Nonprofit Management

Amira Barger serves as a leader in nonprofit management and has done so for the last 14 years. The foundation for her leadership and community-building was set at an early age when her family moved from San Diego, CA to the tiny Pacific Island of Guam, USA to serve as missionaries in the 90’s. Barger was intrigued by the budding ideas around what would one day be coined “collective impact” and her upbringing entrenched the desire to live a life of service. She decided to use her skills to continue forward movement in the nonprofit sector. She received a BA in Marketing from Vanguard University, an MBA from Letourneau University, and invested in her professional development by receiving both the CVA (Certified Volunteer Administrator) and CFRE (Certified Fund Raising Executive) designations. In addition, Barger serves on the Council for Certification in Volunteer Administration’s Board as Chair and part of the External Relations Committee. She's also an active member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners, the Public Relations Society of America, and the American Public Health Association.

Stephanie Casenza has devoted her career to helping advance the mission and vision of a broad range of organizations as a professional and a volunteer. Moving easily between the business and not-for-profit worlds, she has held management, development, and public relations roles for advertising/public relations agencies and for social services, higher education, healthcare, and arts organizations throughout California. Casenza has taught courses at University of California, San Diego Extension; at San Diego State University; and Nonprofit Management Solutions in San Diego. In addition, she has served on more than a dozen nonprofit boards. She currently serves as director of development for LSS of Northern California, which provides supportive housing services to formerly homeless individuals, families, and emancipated foster youth in multiple counties.

She earned a master’s degree in executive leadership from the School of Business at University of San Diego and her undergraduate degree in journalism from San Diego State University. She also received the universal accreditation for public relations from the Public Relations Society of America and is a candidate for the CFRE.

Jacqueline Chan has dedicated her career to help nonprofit and public agencies use data to drive equitable impact and inclusive community development. She currently serves as the Director of Data and Evaluation at United Way Bay Area where she oversees organizational efforts to measure impact and use data insights to drive decision-making. Chan has over a decade of experience in applied research and evaluation spanning the fields of public health, education, housing, sustainable development, and workforce development. She strongly believes equity and empowerment are critical for the transformational change needed to disrupt the cycles of poverty and injustice.

Chan holds a Master of Public Health degree in Global Epidemiology from Emory University.

Douglas Cook, CPA, MPA is Principal of Cook & Company, an accounting firm specializing in performing independent audits of nonprofit organizations. He has nearly two decades of professional accounting experience and has become a well-respected specialist in nonprofit accounting and tax issues. Cook has also taught at San Francisco State University and Golden Gate University.

I sincerely believe as professionals that we have a duty to bring along the next generation of professionals. The joy of teaching is to inspire students to move forward with the desire of learning and doing and not be afraid to take risks.Life is not about the ultimate destination but the journey getting there and what we experience and learn along the way.

Dwight Dickerson, Esq. is the Director of the Paralegal Studies Program at California State University, East Bay and a former member of the ABA Standing Committee on Paralegals Approval Commission and an active member of and presenter for The American Association for Paralegal Education.

He has been a member of the faculty of the CSUEB Paralegal Studies Program since 1991, and is an instructor of Contract Law and Nonprofit Law on the CSUEB Hayward Hills campus. Dickerson graduated from Brandeis University with honors majoring in American Urban Studies and received his JD from the University of Michigan Law School. He has been an active member of the State Bar of California since December 1977, specializing in real estate, consumer business, and non-profit law related matters.

Dr. Tamara Hamai is president of Hamai Consulting and has been working to support children and families for 20 years. She received extensive formal training in human development, research, evaluation, and statistical methods while earning her MA (2006) and PhD (2015) in Applied Developmental Psychology at Claremont Graduate University. She leads and oversees every one of Hamai Consulting’s contracts. She has held positions in research and evaluation at various non-profit organizations and public agencies serving children and youth, such as First 5 Monterey County, Los Angeles Universal Preschool, Los Angeles County Children’s Planning Council, and the Kinship Center Adoption Clinic. In addition to teaching at CSUEB, Dr. Hamai has taught research methods and statistics at CSU Monterey Bay in the undergraduate Psychology and Master’s in Social Work programs for the past 3 years, and has an additional 7 years of experience teaching in the Psychology Departments at CSU Dominguez Hills, Woodbury University, Mount Saint Mary’s College, and Argosy University.

Dr. Hamai is a recognized expert in areas related to parenting, adverse childhood experiences, and family violence. She has been featured by KTLA, KPIX CBS San Francisco, ABC 7 News, NBC Radio, American Psychological Association, Western Psychological Association, Institute for Violence, Abuse, and Trauma, American Evaluation Association, National Head Start Association, and several blogs. She co-authored a chapter on Adverse Childhood Experiences with one of the original authors of the ACE Study, Dr. Vincent Felitti (2020), and is a reviewer and on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma, Journal of Family Trauma, Child Custody, & Child Development, and Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, & Trauma.

Amy Hsieh is a nonprofit fundraising professional with over 20 years of experience successfully developing partnerships with corporations, foundations and government agencies. With a commitment to helping nonprofits advance their institutional funding strategy, Hsieh has a solid background in all aspects of grants management, including grant writing, prospect research, program and partnership development, evaluation, and budget development.

Hsieh's expertise spans the fields of health and human services, education and youth development, employment and vocational skills training, behavioral health, housing and homelessness, and HIV/AIDS services.

Hsieh has managed institutional fundraising for various nonprofits, including Bay Area Community Health, Samaritan House, and the Health Trust. She currently serves on the boards of the Eating Disorders Resource Center and the San Francisco Unified Lion’s Club, enjoys hiking and healthy living, and is committed to helping nonprofits magnify their impact.

