Senior Team Archives - Page 4 of 9

Lauren is a Senior Vice President with CCS Fundraising, where she leverages her expertise in building strong partnerships in nonprofit and policy environments to better serve her clients. Lauren is trained in mixed-methods research and offers over ten years of experience in strategic planning, research, and data analysis to support her clients and drive high-impact fundraising efforts. Lauren specializes in campaign and project management, feasibility and planning studies, and development assessments.

Prior to joining CCS, Lauren worked in the public sector for the City of Boston and New Bedford, Massachusetts. Her focus in previous roles centered around topics like environmental advocacy, workforce development, energy policy, and urban planning. She has worked as a research assistant in two Boston-based research labs dedicated to housing policy, economic development, and environmental policy.

Lauren holds a Master of Science in Urban Policy and Planning from Northeastern University and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Lauren currently lives in Long Beach, CA with her husband and her fearless dog, Pip Domino. She dedicates her spare time to getting outdoors, studying the plants of Southern California, and taking Armenian language courses.

Laura has managed numerous development projects and campaigns for CCS throughout the East Coast, and her projects have collectively raised hundreds of millions of dollars. She is currently working on a landmark fundraising initiative for the NAACP, the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights organization.

In Washington, D.C., Laura served as campaign counsel for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where she worked with the development team and senior leadership to complete the Center’s $250 million Building the Future capital campaign.

Laura has also worked on major campaigns for Nantucket Cottage Hospital, a medical center affiliated with Massachusetts General Hospital; Ethical Culture Fieldston School in Manhattan and the Bronx; and The Harvard Crimson, the daily student newspaper of Harvard University.

Prior to joining CCS in 2015, Laura spent several years in journalism with a focus on architecture and design. She earned a BA from Harvard University and resides in New York City.

select client partners

NAACP, Baltimore, MD
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC
Ethical Culture Fieldston School, NY, NY
Nantucket Cottage Hospital, Nantucket, MA
Ali Forney Center, NY, NY
Packer Collegiate Institute, Brooklyn, NY
Newport Performing Arts Center, Newport, RI
Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe, Shoreham, NY
The Harvard Crimson, Cambridge, MA

KURT MCKINLEY, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, is in his 14th year with CCS and manages CCS’s Florida strategic growth initiatives. He works with members of the region’s executive leadership team to identify and implement strategic priorities related to business development, communications, institutional partnerships, and client engagement.

Kurt has led CCS’s strategic partnership with the National Association of Cancer Center Development Officers (NACCDO) where he serves on their Benchmarking Committee. This cooperative venture of NCI-designated centers provides the only annual review of Cancer Center giving trends across the United States.

Kurt serves on the Nominating Committee for the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. He completed their Senior Executive Orientation course in Summer of 2023 and is actively involved in their Nonprofit Business Committee. Additionally, Kurt has led the way with CCS’s strategic partnership with the Florida Council of Independent Schools. He has presented at national and international conferences including NACCDO, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education District III, the Southern Association of Independent Schools, Museums Association of the Caribbean, and Morgan Stanley Graystone Consulting’s Foundation and Endowments Conference in Medellin, Colombia.

Kurt graduated from Loyola University Maryland Sellinger School of Business with a Master’s in Business Administration and from Penn State University with a Bachelors in Business Management and Marketing.

select client partners

National Association of Cancer Center Development Officers
Association Foundation Group

Money follows mission and fundraising is an essential part of elevating mission for all nonprofits. With over ten years’ experience in strategic fundraising, Kris expertly works with staff and volunteers to support their impactful missions. Kris thrives in volunteer engagement, partnership development, data-driven fundraising, and creating successful strategies to achieve stated objectives. Her analytical and organizational skills, coupled with her personability and passion for philanthropy, make her a favorite among CCS client partners, executives, staff, and volunteers. Throughout her career, Kris has worked on campaigns that have raised well over one hundred million dollars.

