Catherine Casper  

As a young person, Catherine had the opportunity to be involved in starting an small nonprofit that focused on finding temporary (foster) homes for abandoned cats and dogs living in a local animal shelter. This program allowed animals to have a second chance at finding their forever home. From this experience Catherine decided to be a part of changing animals lives! Catherine has worked at two large animal shelters in the Denver/Front Range region and hopes to start her own nonprofit organization focusing on Humane Education in the next three years. Catherine graduated from Utah State University with a degree in Psychology and Animal Science in 2006. Her hobbies include hiking, jewelry making, spending time with her dogs and attempting to cook!    

Michelle Kenney

Nardos Ghebregziabher  

Nardos Ghebregziabher is a senior at University of Denver, majoring in Economics and International Studies. She is originally from Ethiopia and knows two Ethiopian languages. Her passion for nonprofit organizations developed in her college years. She believes in giving a hand to the disadvantaged, the same way others have done for her. Nardos is very optimistic and willing to travel any distance to change lives. She hopes to work for an international-based nonprofit in the future.    

Annie Vassallo

Annie Vassallo graduated from Eckerd College in May 2010 with a Bachelor's Degree in Human Development and International Relations and Global Affairs. Her inspiration for enhancing the global community through the aid of exceptional nonprofit organizations began on her initial service trip to Nicaragua in 2008.  After Annie's first encounter with an underdeveloped country, she was committed to exploring the political and historical influences in various countries, focusing on their populations and how the nonprofit sector will have an ineluctable effect on the communities they serve. Annie has since traveled to Ukraine, South Africa, Cambodia and Switzerland in hopes of discovering and understanding alternative ways to maintain basic human rights in the most desolate places. She is currently an intern for CRC to improve her knowledge of the idiosyncrasies within all nonprofits, and aspires to pursue a joint doctoral degree in Public/Global Health.

To assist the Mountain Steering Committee in the planning of Rural Philanthropy Days, Jennifer Lau has been hired as the event coordinator. 

Jennifer Lau is a true Colorado Native, having grown up on the Western Slope in the small town of Parachute. She loves and embraces all of the unique attributes that make up each and every small town in the State.

In 2001, Jennifer moved to the Vail Valley, where she began her career banking and finance with WestStar Bank, a local Colorado based bank. For the past 6 years she has held the position of Assistant Vice President and Branch Manager with American National Bank in Avon.

Through her work with the bank, Jennifer discovered her love for event planning. She has assisted and planned multiple corporate events to encompass employee parties, fundraisers, and celebrations for VIP clientele. Over the years within the Vail Valley, she has branched out planning a few weddings as well.

In 2010, she decided that it was time to start working towards turning her passion for event planning into a career. She attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst and earned her Certificate in Meeting and Event Management.

At the start of 2011, she formed her event planning firm, Bella Weddings & Events, LLC. Inspired by a trip she took to Italy in the fall of 2010, Jennifer chose to name her firm using the word Bella, meaning Beautiful in Italian.

The motto behind Jennifer's approach to event planning is "Failure to plan is a plan for failure."

If you would like more information or would like to support the work of CRC in rural Colorado, please contact Lindsay Moore or 303.623.1540 X17.

The NEWLY researched & revised Colorado Grants Guide is the premier fundraising tool specifically created for nonprofit & community-based organizations in Colorado.

The Online Grants Guide will provide you with:

• Continuously updated funder profiles
• Access via an Internet connection from CRC's homepage with login ID and password
• Immediate access to a foundation's website & most recent 990 (when available)
• Favorite funders tool to quickly return to the funders that best fit your organization
• Notes field that allows you to conveniently record your own comments

Click here to order your Colorado Grants Guide online subscription or call 303.623.1540 X10 for multi-user pricing.

Need more information about the Colorado Grants Guide online?  CRC provides a monthly "Finding Funding on the Web" training to teach you how to most efficiently use the Colorado Grants Guide to develop an organized, focused approach to research and optimize your search efforts. Save valuable time and resources and master the Colorado Grants Guide online!

"Finding Funding on the Web" trainings will take place:

• March 9, 2011 from 9-11am
• April 12, 2011 from 1-3 pm
• May 18, 2011 from 1-3 pm  

Click here to register today.

CRC works to build great organizations that are well managed, accountable for performance, and deliver on their promises. Good management practices are fundamentally the same for all organizations, but how these practices are put to work varies widely among and within organizations. CRC's approach is hands-on and practical, resulting in skills, tools and strategies you can put to work immediately. Our mission is simple - to help you fulfill your mission!

CRC can help you with:

• Strategic Planning
• Program Evaluation
• Conflict Management
• Organizational Assessment
• Facilitation
• Executive Coaching
• Customized training for board and staff

CRC begins its customized services with an in-depth conversation to:

1. Analyze and assess your needs
2. Clarify your expectations and explain our approach and design
3. Create a "scope of work" or a list of activities, time-line and costs for the customized service

Email consulting@crcamerica.org today to learn more about how to increase your organization's capacity.

Free Webinars on Strategic Alliances & Effective Evaluation!

Strategic Alliances

Presented by Renny Fagan, President, Colorado Nonprofit Association

Strategic alliances are an effective and smart way to stretch resources while meeting the growing demands in your community. Learn about the many types of alliances from collaborations to partnerships. From this webinar you will take away: 

• An understanding of the many types of strategic alliances and the pros and cons of each 
• Tools to decide which style of strategic alliance is right for your organization 
• How to establish a relationship with government

March 15 | 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. | Free! | Register Now

Effective Evaluation

Presented by Richard Peterson, Economic Recovery and Community Outreach Coordinator, Colorado Nonprofit Association

Evaluation can help you improve your existing programs, communicate outcomes to funders and donors, and prepare you for your next grant application. This evaluation course will cover the basics of creating an outcomes based evaluation plan for your programming and best practices that will help communicate the outcomes of your programs.

• Discuss and dispel common evaluation myths 
• Get started on your own outcome focused evaluation plan and basic methods of collecting data 
• Use your evaluation data to effectively communicate your outcomes

March 22 | 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. |Free! | Register Now