VMG | Conference Speakers

Speaker Bios

Rick Akin
Director, Volunteer Services, Bowery Residents' Committee(BRC)

Rick Akin has served as the Director of Volunteer Services for the Bowery Residents’ Committee (BRC) for more than four years. Prior to his tenure at BRC, Rick was the Volunteer Services Manager at City Harvest for three years, during which time he also served on the volunteer advisory committee (VOAD) for the Office of Emergency Management and on the volunteer board at America ’s Second Harvest. Rick’s professional experience also includes 12 years as senior national corporate sales and account management within the occupational health field, and subsequently in the distance learning financial training sector. Rick is currently on the Board of Directors of the New York Association of Volunteer Administrators, and has spoken both locally and nationally about best practices in volunteer management, community service and corporate engagement. Rick holds a BA in Liberal Arts from SUNY Stony Brook.

Rick is an instructor in VMG's Certificate Programs. He teaches Developing Corporate Partners online and in the classroom at Hostos Community College.
Rick will present Corporate Volunteer Partners: Developing a Win-Win at VMG's 3rd Annual Volunteer Management for Nonprofits Conference on March 25, 2011.

Rachael Chong
CEO & Founder, Catchafire

Rachael Chong is Founder & CEO of Catchafire, the world's first scalable pro bono service platform. Catchafire's website matches professionals who want to volunteer their skills with nonprofits and social entrepreneurs that pro bono business services. Catchafire was named #1 in Huffington Post's Innovators Series and has appeared on NPR, CNN Money, Fast Company, TechCrunch, Daily Candy, and Change.org among others.
Rachael was previously an investment banker, and prior to starting Catchafire, she worked alongside the President & CEO to start up BRAC USA, the US affiliate of BRAC, one of the largest nonprofit organizations in the world. Rachael has a Master's of Public Policy from Duke University and graduated magna cum laude from Barnard College, Columbia University. Find her on Twitter @catchafire or email Rachael [at] catchafire [dot] org. She also writes for the Huffington Post.

Rachael will present Utilizing Skills-based Volunteers to Build Capacity at VMG's 3rd Annual Volunteer Management for Nonprofits Conference on March 25, 2011.

Valerie Crane
Crane Resources, Human Resources Professional and Project Management Consulting

Valerie Crane, a Human Resources Professional with nearly two decades of experience, is the principal behind the newly formed Crane Resources, an HR Consulting firm.

An expert in HR policies and procedures, Ms. Crane has proven skills in all aspects of HR policy and project management, including: strategic planning, performance management, benefit strategy and implementation, and recruitment practices.

Valerie Crane has built HR departments from the ground up for several firms and has overseen HR aspects of acquisitions and mergers at a variety of companies. Ms. Crane has guided the HR operations of companies both large and small.

Valerie will present Human Resources for Volunteer Managers at VMG's 3rd Annual Volunteer Management for Nonprofits Conference on March 25, 2011.

Kate Debold
Corporate Affairs, BNY Mellon

Kate Debold is a Charitable Giving Manager in Corporate Affairs with BNY Mellon. She oversees funding for metro New York, as well as all other U.S. regions outside of New England and Pittsburgh. In addition, Kate is on the team that developed, launched and oversees BNY Mellon’s first signature program focused on youth aging out of foster care.

Previously, Kate was the first Director of The MIRACLE Foundation. She was responsible for the administration, fundraising and outreach efforts of this organization. Prior philanthropy experience includes serving as Assistant Program Manager with The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and assisting with the establishment of The Albert Wisner Public Library Foundation.

Kate is an Advisor to City Harvest on the Agency Capacity Expansion Grant Initiative launched in 2010. She is a member of the High Water Women Foundation and a Nonprofit Partner Volunteer Liaison for the organization. Kate is a graduate of Villanova University and is currently attending NYU's Heyman Center for Philanthropy & Fundraising.

Kate will present Corporate Philanthropy and Volunteer Engagement at VMG's 3rd Annual Volunteer Management for Nonprofits Conference on March 25, 2011.

Mary Anne Flanagan
Professional Life Coach and Project Director, Voluntary Initiatives, RSVP, Community Service Society

Mary Anne Flanagan is a Project Director for the Retired & Senior Volunteer Program of the Community Service Society of New York. She designs, develops, and implements the citywide RSVP Intergenerational Mentoring Program. She is currently collaborating with nine nonprofit organizations on intergenerational mentoring to children with an incarcerated parent and youth involved in the juvenile justice system. She has over 19 years of experience working in the non-profit arena in the areas of positive youth development, creative arts programs, and project and volunteer management. Mary Anne is also a certified Life Coach, national trainer, and facilitator.

Mary Anne will present The Power of Storytelling and Volunteer Management at VMG's 3rd Annual Volunteer Management for Nonprofits Conference on March 25, 2011.

Julie K. Marks
President & Founder, Volunteer Management Group

Julie Marks is the Founder and President of Volunteer Management Group. She serves as a project manager on client projects and manages VMG's daily operations, strategic planning, and client relationship management.

Julie has over twelve years experience in workplace volunteerism and philanthropic programming. As a former member of the Charitable Services Group at Goldman, Sachs & Co., she was instrumental in designing, implementing and developing the firm’s employee volunteer program("CommunityTeamWorks"), encompassing 45 offices globally and mobilizing 17,000 volunteers in 1,200 projects annually. After 9/11, she organized 60 projects partnering with the American Red Cross, providing over 600 Goldman Sachs volunteers an opportunity to serve meals to rescue workers at Ground Zero. Julie managed the Goldman Sachs United Way Campaign and the Educational Matching Gifts Program.

