The NonprofitCenters Network

Staff Members

Katie Edwards
Membership Services Coordinator

Katie Edwards connects NCN members with the resources they need to make their projects a success. She holds an M.P.A. in Nonprofit Management from Indiana University, where she studied nonprofit co-location as part of her coursework. Katie’s research background and her first-hand experience with the Co-location Task Force for the Indianapolis’ Early Intervention and Prevention Initiative give her a unique perspective on shared spaces and nonprofit centers. The report Katie co-authored for her capstone project, Building Co-Location, is available in our online resource center. Since 2005, Katie has worked with nonprofits operating out of music storage rooms, historic churches, and converted houses. She is especially interested in how shared space can improve or revitalize a communities, especially those in rural areas.

Sarah Eisinger
Program Director, Social Purpose Real Estate Tides and the Nonprofit Centers Network

Sarah Eisinger has more than 15 years of real estate, grantmaking, organizational development and management consulting experience in the nonprofit sector. Most recently, Sarah worked for Denham Wolf Real Estate Services, a real estate consulting and development firm specializing in serving nonprofit organizations. There, she brokered lease and ownership transactions and consulted to more than 30 nonprofit clients. Previously, Sarah was with Seedco, a national community development intermediary, as well as with the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, an international foundation. Sarah received a BA with honors from Indiana University, Bloomington. She holds an MS in Urban Policy Analysis and Management from Milano - The New School for Management and Urban Policy. Sarah is a licensed New York State real estate salesperson and a LEED Accredited Professional. Sarah is based in the New York City office of Tides.

Yasmine Kohli Fordham
Operations Coordinator

Yasmine Kohli Fordham is the Operations Coordinator for the Nonprofit Centers Network. She is currently pursuing a M. A. in Sustainable Development Management and has completed a Graduate Certificate in Conflict Transformation Across Cultures from the SIT Graduate Institute in the US. She obtained a B.S. in Community & Justice Studies and African-American Studies from Guilford College.  She specializes in multicultural leadership, international development as well as education and logistics management. Originally from Brooklyn, NY, Yasmine has over ten years of global project management experience from across Africa, Asia and the Americas. Throughout her travels, she has gained proficiency in Fante, French, Hindi, Punjabi, Hindi as well as several dialects of English, and enjoys learning new languages in her spare time.

Maria Martinez
Products and Education Coordinator

Maria Martinez works with the vibrant shared space and services community across North America, organizing training events, and producing new publications. Prior to joining NCN, Maria worked for the Garden Conservancy, a national preservation organization, where she supported ongoing garden preservation projects, organized educational seminars, and worked with their membership.  Before that, Maria worked at the Botanic Garden of Smith Garden, supporting its educational outreach program.  She is interested in understanding how the built environment can positively affect the community it serves, especially green and inclusive design.  Maria received a B.A. in mathematics with extensive coursework in Landscape Studies from Smith College and is an avid gardener. 

Steering Committee

Chair
Andy Johnston
Executive Director
Loudoun Cares, Leesburg, VA

Andy Johnston has been the Executive Director of Loudoun Cares, a 501c3 nonprofit charity based in Leesburg, VA, since its founding in 2003. In this capacity he has developed programs and initiatives to strengthen the local nonprofit sector. These include the local Information & Referral Telephone Helpline and the Claude Moore Community Builders program which trains and coordinates placements of high school youth for volunteer opportunities with local nonprofits. In 2010 Loudoun Cares realized the first phase of a long time dream when four nonprofit agencies signed the first leases for the Loudoun Cares Nonprofit Center. He now leads a $2.5 million dollar effort to renovate an additional 10,000 sq ft of the building to provide for more office and conference/training space. Andy is a member of the Nonprofit Centers Network Steering Committee and a passionate advocate for the development of nonprofit infrastructure throughout the country and internationally.

Vice-Chair
Margie Zeidler
Founder
Urbanspace Property Group Ltd.

