 in the AFP Ready Reference Series. She is a past president of the RI AFP Chapter and one of fewer than 100 individuals worldwide holding the advanced fundraising certification of ACFRE.
Gayle received an M.S. in organization and management from Antioch University New England and is an adjunct instructor on organization development and communications in the Masters in Communications Management program at Simmons College and the Masters in Public Humanities Program at Brown University.
MJ Kaplan Founded Kaplan Consulting in 2000 to align strategy, leadership and process into vibrant results. Her nationwide client base includes corporate leaders, entrepreneurial enterprises, non-profits ranging from universities to neighborhood-based advocacy agencies, and government. She specializes in multi-sector collaborative initiates that work through sustainable shared agreements to complex community challenges.
Ms. Kaplan, an active conference presenter and writer, graduated with a B.A. from Brown University and a master's degree focused on organization development from Harvard University. She resides in Providence, RI with her husband and three children. She currently serves as a trustee for a hospital and school and has devoted extensive time and resources to pro bono work and community service.
David Karoff has more than two decades of experience in the nonprofit sector in Rhode Island, including 13 years as the executive director of three different organizations, including two start-ups: Stop Wasting Abandoned Property (SWAP), Thresholds, Inc., and the Rhode Island Commission for National and Community Service (now the RI Service Alliance). He spent nine years at The Rhode Island Foundation, most recently as vice president for grantmaking. As an independent consultant his practice includes:
- Organizational development assessment
- Management systems development
- Strategic planning
- Organizational, board, and leadership development
- Problem-solving meeting facilitation
- Program development, planning, and evaluation
- Staff development
- Executive search
- Executive coaching
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andi Clement McKinley, Manager, National Advisory Services, Nonprofit Finance Fund, joined NFF in February 2007 and is responsible for overseeing the delivery of NFF advisory services to both nonprofits and foundations. She has a passionate interest for nonprofit finance and for helping nonprofits and funders make better use of financial information in strategic decision making.
Ms. McKinley brings more than 16 years experience to NFF. Immediately prior to joining the organization, she was a consultant providing strategic planning and philanthropic advice to major foundations, corporations and nonprofits. Ms. McKinley also has served in a senior administration capacity for the Institute of Contemporary Art, American Repertory Theatre at Harvard University and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
She is active in the nonprofit community, serves on several nonprofit, foundations and community boards and regularly speaks and writes about the role of nonprofit institutions in the community. Ms. McKinley has an MBA from the Simmons School of Management, an MA from the University of Pennsylvania and a BA from Rosemont College.
Frank A. Monti, CPA is a principal at Kahn, Litwin, Renza, and Co., LTD. Frank has over 35 years of experience in the accounting and finance industry. He has made a personal commitment to serving the needs of not-for-profit organizations and closely-held businesses in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Mr. Monti received his BS Degree in 1970 from Providence College and his Master of Arts, Ad Eundem, in 1984 from Brown University. Mr. Monti also completed the Harvard University Intensive Program for Business Executives in 1979. He is a frequent speaker and author.
Sue Ogle, an Executive Service Corps (ESC) consultant since 2002, has worked with organizations such as Bayside Family Healthcare, John Hope Settlement House, and Providence Women’s Center on organizational development, strategic planning, and team building. She has been lead designer and trainer for ESC team building, constructive feedback, and trainer programs, as well as co-leader for facilitation and meeting management and lead consultant programs. Sue was awarded by ESC in 2004 and 2008 for outstanding consulting and training work. She has 25 years of training and consulting experience that include founder in 1992 of OGLE Training and Consulting, 10 years in financial services, assistant director for career placement at Yale School of Management, and managing partner of Career/Life Alternatives. Her initial career was social work for the City of Bridgeport, CT. In addition, she was regional director for the northeast region of the American Society for Training and Development as well as president of the southern CT chapter. She resides in Charlestown.
George O’Loughlin is widely regarded as one of the leading ‘green business development gurus’ in the northeastern United States. He has served as the ‘green change project manager’ for the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, Providence Housing Authority, Tufts Medical Center, and many others.
