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- Dennis McMillian, President
Executive Consultation, Board Training, Strategic Planning, Issue-Specific Facilitation, Infrastructure & Capacity Building, Collaboration
- Laurie Wolf, MNPL, CFRE. Vice President of Programs
Executive Consultation, Board Training, Strategic Planning, Issue-Specific Facilitation, Fundraising/Resource Development
- Michael Walsh, MPA, Ph.D, Vice President of Operations
Executive Consultation, Board Training, Strategic Planning, Issue-Specific Faciliation, Business Planning
- Maria Luisa A. Antonio, BSA, Staff Accountant
- Andrew Cutting, Partner Relations Manager
- Chris Kowalczewski, MPH, MArch, Pre-Development Program Manager
- Vicki Lewis, Education Coordinator
- Nancy Puckett, On- Call Administrative Assistant
- Rebecca Savidis, Human Resource Manager (Health Insurance Initative)
- Raju Shankar, Director Shared Financial Services/ Foraker Group CFO
- Gretchen Specht, Controller, Shared Financial Services
- Olesya Sweet, Project Accountant
| Staff Biographies |
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| President and CEO |
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Dennis has devoted his professional career to helping nonprofit organizations better meet the needs of their communities. For 21 years he served as a development officer, and then as a CEO with United Way in numerous communities around the country. He came to Alaska in 1992 to lead the United Way of Anchorage. Since moving to Alaska, he has helped build the state’s philanthropic infrastructure through his work with United Ways across the state and through his support in developing the Alaska Community Foundation. He is a strong advocate for Alaska’s nonprofit sector. In 2001, Dennis led the effort to start The Foraker Group with the mission of building sustainability and organizational capacity in Alaska nonprofits. During his career, he’s trained thousands of professionals and volunteers, spoken at numerous conferences and consulted across America, Canada, Asia and Russia. He serves on committees at United Way of America and the Council on Foundations. He sits on the board of Nature Conservancy in Alaska and on the national board of Camp Fire, Inc. |
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Vice President, Programs |
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Laurie has worked in the nonprofit sector for more than 20 years. As Vice President, Laurie co-creates and provides both community-wide and one-on-one training for Board of Directors and staff in the areas of board governance and service, strategic planning, collaboration and resource development. In the past five years, Laurie has facilitated over 100 strategic planning sessions and has worked with more than 5000 board and staff of Alaska nonprofits. Additionally, she coordinates all of the educational opportunities that are provided at the Foraker Group and leads the various activities related to creating a Culture of Philanthropy in the State of Alaska on behalf of The Foraker Group. Laurie brings to The Foraker Group an expertise in the creation and growth of fund development programs including infrastructure development, donor cultivation and stewardship. She also has expertise in database management, writing and editing of paper and web based communications and grants, and cultivation and training of boards of directors. Laurie holds a B.A. degree in English, from Scripps College and an Executive Master's degree in Not-for-Profit Leadership from Seattle University. She is one of a handful of Certified Fund Raising Executives in the State of Alaska. She has served on a variety of boards and worked as a volunteer in arts, environmental and human services organizations. In 2005, Laurie was named one of Alaska's Top 40 Under 40 by the Chamber of Commerce, and was named Outstanding Professional in Philanthropy in 2006, by the statewide Association of Fundraising Professionals. Laurie was born in Anchorage.
