I advise nonprofits and individuals on ways to serve the public good through strategic planning, advocacy, and communications.
Abilities
Strategic planning, public speaking, writing, facilitating, coaching, networking
Key Skills
Communications: Message framing, government & media relations, photography, editing, social media, report writing.
Nonprofit Management: Strategic planning, board formation, grantmaking, diversity/inclusion planning, resource development, capacity building, project design, event planning.
Advocacy: Policy analysis; legislative campaign strategy; lobbying experience.
Work | Civic | Speaking |
Communications
- Prepare reports, analyses, and presentations for staff, board, and committees of the Baltimore Community Foundation.
Provide radio and print interviews on a range of public interest and social justice topics. - Conducted video interviews and live-tweeted for Communications Network’s 2011 annual conference as part of CommNet’s social media squad.
- Collect stories for Unsung Baltimore.
- Reviewed news items for NewsTrust Baltimore pilot project, 2011; received community recognition award for involvement in and support of initiative.
- Photographed Effervescent Collective, Glass Mind Theatre, and other arts organizations and nonprofit events for use in print materials and online media.
- Present regularly at conferences, workshops, and seminars on civic engagement, cross-cultural communication, nonprofit social media strategies, and donor relations.
- Co-manage online presence for Baltimore Sacred Harp community.
- Managed communications for Job Opportunities Task Force, including: writing press releases, op-ed pieces, policy briefs, and letters to the editor; giving press interviews; maintaining www.jotf.org; and editing electronic and print newsletters.
Nonprofit Management
- Created and manage Neighbors in Deed a multi-year, neighborhood-based civic engagement initiative for the Baltimore Community Foundation; raised over $1million from local and national funders to support initiative; supervise one FTE and four consultant positions.
- Responsible for distribution of over $500,000 in human services-related grants each year to nonprofit organizations throughout the Baltimore area.
- Areas of expertise include civic engagement, health and human services, aging-in-place, offender re-entry, and workforce development.
Recommend grants to trustees and advisors of donor-advised funds, family foundations, and special projects. - Co-designed and implemented grantmaking strategies for Ensign C. Markland Kelly People’s Emergency Fund, Ignite Baltimore-Ignition Grant, Oscar Murray Fund, and Waxter Center Foundation Fund.
- Partner with other funders in joint funding projects, e.g. United Way of Central Maryland Community Investment teams, Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers’ Neighborhoods for All Ages initiative.
- Selected as one of 20 recipients of the Marion I. & Henry J. Knott Foundation Fellowship in Leadership of Nonprofit Organizations, 2003.
- Provide technical assistance and capacity building to nonprofit organizations.
- Created resource development plan for Glass Mind Theatre, including a ‘$5K in 5 Weeks’ fundraising campaign.
- Developed advisory board plan for Power Inside.
- Provided peer mentorship and coaching to directors of Effervescent Collective and Episcopal Refugee and Immigrant Center Alliance.
- Develop diversity, race equity, and inclusion planning for nonprofit organizations.
- Spearhead philanthropic efforts to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion in Baltimore’s neighborhood-based arts scene.
- Provide strategy development, program design, and staff support to Baltimore Community Foundation task force on race, equity, and inclusion.
- Actively participate in Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers task force on diversity and inclusion.
- Design and implement programs and events.
- Created and host monthly Full Circle Storytelling series.
- Built partnerships with three state agencies and private sector providers that resulted in new research and employment readiness opportunities for inmates and ex-prisoners in Maryland. (At Job Opportunities Task Force)
- Forged connections with five local businesses and two community colleges which resulted in job skills, training opportunities, and supportive services for over 100 refugee clients of the International Rescue Committee.
- Designed and facilitated panel discussion on civic engagement at Baltimore Senior Summit 2011; also served on conference planning committee.
Advocacy
- Manage public policy advocacy for Baltimore Community Foundation:
- Develop and oversee state-level advocacy agenda focusing on education reform and Baltimore neighborhoods.
- Coordinate work of contract lobbyists.
- Direct public policy advocacy efforts of Maryland Community Foundations Association.
- Spearhead legislative effort to create tax credit for charitable donations to community foundations.
- Conducted advocacy during the 2004 and 2005 Maryland legislative sessions that contributed to the passage of three state laws to assist low-income families in the areas of adult education, offender re-entry, and public benefits.
- Chaired Maryland Alliance for the Poor, 2005-2006.
Employment History
2011-Present | Senior Program Officer, Baltimore Community Foundation | Baltimore MD
Manage foundation’s public policy advocacy efforts; oversee the Neighbors in Deed civic engagement initiative; develop and implement organizational strategies relating to race/equity/inclusion, arts, and neighborhood vibrancy; review grant proposals and recommend grants in the areas of human services and neighborhood development.
2006-2011 | Program Officer, Baltimore Community Foundation | Baltimore, MD
Managed grantmaking in the areas of health, human services, and aging; coordinated foundation’s public policy advocacy efforts; created and implemented Neighbors in Deed initiative.
2004-2006 | Senior Policy Advocate/Communications Director, Job Opportunities Task Force | Baltimore, MD
Developed and implemented statewide public policy advocacy agenda focused on improving the economic prospects of low-income job seekers and their families; maintained website, edited newsletter, and managed media relations.
2001-2004 | Program Associate, Job Opportunities Task Force | Baltimore, MD
Conducted research on adult education and workforce development programs and policies; met with policymakers, delivered testimony, and helped craft legislation and budget language in support of the organization’s public policy agenda; provided staff support to the board of directors.