Kris serves as the Campaign Director of the University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center. She is also providing Executive Coaching and Counsel to Seminary of the Southwest and Georgetown Preparatory School. Most recently, Kris served as the Strategic Plan Manager for the Bermuda Centre for Creative Learning where she managed a transformative effort for the school. She also provided Executive Counsel, focused on campaign, Board, and prospect strategy to YWCA USA and KIPP Baltimore. Last year she completed strategic benchmarking projects for the University of Miami and Loyola University of Maryland. In 2022 she served as Chief of Staff for Inova Health Foundation, helping establish protocols and procedures for their fundraising function. She has worked with numerous clients to create and deploy strategic planning efforts through analytics, research, and fundraising.

Previously, Kris led highly successful campaigns for clients throughout The Episcopal Church. She was Campaign Director at Seminary of the Southwest for over three years where she worked in partnership with a six-member staff and 115 volunteers to help fulfill the ambitious national campaign. The effort brought in numerous new donors, some of whom provided significant leadership gifts, and several seven-figure donors doubled their commitments. Kris also conducted a successful Annual Fund Assessment and assisted with the implementation, resulting in an unprecedented 34% year-on-year increase in funds raised.

Kris serves on the Board of Directors of the Association of Fundraising Professionals – Washington, DC Metro Area Chapter (Washington, DC) where she is President Elect. She previously served as Interim Chair of the Governance Committee and Vice Chair of the Education Committee. She also serves as Co-Chair of Education for the Bridge Conference (2024 & 2023). She previously served on the Board of Directors for the Union Meeting Hall (Ferrisburgh, VT).

Kevin Findlan is a strategic and entrepreneurial development leader and advisor. His portfolio of fundraising skills encompasses principal and major gifts, foundation and corporate philanthropy, government grants and contracts, and campaign design and direction. The initiatives he has led and advised during his career have together raised over a billion dollars for organizations across the nonprofit sector.

Since joining CCS in 2015, he has undertaken a range of projects on behalf of clients, including campaign planning and direction, development assessments, strategic planning, board engagement, systems analysis, and interim executive roles. His work has specialized in turnarounds and transformations as well as organizational capacity building. Prior to CCS, he spent a decade managing academic research centers in economics and urban planning at Columbia and NYU.

Within CCS, Kevin was a founding co-chair of CCS Elevate, the firm’s thought leadership initiative designed to apply CCS best practices to the next big questions in philanthropy, and is a member of the Higher Education Practice group. He also is an instructor and course author for CCS Learning and a highly sought mentor to his colleagues.

Kevin holds a bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from Dartmouth College, a Masters in Real Estate Development from Columbia University, and Masters in Music from the University of Edinburgh. He lives in Greater Boston and is an active hiker, musician, arts supporter, and traveler.

Juliet is a dynamic fundraising professional with extensive experience working with nonprofits across the United States. She has a proven track record of navigating and solving organizational challenges, fulfilling project goals, and creating a strong culture of philanthropy. Areas of expertise include strategic planning and visioning, feasibility and planning studies, campaign management, major gift fundraising, and institutional partnerships.

Since joining CCS in 2016, Juliet has partnered with both small- and large-scale institutions that transcend sectors. She has designed, advised, and directed fundraising campaigns with revenue goals ranging from $3 million to more than $500 million. She has conducted successful feasibility studies, led organizational assessments, facilitated focus groups with interdisciplinary teams, and worked closely with professional staff and volunteer leadership to set and achieve mission-critical goals.

As Senior Vice President, Juliet is a thought partner on multiple projects and leads some of the firm’s most complex initiatives, currently serving as Director for the Joint Campaign with Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and RWJBarnabas Health. In this role, Juliet works with institutional leaders and staff to ensure a coordinated and collaborative approach to fundraising for the unified cancer service line. Key areas of focus include pipeline development, with an emphasis on opportunities for collaborative engagement and coordinated volunteer and grateful patient engagement; case development with shared messaging across partner entities; and operationalizing joint systems and processes designed to support the larger institutional partnership.