Hsieh has a BA from Yale University and an MFA in Studio from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Heather Imboden is a founding principal of Communities in Collaboration, a woman-owned evaluation and community engagement consultancy based in Oakland, California. Imboden combines her skills in facilitation, outreach, and analysis with her expertise in community and economic development to lift community voice in partnership with diverse stakeholder groups for nonprofits, foundations, and government agencies. Imboden’s work often focuses on advancing equity at the intersection of public education, workforce development, and neighborhood revitalization. She is also committed to local capacity development, striving to share her knowledge of the tools of engagement so that communities have a greater ability to advocate on behalf of themselves. In addition to her experience in community development, Imboden’s background includes more than 15 years of experience in marketing and communications for nonprofits.

A respected social media marketing and personal branding expert, Irene Koehler has helped thousands improve business results by strategically developing marketing strategies and personal brands. Driven to support others' success, she works closely with clients to understand their objectives and challenges to create a unique plan tailored to fit their needs. Koehler is a highly sought-after speaker, trainer, and strategist, and she also teaches social media marketing courses at San Francisco State University and Cal State East Bay. Connect with Koehler at Irene Koehler Consulting on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

A graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, Koehler has a lifelong passion for community service and has held leadership positions in civic, cultural, educational, and non-profit organizations.

Joel Mackey is a mental health counselor (therapist) at Bay Area Community Resources. He is licensed in both California and Washington. Mackey is also an attorney licensed in California (and Illinois) with a limited private practice specializing in mediation and nonprofit law. He is an adjunct instructor with California State University, East Bay.

Previously, Mackey was the executive director of the Oakland Education Fund, the West Contra Costa Public Education Fund, Harbor House Ministries, and Habitat for Humanity—East Bay. He has also worked as the legal and policy analyst with Making Waves in Richmond, CA.

Mackey is a graduate of Northwestern University where he obtained a master’s degree in mental health counseling, Berkeley Law at the University of California, Berkeley with a Juris Doctor degree, and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary at Northwestern University with a Master of Divinity degree. He completed his undergraduate studies at Trinity College. Over the years, his community service has consisted of coaching youth sports and serving on numerous nonprofit boards.

Reva Patwardhan, founder of Greater Good Coaching, specializes in helping nonprofit leaders build careers and teams that make a big impact, without burning anyone out. She's worked with leaders up, down, and across the organizational ladder: From CEOs and executive directors to senior and middle managers to front line organizers.

Patwardhan has over 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector as a fundraiser, communications director, lobbyist, board member, facilitator, coach, and diversity trainer. She also facilitates interpersonal learning groups with the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She serves as chair of the Board of Directors at Rethink Media. She serves on the coaching and consulting faculties of the SEIU BOLD Center, Leaderspring, and LEAP (Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics). She is an ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC), and a certified Integral Coach.

Melissa Perez co-founded Upstream Philanthropy, a consulting firm that helps nonprofits of all sizes grow their fundraising programs. As a consultant, Perez has helped clients secure their first large gifts from donors and increase volunteer leadership involvement. Her proudest achievement is creating a strong culture of philanthropy among staff and volunteer leadership that works on behalf of her client organizations.

In addition to fundraising experience with annual fund, major gifts, and foundation and corporate grants, Perez has expertise in complex corporate partnerships and management of the development office team. Throughout her career, Perez has interwoven volunteerism with philanthropy to create meaningful experiences for fellow employees, board members, and funding partners.

Perez’s career spans the non-profit and corporate communities from United Way, the San Francisco Opera and AT&T to small non-profit start-ups. She has served in staff and board roles and is currently the president of the board of directors of Development Executives Roundtable (DER). Perez’s board experience provides additional insight into corporate partnerships, volunteer engagement, and board leadership.

Perez graduated from The University of Texas with a BBA in Marketing.

Dr. Renee Rubin Ross, principal of Renee Rubin Ross Consulting, is a nationally recognized leader in board and organizational development and strategy. Her firm offers strategic planning processes, facilitation, and coaching for social sector organizations.

Dr. Ross teaches Board Development and Grant Proposal Writing for the Nonprofit Management Certificate Program. She is a board member of the Alliance for Nonprofit Management and governance chair.

Committed to racial equity in the nonprofit sector, Dr. Ross supports organizations and individuals in practices that celebrate and amplify diverse voices and perspectives. Dr. Ross utilizes inclusive, participatory facilitation and training methods that structure conversations to surface thinking, build investment, and engage the wisdom of the group.

Between 2011 and 2014, Dr. Ross served as a program officer at the Jim Joseph Foundation, working with more than 15 non-profit organizations to focus their message for greater alignment with grant guidelines and share grantees’ stories and successes. Her doctorate in education from New York University explored parent participation in schools.

Shaké Sulikyan leads with a growth-minded approach and inspired teams to achieve record-setting results. Through her career, she’s aligned talent and resources to drive large-scale initiatives, build fruitful relationships, and identify collaborative and mutually beneficial business opportunities.

Sulikyan's nonprofit career includes roles in healthcare, academic medicine, higher education, social service, and nonprofit organizations throughout the United States. In addition, she has given back to the nonprofit sector as a volunteer and a board member for various organizations. She currently serves on the Board of Development Executives Roundtable and oversees the planning and execution of all education programs as Programs Chair. She moved to the U.S. at the age of 12 and currently lives in Livermore with her husband and 12 year old son. She holds a BA from Clark University where she later served as President of the Alumni Association.