Dave is Vice President of Advancement at ACHIEVA and an adjunct professor of informatics at Muskingum University’s Master of Information Strategy, Systems and Technology program. A certified Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Master Trainer, he received the Outstanding Fund Raising Executive Award from the AFP Western PA chapter in 2013.

Meridian Swift earned the CVA accreditation in 2005, has won several volunteer program awards and has presented workshops on the state and national level. She poured her passion for elevating volunteer programs into authoring two books, The Volunteer Shelf Life and The Disruptive Volunteer Manager. She blogs on her website, VolunteerPlainTalk.com, and because she can’t stop talking about volunteerism, she podcasts on the Volunteer Plain Talk podcast.

Nadia Lloyd is a Toronto-based artist and entrepreneur who is sewing and donating face masks for front line care workers in Toronto. Thanks to community support, and her entrepreneurial and artistic spirit, she’s been donating 60 masks/week. Nadia shared with me that her sewing skills and entrepreneurial spirit manifested themselves at age 6 when she started sewing pencil case in order to make money for herself.

Tom Ahern is considered one of North America’s leading authorities on donor communications. Tom works with dozens of clients nationwide every year. They include brand names like the Sierra Club and Save the Children, as well as hospitals, universities, foundations, and local charities. He specializes in bequest marketing; donor communications evaluations; direct mail; newsletter interventions; and case statements for big-ticket campaigns.

Scott is an award-winning executive director who is passionate about helping not for profits and associations develop and sustain excellent leadership at the board, CEO/Executive Director, and key staff levels. In the last 15 years, Scott has raised over 25 million dollars with the multiple agencies he has worked with including the Ottawa boys and girls club, the Nanaimo child development centre, and phoenix human services.

Leah Eustace, M.Phil, MInstF, CFRE, ACFRE. After many years as a practitioner, Leah now works as a consultant to the non-profit sector. She partners with her clients to help tell powerful stories through direct marketing, cases for support, legacy giving and social media. She has a particular interest, and extensive experience, in strategic planning and ‘looking under the hood’ of fundraising programs to help tune up revenue-generation activities and build stronger relationships with donors.

Rob Jackson has worked in the volunteering movement for more than 25 years, during which time he has led and managed volunteers and volunteering in education, advice, fundraising and children’s services settings at local, regional and national levels. We will be speaking with him about COVID-19 and its wide-reaching impact on the charitable sector, and what volunteer managers can do during this time!

As a professional fundraiser Sam works closely with generous donors to impact some of the most vulnerable people in her community. Sam’s extensive experience, for close to three decades, in fundraising, media and municipal politics has created an impressive network of community and business leaders. Sam is the creator and radio host of “An Hour to Give” on 1310 News, Ottawa. This show highlights non-profit organizations in Ottawa, Canada.

In this episode, I sat down with Dwaine Taylor - a development and social impact professional with experience in strategic planning, program development, cross-industry impact partnerships, and major gifts fundraising.

Alice L. Ferris, MBA, CFRE, ACFRE, founding partner of GoalBusters, has more than 25 years of professional fundraising experience. Alice was the 90th professional to receive the Advanced Certified Fundraising Executive (ACFRE) credential. She currently serves on the ACFRE Credentialing Board, the AFP Northern Arizona Board, and the Bolz Center for Arts Administration at the Wisconsin School of Business Advisory Board, among other volunteer commitments.

Brett Tackaberry is a digital solution professional that uses his tech skills for the greater good. He has 15 years of experience helping people and companies do business online, starting with his co-founding 76design, a digital agency. Brett is currently the CTO at Rebel, where he is responsible for the technical team and product direction. In our conversation, we discussed modern agile, tech for good, and complex problem solving.

Kate Bahen, CFA is the managing director for Charity intelligence and is a retired equity analyst. Charity Intelligence researches Canadian charities for donors to be informed and give intelligently. Charity Intelligence’s website posts free reports on more than 740 Canadian charities. Today over 300,000 Canadians use Charity Intelligence’s website as a go-to source for information on Canadian charities reading over 1.3 million charity reports.

