Introducing the 2021 Classy Awards Leadership Council

The collective knowledge of our Leadership Council makes the Classy Awards a distinction unlike any other. This honorary board of industry experts, which represents the larger spectrum of the social sector, collectively determines the annual Classy Awards Winners, and today we’re proud to announce the 2021 Leadership Council that will be hand-selecting this year’s award recipients.

Our Leadership Council incorporates a diverse array of expertise and cause affiliations with representation from nonprofit organizations, corporations, foundations, academic institutions, and many more. These individuals were selected to apply their unique perspectives into the judging process and help determine this year’s Social Innovation Winners.

Learn more about these thought leaders and their respective areas of expertise in the following breakdown of our 2021 Leadership Council.

Academic Institutions

• His work examines the challenges of performance measurement, accountability, and governance facing organizations with a social purpose
• Author of Measuring Social Change: Performance and Accountability in a Complex World, which received The Alliance for Nonprofit Management’s Best Book Award for 2020

• Leads the innovative efforts at National University for military, veteran, and military family educational degree programs
• First woman selected to be President & CEO of Veterans Village of San Diego, and is a 2019 George W. Bush Presidential Center Stand-To Veterans Leadership Program Scholar

Nonprofit Leaders

• Has more than 30 years of experience in humanitarian relief and development
• Brings a strategic focus on addressing the policies and systems that perpetuate global poverty

• Designs and launches new initiatives, drives organizational strategy, and helps chart the future of Feeding America
• Prior to her current role, she spent 15 years in for-profit and higher education institutions with a focus in organizational development and leadership effectiveness

• Leads a team of over 200 to advance Dr. Jane Goodall’s vision and the mission of JGI
• Has direct experience establishing charitable entities in the U.S., UK, and Canada

• 43 years of experience as a development professional, nonprofit leader, and LGBTQ+ community activist
• Received the 2021 Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Pinnacle Award for Excellence in Nonprofit Management

• Double-certified neurologist and preventive medicine specialist with a background in public health, working toward the transition to replace the use of animal experimentation with superior human-based testing methods
• Previously served as deputy director of the U.S. Army Traumatic Brain Injury Program, developing the Army’s brain injury prevention and treatment strategies for soldiers

• Helped co-found Oncology and Kids, Inc. with his colleagues in 2020 who now also collectively oversee Camp Reach for the Sky, a free camp program for kids affected by cancer that is one of only three Gold-Ribbon children’s oncology camps in California
• Previously served as CEO of The Seany Foundation, a pediatric cancer foundation

• Job Opportunities Task Force’s youngest CEO
• First African American female to lead the 24-year organization

• Founder of All Star Code, co-founder of Give Blck, and Treasurer of her family grantmaking entity, The Reginald F. Lewis Foundation
• Award-winning journalist of “Lonely at the Top,” a memoir of her father, Reginald Lewis, the first African-American to build a billion-dollar business

• Has 20 years of nonprofit executive leadership experience
• Prior to his current role, he served as executive director and chief operating officer for The Salvation Army National Capital region in Washington, D.C.

• Her work enables NetHope members to be more effective and efficient through the use of technology
• Previously served as CIO at Medair, CIO of World Vision Canada, and Deputy CIO of World Vision International

• Leads all aspects of philanthropic fundraising and partnership development on behalf of the United Nations World Food Programme
• The work of the organization was recently recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to combat hunger and bettering conditions for peace by preventing the use of hunger as a weapon of war

• 13 years of experience at Cleveland Clinic
• Responsible for day-to-day operations of the Philanthropy Institute, including budgeting and financial analysis, strategic planning, and talent management

• Responsible for a team of over 300 focused on building out diverse revenue portfolios and driving improved health outcomes for mothers and babies
• Prior to her work with March of Dimes, she focused internationally on the impacts of social and environmental factors on the health of women and their families

• Her career has been dedicated to connecting people and places through performing arts
• Selected in 2009 as one of Puget Sound Business Journal’s Women of Influence and nominated in 2015 as one of Metro Vancouver’s YWCA Women of Distinction in the category of arts, culture, and design

• Oversees a team of nearly 160 staff in executing a diverse portfolio of fundraising programs and activities
• She leads City of Hope’s evolving 100-plus year fundraising platform, all the while maintaining its status as a Charity Navigator 4-star rated organization

• Leads World Central Kitchen’s emergency and disaster relief efforts and long-term impact projects
• Personally helped create and lead #ChefsForPuertoRico after Hurricane Maria that served nearly 4 millions meals to people in need

• Has extensive tech expertise from his years of startup experience in commerce, healthcare, and defense
• Prior to his current role, he founded a software consulting company and led software development for projects for the Department of Defense

• Personally focused on positioning The Trevor Project to serve more young people than the 20,000 youth served today
• Previously oversaw The Trevor Project’s crisis services program, when chat and text services expanded to 24/7 for the first time in the organization’s history, and oversaw the operations portfolio when Trevor launched an artificial intelligence partnership with Google

• 10 years in this role leading large teams in the four main areas of accounting, investments, donor development, and revenue cycle
• Her leadership has increased development revenue by more than 400% to nearly $275 million

• Coaches executives on how to lead through change
• Concurrently, she is also the founder and senior partner of a practice that helps executives and emerging leaders forge the capabilities and relationships to accelerate growth and expand impact

Data and Knowledge Centers

• Within his role, he crafts raw data into insights, practices, and a shared narrative for the field
• Previously served as president and CEO of GuideStar, leading its effort to unite with Foundation Center to form Candid in 2019

