Featured Speakers

 Nancy Benavente 

 Michele A. Bignardi, CFRE  

Michele Bignardi is Senior Vice President with Netzel Grigsby Associates, Inc.  Her accomplishments include successful multi-million dollar capital and endowment campaigns, fundraising development studies, planning and implementing annual, major, planned giving programs, financial development planning services and volunteer/staff training. In addition she has been an instructor with the UCLA Extension Certificate Program in Fundraising since 2008.  Her website is http://www.netzelgrigsby.com    

  Tom Biro

Tom Biro is Vice President, Digital for Allison and Partners in Seattle.  He combines almost a decade of public relations, advertising and digital media expertise together to create successful campaigns for clients of all shapes and sizes, including current work for clients such as Progressive and ING Direct.  He leads a digital team responsible for implementing social media tools and techniques for B2B and B2C organizations, while working across the agency’s teams to incorporate the use of today’s digital platforms into everyday business practices. Reach him on Twitter @allisonpr and his website is http://allisonpr.com.   

 Sally Blowitz 

Sally Blowitz is Vice President of Development at Planned Parenthood Los Angeles and has had a 30-year career in non-profit development.  At PPLA she is responsible for achieving annual and long-term financial goals from all funding sources.  Prior to joining PPLA, she worked in higher education development, first at USC and later for UCLA. Beginning in 1994, she also served as Co-Executive Director of Women and Philanthropy at UCLA, increasing giving from women as individuals and promoting their leadership on campus.   

 Marianne Briscoe, Ph.D., ACFRE 

Marianne Briscoe is President and Managing Director at Brakeley Briscoe Inc.  With more than 30 years’ experience in higher education, arts and culture, and social service institutions, she is former Vice President for Institutional Advancement at St. Mary’s College of California, Director of Development at the University of Chicago and Centennial Campaign Director at the Sierra Club.  An editor and contributor to non-profit literature, she served on the national AFP board and the AFP Foundation Board and has chaired the Ethics Committee among other leadership positions.   

 Ray Bushnell   

Ray Bushnell is owner and President of RBI Systems, Inc., a direct marketing service bureau that specializes in tuned fundraising and marketing campaigns. Founded in 1988, RBI Systems has a long history with cost effective print and mail solutions, both for the non-profit sector and general business.  Ray has served on fundraising committees and non-profit boards, including three years as Chairman of the Arcadia Chapter, American Red Cross, Chair of the Rotary Rose Parade Float Committee and member of Methodist Hospital's Partners in Health Committee.

 Larry Eason   

Larry Eason is President and Founder of the digital strategy and communications firm DotOrgPower.  He helps causes harness online and mobile technology to achieve their goals. He works with organizational leaders to expand their sense of what is possible online and to innovate and succeed.  Larry is a frequent speaker on strategic planning, strategic networking, power-mapping and mobile.  He is an evangelist for the power of strategic, intentional networking to help organizations reach their goals. His website is www.dotorgpower.com and his Twitter handle is @easonlw.   

 Laura Esposito 

Laura Webster Esposito, Creative Director and Senior Consultant for Schultz and Williams (S&W) Direct, provides account management for Los Angeles area clients, and handles creative direction and copywriting for S&W clients nationwide. For St. Vincent Meals on Wheels, Laura helped grow the program’s donor base from 3,000 to more than 50,000 individuals, create a mid-level giving society and start their online giving program. She has created multi-channel direct response campaigns for scores of S&W clients. Prior to joining S&W in 1989, she worked in advertising where she developed campaigns for clients including General Foods, L.A. Convention and Visitors Bureau and Kinko's.   

Esther Kim

Esther Kim is a Managing Director at REDF, a California nonprofit venture philanthropy organization.  REDF supports social enterprises - businesses employing people facing barriers to employment.  She leads REDF’s program strategy and execution, including portfolio due diligence, grantmaking, and business assistance.  She leads planning efforts for new programs, and contributes to the field through speaking and writing. Prior to joining REDF, Esther was a consultant with McKinsey & Company, providing strategic guidance to both Fortune 100 companies and social sector organizations.  Her career also included economic consulting for environmental litigation, Federal government program evaluation, and renewable energy development in Nepal.       

