2020 Nonprofit OpCon

Hillary Schafer, CEO

Multiplying Good

Hillary Schafer, is the CEO of Multiplying Good. In the five years she’s been at the helm of the organization formerly known as the Jefferson Awards Foundation, national partnerships have grown by 300%, seven new Leadership Communities have been added, 20,000 new youth leaders trained, and over $200m of public service impact tracked from its five programs. Prior to joining Multiplying Good in September 2013, Hillary Schafer worked on Wall Street for 12 years. In her capacity as the Head of U.S. Institutional Equity Sales in New York for Citigroup, Hillary was one of the highest ranking women in the equity business. From 1995 to 1999, Hillary was the Executive Director of Economic Security 2000 fighting to save and remodel Social Security. Hillary earned an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA from Middlebury College.

Ronald Dale Tompkins, Executive Director/CEO

82nd Street Academics

Dr. Ronald Dale Tompkins is a CEO, thought leader, and Nonprofit coach. He owns TurnAround NonProfit Coaching and is Executive Director / CEO of 82nd Street Academics, a NYC non-profit with recent revenue of $5 million and 120 staff members. He authored “Doing Bad at Doing Good – Nonprofit Secrets Buried in the 990”. Ron is a member of Forbes NonProfit Council and serves on the Board of the Institute for Management Accountants - New York City Chapter. His training includes Certifications in Management Accounting and Scaling Up Coaching for Social Sector, Ph.D. in Higher Education Policy (Buffalo), MBA in Finance and Accounting, and Harvard University Strategy and Innovation Extension Ron is married and has 11 children. He is interested in SE Asia and has been a member of the Indo-Chinese Caucus and Cambodian Caucus of the United Methodist Church. He is now a long-term resident of New York City.

Roberta Katz , Founder

Roberta Katz Consulting

Roberta Katz is the founder of Roberta Katz Consulting, a nonprofit consulting business that provides nonprofit organizations with the advice, guidance and tools that have proven to be effective in building and maintaining strong finance departments. Prior to starting her consulting business, Roberta held key senior financial management positions in several major nonprofit organizations for 15 years and experienced the day-to-day challenges faced by their finance departments. She successfully implemented innovative and practical solutions resulting in streamlined processes and operational and procedural efficiencies that she now provides to nonprofits as a consultant. Roberta spent the early part of her career as an auditor for a Big Four accounting firm and as a tax manager for a mid-sized CPA firm. Roberta earned an M.B.A in Accounting from CUNY, Bernard M. Baruch Graduate School and a B.A. in Mathematics from Stern College for Women. Roberta has had articles published in The CPA Journal, The NonProfit Times, LinkedIn and has produced webinars addressing critical issues faced by nonprofit finance departments.

Karin Kunstler Goldman, Deputy Bureau Chief

New York State Attorney General’s Charities Bureau

Karin Kunstler Goldman is the Deputy Bureau Chief in the New York State Attorney General's Charities Bureau. Karin was the 2001-2002 president of the National Association of State Charity Officials and is a founding member of the Governance Matters. She has served on the advisory board of New York University’s National Center on Philanthropy and the Internal Revenue Service’s Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt Entities. As a volunteer, Karin participated in training programs conducted for charity regulators throughout the country by the National State Attorneys General Program at Columbia University Law School. Prior to joining the Attorney General's office, Karin was a Reginald Heber Smith Fellow and a staff attorney at South Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation. As an Eisenhower Exchange Fellow in Hungary, Karin worked with nonprofit organizations, government officials and legislative drafters in developing the law and regulations affecting Hungary’s nonprofit sector. She has consulted with government officials in Ukraine and China on the development of statutory regulation of charitable organizations in those countries. Karin was a guest of the People’s Republic of China at its 2007 International Symposium on Charity Legislation in China at which she was a speaker, and in 2015 she participated in workshops in China on the developing nonprofit law. Karin is a co-author of State Regulation and Enforcement in the Charitable Sector, a 2016 report of the Urban Institute. Karin and her husband, Neal, spent two years as Peace Corps volunteers in Senegal, West Africa. They have two children and four grandchildren. Karin has a law degree from Rutgers University Law School, a BA from Connecticut College and an MA from Columbia University.