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Vice President, Operations |
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Mike has lived in Alaska for 30 years, most of that time in Fairbanks. He holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Public Administration from Purdue University, a Master's Degree in Public Administration from the University of North Texas, and a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Mike served in the administration of Governor Tony Knowles and Lt. Governor Fran Ulmer as Deputy Director of the Fairbanks Office of the Governor, and has worked extensively with local nonprofit boards and agencies on a wide range of policy and management issues. He is a past President of and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the nonprofit Fairbanks Community Food Bank, and is President of the Board of Directors for Dance Theatre Fairbanks, a small nonprofit. He is a long-time Adjunct Professor of Political Science for both the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Alaska Pacific University. As Vice President, Mike oversees The Foraker Group's Fairbanks Office, has overall responsibility for development and provision of our business planning services, provides training to boards and staff on a variety of topics, including lobbying and advocacy and outcomes evaluation. To date he has facilitated dozens of strategic planning sessions, facilitated the development of scores of nonprofit business plans, worked with multiple organizations considering various types of mergers and collaborations, and trained hundreds of nonprofit boards and staff of Alaska nonprofits. |
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Staff Accountant |
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Maria has lived in Alaska for over 7 years and is a new addition to the staff since January 2008. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting from University of Saint Louis, Philippines. As a Staff Accountant, her main responsibilities include Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable and Payroll Processing for Foraker Group and other nonprofit Foraker Partners. Before joining Foraker Group, Maria held an Accounts Receivable Technician position with Cook Inlet Tribal Council. She also worked for 6 years in banking while living in the Philippines. For the last four years, Maria is the Treasurer for Maharlika Inc., a Filipino Nonprofit organization. She has played an integral part in the success of Maharlika's fundraising efforts to award scholarhships to graduating Filipino-Americans twho want to attain higher education. Maria also volunteers as an interpreter. |
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Pre-Development Program Manager |
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Chris has lived in Alaska for over 30 years, much of that time in rural Alaska. She started her career here as a health care planner and administrator, working primarily with Alaska Native tribal organizations. A mid career change to architecture resulted in a new focus on the planning and design of health care facilities. Prior to joining The Foraker Group she spent ten years as a consultant, assisting organizations with the planning of new facilities and managing the design and construction phases. She has been responsible for projects from Barrow to Metlakatla and is familiar with conditions throughout the State. Chris brings broad experience in project development and a commitment to sustainable design to her current role in helping nonprofits prepare for successful capital projects. |
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Education Coordinator |
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Vicki came to Alaska in June 1996, from Aberdeen, Scotland. She attended Manchester Teachers Training College and since then has taught in schools in England, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Scotland and Anchorage. She began working for United Way of Anchorage in 2000, initially as a Loaned Account Manager and then became the Director of Agency Relations until 2003. Vicki was an original member of the first cohort of the Foraker Certificate in Nonprofit Management. Vicki's volunteer work has been with local Anchorage schools, American Heart Walk, GIFT and Day of Caring. Vicki joined the staff of The Foraker Group in February 2004. |
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Human Resource Manager (Health Insurance Initative) |
| Much of Rebecca's experience has been developing human resources programs with fast growing, startup and technical companies. In addition to her human resource management background, Rebecca is also experienced in recruiting, developing training programs, analyzing organizational structure and producing operating procedures. Rebecca attended the University of Utah where she earned her degree in communications with an emphasis on alternative dispute resolution. She is certified as a mediator upon completing a post-graduate certificate program. She also earned an Associates degree in experiential education. When Rebecca is not working hard in HR she is caring for and running her 33 sled dogs in Willow, Alaska. |
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Director of Financial Shared Services |
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Raju has worked with a wide range of Alaska based businesses for over four years. He currently oversees the books of 25+ Alaskan nonprofits with annual budgets ranging from $100,000 - $2,500,000 in revenue. Raju brings a diverse background of business with experience in Governmental, Nonprofit and Construction Accounting. He attended Concordia University in Portland, Oregon where he obtained a degree in Accounting and Business Administration along with minors in E-Commerce and Marketing. Prior to his work with The Foraker Group, Raju worked as a traveling auditor and a controller for an Anchorage based Native Corporation. He currently owns two small businesses located in Anchorage. |
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Controller, Shared Financial Services |
Gretchen comes to the Foraker Group via Cook Inlet Tribal Council (CITC) Shared Financial Services. Between working at CITC and starting at the Foraker Group she was on hiatus to realize one of her life goals of working in Antarctica. She and her husband worked two austral summer seasons at McMurdo Station, Antarctica and traveled to New Zealand, Nepal, Thailand, and the US.
Gretchen has lived the majority of her life in Alaska. She graduated from Chugiak High School and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Five years at CITC providing financial statements and analysis to a diverse group of clients gives her a strong non-profit accounting foundation. Providing services to non- profit clients in the state of Alaska brings her a sense of community and purpose to her work life. She will be focusing on the big picture of growing Shared Financial Services responsibly to allow us to provide services to more non-profits while maintaining our standards of excellence.
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Project Accountant |
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Olesya was born and raised in Provideniya, Russia and came to Alaska after graduating from high school. Upon graduating from University of Alaska Anchorage with a BBA Finance, Olesya worked at Science Applications International Corporation for five years as an Office Manager and Billing Analyst. She was also fortunate to travel to her home town and surrounding areas with American doctors as a translator and assistant, which she enjoyed very much and hopes to be able to do again in the future. In 2006, Olesya joined the nonprofit sector by taking a Project Accountant position at Cook Inlet Tribal Council and then moving to The Foraker Group in December 2007. Olesya enjoys her work at The Foraker Group and enjoys being a part of this important organization. |
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