• The organization works to provide donors and the charities they love with tools, ratings, and information needed for informed decisions and investments
• Spent 15 years with Microsoft prior to Charity Navigator, the last 10 of which as their public-sector chief technology officer

Corporation

• Leads the engineering product strategy for nonprofits and the United Nations
• In addition, he is in charge of the Microsoft Philanthropies programs for digital enablement and the company’s cloud software donation strategy

• Prior to Salesforce, he worked in financial services as managing director and global head of marketing in iShares and Index Investments at BlackRock
• Founded Parks and Records in 2007, a purpose-driven independent record label

• 28-year career with the airline
• Oversees all Accounting and Financial Reporting, SOX, Tax, and Controller Operations

Software

Security Software

• Leads Okta for Good, the company’s corporate social impact initiative
• Prior to her role, she held various corporate social impact roles at Zynga, Yahoo, and Warner Bros.

Software & Data Quality Engineering

• Co-founder of Ultranauts, an award-winning quality engineering firm with employees in 29 states across the U.S., 75% of whom are on the autism spectrum
• Ultranauts has been named a FastCompany World Changing Idea, MIT SOLVE Challenge Winner, and Interbrand Breakthrough Brand

Global Movement

• Co-founder of Ultranauts, an award-winning quality engineering firm with employees in 29 states across the U.S., 75% of whom are on the autism spectrum
• Ultranauts has been named a FastCompany World Changing Idea, MIT SOLVE Challenge Winner, and Interbrand Breakthrough Brand

• Instrumental in shaping the global Giving Tuesday movement
• Additionally, he is the founder and CEO of With Intent, an international consumer marketing agency

Agencies

International Agency

• Has expertise in international development, foreign policy, diplomacy, and advocacy
• Oversees Millennium Challenge Corporation’s signature grant investment vehicle to reduce poverty through economic growth

U.S. Foreign Assistance Agency

• Leads the agency’s digital transformation, an organizational-wide effort to harness the power of new technology to improve the lives of those furthest behind
• Prior to this, he established an in-house “Zero Hunger” innovation accelerator and created an award winning crowdfunding smartphone app, ShareTheMeal

Media

• Has more than 35 years of experience in the publishing industry
• Named one of the most influential technology journalists by Technology Marketing from 1997 to 2001

• Has 15 years of experience in investment banking
• In addition to her role, she hosts “The Reconstruction,” a podcast about moving capital towards justice

Foundations, Public Charities, Grantmaking

• Helped create and implement the Whole Foods Market healthy eating program
• Runs the Whole Foods Market Let’s Talk About Food Nutrition and Culinary Education Center in Detroit

• Responsible for supporting the sourcing and selecting of strategically aligned investments in the Skoll Foundation’s portfolio
• Led the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship that has invested in over 120 global organizations, and co-led Skoll’s Portfolio Intelligence practice aimed at developing insights on portfolio impact

• Played a major role in Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation’s ability to provide 16 million meals to children and families in the Oakland area in 2020
• Previously served as CEO of the Starlight Children’s Foundation, the nation’s leading organization working to transform the hospital experience for millions of seriously and terminally-ill children across the U.S.

• Has worked in nonprofits for over 20 years building new programs and organizations within the sector and supporting emerging leaders
• Founder of JustFund.us, an innovative online portal that streamlines the grantmaking process for funders, founder of Prism, a national nonprofit news outlet, and Founder of Young People For, a national leadership development organization helping young professionals create change

• Part of the team that designed and launched the My Brother’s Keeper initiative
• Appointed special assistant to the president and senior director of cabinet affairs for My Brother’s Keeper, managing the initiative and interagency Task Force at the White House

• Has over 20 years of experience that spans the nonprofit sector, consulting, and financial services
• Most recently led work related to the digital transformation, service excellence, and supporting individuals in effective giving at Fidelity Charitable

• Responsible for furthering international awareness and appreciation of the significant contributions of Latin music and its makers to the world’s culture
• Leads the Foundation’s ongoing programs, which provide college scholarships, educational programs, and grants for the research and preservation of its rich musical legacy and heritage

• Has 20 years of experience designing, implementing, and leading global programs, research, and evaluation across four continents
• Currently serves on various funding and advisory boards, including World Benchmarking Alliance, and has recently been elected president of the American Evaluation Association for 2022

• Has been with the foundation for 10 years
• Previously served as the vice president of communications and assessment at Venture Philanthropy Partners

Impact Investor, Venture Philanthropy

• Served as Acumen’s CFO for three years
• Developed her own independent consulting practice with a focus on inspiring organizations in the social sector

• This firm donates half of its profit to charities via Transform Capital Foundation
• In addition to her role, she is also the director of strategic initiatives for the Batten Institute of UVA’s Darden School of Business

Since 2009, the Classy Awards have brought together social sector leaders and influencers to recognize the achievements of thousands of nonprofits and social enterprises addressing our world’s greatest challenges. This year, our esteemed Leadership Council will work together to honor the organizations that continue to move our society forward and combat today’s social and environmental challenges.

If you haven’t already, submit your nomination application by May 11 for the opportunity to share how your team embraced new ideas, creative models, and the latest technologies to better serve the world at large.

Nominate Your Organization Today

Classy Awards Finalists will be announced at the Collaborative: Virtual Sessions on June 9, and Winners will be announced September 28.