Margaret Zeidler is the Founder and President of Urbanspace Property Group Ltd, a mission-driven development company specializing in the adaptive re-use of old buildings. Originally a trained architect, Ms. Zeidler has brought her love of historic buildings and belief in the power of built-form to help foster community to two, century old, former factory buildings. The first project–401–houses a diverse community of over 130 artists, cultural entrepreneurs, micro-enterprises and social innovators. The Robertson Building, also located in Toronto, has become a hub for organizations, large and small, the majority of whom are social mission-driven, be they profit or not-for-profit. Ms. Zeidler is the recipient of the Jane Jacobs Prize (2003), the Toronto “Best Friend of the Arts” Award (2004). She co-founded the Centre for Social Innovation in Toronto in 2004 (a 20,000 square-foot shared space for social enterprise and innovation located at the Robertson building) as well as The Centre for City Ecology and Jane’s Walk (an annual event to celebrate the life and ideas of Jane Jacobs) in 2007.

Gil Alvarado
Chief Financial Officer
Sierra Health Foundation, Sacramento, CA

Gil Alvarado serves as vice president of administration/CFO at Sierra Health Foundation. In this role, he is responsible for strategic business planning and management of all foundation administrative activities, investments and finances, and provides leadership to ensure compliance with state and federal fiscal and regulatory policy. He serves on the board of the Foundation Financial Officers Group, and is involved in the local nonprofit community, serving on the board of Women’s Empowerment and as a committee member of MedStart. Before joining Sierra Health, he held the position of chief financial and information officer for the Paso del Norte Health Foundation in El Paso, Texas.

China Brotsky
San Francisco, CA

China co-founded and serves as Senior Advisor to The Nonprofit Centers Network, a cross-sector international network of nonprofits and their philanthropic and real estate partners. She lectures and consults internationally on the creation and operation of green nonprofit facilities and the development of shared services programs. China joined Tides in 1990 as Chief Financial Officer. During her tenure at Tides, China managed the restoration and development of the Thoreau Centers for Sustainability in San Francisco and New York and oversaw their ongoing operations. She also served as the founding executive director of Groundspring.org, a nonprofit technology service provider. Prior to Tides, China served six years in public accounting and was the Deputy Director of Finance and Administration at the Exploratorium Science Museum. China is a member of the board of directors of Global Greengrants Fund, UK and Mission Investors Exchange. She received a B.S. in accounting from Golden Gate University and is a CPA in the state of California.

Joseph "Jay" Connor
Founding & Managing Partner
Rubicon Partners, LLP., Phoenix, AZ

This consultancy has worked with more than 75 communities across North America in applying best practices from Connor's extensive research to achieve measurable, transformative outcomes in areas of aspirational change: from education to economic and workforce development to health to poverty reduction.  In applying technology to community solutions, Rubicon Partners, in partnership with the US Department of Education, Florida Center for Reading Research, the National Institute of Child Health and Development, the University of Michigan and Florida State University, has also developed www.myA2i.com a research-based tool available to school districts across North America which uses student assessment to recommend individualized instruction activities that have delivered at or above grade level performance across all economic and ethnic demographics.

Peggy Eagan
Executive Director
Children & Family Services Center, Charlotte, NC

Peggy Eagan has managed local and statewide nonprofits and held several leadership roles in national initiatives. She holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Indiana University, was named Woman of the Year by the Indianapolis Star in 1996, was a registered lobbyist and has served on the Board of Directors of Prevent Child Abuse America. She currently is the Executive Director of the Children and Family Service Center in Charlotte NC which is a 100,000 sq. ft. facility built to house 10 nonprofits that serve children and families in the Charlotte NC area. In this facility, collaboration occurs in the areas of space sharing, technology, shared back office services and programming. Peggy is an accomplished public speaker/trainer. She facilitates groups locally and across the nation, leading Board and Staff Retreats as well as various project groups and task forces. Her consulting has included work in program development, organizational development, change management and strategic planning.

