“Back in the late 1980’s, I began my career with the nonprofit sector at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center. I started as a contract employee in the fledgling Marketing/Communications Department, moved into Business Planning, managed Health Promotion, and served as the grantwriter and special projects director in the Foundation. It was there that I discovered my passion for philanthropy.
Facilitating people’s opportunity to make a difference in something they care about is my way of making a difference. Today, I’m able to do that by helping many community service organizations and agencies out of emergency and into sustainability.
In 1997, I began my independent contracting to provide technical assistance to nonprofit organizations in organizational development, primarily fund development and strategic planning. I have worked with all types of non-profit organizations – small to large, urban and rural – here in Idaho as well as Washington, Oregon, Montana, Nevada, Arizona, Alaska and Idaho. I love the diversity and getting to learn about so many great things happening in our region.
My strengths are in my ability to listen and synthesize information on my feet and facilitate groups, large or small, to shared understanding and agreement. I am a trained quality improvement team facilitator, and have guided coalition development, statewide service assessments and continuous improvement processes. I have facilitated strategic, annual operating and fund development planning sessions for conservation advocacy and political groups, arts organizations, charter schools, health and human service organizations and professional associations.
When I am engaged for strategic planning, my clients also receive the added bonus of my expertise in fund development. I have a master’s degree in Philanthropy and Development from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota. I have developed and provided training in membership programs, major donor programs and capital campaigns for the Idaho Nonprofit Center; served as course instructor in Fund Development for Nonprofit Organizations at Boise State University; and worked as associate consultant with Training Resources for the Environmental Community (TREC).
I am assisted by my amazing staff Bo (Golden Retriever) and Maizy (Border Collie) who help keep me dedicated to my purpose of making a difference in places I love.