Joyce Lilly

Joyce O’Gar Lilly is a lifelong philanthropist, community advocate and believer of helping make the world a better place.  She has served on the board for leading organizations in including The Assistance League of Southern California (Founders Chapter), KCET Women’s Council, International Committee of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Orphanage Guild, Freedom Foundation at Valley Forge, President’s Executive Council at Woodbury University, Children’s Fund Leadership Council at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and past member of two City of Burbank Boards – Library and Planning.  Joyce relocated to Los Angeles many years ago and loves to watch television news stories about frigid temperatures in her home state of Minnesota.

 Mark Loranger 

As President and CEO of Chrysalis, a nonprofit organization changing lives through jobs, Mark Loranger sets strategy in partnership with the Board of Directors and oversees operations.  Previously, he served as VP of Chrysalis Enterprises, a group of social enterprise businesses that provide transitional jobs for Chrysalis clients.  Using his entrepreneurial background, Mark significantly grew the businesses, improved operations, and created additional job opportunities. An author and frequent speaker on the topics of Social Enterprise, homelessness and employment, Mark previously served as a consultant to such non-profit organizations as the Alzheimer's Association, the Avon Products Foundation, and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, in the development and execution of large-scale fundraising walks. 

 Cristina Lutz 

Cris Lutz is the Associate Director of Major Gifts at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. She joined The Huntington seven years ago to help broaden and strengthen the institution’s donor base.  "Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." Cris has taken Theodore Roosevelt’s statement to heart, from her first job out of graduate school - at Big Sisters (now Big Brothers Big Sisters) of Greater Los Angeles - to today, where she helps to develop and implement data driven strategies to identify promising annual, major, and planned giving prospects.  

 Connie Maguire, CFRE 

Connie Maguire is Senior Vice President with Netzel Grigsby Associates. She serves as trusted advisor to many non-profits, providing counsel on capital, endowment and annual fund development; major gift and planned giving programs; and strategic planning and board/staff development.  Prior to joining Netzel Grigsby, Connie enjoyed a 17-year career with the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles.  Her website is http://www.netzelgrigsby.com 

 Cian Mitsunaga, Esq. 

Cian Mitsunaga is a partner with M.E.T.A.L. Law Group LLP.  She provides legal representation for nonprofit organizations, advising on nonprofit law and business law matters such as nonprofit formation, corporate governance, tax-exemption, fundraising activities, cause-marketing campaigns, and contracts, She is a member of the California State Bar, the New York State Bar and the Los Angeles County Bar Association.  Her website is www.metallawgroup.com  

 Joy Monkarsh  

Joy Monkarsh has been active in philanthropy at UCLA.  She is a founding member of Women & Philanthropy, served as its president from 1998-2000 and is a former member of the Humanities Executive Council and several UCLA Foundation committees.  A UCLA alumna, Joy supports the Hammer Museum, the medical sciences and athletics.  She and her husband Jerry, who together created an endowment in Jewish Studies, were named honorary fellows of the College of Letters and Science in 2004.

     

Scott Pansky 

Scott Pansky is Co-Founder and Partner at Allison and Partners.  He is a leader and recognized national speaker in the field of cause-related marketing and entertainment partnerships while leading several of the firm’s 11 offices.  Scott works with more than 140 professionals across the country with the mantra: It's About the Work.  His passion is getting results for his clients who range from corporate to charity including Microsoft, YouTube, MySpace, Disney, Hyundai's Hope on Wheels, Hasbro, Con Agra, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, The March of Dimes, and The Arthritis Foundation.  Reach him on Twitter @allisonpr and his website is http://allisonpr.com.

Heather Porter

 Author Heather Porter was born and educated in London and Kent.  She is a mother to four boys, ages four to fourteen and step mother to two girls.  In addition to managing a bustling family she is extremely dedicated to charity work spanning across the globe including her own foundation, The Red Shoes Charitable Trust that provides for children with disabilities.