In addition to her client responsibilities, Juliet participates in several corporate initiatives and is a mentor to new colleagues. She is the former co-chair of CCS’s internal Healthcare Sector Network and has authored a selection of CCS Insights, including articles focused on building campaign momentum and fundraising best practices.

select client parnters

Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, NJ
RWJBarnabas Health, NJ
UNC Health Foundation, NC
Project Sunshine, NY
Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA), NY
The Town School, NY
St. Thomas Academy, MN
St. Louis Children’s Hospital Foundation, MO
Orpheum Theatre Group, TN
St. John the Baptist, OH
St. Peter Claver Catholic Church, KY

Joana joined CCS in 2018 and has since partnered with clients spanning higher education, performing arts, academic medicine, faith, and racial justice. She has led campaign feasibility studies, conducted in-depth development team assessments, directed joint campaign efforts, established comprehensive policies and best practices around database management, and overseen campaigns with nine-figure revenue goals.

For nearly one decade before CCS, Joana worked in institutional giving for Los Angeles Opera and Carnegie Hall and oversaw donor relations at NYU Stern School of Business.

Joana holds a Bachelor of Arts cum laude from Wellesley College, Master of Music in Piano Performance from Longy School of Music of Bard College, and Master of Business Administration from New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business. Joana currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.

Since joining CCS in 2017, Jessica has worked with clients in multiple sectors, including higher education, arts and culture, human services, foundations, and independent schools. She has conducted feasibility studies, designed annual fund and major gift plans, completed in-depth data analysis projects, and has managed all aspects of capital campaigns, from conception to major gifts to launching the public phase.

Jessica also partnered with a firmwide group of CCS consultants to identify how we can better support our clients’ work with volunteers, with a particular focus on how to turn an organization’s volunteers into donors. This is part of Jessica’s deep commitment to creating long-term, sustainable fundraising practices for her clients.

Prior to CCS, Jessica worked at several nonprofits as a fundraiser, volunteer manager, and engagement director. She has 15 years of experience planning and executing successful fundraising campaigns.

Born and raised in the Bay Area, Jessica now lives in San Mateo, CA with her husband. She is the President of the Board of Directors of Palo Alto Players and volunteers with local nonprofits.

Jeremy brings two decades of experience educating, communicating with, and encouraging others to be involved and make a difference in their communities. For the past seven years, he has utilized his experience with gift planning, lead gift cultivation, prospect identification, campaign fulfillment, and board development to help his clients achieve their goals. Jeremy is detail oriented and approaches each project strategically and analytically.

Over the past few years Jeremy has focused his efforts on how to create a gift planning mentality with each client he works with. Jeremy has presented on the ever-evolving topic of gift planning at regional workshops and with CCS Leadership groups. He is a member of the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners, has participated in gift planning conferences, and is a Gift Planning Officer at CCS.

Jeremy specializes in taking on complex projects and bringing them back to the basics to realize success. He has significant operational experience and has been recognized for his ability to explain complex ideas and processes in a way that makes sense at any level. Jeremy has also proven to be a team player by building others up and helping them achieve their goals and dreams while working toward common team objectives.

select client partners

Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee
St. John’s Northwestern Academies
Archdiocese of Chicago
Archdiocese of Milwaukee
Lourdes Academy, Oshkosh, WI
Catholic Services Appeal Foundation – Saint Paul/Minneapolis

With more than a decade of experience working in international philanthropy, Jennifer has worked for organizations focused on community and economic development, poverty solutions, human rights, religion and faith, secondary and higher education, and global health and healthcare. She is continually inspired by the impact nonprofits can make when connected to the necessary resources and capacity.

Jennifer has extensive experience with a variety of development initiatives, including major gifts, capital campaign design and implementation, running a development office, staff training, planning and feasibility studies, and specialist prospect research and strategy. She brings a wide range of cross-sector experience to her work at CCS since joining the firm in 2012.

Jennifer earned an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a BA from the University of Notre Dame. After leading campaigns from the New York City and London offices for many years, she is now based in her hometown of Pittsburgh, where she lives with her husband and two daughters.

Speaking and Community Involvement: