2010 Conference Speakers

Featured national speakers   NAPC speakers and moderators

See also:  2010 Conference Overview, Schedule, Registration, Hotel

Community Planning for "The New Normal"

National perspectives, and what communities are doing to respond to the new realities
April 16-18, 2010  .  Embassy Suites Old Town  -  Alexandria, Virginia

Featured national speakers

...in alphabetical order:

Clarence Carter   Rick Cohen   Melanie Herman   Irv Katz  

Allen Lomax   Julie Merz   Heidi Shierholz   David Thompson

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Clarence H. Carter
Director,
District of Columbia Department of Human Services (DHS)

Washington, D.C.

(Excerpted from the DHS website:)  Clarence H. Carter has been the Director of the District of Columbia’s Department of Human Services (DHS) since 2007. The Director of the Department of Human Services is a cabinet-level position with responsibility for all income assistance support and related welfare-to-work employment programs as well as homelessness services, child care services, adult protective services, teen pregnancy prevention efforts, and other social services.
 
Prior to his DHS appointment, Mr. Carter served as the Deputy Administrator for the Food Stamp Program with the United States Department of Agriculture. This $30 billion federal program is the first line of defense against hunger in America, providing assistance to more than 20 million low-income, elderly, and Americans with disabilities in purchasing food. The Food Stamp appointment was his second leadership position in the Bush Administration; previously Mr. Carter was appointed to serve as Director of the Federal Office of Community Services (OCS). As the agency's chief executive, he provided direction and leadership in the provision of community-based services. For the past 20 years, Carter has had the distinction of being appointed to serve a Presidential administration and with three Governors. In January 2000, Virginia Governor James S. Gilmore appointed Mr. Carter as the first Executive Director of the Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation.
 
Mr. Carter has also served as Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Social Services where he managed a workforce of 1,500 employees and an annual operating budget in excess of $1 billion. The hallmark of his social services tenure was the successful implementation of the Commonwealth's landmark welfare reform initiatives. Fully implemented two years ahead of schedule, the program was instrumental in cutting the public assistance rolls by more than half, from an all time high of 74,000 families receiving AFDC/TANF, to a 30-year low of 31,000. In the first five years of the program, more than 25,000 public assistance recipients obtained gainful employment, earning in excess of $200 million.

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Johnette Hartnett
Director,
National Disability Institute

Washington, D.C.


 

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Melanie Herman

Executive Director,
Nonprofit Risk Management Center
 

Leesberg, Virginia

(Excerpted from the NRMC website:)  The Center provides training, technical assistance and informational resources to help nonprofits take a practical approach to managing risk so that they can fulfill their missions and stay out of trouble.

A prolific author of a more than a dozen comprehensive (and comprehensible!) guides on various risk management topics, Melanie has delivered countless workshops, seminars, and keynote presentations for organizations simply unwilling to leave success to chance. Melanie earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Urban Affairs from American University (Washington, DC) and a Juris Doctor from George Mason University (Arlington, VA). She is a member of the District of Columbia Bar Association.

In August 2007 Melanie was named to the 10th annual NonProfit Times Power & Influence Top 50, a list of "executives and thinkers ... selected for the impact they have now and for the innovative plans they are putting in place to evolve the charitable sector." In August 2008 Melanie was again recognized and is among those on The NPT Power & Influence Top 50, Class of 2008.  More
 

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Irv Katz
President & CEO,
National Human Services Assembly (National Assembly)

Washington, D.C.

The National Assembly is the national association of more than seventy of the nation’s leading nonprofit human service and community development organizations. Ranging, alphabetically, from AARP to the YWCA, the members and their affiliates collectively reach every community and virtually every household in the U.S.—as donors, volunteers and consumers of services. As president of the Assembly, Katz oversees a dozen professional peer councils (i.e., learning communities of CEOs, public policy VPs, etc.); affinity groups on youth development and family strengthening; collaborative public policy efforts; and diverse collaborative initiatives, including leading sites on the web for information on positive youth development (the National Youth Development Information Center www.nydic.org) and family strengthening policy (www.nassembly.org/fspc).

Prior to joining the National Assembly in 2001, Katz enjoyed a twenty-three year career in the United Way movement. During his tenure as president of the United Way of Central Indiana, he and the superintendent of the city’s largest school district established Bridges to Success, a community-school partnership that began in six schools and is now in over forty and has been replicated or adapted in other communities around the country. From 1997 to 2001 he served as senior vice president for community impact at United Way of America, with responsibility for community building, public policy, national grants and initiatives, a national mobilization for children, research, a Federal emergency food and shelter program, and outcome measurement.

Positions held earlier in his career were with the Indianapolis Jewish Community Relations Council and a federation of settlement houses in Indianapolis. He later served on the boards of the Jewish Welfare Federation of Greater Indianapolis and the Indianapolis Jewish Community Relations Council.

Katz holds a bachelor of arts in English and a masters in social work from Indiana University. He currently serves on the boards of Generations United, BBB Wise Giving Alliance, Leader to Leader Institute, and 501 c Agencies Trust, as a Trustee for America’s Promise Alliance, and as a member of the Research and Policy Council for MENTOR (National Mentoring Partnership) and the Federal Mentoring Council. He has been recognized as one of the Nonprofit Power & Influence 50 by The Nonprofit Times. 

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Allen Lomax
Consultant

Alexandria, Virginia

Allen is an independent consultant after retiring from the federal government with 34 years of service. Most of his federal service was with the U.S. Government Accountability Office where he led studies on performance measurement, strategic planning, national and community indicator systems, and pandemic influenza. He co-edited the book Meeting the Challenges of Performance-Oriented Government, co-authored a chapter in the Performance-Oriented Government:  An Agenda for Practice and Research, and served on the board of advisors and as a peer reviewer of the book, International Handbook of Practice-Based Performance Management.  

He is a past president of Community Indicators Consortium and is currently leading the Consortium’s national project on integrating community indicators and government performance measures.

Allen is serving his community as chair the Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition of Alexandria.  He is a member of the Executive Steering Committee of the Partnership for a Healthier Alexandria, Alexandria’s Homeless Services Coordinating Committee, and the Alexandria City Manager’s Advisory Group. He serves on the Board of Directors of the United Way of the National Capital Area and chairs its Community Impact Committee.

He holds a Masters in Public Administration from George Mason University and an undergraduate degree from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.
 

Conference speakers and moderators from the
National Association of Planning Councils

...in alphabetical order:

Greg Arcaro   Martha Blaine   Chantel Bottoms   Phil Dessauer  
Benjamin Kirby   Patrick Linnane   Suzanne Puryear   Vanessa Sarria
Valerie Venezia   Ben Warner   Susan Weinrich

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Gregory D. Arcaro
Executive Director,
Community Planning Council

Yonkers, New York

NAPC BOARD MEMBER

Greg is a city planner who has worked in the community development and housing field for the private, non-profit and public sectors since 1968. He has been Executive Director of the Community Planning Council of Yonkers for three years. Continuing the Council's tradition since its founding in 1920, he is managing its community service and planning projects. One of those projects is “55Plus Yonkers” – a program for the 47,000 older adults in Yonkers who make up 25% of the city’s population. Prior to coming to CPCY, Greg worked with the private sector to develop affordable housing, with the City of Yonkers as its Director of Affordable Housing and Planning Commissioner, and with Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation as its Director of Multi-Family Housing. He also taught real estate and city planning at Lehman College and Purchase College as an adjunct instructor. Greg graduated from the New York University’s Graduate School of Public Administration with master’s degree in City Planning, and from the Institute of Real Estate Management and Holy Cross College. He is a member of the American Planning Association, the East Yonkers Rotary, the Mercy Center Board of Advisors, and the Westchester Italian Cultural Center.