Stephanie FallCreek, D.S.W
President and CEO
Fairhill Partners, Cleveland, OH

Since, 1992, Dr. FallCreek has served as CEO of Fairhill Partners, a 10-acre, 10-building nonprofit center that provides over 23,000 older adults with primary healthcare, home-delivered meals, employment assistance, and temporary housing annually. As CEO & President, she is responsible for the management of a diverse staff as well as the Collaborative Campus Services and Successful Aging Programs. She is best known for her work in health promotion, as well as for advocacy in public policy on successful aging and inter-generational programming. She co-authored A Healthy Old Age: A Sourcebook for Health Promotion with Older Adults. Dr. FallCreek was named a Crain’s Cleveland Business Woman of Note in 2004 and received the Molly Mettler Award for Leadership in Health Promotion. She is Adjunct Faculty at Case Western Reserve University in the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences. Dr. FallCreek received her Doctorate of Social Welfare in 1984 from the University of California Berkeley. 

Kim Frentz
President
Ventura Partners, San Francisco, CA

Kim Frentz has been involved in real estate development throughout the United States for over twenty-five years. She has worked on a broad range of residential and commercial projects including full-service offices, historic mixed-use projects, and retail/office condominiums. Since returning to California in 1989, Kim has focused her work on nonprofit commercial development. She and the staff at Ventura Partners provide a comprehensive package of services ranging from project management to leasing and property management for commercial and mixed-use properties. They also work with clients to develop Asset Reserve Analyses and Facilities Operating Plans that provide blueprints for the long-term health of their properties. Her most recent venture is the start-up of GreenWorthy Janitorial, an innovative cleaning service using green products and methods and emphasizing recycling and waste management in commercial settings.

Rebecca Jasso
Director
United Way of Greater Houston, Houston, TX

Rebecca Jasso has served as Area Director of the United Way of Greater Houston’s Bay Area Service Center since 1999. The 30,000 sq. ft Center houses fifty social service programs and provides meeting facilities for non-profit organizations. Jasso leads efforts to assess community needs, support the development of an effective social service network and coordinates a Volunteer Advisory Committee that reviews and monitors services provided at the Center. Jasso’s twenty years experience as the Executive Director of voluntary health and social service agencies in Texas and California gives her a working knowledge of the day to day issues facing agencies housed at the Center. Jasso received her undergraduate degree from the University of Texas-Austin and a master’s in European History from Stanford University. She taught European History and chaired the Ethnic and Women’s Studies Program at the University of Redlands, California prior to entering the non-profit arena.

Anne-Marie Jones
Director, Center for Healthy Communities
The California Endowment, Los Angeles, CA

Anne-Marie Jones, director of the Center for Healthy Communities (CHC), first joined The Endowment in June 2001. As director of the CHC, a program of The Endowment, Jones is responsible for overseeing its public programming, capacity-building training programs and grant-making functions, among other responsibilities. Prior to her appointment in 2010 as director of the CHC, Jones served as a project manager for the foundation from 2007-2010. In that capacity, Jones managed multi-departmental and organization wide projects, including the relocation of The Endowment’s regional offices, among numerous other responsibilities. Jones also served as special assistant to the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer from 2001-2007. As special assistant, Jones served as the primary project liaison for the development of The Endowment’s headquarters and conference and resource center located in downtown Los Angeles. Prior to joining The Endowment, Jones was the director of Contracts Administration and Collaborations for Beyond Shelter, a nonprofit organization that develops systemic approaches to combat poverty and homelessness among families with children, and to enhance family economic security and well-being. In addition, she earlier served as director of Collaborations and New Initiatives for the organization. A resident of Los Angeles, Jones earned her B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California and her Master of Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. She is also a member of both the Nonprofit Centers Network Steering Committee and Southern California Blacks in Philanthropy.

Joanne Keys
Executive Director
Alliance for Sustainable Colorado, Denver, CO

As Executive Director, Joanne is responsible for the overall mission and success of the organization. She brings over 20 years of management and executive level experience in the business and technology sectors, including as a Vice President with American Management Systems (a Fortune 500 company) and, most recently, as the President of NANA Pacific (an Alaskan‐native owned technology corporation). She has spent many years managing multi‐continental/multi‐cultural projects and businesses, and is helping the Alliance incorporate a broader business perspective into the sustainability arena. Ms. Keys has always had a passion for the environment, having served for many years in volunteer wildland firefighting and in Search and Rescue in remote locations. This includes over six years in Antarctica supporting the US Antarctic Program’s scientific missions. These experiences solidified her passion for the environment and for planetary sustainability. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Virginia Tech.