John M. Eusanio, Partner & Practice Leader, Not-For-Profit

Citrin Cooperman

John Eusanio is a partner in Citrin Cooperman's New York City office and practice leader of the firm's Not-For-Profit Practice. He has nearly 20 years of public accounting experience providing auditing and accounting services to clients in the not-for-profit, education, and health care sectors. Prior to joining Citrin Cooperman, John was an audit partner at CohnReznick. In addition, John has significant “Big 4” experience, where he also completed a three-year national rotation within KPMG in which he assisted engagement teams serving various governmental and not-for-profit clients. John has experience providing financial statement audit services to a wide variety of entities, including social service organizations, foundations, associations, state and local governmental agencies, colleges and universities, health care providers, community and teaching hospitals, long-term care facilities, academic medical centers, and other 501(c)(3) organizations. He also advises clients on accounting and auditing matters relating to Uniform Guidance audits, employee benefit plans, tax-exempt bond offerings, and cost report certifications. John is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants (NYSSCPA), and the New York Society of Association Executives (NYSAE). John earned his Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting at Dowling College. He is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York, a Chartered Global Management Accountant, and the firm’s representative for the Governmental Audit Quality Center (GAQC). John contributes to regular communications and e-alerts for the Not- For-Profit Practice. He also facilitates technical trainings to boards, client management, and internal staff on various not-for-profit technical matters and governance considerations. In addition, John routinely attends not-for-profit conferences and participates as either a presenter, sponsor, or participant in roundtable and panel discussions.

Thomas Dewar, Exec. Dir. of Information Technology

Lutheran Social Services of NY

Thomas Dewar joined Lutheran Social Services of New York as Executive Director of Information Technology in November 2015. He is responsible for leading the Agency's technology strategy and managing overall IT operations and customer service. In just two years, Thomas has completely rebuilt the organization’s IT infrastructure and connected all of the 27 agency's sites onto the same network, by renegotiating contracts, securing over $500,000 in funding, making strategic purchasing decisions to save money and reinvesting those savings into IT modernization. His migration to hosted applications, hosted phone system, hosted virtual servers, centralized Follow Me Printing, RHIO connected Electronic Health Record, Office 365 email and file storage, and cloud-managed networking equipment has made LSSNY a cloud-based organization with state of the art technology. Thomas has over 30 years of experience as an IT professional, served as CIO for a 70 million dollar behavioral healthcare company for 14 years and has a diverse knowledge of public, private and government systems. Thomas has used a computer in his home since 1979, is a former Child Protective Service worker, and Council On Accreditation (COA) Peer Reviewer. He is currently co-chair of the Council on Families and Child Care Agencies (COFCCA) Information Technology Committee, is on the New York State Office of Children and Family Services CONNECTIONS Steering Committee and the Mount Sinai Delivery System Reform Incentive Program (DSRIP) IT Committee, and is a Kentucky Colonel.

Ryan S. Young, Chief of Ops and Org Sustainability

Community Change/Community Change Action

Ryan Young is the Chief of Operations and Organizational Sustainability at Community Change (Center for Community Change) a national organization founded in 1968 by leaders of the civil rights, labor, and anti-poverty movements as a living memorial to Senator Robert F. Kennedy. Since its founding, Community Change has built the power of people directly affected by injustice—people of color, women, immigrants, people struggling to make ends meet—to envision and fight for a society where all people and communities thrive. At Community Change, Ryan is responsible for the implementation of the organizations’ business plan and long-term sustainability initiatives. Most recently he has been the executive lead on the organizations’ data and technology transformation change effort. Ryan has oversight of internal infrastructure teams, organizational financial management, compliance teams for 501c3, c4, and pac activity, and works closely with the Boards of Directors. Ryan also oversees the organization’s socially screened endowment.