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Martha T. Blaine
Executive Director,
Community Council of Greater Dallas

Dallas, Texas

NAPC PRESIDENT

Martha Blaine, MBA, joined the Community Council of Greater Dallas (CCGD) as Executive Director in 1994, bringing 42 years of nonprofit leadership with performing arts, human services, museums, and international touring exhibits. CCGD, with a budget of $13 million and a staff of 75, is engaged in a wide variety of essential initiatives connecting people to the health and human services they need. The Council administers the Dallas Area Agency on Aging, and manages the regional 2-1-1 Information and Referral Center. Current initiatives include preventing childhood obesity; assuring all children are fully immunized by age two; preventing at-risk children and youth from being arrested; planning services for seniors; transportation for seniors and people with disabilities who don’t drive; and conducting outreach and enrollment activities for people seeking Texas state benefits. CCGD played a critical role in the disaster response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Gustav and Ike. In 2009, the Dallas Business Journal recognized Martha Blaine as a “Changemaker” with their Women in Business Award.
 

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Chantel Bottoms
Program Associate,
Community Action Network

Austin, Texas

CHAIR, NAPC FORWARD

For the past two years, Chantel has worked to research health and human services issues in the Austin area through the Community Action Network. She received a B.S. degree in Child Development from the Florida State University and a M.A. in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago. She is leading NAPC Forward, a new initiative using social media to connect and inform NAPC colleagues across the country and support their efforts to use new online tools for community planning and action.

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Phil Dessauer
Executive Director,
Community Service Council

Tulsa, Oklahoma

NAPC BOARD MEMBER

Phil Dessauer, Jr. has been the Executive Director of the Community Service Council since 1984. The Council is a non-profit, health and human services research and planning organization which serves as a leadership catalyst for improved community action to best support people in need, and stimulate greater investment in human capital—helping individual and families better care for themselves. Phil has been part of many state and local planning groups addressing school/community partnerships, maternal and child health, homelessness, mental health care, family support and preservation, child abuse prevention, long term care, and other issues. In recent years he has focused much of his attention on early childhood education and school readiness; he served as resource staff for the Governor’s Task Force on Early Childhood Education in 2000, and continues to help support the new Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness. The Community Service Council established the Metropolitan Human Services Commission, a partnership which has coordinated policy and resource planning among the major health and human services funders and decision makers in the Tulsa area since 1981. MHSC is a key part of the broader Tulsa infrastructure, including the Council, the United Way, and several highly progressive service organizations, that helps assure a proactive and effective capacity in addressing emerging needs. Phil's "The Perfect Storm" analysis of eight major converging trends has shaped community planning in Oklahoma and nationally. A founding member and past President of NAPC, he consults regionally and nationally on community planning addressing health, education and human service concerns. He has a B.A. degree in political science from Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, and an M.A. in Urban Studies and Community Development from the University of Tulsa.

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Benjamin J. Kirby
Communications Manager,
Juvenile Welfare Bureau - Children's Services Council

Pinellas County, Florida

NAPC FORWARD BLOG MANAGER

Benjamin J. Kirby is JWB's Communications Manager, and has been with JWB since 2007. His job is to work with every JWB Department to effectively communicate JWB's message of helping children and families throughout Pinellas County. Prior to joining JWB, he worked for the American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP), a healthcare education organization serving the needs of kidney patients and their families.  From 2003 through 2006, he served as the Communications Director for the Parkinson’s Action Network (PAN), an advocacy group dedicated to finding better treatments and a cure for Parkinson’s disease. From 1993 through 2001, Benjamin held a variety of positions in the Clinton Administration, including serving as the first Public Affairs Officer of the U.S. Department of Justice's United States Parole Commission. He also served in the First Lady’s White House Millennium Council, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Office of Presidential Personnel. He received an undergraduate degree in Political Communication from George Mason University.

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Patrick Linnane
Managing Partner,
Patrick Linnane and Associates

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

CONFERENCE PROGRAM CHAIR  .  NAPC BOARD MEMBER

Patrick Linnane is beginning his third year of an encore career. He retired from his position as Executive Director of the Planning Council for Health and Human Services in Milwaukee, WI two years ago and is currently the Managing Partner of Patrick Linnane and Associates.  He has spent nearly 40 years in planning, managing, and evaluating publicly and privately funded human services delivery systems from community perspectives. He was a NAPC board member for four years, and is program chair for this conference.