2000-2001 | Employment Coordinator, International Rescue Committee | Baltimore, MD
Managed job placement, counseling, referral, and other employment-related services to approximately 100 refugee clients from Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East; developed self-sufficiency plans for newly-arrived refugee families.
1998-2000 | Program Assistant, Open Society Institute | Baltimore, MD
Supported the program officers for public education and substance abuse treatment; coordinated logistics for special events, including forums, press events, and the visit to Baltimore of OSI founder and chairman George Soros in 1998.
1996-1998 | Executive Assistant, Adecco/Baltimore Gas & Electric | Baltimore, MD
Provided administrative support to the Customer Information Systems department, including drafting correspondence, preparing materials for meetings and special functions, and responding to phone inquiries.
1993-1996 | Claims Assistant, Trigon Administrators | Columbia, MD
Reviewed and processed workers’ compensation and liability claims for Blue Cross Blue Shield (Va) subsidiary.
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS AND VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE
American Friends Service Committee
1999-2002; Clerk, Baltimore Program Committee, 2001-2002
Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers
2006-Present – ABAG Faculty; Diversity & Inclusion Committee; Public Policy Committee
Baltimore Art & Social Justice Mapping Project
2011-present – Steering Committee
Communications Network
2011-present – Gorilla Social Media Engagement Squad, Annual Conference, 2011
Experience Corps-Baltimore
2007-2010 – Advisory Board; Development Committee
Free State Legal Services
2009-2010 – Executive Director Search Committee
Glass Mind Theatre
2010-present – Advisor, Actor
Grantmakers in Aging
2006-2010 – Board of Directors, 2009-2010
Maryland Alliance for the Poor
2003-2006 – Chair, 2005-2006
Maryland CASH (Creating Assets, Savings, and Hope) Campaign
2007-2010 – Steering Committee
Maryland Coalition for Refugees and Immigrants
2000-2003 – Chair, 2001-2002
Maryland Community Foundations Association
2009-Present – Steering Committee; Chair, Public Policy Committee
Maryland Re-Entry Partnership
2004-2008 – Steering Committee
Maryland State Department of Education, Correctional Education Division
2001-2006 – Employment Coach
Power Inside
2010-Present – Advisory Board
United Way of Central Maryland
2005, 2009. 2010 – Community Investment Team
Public Speaking
What Makes a Neighborhood Vibrant?
Bmore Historic Unconference, Baltimore, MD | December 2, 2011 | Facilitator
Life Part II: Civic Engagement of Older Adults
Baltimore Senior Summit, Pikesville, MD | November 9, 2011 | Moderator
Sex, Drugs, & Philanthropy
Chesapeake Bay Area Combined Federal Campaign – Annual Meeting, Linthicum, MD | September 7, 2011 | Keynote Speaker
Measuring Success for Your Program and Your Funder
Darrell D. Friedman Institute for Professional Development – JPRO Day, Owings Mills, MD | August 11, 2011 | Facilitator
Showdown at Butler’s Mill
Stoop Storytelling Series – ‘Culture Shock,’ Baltimore, MD | April 25, 2011 | Storyteller
One Night in Jakarta
Glass Mind Theatre – 360 Storytelling, Baltimore, MD | April 11, 2011 | Storyteller
A Conversation on Race and Inclusiveness in the Arts
Create Baltimore – Post-Conference Session, Baltimore, MD | February 21, 2011 | Facilitator
Sex, Drugs, & Philanthropy
York Community Foundation – YorIt Launch Event, York, PA | December 13, 2010 | Keynote Speaker
Fundraising & Foundation Relations
University of Maryland School of Social Work – Program Management Graduate Class, Baltimore, MD | November 12 & 16, 2010 | Guest Lecturer
Sex, Drugs, & Philanthropy
Ignite Baltimore – IB#6, Baltimore, MD | September 30, 2010 | Presenter
Civic Engagement in Diverse Communities (panel)
Council on Foundations – Fall Conference for Community Foundations, Charlotte, NC | September 14, 2010 | Panelist
Who’s Holding the [Safety] Net?
Public Justice Center – ‘Justice for Breakfast’ Series, Baltimore, MD | November 17, 2009 | Panelist
Community Leadership & Civic Engagement in Diverse Communities
Council on Foundations – Fall Conference for Community Foundations, San Antonio, TX | October 6, 2009 | Panelist
Engage, Earn, Enlighten: How Older Marylanders Can Live Purposeful Lives & Give Back to Their Communities
Maryland Association of Counties – Annual Winter Conference, Cambridge, MD | January 8, 2009 | Panelist
Communications & Civic Engagement in Diverse Communities
Community Experience Partnership – Annual Convening, Fort Lauderdale, FL | December 1, 2008 | Presenter
Engaging Adults 50+ for Civic Good
Grantmakers in Aging – Annual Conference, Princeton, NJ | October 30, 2008 | Presenter
Missions Without Money? Get Real
Maryland Partners for Justice – Annual Conference, Baltimore, MD | June 4, 2008 | Panelist
Cultivating Effective Foundation Relations
Association of Fundraising Professionals, MD Chapter – Annual Conference, Towson, MD | May 15, 2008 | Presenter
Engaging Older Adults to Solve Community Problems
Council on Foundations – Annual Conference, National Harbor, MD | May 4, 2008 | Presenter