Nancy D. Miller, Executive Director/CEO

VISIONS/Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired

Nancy D. Miller works with people of all ages that are blind and multi-disabled and their families and unpaid caregivers. She is Executive Director/CEO of VISIONS/Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired since 1987. VISIONS serves over 7000 people each year with in-home, community and center-based day and overnight services. VISIONS annual budget is over $10 million, with a diverse staff of 94. Over one third of the staff identify as blind or visually impaired; 54% identify as non-white/person of color and 43% speak another language in addition to English. Ms. Miller has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Human Development and Family Studies from Cornell University and a Master of Science Degree in Social Work from Columbia University in group work and aging. Ms. Miller serves on the Board of Directors of LiveOn New York. She is a founder and President of the New York Vision Rehabilitation Association and serves on the Priorities and Policy Committee of the Human Services Council. She is a co-Founder and Board member of the Disabilities Network of NYC. Ms. Miller received the Community Trailblazers Award from Beyond Focus Media of Brooklyn, Practitioner of Distinction Award from National Rehabilitation Association, Maggie Kuhn Advocacy Award from Presbyterian Senior Services, Senator John E. Flynn Award from American Council of the Blind NY and VisionServe Alliance Excellence in Leadership Award.

Eleanor (Ellie) Hume, Director

Your Part-Time Controller, LLC

Ellie Hume is the Director and market leader in charge of YPTC’s New York metropolitan-area practice and helped establish their NYC office in 2012. Ms. Hume has been working with non-profit and governmental organizations to build stronger accounting departments for almost 20 years and enjoys digging in, cleaning things up and finding the most efficient processes to cut down on overhead costs. She takes pride in helping non-profits achieve their missions through better accounting practices. Ms. Hume began her career in Washington, DC with the Department of the Navy, where she took an active role helping multiple agencies implement procedures and systems in an effort to comply with public audit standards. Prior to joining YPTC, she worked for a few non-profit organizations in controllership/CFO roles, gaining a full understanding of the many hats non-profit staff often have to wear. Ellie is a CPA and member of the New York State Society of CPAs and the AICPA and serves on the NYSSCPA Not-for-Profit Organizations Committee. She holds an M.B.A. from George Mason University and a B.S. in Business Administration and Accounting from Shepherd University. When she’s not working, Ellie enjoys cooking and spending time with family.

Traci Lester, Executive Director

National Dance Institute

Traci Lester joined National Dance Institute (NDI) as Executive Director in September 2016. NDI transforms the lives of thousands of New York City public school children and their communities by using dance and music to instill in students a love of the arts, a passion for learning, and a desire to strive for their personal best. The organization also works with thousands more across the country and around the globe with current programming in Shanghai, China and Lebanon. Previously, Ms. Lester served as the chief executive officer of LSA Family Health Service, an East Harlem-based human services agency, where she spearheaded the reorganization and growth of the nonprofit. Prior to that, she was the executive director of Reach Out and Read (ROR) of Greater New York, an early literacy and school-readiness program, where she developed the organization’s expansion plan and overarching fundraising strategy. During her 10-year tenure, she made waves in the field of early literacy development, doubling the number of ROR programs serving 250,000 children annually. She has also spent time working with children as an elementary school teacher in Brooklyn. Traci is the recipient of the American Association of University Women’s Selected Professions Fellowship and the National Association of Health Service Executive’s Community Service Award. She was also named to the Grio’s 100 List for 2012 as an African-American history-maker and industry leader in the field of education. She has served as a fellow in The San Francisco Foundation’s Urban Affairs Program and is a member of the Greater New York Association of Fundraising Professionals, the American Society for Public Administrators, and the Pi Alpha Alpha Honor Society.