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Suzanne Puryear
President,
The Planning Council

Norfolk, Virginia

CONFERENCE LOGISTICS CHAIR  .  NAPC BOARD MEMBER

Suzanne Puryear is the President of The Planning Council, a regional nonprofit organization that has been planning, developing and managing human services programs for over 60 years. She has over 30 years of experience in program development, service delivery and system redesign in the human services arena, and has worked on the state and local levels and in the public and private sectors. As the Director of Human Services for the City of Norfolk, Suzanne led an urban public agency through major public policy reforms. Upon leaving the public sector, she served as an administrator for a private provider agency, developing customized child welfare and mental health services for states and municipalities. Later, as Executive Vice President of Synapse Consulting, she assisted nonprofit organizations and local government agencies in strategic planning and organizational development. Suzanne holds an undergraduate degree in Political Science and a Masters of Public Administration from Old Dominion University.  She is an alumnus of the Senior Executive Institute at the University of Virginia and the CIVIC Leadership Institute.  

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Vanessa Sarria
Executive Director,
Community Action Network (CAN)

Austin, Texas

NAPC BOARD MEMBER

Vanessa Sarria has served as the Executive Director of the Community Action Network (CAN) 2007. CAN is a collaboration of governmental agencies and public/private organizations working to improve the social, health, educational and economic well-being of the community. CAN enhances awareness of issues, strengthens partnerships, connects planning efforts, supports collaborative strategies to maximize resources and impact, and mobilizes action by reporting on progress made to improve the community’s well-being. She serves in an advisory capacity to a broad range of organizations and  coalitions working to collaboratively address issues impacting the overall well-being of the community. Prior  to  her work with CAN, she served as a career center manager for Workforce  Solutions - Capital Area, workforce development coordinator for the City of Austin, planner for Austin/Travis County Integral Care, policy analyst for the National Public Health and Hospital Institute, and consultant to the National Association of Public Hospitals in Washington, DC. She received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas and a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in health policy from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, New York.

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Valerie Venezia
Vice President of Membership and Marketing,
New York Council of Nonprofits (NYCON)

Albany, New York

NAPC FORWARD

At NYCON since 1999, Valerie currently oversees membership development and membership services and directs membership marketing and communications. She is responsible for group purchasing, corporate relationships and sponsorships, program development, and customer service for NYCON’s over 1,700 members. She also oversees NYCON educational events such as the Build A Better Nonprofit Training Series and the Money for Mission Conference. She develops NYCON’s social media marketing projects, publishes articles and blogs for the New York Nonprofit Press and others, and has developed an introductory course to social media and web 2.0 for nonprofits. Valerie has worked as a “cultural librarian” at eGroups (now Yahoo Groups) and has a background in desktop publishing and database management. She is a member of NTEN, The Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of New York City (YNPN), and Women in Development of NENY. She has served on the website committee for Governance Matters, on the Advisory panel for First Nonprofit Companies, and currently serves on the Westchester Nonprofit Technology Council and the Membership Committee of the National Council of Nonprofits. Valerie attended New York University and San Francisco State University and has a B.A. in Psychology. She is an alumnus of Columbia Business School´s Institute for Nonprofit Management Executive Leadership program.

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Ben Warner
Deputy Director,
Jacksonville Community Council, Inc. (JCCI)

Jacksonville, Florida

NAPC BOARD MEMBER

Ben Warner is the Deputy Director for Jacksonville Community Council Inc. (JCCI). Before joining JCCI in 1998, Ben worked in the mental health field and with homelessness issues, for which he was awarded the Michael R. Wilson Social Justice Award in 1997. At JCCI, Ben has staffed community-based public policy studies and advocacy efforts. In addition, he is responsible for JCCI’s annual Quality of Life Progress Report and Race Relations Progress Report. He has served as president of the National Association of Planning Councils and the Community Indicators Consortium. Ben completed his undergraduate studies in Sociology at Brigham Young University.  He received his Masters in Social Work from Florida State University.
 

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Susan Weinrich
Vice President of Organizational and Community Development,
New York Council of Nonprofits (NYCON)

Albany, New York

NAPC BOARD MEMBER

Susan works with nonprofits and communities to understand and effectively address community needs. She recently worked with the NYS Office for the Aging to present a workshop series entitled Community Organizing and Coalition Building: Strategies for Creating Stronger & Elder Friendly Communities. Susan has a Master’s Degree in Community Economic Development from the Southern New Hampshire University. 
 

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