18^th Annual Conference on Sustainability Strategies

Oct. 14-15, 2010 • Desert Willow Conference Center • Phoenix

Conference Presenters

Kay Sprinkel Grace, Transforming Philanthropy, LLC

Kay Sprinkel Grace, CFRE, is a San Francisco-based organizational consultant, providing workshops and consultation to local, regional, national and international organizations in strategic development planning, case and board development, staff development, and other issues related to leadership of the fund raising process. Her B.A. (Communications-Journalism) and M.A. (Education) are from Stanford University, where she served as the first woman Volunteer Chair of the Stanford Fund. She has received Stanford’s highest award for volunteer service, the Gold Spike, as well as their Associates’ Award, Outstanding Achievement Award, Award of Merit, and Centennial Medal.

She speaks frequently at regional, national and international conferences including CASE, AFP, AHP and DMA. In recent years she was a featured presenter at the Fundraising Institute Australia, the Swedish Fundraising Council and the International Fund Raising Conference in The Netherlands, to name a few.

She is the author of six books, including Beyond Fund Raising: New Strategies for Nonprofit Innovation and Investment (John P. Wiley, 1997; second edition, 2005); and High Impact Philanthropy: How Donors, Boards, and Nonprofit Organizations Can Transform Communities, co-author, with the late Alan Wendroff (John P. Wiley, 2001).

Robert W. Malone, Esq., Senior Tax Law Specialist, IRS Exempt Organizations Division

Robert W. Malone, Esq. is a Senior Tax Law Specialist with the IRS Exempt Organizations Division, working in Exempt Organizations Rulings and Agreements, Guidance. He is a Senior Conferee-Reviewer, has worked on various guidance projects, and has spoken at previous conferences on exempt organizations and unrelated business income tax. Prior to joining the Exempt Organizations Division he was in private practice in the Washington metropolitan area and worked extensively with tax-exempt organizations. He is licensed to practice law in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia and has appeared in appellate matters before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Virginia. Mr. Malone is a graduate of Widener University School of Law, where he received a JD.

Clara Miller, President & CEO, Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF)

Clara Miller is President and CEO of Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF), a national leader in nonprofit, philanthropic and social enterprise finance. NFF, which Ms. Miller created and has run for over 25 years, serves as a "philanthropic bank" serving both social sector organizations and their funders. A 2007 Fast Company Social Capitalist award-winner, NFF has helped thousands of nonprofit organizations strengthen their financial health and improve their capacity to serve their communities. NFF is a federally certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). Directly and with others, NFF has leveraged $1 billion of capital investment into nonprofits, and also has provided over $ 200 million in direct loans. Other products available to both nonprofits and funders include workshops, business analyses, loan guarantees and multi-year contracts to build balance sheet strength.

Ms. Miller was named among The NonProfit Times "Power and Influence Top 50" consecutively from 2006 to 2010. She is a board member of GuideStar, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, Enterprise Community Loan Fund and is Treasurer of the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation Board. She serves on the Independent Sector's Nonprofit Programs and Practice Committee as well as the Bank of America National Community Advisory Council.

Ms. Miller was a Clinton appointee to the U.S. Treasury's Community Development Advisory Board, initially as a member and later as its Chair.

Ms. Miller speaks and writes extensively about nonprofit capitalization and finance and has been published in numerous periodicals, such as The Financial Times, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, and Stanford Social Innovation Review.

Virginia G. Richardson, Senior Tax Law Specialist, IRS Exempt Organizations Division

Virginia G. Richardson is a Senior Tax Law Specialist with the IRS Exempt Organizations Division, working in Exempt Organizations Rulings and Agreements, Guidance. She has experience in EO Rulings and Agreements, as a Senior Conferee-Reviewer, and has worked on various guidance projects. She is the principal author of a revenue ruling on ancillary joint ventures and unrelated business income tax. She has spoken at previous conferences on exempt organizations and unrelated business income tax, and has co-authored a number of CPE articles on UBIT and other exempt organizations topics. She was a member of the EO Colleges and Universities Industry Specialization Team. Ms. Richardson is a graduate of the University of Chicago and the Georgetown University Law Center, where she received a JD and an LLM in taxation.

Steven G. Seleznow, ED. D., President & CEO,
Arizona Community Foundation

Steven G. Seleznow was named President & CEO of the Arizona Community Foundation in January 2010, a position he will formally assume on March 1. Before being named to the post, Seleznow served for four years as deputy director for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s U.S. Program education initiative, leading grantmaking for states, districts and networks throughout the United States. Prior to joining the Gates Foundation, Seleznow served as partner and Chief Investment Officer at Venture Philanthropy Partners in Washington, D.C., where he developed VPP’s philanthropic investment strategies, cultivated and managed the selection of new investments in nonprofit organizations, and leveraged resources and community assets to create investment partnerships.

With more than 30 years of leadership and management experience in public education, Seleznow led the Montgomery County, Md., Public Schools as deputy superintendent for education, and the District of Columbia Public Schools as chief of staff and interim superintendent. Prior to these appointments, he served in a wide range of district administrative and leadership posts.

Seleznow earned a doctorate and master’s degree in administration, planning, and social policy from Harvard University, a Master of Arts degree from the University of Maryland, and is a graduate of Boston University.