Wayne Ho, President and CEO

Chinese-American Planning Council

Wayne Ho is the President and CEO of the Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC), the nation’s largest Asian American social services agency. He is responsible for leading this 55-year-old organization that promotes social and economic empowerment of over 60,000 Chinese American, immigrant, and low-income New Yorkers each year. In 2017, CPC launched Advancing Our CommUNITY, its organization-wide strategy to expand services to address persistent needs and emerging trends and to improve leadership skills among staff and community members. Previously, Wayne served as Chief Strategy and Program Officer for the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies (FPWA), an association of 200 community and faith-based member agencies aiming to promote upward mobility of underserved New Yorkers, and was the Executive Director of the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF), the nation’s only pan-Asian children’s advocacy organization, from 2004-2013. He has been recognized by the City and State in the Nonprofit Power 100 in 2019, the inaugural Nonprofit Power 50 in 2018, and a 40 Under 40 New York City Rising Star in 2014. He was one of 10 leaders invited to meet with President Obama during the White House’s Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month Celebration in 2011. Wayne serves on numerous boards, including the board of Coro New York Leadership Center and Partnership for After School Education, and is appointed to several New York City and State advisory boards. Wayne received his Bachelor of Arts from UC Berkeley and his Master in Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

David Lebenstein, Co-Chair, Not-for-Profit Advisory Grp

Cushman & Wakefield

David Lebenstein is the Executive Managing Director and oversees the Not-for-Profit Advisory Group at Cushman & Wakefield and has closed more than a thousand transactions during his real estate career, which began in 1985. Previously, he served as an executive at Time Equities, Inc. and was co-founder of Interface, a public policy group. He also worked for Mayor Joh V. Lindsay’s administration. In 2018, David was named one of New York City’s “Most Responsible People” by City & State New York.

Frank Orzo, VP & Co-founder

Nonprofit Sector Strategies

Frank has worked as an IT Professional and software company executive for more than four decades. In 1984, he founded Lawtrac, the first PC-based software product focused on assisting in-house law departments manage litigation, contracts and legal expenses. Frank sold Lawtrac to a private-equity firm in 2013. At the time of the sale of his company, Lawtrac was used by over 100 major corporations in 22 countries around the world. In 2016, Frank co-founded Nonprofit Sector Strategies with the purpose of helping nonprofit organizations improve mission impact. The company provides BellesBoard, a software solution to assist nonprofit boards and offers consulting services focused on strategic planning. Frank is chairman of the board of Holy Cross High School in Flushing, NY and is a member of the scholarship committee of the Columbus Citizens Foundation in New York. Frank received a Bachelor of Business Administration from Pace University.

Chuck Rolph, Technical Dir, Advanced Consulting Grp

Nationwide

Chuck Rolph, JD, MSFS, CFP®, AIFA®, works with financial advisors who specialize in retirement plans to help them: (i) prevent and solve problems related to their clients’ plans; and (ii) capitalize on opportunities found in the laws and regulations governing employee benefit plans. In working with his advisors on their clients’ problems and opportunities, Chuck blends planning, investment, and fiduciary elements to create a unique solution for each situation. Chuck started his financial services career in 1977 with a major life insurance company in Des Moines, Iowa. He joined Nationwide’s Advanced Consulting Group in 2010, where he supports the sales and service efforts of the retirement plans division. From his start until joining Nationwide, he spent eight years working as Vice President and General Counsel of an Indianapolis-based actuarial and employee benefits consulting firm, five years with an Indianapolis life insurance company, and 17 years as a practicing ERISA attorney in Indianapolis. During his 17 years as a private practice ERISA attorney in Indianapolis, Chuck was recognized in the publication Best Lawyers in America from 2005 - 2010 and was rated A-V (Preeminent) by the lawyer rating firm of Martindale-Hubbell. He holds a Juris Doctor (JD) degree from the University of Nebraska and a Master of Science in Financial Services (MSFS) degree from The American College. Chuck actively maintains two professional designations: (i) Certified Financial Planner® (CFP®); and (ii) Accredited Investment Fiduciary Analyst® (AIFA®). In his focus of helping financial advisors achieve greater success with their clients through the effective use of employee benefit plans, Chuck is inspired by the words of General Colin Powell: “Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence.”