Laura Schenasi  

Since 2001, Laura Schenasi has been Executive Vice President of the Torrance Memorial Health Care Foundation.  She directs a development team that has successfully increased fundraising from $750,000 a year to an average of $17+ million a year in cash and pledges.  She led the efforts to increase fundraising for the medical center’s premier fundraiser, Holiday Festival, a six-day community event that in 2010 netted $2.8 million benefiting the New Main Patient Tower.   Prior to joining Torrance Memorial, she worked in Development for 19 years at USC. Her website is www.torrancememorial.org and the hospital’s Twitter handle is @tmmcnews 

Mindy Stein

In addition to a long and rewarding career as a speech pathologist in hospital and school settings, Mindy Stein has served several communities through her philanthropic roles as chair of Tikun Olam Foundation, their family foundation.  She is currently Chair of the Board of Directors of Children’s Bureau of Los Angeles.  Mindy also serves on the Boards of Zero To Three and Verdugo Hills Hospital.  Other involvements include Music Center’s Blue Ribbon, Everychild Foundation and LA Partnership for Early Childhood Investment.

   

Ingrid Steiner

With Castle Press, Ingrid Steiner has worked in the printing and direct mail industry for over a decade specializing in nonprofit marketing and development collateral. She is skilled in consulting with her customers to formulate an integrated marketing approach that is efficient and effective for their organization.   She has spoken on various topics ranging from marketing to printing to groups including AFP, UCLA Extension, and the Center for Nonprofit Management.  Ingrid is active in the AFP GLAC and the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning. 

David Sternberg 

Dave Sternberg is the founder and partner with Loring, Sternberg and Associates providing fundraising counsel to educational foundations, social service organizations, higher education, membership organizations, children’s groups, and museums.  He is the author of the second edition of Fearless Fundraising for Nonprofit Boards, which is among the best sellers offered by BoardSource. He is a member of the faculty at The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University’s Fund Raising School and a Senior Governance Consultant for BoardSource. He is the only person in America to hold a position with both organizations.  His Twitter handle is @fearlessfundras 

 Dyan Sublett 

Dyan Sublett, Interim Executive Director of the Martin Luther King Healthcare Corporation, for over thirty years and has held development leadership roles in education, cultural institutions and health organizations.  She has led programs in fundraising, communications, alumni relations and government affairs, serving institutions that include Hampshire College, Sundance Institute, UCLA, Art Center College of Design, Los Angeles’s Natural History Museum, and the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles. She is the founder and first director of the Women and Philanthropy Program at UCLA, a commentator for the Chronicle of Philanthropy, and a frequent public speaker in the nonprofit sector. 

 Kimberley Valentine   

For 10 years Kimberley Valentine has served The Huntington Library as its Planned Giving Director, working to promote the essentials of estate planning and charitable giving for a population rich in intellectual curiosity, philanthropic intent and a love for all things related to the collections in gardens, library, art and research. A member of the San Gabriel Valley Estate Planning Council and PPP-LA, Kimberley holds a certificate as a planned giving specialist from the AIPS program through Cal State Long Beach.  Prior to joining The Huntington, Kimberley promoted planned giving at the Palm Springs Desert (now Art) Museum.     

 Robert Weiner  

Robert Weiner is President of Robert L. Weiner Consulting.  He specializes in helping fundraisers make informed, strategic decisions about technology and back-office operations.  He has consulted with a wide variety of organizations, ranging from volunteer and grassroots to UC Berkeley, Earthjustice, The Nature Conservancy, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and Komen for the Cure.  He is the co-host of TechSoup’s Technology for Fundraising forum and a frequent speaker on donor management systems and best practices in Development Operations.   His website is www.rlweiner.com and Twitter handle is robert_weiner   

 Lynne Wester 

Lynne Wester is Director of Stewardship and Donor Recognition at Yeshiva University in New York City and is responsible for designing, implementing and coordinating a comprehensive stewardship and donor recognition system.  In addition, Lynne is a frequent conference speaker, both nationally and regionally.  She also created the website and blog www.donorrelationsguru.com where she shares her expertise, opinions, and collections of samples on a variety of topics to the greater development world.  She is the 2011 recipient of the ADRP volunteer service award and multiple CASE faculty stars.  Lynne’s Twitter handle is @donorguru.

 Schedule and speakers are subject to change, please visit www.afpglac.afpnet.org for the latest update.