Michael Sangster is an award winning executive and community leader with over 30 years of experience. Michael has an unprecedented talent for activating change, cultivating relationships and rescuing troubled partnerships through skillful negotiation and consensus building.

Evan Patterson is the executive director of Kids Up Front Ottawa, an organization that distributes donated tickets for a variety of arts and sports events to children and youth who otherwise would not have the opportunity. As an avid skier and snowboarder; a Calgary 40 under 40, he helps create memories that last a lifetime, often planting seeds for a child’s future interests or career. For Evan, he’d love to see Kids Up Front become the Ticketmaster for non-profits.

Parvathi “Parv” Santhosh-Kumar is Senior Director of Impact at StriveTogether, a national movement of 70 regions working to advance equitable outcomes for children and families from cradle to career. She is a Results Count leadership practitioner who coaches teams of cross-sector leaders to dismantle structural barriers to opportunity and achieve impact at scale towards economic mobility for 10.5 million youth.

Kate Swift is the Manager of Community Engagement at Extend- A - Family Waterloo Region. For almost a decade, Kate has been focused on Community Development and the social sector; building opportunities for people to connect and thrive is her jam!

Dr. Sonika Kainth is a family physician in Toronto. Her expertise lies in combining her knowledge of medicine with a passion for addressing the systemic issues that negatively impact health.

Brian Toller is President of Tolcor Investments Ltd., a private investment firm. He is also Co-Owner of Cognitive Workshops, which provides cognitive therapy training for mental health professionals across Canada and in the UK. On a community level, Brian is on the board of Community Foundations of Canada. He was on the board of the Ottawa Community Foundation (OCF) for 10 years, three as Board Chair and four as Chair of its Investment Committee.

Brian Toller is President of Tolcor Investments Ltd., a private investment firm. He is also Co-Owner of Cognitive Workshops, which provides cognitive therapy training for mental health professionals across Canada and in the UK. On a community level, Brian is on the board of Community Foundations of Canada,  which represents the 191 community foundations across Canada.

Leah Eustace, M.Phil, MInstF, CFRE, ACFRE and currently the President of Blue Canoe Philanthropy. Leah is an idea-generator and strategic thinker with a wide and varied background in charitable fund development. After many years as a practitioner, Leah now works as a consultant to the non-profit sector. She partners with her clients to help tell powerful stories through direct marketing, cases for support, legacy giving and social media.

Leah Eustace, M.Phil, MInstF, CFRE, ACFRE and currently the President of Blue Canoe Philanthropy. Leah is an idea-generator and strategic thinker with a wide and varied background in charitable fund development. Over the past 25 years, Leah has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for organizations around the world.

Spending 18 years in the sector, Paul has been a philanthropic advisor with Scotiabank and spent over a decade with charities like the University of Toronto and the Catholic Church of Greater Toronto. He teaches fundraising with the postgraduate fundraising program at Georgian College. He has been a speaker at almost every Association of Fundraising Professionals Chapter in Canada and has been featured in the Globe and Mail and Forbes on the topic of personal branding and networking.

Spending 18 years in the sector, Paul has been a philanthropic advisor with Scotiabank and spent over a decade with charities like the University of Toronto and the Catholic Church of Greater Toronto. He teaches fundraising with the postgraduate fundraising program at Georgian College. He has been a speaker at almost every Association of Fundraising Professionals Chapter in Canada and has been featured in the Globe and Mail and Forbes on the topic of personal branding and networking.

Sarah is a 25-year-old entrepreneur born and raised in Ottawa. During the day, she works at a local tech company dedicated to changing the face of healthcare. But on evenings and weekends, she is a wedding planner dedicated to making life stress-free for local brides and grooms to be! Sarah has enjoyed every opportunity for learning and personal growth that philanthropy has provided her along her journey! 

Sarah is a 25-year-old entrepreneur born and raised in Ottawa. During the day, she works at a local tech company dedicated to changing the face of healthcare. But on evenings and weekends, she is a wedding planner dedicated to making life stress-free for local brides and grooms to be! Sarah has enjoyed every opportunity for learning and personal growth that philanthropy has provided her along her journey!