Kris Krikorian, Regional Director

Pentegra Retirement Services

Kris Krikorian has served as the Regional Director of Southern and Central California, Nevada and Hawaii for Pentegra Retirement Services since 2014. In this role, Kris leverages his 24 years of industry experience to provide consulting to companies on ways to mitigate retirement plan workload and liability via 3(16) administrative fiduciary services and multiple employer plans. Kris has well-rounded expertise that comes from occupying various roles in sales, advisory services, and plan administration. Kris has assisted a range of plan sizes from start-ups, to large plans such as LinkedIn and Lockheed Martin. Kris is a graduate of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, MA, and holds NASD Series 66 and 6 licenses. He won the NAPA Wingman Award for being ranked in the top 10 of DC wholesalers in the nation, and is ranked in the top 100 year over year. Kris was also a Classic Award winner for the top sales territory while at Principal Financial Group. The Krikorian family lives in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA. Kris is passionate about working with underprivileged children internationally, and adopted his three children. When Kris isn’t taking young kids to various practices, he loves to travel and is obsessed with sports.

Claas Ehlers, CEO

Family Promise

Claas Ehlers is the Chief Executive Officer of Family Promise, the national nonprofit leader on the issue of family homelessness. Born in New York State, he lived in multiple household settings in his first six years, impressing on him the critical need for stability for children and families. A graduate of New York University, Claas worked in video production, publishing, business development, and advertising while also teaching English as an adjunct professor at two local community colleges. From his work with low-income students, he saw first-hand the struggle of families to change their economic circumstances. In 2002, he was able to align his passion for social justice with his career, joining Family Promise to lead a project to diversify the faith groups involved in its programs. In 2003 he accepted the role of Director of Affiliate Development and later Affiliate Services, and in January of 2016 became the second CEO in the organization’s 28-year history. Claas frequently presents on the issues of family homelessness, poverty, and volunteer engagement and serves on advisory committees for Overlook Hospital, The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and Sesame Street in Communities. Outside of work, Claas’s interests include running, hiking, the New York Mets, music, and cooking. He lives in Mountainside, NJ with his wife, Ellen Pluta, a professor at Stern School of Business at NYU and has three children: Arabella, Luke, and Colette.

Mark Rubinstein, Pres/Invest Advisor Rep.

Incline Pension Consulting

Mark Rubinstein has worked in the financial services industry for more than thirty years, dedicating much of his work to the not-for-profit industry. He is a past winner of MetLIfe’s prestigious Financial Services Representative of the Year award, and in 2011, he was inducted into the MetLife Resources Hall of Fame. MetLife has also awarded him with several high-level recognitions, including two Leaders Conference, ten Platinum Club, and ten Chairman’s Council qualifications. In July 2016, he was a part of the sale of all MetLIfe FSR’s to Mass Mutual. In July of 2017 he left Mass Mutual and joined Global Retirement Partners doing business as Incline Pension Consulting . Mark is an Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF). He has also earned the Life Underwriter Training Council Fellow (LUTCF) designation from the American College and is a Life Member of the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT)

Paula Mengarelli, Exc Acct Dir, Central Region

Global Occupier Services, Cushman Wakefield

Paula Mengarelli is the Executive Account Director in the Central Region for Global Occupier Services at Cushman Wakefield. Paula has more than 25 years of corporate real estate and facilities management expertise, leading FM, PM and TM groups, managing over 30M SF of US and Global portfolios across 300+ offices across the US and 16 countries for Motorola, Takeda, Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Northern Trust. Most recently, spent the last 5 years on the service provider side of the business overseeing office, manufacturing and data centers, as well as business resiliency space.

Kim Vaccari, Founder and President

NFP Advisors LLC

Kim Vaccari has over 25 years of experience in the financial and nonprofit industries. She is the Founder and President of NFP Advisors LLC a firm dedicated solely to serving the non-profit community. She served as CFO for the New York City Economic Development Corporation, one of the largest not-for-profit corporation in New York. Her background also includes serving as CFO for the New Jersey Transit Corporation and as Director of Finance for the NY MTA. She also worked as a public finance investment banker serving transportation agencies, governments and not for profits. She is a results-driven financial leader with extensive experience and knowledge in government and not-for-profit sectors.