Catherine Ludgate
Manager, Community Investment
Vancity Credit Union, Vancouver, BC

Catherine is the manager of community investment at Vancity Credit Union. In this role, she leads in Vancity’s work in finding new ways to provide financial tools and services in the areas of affordable housing and social purpose real estate, and is a subject matter expert for Vancity on all things not-for-profit. She builds and delivers capacity building workshops and supports to not-for-profit organizations, social enterprises and co-ops, and oversees the delivery of Vancity’s microfinance offerings. Prior to joining Vancity in March 2006, Catherine had spent her entire working career in the not-for-profit sector, and most recently was the director of a social enterprise focused on building the capacity of the sector to use social marketing, media and communications tools. She has been a consultant to boards and foundations on issues of governance, fundraising, strategic planning, human resource management and social enterprise development.

Glen Newby
President and CEO
New Path Youth and Family Services, Barrie, ON

Glen has close to forty years of human service delivery experience in Ontario, Canada, twenty-five of which has been at the executive level. Glen has served on numerous community-based advisory groups and non-profit Boards that include service agencies, community planning organizations, ratepayer groups, and cottage associations. Glen serves on a number of advisory committees related to social entrepreneurship and social investment, and is the thought leader behind a variety of social tourism initiatives. Glen is a founding member of the unique, cross sector Coalition of Children, Youth and Family Services in Simcoe County. He has just recently retired from the Board of Directors of Children’s Mental Health Ontario (CMHO) where he served as President. Glen is currently CEO of New Path Youth & Family Services, a multi service children’s mental health centre that serves the central east region of Ontario. Glen also serves as President and CEO of New Path Foundation, an organization which develops and manages various investments and social enterprise activities, including the Common Roof™ projects. Glen has led the Common Roof™ model development since inception in 1995, and through New Path Foundation, has provided leadership in creating sustainable multi-tenant facilities for non-profit organizations in Ontario and elsewhere.

Jonathan Spack
Executive Director
Third Sector New England, Boston, MA

Jonathan Spack has over 30 years’ experience leading and consulting to nonprofit organizations. During his 26 years as Executive Director of Third Sector New England and its predecessor, he has successfully guided the organization through several transitions, including its re-invention in the late 1990’s as a leading regional capacity-builder and resource center for small to midsized nonprofits. TSNE is the nation’s most experienced fiscal sponsor, having begun that work in 1959. TSNE programs also include organizational and executive transitions, consulting and training, and two unique capacity-building grant programs, the Inclusion Initiative and the Capacity Building Fund. In 2004 TSNE acquired a historic 120,000 sq. ft., office building in Boston’s Leather District which it has developed into the NonProfit Center, “Boston’s Home for Progressive Social Change”. The NPC is currently home to 42 nonprofit organizations. He holds a law degree from New York University and a Master’s degree in Human Services Management from the Heller School at Brandeis University. He is co-author of the Executive Director’s Guide, published by TSNE in 2002, and is a founding member of the Nonprofit Centers Network, the National Network of Fiscal Sponsors and the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network.

Amy Tobin
Executive Director
David Brower Center, Berkeley, CA

Amy Tobin has worked with nonprofit community, arts, and activist organizations for over 17 years. She is committed to fostering communities and social change through collaborative programs and arts events, generally doing anything possible to bring people together in physical proximity. As the first Executive Director of the David Brower Center since 2007, Amy has guided the establishment of an award-winning destination for environmental and social action. The Brower Center, a LEED Platinum rated building in downtown Berkeley, includes a gallery and exhibition program, 24,000 square feet of progressive office space, and a thriving conference center that has hosted over 700 events in three years. Amy was the founding Artistic Director of The Hub at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco. She has served as a development and program consultant to arts and Jewish nonprofits in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City, and has produced hundreds of community events, benefits, and shows. Amy received the Joshua Venture fellowship for Jewish social entrepreneurs in 2001. She serves on boards of the Downtown Berkeley Association, Joshua Venture Group, and the Nonprofit Centers Network. Amy is also a writer, vocalist, and performer. She has released two albums and tours nationally with The Esther Show, a cabaret rock opera and modern interpretation of the biblical Book of Esther.