My CV

Summary

Inspirational executive leader and extraordinary fundraiser. Proven success in visionary and strategic leadership, relationship building, change management, financial management and program design and implementation. Outstanding communication skills. Innovative thinker. Energetic, ethical, and trustworthy. Great sense of humor.

Career Highlights

  • May 2022 – present | Managing Director – Aperio Philanthropy
    • Leverage my expansive national professional network to develop the top tier of business partnerships for the firm and increased contract size by 140%.
    • Lead complex partnerships and exceeded client expectations through stellar project management, with clients across the United States, including Arkansas Food Bank, Atlanta Community Food Bank, Feeding America, First Tee – Silicon Valley, Fountain House, LifeMoves, Sacramento State University and United Way Rhode Island.
    • Secured competitive bid for three-day in-person national training with Feeding America for food banks across the country.
    • Develop talent at the director level, designing internal playbooks and establishing norms and SOPs for new service offerings.
    • Developed new service line for Women in Philanthropy, which included shadowing and supporting the development of two new campaigns with Missouri State University.
  • Feb 2017 – Mar 2022 | Chief Philanthropy Officer – Second Harvest of Silicon Valley
    Fundraising highlights
    • Lead top fundraising team of 70+ professionals to raise $112M in the 2021 fiscal year.
    • Led revenue growth of 203% in four years, from $37.9M to $112M.
    • Inspire team with innovative campaign strategies, long-term thought leadership, corporate partnership development and client-centered design.
    • Acquired additional team in restructure, increasing team size 43%. Added 12 staff in the height of pandemic.
    • Pre-pandemic: Grew sum of individual major gifts from $22M to $27M over three years and increased average gift per major donor by 29%.
    • Pre-pandemic: Achieved 43% growth (from $7M to $10M) in children’s program funding by managing strategic partnerships with high-profile campaign partners such as Reid Hoffman, Sheryl Sandberg, John Donahoe and Bill Gurley.
    • Evolved corporate giving program from simple sponsorships to complex, strategic partnerships.
    • Upgraded top-level passive sponsorship of $60,000 to a multi-year active partnership of $500,000 per year. These efforts leverage Annual Fund communications and fuel Second Harvest’s current #1 position for donations via Benevity, one of the nation’s leading employee giving platforms.
    • Work directly with the board of directors to create a culture of philanthropy through transparent messaging, board matches and stewardship updates.

    Marketing and Community Engagement Highlights
    • Manage top volunteer services team of six professionals, providing 422,000 volunteer hours via 14,000 volunteers to the mission annually.
    • Established client marketing program to support and educate clients, breaking down barriers to entry.
    • Led marketing team of nine in brand refresh. Project included stakeholder engagement, website redesign, vision and mission evaluation, facilities review, and implementation of new materials (e.g., collateral, truck wraps and building signage).
    • With dozens of food bank partners, collaboratively designed the Network Resource Allocation portion of the Feeding America Contract Task Force.
  • Jan 2011 – Feb 2017 Chief Development Officer – Social Advocates for Youth, Santa Rosa, CA
    • Exceeded goals consistently to grow the agency revenue 133% in 5 years.
    • Successfully ran a $10M capital campaign to repurpose a dilapidated hospital into a youth campus to expand programs for homeless and former foster youth, focusing on three program areas with measurable outcomes around housing, counseling, and jobs.
    • Worked collaboratively with Board of Directors to engage community in messaging and fundraising. Participated in finding 12 new board candidates.
    • Secured game-changing PropelNext/Edna McConnell Clark Foundation funding to promote agency growth and leadership development, sparking new strategic direction.
    • Led through major cultural changes, including development and embrace of new core values.
    • Directed crisis communications during controversial expansion of services, including galvanizing widespread community support in the face of active opponents.
  • May 2006 – Present | Public Speaker, Emcee, & Storyteller
    • Outstanding public speaker. Move rooms to take action, cry, laugh, and create empathy. Topics include trends in poverty, supporting youth in trauma, income inequality, marketing for social causes, hunger/food insecurity, homelessness, Peace Corps, my grandfather, change leadership, inspiring community involvement, and humorous stories.
  • May 2009 – Aug 2010 | Operations Manager – Committee on the Shelterless, Petaluma, CA
    • Managed operations, maintenance, and repair for 14 properties with a staff of eight.
    • Coordinated evaluation, assessment, intake and eligibility activities for new housing programs.
    • Managed audits for performance and to ensure compliance with contracts.
    • Created and revised curriculum development for clients. Taught about non-violent communication, childhood trauma and its effects on adult choices and other topics.
  • Dec 2006 – May 2009 | Development Officer – Committee on the Shelterless, Petaluma, CA
    • Managed development staff in numerous projects, including agency-wide application process for nearly $1M State of California Federal Emergency Shelter grants resulting in agency ranking in the top 15% out of over 300 statewide applications.
    • Supervised revision of strategic output and outcome goals for eight major agency programs that serve an average of 2,200 individuals annually.
  • Apr 2004 – Jul 2006 | United States Peace Corps Volunteer – Community Health Education, Republic of Armenia
    • Opened one of the first domestic violence shelters in the Republic of Armenia.
    • Led national HIV/AIDS Initiative. Developed and maintained partnerships with Armenia’s National AIDS Prevention Center and national health organizations.
    • Represented the board of a local hospital in rural Armenia to promote long-lasting educational partnerships with local non-profits, international organizations such as the Red Cross, the American Bar Association, and ABA-CEELI.

Education & Training

  • M.B.A. – Dominican University, San Rafael, CA

  • B.S. Psychology – Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea, OH

  • Executive training – Georgetown University New Strategies Program

  • Project Design and Management Training – U.S. State Department

  • Anti Racism for White People – Social Justice Partners Los Angeles

  • Community Involvement and Volunteering
    • World Wise Schools Program Speaker at local high schools and colleges
    • Volunteer Armenian language tutor
    • Recipient of Forty Under 40 Silicon Valley 2019 and North Bay 2014
    • Leadership San Jose and Leadership Santa Rosa alumna
    • Active member of National Peace Corps Association