Rachel Casanova, Sr Mng. Dir, Workplace Innovation

Strategic Consulting, Cushman & Wakefield

Rachel Casanova is the Senior Managing Director, Workplace Innovation in Strategic Consulting at Cushman & Wakefield. Rachel Casanova is a Senior Managing Director of Workplace Innovation based in the firm’s Midtown Manhattan office. Having joined Cushman & Wakefield in 2018, Rachel is equipped with more than 25 years of diverse industry experience advising companies on how to transform their real estate assets to reinforce long-term business strategies and create a workplace experience unique to the company’s corporate culture. Rachel is passionate about workplace innovation and helps companies build and implement strategic plans to establish flexible and dynamic workplace environments, optimize space utilization and ensure buildings and portfolios are “future proof.” In a time of uncertainty about the future of office space, Rachel provides solutions for a range of workplace programs, from having employees in the office full-time to managing remote and distributed workforces. As a member of Cushman & Wakefield’s Recovery Readiness Task Force, Rachel is co-leading the application of the firm’s Six Feet Office design concept in the United States, helping companies grasp complex and critical workplace innovation strategies for a post-COVID-19 world. As a part of this effort, Rachel is also working with investors to help landlords better understand tenant and employee priorities. Forward-thinking and creative, Rachel is passionate about the convergence of organizational behavior, the human experience and real estate. She is frequently called upon as a subject matter expert and has contributed regularly to audiences at conferences and education seminars. Rachel has recently spoken at Worktech. RealComm, CoreNet, CRE Tech, Cornell University, NYU, IIDA and Neocon, among others. Prior to Cushman & Wakefield, Rachel founded Balansett, a workplace consulting practice, with clients spanning legal firms, professional services, technology, non-profits and architectural firms. During the course of her career, Rachel has addressed workplace-related advances from multiple vantage points—working within an end-user environment at Nortel Networks, serving as a design consultant at Herman Miller and leading Workplace Strategy at Mancini Duffy, Perkins + Will and, most recently, R/ GA.

Silvia M. Orna, Chief Operating Officer

LatinoJustice

Silvia Orna is the Chief Operating Officer at LatinoJustice PRLDEF, a national organization working to create a more just society by using and challenging the rule of law to secure transformative, equitable and accessible justice, empowering the Latinx community and fostering leadership through advocacy and education. At LatinoJustice, Silvia is responsible for implementing key areas of the organization strategic plan and for leading all People Operations strategies. Silvia works aligning purpose and values, people, and resources as key for translating vision and ideas into results. During her tenure at LatinoJustice, Silvia ushered an era of optimized organization infrastructure aligned with people management strategies, including the inauguration of new offices around the country. Most recently Silvia has been the executive lead on the organization technology transformation and new headquarters design and construction. She is currently leading the organizational response to COVID-19 while assessing the implications on organizational culture. Silvia is an I/O Psychologist who is a multi-cultural systems thinker, data driven, and people focused professional, passionate about the employee experience and inspired by tangible results.

Matthew Kirkpatrick, VP of Business Development

Paymerang

My name is Matthew Kirkpatrick and I am a VP of Business Development with Paymerang. I am married with four kids and I love to travel with my wife Adrienne – Mexico and Florence are my two favorite destinations so far. In my spare time, I am a half decent golfer and like to try foods from different cultures. As a former collegiate athlete and coach, I enjoy the transferable skills from the world of athletics to business. I am passionate about Paymerang mainly because of two things – the company culture, which is diverse, inclusive and collaborative and the way I get to help Nonprofits by making a positive difference. aymerang’s award-winning electronic payables solution provides a simple, secure and profitable way to pay your vendors-saving clients hundreds of hours each year and reducing the risk of payment fraud. Paymerang processes billions in payments annually for clients from coast to coast in all verticals and includes over 200,000 suppliers who receive payments electronically.

2020 Nonprofit OpCon

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