Ask an Expert
2012 First Quarter Topics: Strategic Planning & Visioning
Submit questions to Jennie Arbogash by noon on February 13, 2012.
Answers will be posted here on February 21, 2012.
How It Works
SVP offers a quarterly opportunity for non-profit professionals to send in questions about a specific topic area, such as finance or board development, and receive responses from a select group of local experts. SVP posts the topic area and expert bios and gives non-profit professionals one week to submit questions. Up to two questions per expert will be randomly chosen to receive responses. Those questions will be shared with our experts and they will have one week to respond. Questions and responses will be posted on the SVP website for one month. Please send your questions to Jennie Arbogash by noon on Monday, February 13, 2012.
Our Experts
Dee Andrews
Dee is a writer, marketer and social media strategist who consults with non-profits on marketing and strategic planning projects. She built her strong foundation in strategic planning and creative development during the ten years she worked for advertising and promotion agencies in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Since moving to Boulder 12 years ago, Dee has been involved in the non-profit community as a volunteer, staff and board director. She has been Chair of the Board at The Acorn School for Early Childhood Development, was a Development Associate with The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County, has chaired various fundraising and marketing committees over the years, and has been a partner in Social Venture Partners for many years. Dee lives in Boulder with her husband and two daughters. She enjoys collaborating with non-profits to further their cause and credits her passion for “causes” to her mother’s example and her first walk-a-thon as an 8-year-old 4-Her.
Scott Andrews
Scott is a serial entrepreneur and experienced CEO with extensive operating experience in dynamic, wide ranging industries. He is Chairman and former CEO (9 years) of Picosecond Pulse Labs, a high-tech, venture backed, electronic instruments company located in Boulder, CO. Scott is also Chairman of Doc Popcorn, a rapidly growing Sherpas portfolio company. Prior to this Scott directed international marketing at 20th Century Fox and had a career in brand management at Quaker Oats (he’s the innovator of blue and purple Cap'n Crunch Crunchberries), Hallmark Cards (Everyday Humor Dept), and was Founder of the Hot Sauce Lover's Club. Scott earned a MBA from Columbia University and a BS Economics degree from the University of Kansas. He is an active participant in the philanthropic community as a Partner at Social Venture Partners and Director at Intercambio de Communidades. Scott loves adventure travel and being active outdoors - trail running, mountain biking, long distance hiking, camping, skiing & SCUBA diving. Scott is married and has two young daughters.
Erik Bernstein
Erik P. Bernstein has worked in the non-profit sector for over 30 years as a manager, a staff member, a board member, a volunteer, and a donor. Erik holds Master’s degrees in Hospital Administration (Minnesota, 1988) and Business Administration (Colorado, 1997). He has almost 25 years of experience providing strategic business planning services to both the non-profit and for-profit sectors. Erik’s consulting practice, Starwood Consulting, LLC, provides strategy-oriented consulting services to entrepreneurs, small businesses, and non-profit organizations. He is the co-author of Capacity Check Up, a groundbreaking capacity assessment process for nonprofit organizations. Starwood Consulting, LLC also provides management, training and consulting services to new and established family foundations, and to wealthy individuals who are seeking the best way to structure their family legacies.
Erik is an active volunteer and philanthropist. In addition to his involvement in SVP, he sits on the boards of several foundations and volunteers several hundred hours per year.
Emily Davis
Emily Davis has been working in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors as a staff member, consultant, founder, board member, and volunteer for more than 15 years. She currently serves as the Executive Director for the Colorado Chapter of the National Hemophilia Foundation; consults for non-profits on board development, online communications, multigenerational family philanthropy, and fundraising; and is author of Fundraising and the Next Generation (To be released in March, 2012). She acts in many leadership capacities including as an Editorial Advisory Board member for Nonprofit World Magazine, partner at SVP Boulder County, and more. Her passion for effective leadership has garnered numerous awards and nominations including the 35 Under 35 Community Leaders by San Diego News Network. Her commitment to non-profit organizations is to connect the heart and the head of running non-profits for a more sustainable impact on the communities they serve.
Jenny Hopkins
Jenny has over 20 years of management experience in the electronics industry. Her leadership experience includes all functional areas (marketing, manufacturing, development and sales) as well as general and executive management. Throughout a 22 year career with Hewlett Packard and Agilent Technologies, she had led operations and strategy development for a wide range of products including semiconductors, computer hardware, and test equipment. Prior to co-founding Crescendo, she was Vice President of Agilent's Global Solutions Organization with 4 divisions and over $500MM in sales. She has an MS from Stanford University and BS in Industrial Engineering from North Dakota State University.
Jim Murphy
James has had over thirty years of Domestic and International executive experience with Fortune 500 companies which included Managing Director of Scott Paper for the UK and Ireland and Country President for a Canadian division of Eastman Kodak. He was CEO of two successful leverage buyouts, the Personal Care Group and American Safety Razor Company. He focused on building value through aggressive new product development and introduction, operational turnarounds, right sizing, distribution expansion and International growth. He most recently was CEO of a technical startup until February 2010. Currently he is an Executive Advisor to Moelis Capital Partners in New York, a member of Social Venture Partners Boulder County, the Community Foundation serving Boulder County, Naturally Boulder and Advisor to the Ready to Work project of Bridge House in Boulder. He and his wife Diane moved to Boulder from the metro New York area in September 2010 where they joined their daughter and her husband and their growing family. He has an MBA from Fordham University and a BA from San Diego State University.
Julie Shaffer
Julie Shaffer is the executive director of the Oreg Foundation in Boulder. She is fortunate to be able to combine her personal passions with her professional work in supporting Jewish, environmental, and local community service initiatives. Julie has an interest in the capacity of funders to impact innovation and community connections. She has lived in Boulder for over 30 years during which she has been involved in Colorado's non-profit world as a professional and lay leader. She was a founding board member of the Boulder Jewish Community Foundation. Julie serves on the board of directors of Judaism Your Way, an outreach organization based in Denver, and Joshua Venture Group, an organization based in New York City that creates fellowships for social entrepreneurs. She also serves on the Foundation Professionals Advisory Committee for the Jewish Funders Network and she has been a partner in Social Venture Partners of Boulder County since 2004, twice serving on the PGC. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan. She and her husband, Bruce, raised their three children in Boulder. In her free time Julie enjoys reading, hiking and travel.
Ask an Expert Archives
Download Human Resources & Marketing Q&A from November, 2011.
Download Board Development Q&A from August, 2011.
Download Earned Income Q&A from May, 2011.
Download Social Media Q&A from February, 2011. Also download a Sample Social Media Plan and a Sample Social Media Policy.
Download Financial Management Q&A from November, 2010.