Julie conceived, developed, directs and teaches many courses in four VMG Certificate Programs: Volunteer Program Management Certificate, Nonprofit Management Certificate, Grant Writing Certicate and Corporate Philanthropy Certificate, all offered online and at Hostos Community College. Julie conceived, coordinates and directs VMG's Volunteer Management for Nonprofits Conference held for the third year on March 25, 2011 at University Settlement at the Houston Street Center, New York, NY. Through VMG's Certificate programs and conferences, Julie aims to bring to individuals an exceptionally empowering and motivating educational experience.

Julie will present Gaining & Keeping Board and Management Support for Your Volunteer Program, Volunteer Project Management, and Designing Quality Surveys at VMG's 3rd Annual Volunteer Management for Nonprofits Conference on March 25, 2011.

Marianna Moneymaker
Online Outreach & Production, WITNESS

Marianna Moneymaker, Online Outreach & Production for WITNEESS, has a BA in TV/Film production with an emphasis in new media. Currently working on MFA. She's freelanced as a writer, camera person, finishing editor, compositing and production supervisor for media projects. Online she's leveraged video + social media to grow communities where videos would average 800 views per new upload within a week, or growing twitter and facebook accounts to the thousands. Projects she has worked for: DCTV, LGBT Community Center, St. Vincent’s Hospital, HIV Education Center, Our Scene TV, Academy Award Winner for Best Documentary Short Subject “Freeheld” and others.

To learn more about Marianna's work and WITNESS, visit the WITNESS Web site .

Marianna will present Exploring Web 2.0 Tools for Recruitment and Retention at VMG's 3rd Annual Volunteer Management for Nonprofits Conference on Friday, March 25, 2011.

Alexandrea J. Ravenelle
Marketing & Communications Consultant, AJR Communications

Alexandrea J. Ravenelle has 10 years of experience in marketing, communications and development for nonprofits and small to mid-sized companies. Originally trained as a journalist, her work has been published nationwide in newspapers and magazines including San Jose Mercury News, The Houston Chronicle, The Huntsville Times, CityLife and Lexington Herald-Leader. As a member of the nonprofit community, Alexandrea has served in a number of roles including Board Treasurer for Areyvut; Director of The Elie Wiesel Foundation; Senior Development Officer for National Council on Economic Education; Event Planner for A Better Chance; Grant Writer for New York Legal Assistance Group and AmeriCorps Promise Fellow for Columbia/Boone County Community Partnership.

Before working as a consultant, Alexandrea served as a marketing Manager for TCC Group, a nonprofit consulting firm, and as a Director and Senior Publicist with GlobalFluency, an international public relations and marketing firm. While with GlobalFluency, she managed a variety of public relations accounts including eDiets.com, Partsearch Technologies, Freeplay Foundation and Alcatel-Lucent and directed several research reports/white papers through the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council.

Alexandrea remains active in academia as an Adjunct Instructor in sociology and cross-cultural communications at several colleges and universities including Yeshiva University's Stern College for Women and Southern New Hampshire University Online. She holds a Bachelor's degree with a focus on Journalism and a Master's degree in Sociology.

Alexandrea will present Volunteer Communications at VMG's 3rd Annual Volunteer Management for Nonprofits Conference on March 25, 2011.

Amy Sample Ward
Social Media Consultant

Valuable engagement and lasting impact are the driving values in Amy Sample Ward’s work with both geographic communities and communities of interest. Through strategy building, training and facilitating, Amy has helped groups in the US, UK, and around the world use social media to start creating a better world. Amy works with organizations of all sizes and all kinds, and truly believe that by creating strong communities we can change our world.

Amy has spoken at conferences, workshops, and training days in the US, the UK and beyond, including the Nonprofit Technology Conference, and SXSW Interactive. In 2009, she co-authored Social by Social, a handbook in using social technologies for social impact, and has had the great opportunity to contribute to additional publications about social media. For the last three years, Amy has contributed to the Stanford Social Innovation Review with monthly posts on the Opinion Blog.

In addition to her independent work with organizations and communities, in March 2011, Amy joined NTEN as the Membership Director. She previously served as the Community Development Manager for CDI (Community-Driven Innovation) at TechSoup Global, leading the strategy for the global NetSquared Community both on and offline, as well as steering the development of programs, services, and events that build community around the world.

Amy has worked in private philanthropy, advocacy nonprofit organizations, web design companies, and as a consultant in the areas of communications, technology, information and research, organizational learning, project management, strategy building, web design and creation, and online strategy. Amy’s formal education focused on English & New Media Journalism, though her informal education is varied and, as she states, thankfully an on-going, life-long journey.

To learn more about Amy's work, visit her blog at Amysampleward.org

Amy will present Using Twitter to Recognize Volunteers and Build a Following at VMG's 3rd Annual Volunteer Management for Nonprofits Conference on Friday, March 25, 2011.

Katherine Snider
Executive Director, Baby Buggy

Katherine joined Baby Buggy as the Deputy Director in 2008 and assumed the role of ED in Feb of 2009, upon the departure of Claudia Fleming (who is now on the Board of Directors). Katherine came to Baby Buggy from the Rockefeller Foundation where she served as an Associate Director, working on portfolios such as the Opportunity NYC program, Climate Change Resilience, a Green Revolution in Africa and the Jane Jacobs Medal. Prior to that, Katherine served as the VP of Public Affairs for the Lower East Side Tenement Museum for almost nine years, helping to grow the Museum’s attendance by 100% and raising over $10 Million for the institution. Katherine has her BA in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia; she is the mother of two boys.

Katherine will present Utilizing Twitter to Recognize Volunteers and Build a Following at VMG's 3rd Annual Volunteer Management for Nonprofits Conference on March 25, 2011.