George is president of Green Earth Corporate Kindness Organization (GECKO) – a RI-based 501(c)3 which helps nonprofits, for-profits, and government agencies improve their environmental impacts. He is program officer for the Corporate Kindness Experts Program which leverages the volunteer efforts of environmental experts to accelerate green projects.
George also is certification instructor for the Earth Savers Institute, a Florida-based green career training firm serving ‘greentrepreneurs’ in the USA and Canada.
William H. Pinakiewicz, director, New England Program, Nonprofit Finance Fund, manages the Fund’s financial services, advisory services and new business development activities throughout the six-state New England region. His professional experience includes more than 35 years in management and finance in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors. In his nearly 20 years at Citigroup, Bill’s finance experience included senior banker roles in public finance, corporate finance and private banking, both domestically and in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Both before and after Bill’s career in finance, he has been involved in education and other mission-driven nonprofits as an educator, administrator, financial advisor, fundraiser and trustee. Bill completed both his MA in educational administration and MBA in finance at Columbia University and holds a BA in psychology from Williams College.
Alice Richardson joined Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF) in 2002 and is responsible for leading financial consulting and advisory services initiatives. Ms. Richardson plays a leadership role in the delivery and product development of the Nonprofit Business Analysis as well as NFF's facility-related workshops. Prior to joining NFF she worked for 10 years at JPMorgan Chase in New York (formerly J.P. Morgan & Co. Inc.). Her most recent position there was as vice president for the community development corporation.
She has been very active in her community having volunteered as a fundraiser for Alzheimer's Association, City Harvest, Habitat for Humanity and Building with Books. Ms. Richardson has an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and a BS from St. Lawrence University.
Rick Smith is a seasoned human resources professional with 30 years of experience in the financial services and government sectors. Throughout his career he has had senior HR responsibility for mergers and acquisitions, employee relations, recruitment, and diversity. Additionally, he has developed and facilitated management, supervision, sales, technology, communications, and creativity programs. Rick also has served on several not-for-profit boards of directors and continues to be active with community agencies.
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onathan Spack has more than 30 years of experience leading and consulting to nonprofit organizations. During his 26 years as executive director of Third Sector New England (TSNE) and its predecessor, he has successfully guided the organization through several transitions, including its re-invention in the late 1990’s as a leading regional capacity-builder and resource center for small to midsized nonprofits.
TSNE is the nation’s most experienced fiscal sponsor, having begun that collaborative work in 1959. TSNE programs also include organizational and executive transitions, consulting and training, and two unique capacity-building grant programs, the Diversity and Inclusion Initiative and the Capacity Building Fund. In 2004 TSNE acquired a historic 120,000 sq. ft. office building in Boston’s Leather District which it has developed into the NonProfit Center, “Boston’s Home for Progressive Social Change”. It currently is home to 30 nonprofit organizations.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Spack worked with community-based organizations in Massachusetts and New Jersey and with Native American groups in North Dakota and Zuni, New Mexico, as a VISTA volunteer and Legal Services attorney. He holds a law degree from New York University and a master’s degree in human services management from the Heller School at Brandeis University. He is co-author of the Executive Director’s Guide, published by TSNE in 2002, and is a founding member of the Nonprofit Centers Network, the National Network of Fiscal Sponsors, and the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network.
Pamela Swain, ESC Governance Practice Leader
Pamela Swain, Executive Service Corps' governance practice leader, has spent nearly 30 years in various areas of nonprofit administration, first in the social services area, and later in cultural and arts organizations. As the deputy executive director of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, she managed operations and administration, coordinated a strategic planning process, and restructured governance functions and staff operations. She has served on the advisory board of the Boston History Collaborative and on the board of trustees of the New England Museum Association, the Weston Public Library, and the Weston Scout House. An ESC consultant since February 2005, Pam is the lead faculty member for ESC's various governance courses. She resides in Weston, MA.