Susan Kleinman, Founder and CEO
Susan has over two decades of experience in the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors. As a consultant, Susan helps nonprofit clients to strengthen their foundation, corporate, and government fundraising efforts. Before launching her consulting practice in 2011, Susan spent five years at Team-Up for Youth (now CoachingCorps), where she served as Senior Program Officer and as Program Director for Evaluation and Policy. Prior to that, Susan spent six years as Coordinator of The San Francisco Foundation's Koshland Civic Unity Program, where she was responsible for grant making as well as providing technical assistance to grantees in fundraising, program development, and strategic planning. Susan received a Master's Degree in Social Welfare from UC Berkeley and a B.A. in Women's Studies from Wesleyan University.
Patricia Bentson, Senior Vice President
Pat has worked in fundraising, communications, and community relations in the nonprofit sector for more than 20 years. Previously, Pat served as Director of Leonardo/The International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology, an international nonprofit at the heart of the art/science community of artists, scientists, educators, and theorists. Her roles at Leonardo encompassed nonprofit management, strategic planning, and financial oversight; fundraising and communications; program development; and serving as Managing Editor of peer-reviewed art/science journals and books published by the MIT Press. Pat holds a B.S. in Journalism with a Photojournalism concentration from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where she also studied Landscape Architecture and Environmental Design.
Julia Epstein, Senior Associate
Julia has more than 15 years of experience in media relations and fundraising for national public interest legal services organizations and community-based social justice nonprofits. She served as Director of Development & Communications at the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, and at the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund in Berkeley, CA. Prior to her development career, Julia taught at Haverford College, where she was Barbara Riley Levin Professor of Comparative Literature and chaired the joint Haverford–Bryn Mawr Comparative Literature Program. She holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Cornell University and a B.A. from Washington University.
Damali Robertson, Senior Associate
Damali is a fundraising and nonprofit leader with over 10 years of experience in the field. She has expertise in grant writing and institutional partnerships, annual giving, events, and communications. She started her fundraising and nonprofit career at Stanford University’s Haas Center for Public Service as Associate Director of Stewardship. She then went on to lead the development teams at the Level Playing Field Institute (now SMASH) and the Center for Youth Wellness. As a mission-driven fundraiser, Damali leverages her content expertise in education, health, adverse childhood experiences, and diversity and inclusion for maximum impact for clients. She received her B..A in Political Science and Literature from Africa and the Diaspora from Pitzer College and her M.A. in Communications for Social and Behavior Change from the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus.
Anna Couey, Associate
Anna has over 20 years of experience in organizational development and fundraising for social justice and cultural nonprofits. She previously served as Development Director for Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, an advocacy organization led by formerly incarcerated people. At DataCenter, a research justice organization, she helped build a racially diverse shared leadership structure and served in a core leadership role that included fundraising, finance, management, and program development responsibilities. Anna’s prior work focused on developing online communications projects for artists, the arts community, youth, and social justice activists. She holds a B.A. from Scripps College in Art and Comparative Literature.
Tiffany Major, Associate
Tiffany has worked professionally as a grant writer and consultant in academia and nonprofits since 2009. She has interfaced with clients on a wide range of federal, state, corporate, and foundation grants, including National Institutes of Health, Health Resources and Services Administration, and Department of Justice. She has a wide range of pre- and post-award experience, including developing proposal ideas and strategic plans, conducting prospect research and preparing annual grant calendars, writing grant proposals, managing projects, conducting evaluations, analyzing program data, and writing reports. She has also supported clients in manuscript and annual report writing and the development of Institutional Review Board applications. Tiffany earned a Ph.D. at the University of Georgia in Microbiology and a B.S. in Chemistry from Grand Valley State University.