Faculty

Alan Abrams
Allan teaches the research sequence in the MNA program: Research and Evaluation Methods, Statistical Analysis, and Research Capstone Seminar. He is nearing his 20-year anniversary on the USF faculty. He earned his P.h.D. in Educational Psychology, specializing in Statistics and Research Methods at the University of California at Berkeley in 1976. He has published research studies on applied statistics, education, and psychology. He transitioned his primary focus area to organizational research in 1985. He has consulted with city, state, and federal governments and numerous private businesses.

Diane Brown
Diane teaches Fundraising and Development in the MNA program in Santa Rosa. She has over twenty-eight years experience working with foundations, nonprofit organizations, and public agencies. As a consultant with The Non-Profit Assistance Group in Sebastopol since 1985, she has provided fund development, strategic planning, merger, facilitation, and board development consulting and training to over 250 organizations. Diane has a Masters in Public Administration with a Concentration in Non-Profit Management from Sonoma State University and a BA in International Relations from The American University.

Jacqueline Carrigan
Jackie was born in New Mexico and received her BA in sociology and psychology, and an MA in sociology, from New Mexico State University. She completed her doctorate in sociology from the University of Colorado-Boulder, with a specialization in demography and inequality. She is currently an assistant professor at California State University-Sacramento in the Department of Sociology and a research analyst at the Institute for Social Research. She has completed numerous applied research projects and program evaluations for the institute. Her academic research has focused on the relationship between social class and health behaviors.

Anthony T. (Tom) Caso
Tom teaches the Legal Issues Affecting Nonprofit Organizations course in the MNA program at the Sacramento Campus. He is currently the Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Pacific Legal Foundation, a nonprofit corporation based in Sacramento. In this position, Tom advises the corporation on issues regarding corporate status, fundraising, and tax law. Tom received his Juris Doctor degree from University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in 1979, and his Masters of Business Administration from Golden Gate University in 1999. In addition to this class, Tom is an adjunct professor at McGeorge School of Law where he teaches State Constitutional Law.

Gregory L. Colvin
Gregory Colvin is a principal at the law firm of Silk, Adler, and Colvin. He received his A.B., magna cum laude, in 1968 from the University of Washington, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He received his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1971, where he served on the Board of Editors of the Yale Law Journal. From 1973 to 1976, he was an attorney in the Seattle Regional Office of the Federal Trade Commission. He is the author of over twenty articles in Tax Notes and the Journal of Taxation of Exempt Organizations, on the subject of nonprofit lobbying and political activities. He is also the author of Fiscal Sponsorship: 6 Ways To Do It Right (Study Center Press, 1993) and co-author of Seize the Initiative and The Rules of the Game: An Election-Year Legal Guide for Nonprofit Organizations (Alliance for Justice, 1996). He has presented numerous seminars on the IRS political and lobbying rules, and he is currently the Co-Chair of the Subcommittee on Political and Lobbying Organizations and Activities of the Exempt Organizations Committee of the Tax Section of the American Bar Association. He serves as general nonprofit counsel to Toastmasters International, and serves on the Board of the San Francisco Foundation Community Initiative Funds.

Tom Courtney
Tom teaches the Financial Management course in the MNA program. He is an experienced consultant and trainer in the field of nonprofit financial management and accounting, having taught over 3,000 nonprofit and government employees and volunteers. He has held senior management positions in the nonprofit sector for over 20 years, formerly serving as Chief Financial Officer for Yosemite National Institutes, Director of Finance for the East Bay Agency for Children, and Assistant Dean of John F. Kennedy University’s School of Management. He currently holds graduate faculty positions at UC Berkeley’s Schools of Social Welfare, Public Policy and Business. Tom received his Bachelor of Science degree from Drake University and his Master of Public Administration degree, with an emphasis on nonprofit administration, from the University of San Francisco.

William Coy
Bill Coy teachers Human Resource Management in the MNA program. He is currently a senior consultant for LaPiana Associates, a leading nonprofit consulting firm. His past work experience includes serving as Director of Human Resources for the Yosemite National Institutes, Director of Human Resources for the Catholic Diocese of Oakland, and Training and Development Coordinator for Industrial Light & Magic, a movie special effects company. Originally trained as a cultural anthropologist, Bill holds graduate degrees in systematic theology and clinical counseling and is a licensed marriage family and child therapist.

Mary Duffy
Mary teaches the Information Systems course in the MNA program. She is a program and technology development consultant with more than 20 years of experience in assessing, designing, and implementing improvement processes in nonprofit organizations nationwide. She currently serves as the Senior Program Manager of the Community Technology Center practice at CompuMentor, a nonprofit that provides technology resources to nonprofits and schools serving low-income communities. Mary is also the owner/operator of her own small business providing strategic technology systems planning and program implementation assistance to community-based organizations and schools. She received her BA in Geography and her MA in Educational Technology from San Francisco State University.

Will Easton
Will teaches the Information Systems course in the MNA program. He is currently Vice President of Operations for Randall Funding and Development, where he supervises a team of researchers and grantwriters developing complex state and federal funding proposals on behalf of public-sector clients around the country. He provides website development consultations to nonprofits and small businesses and serves on the board of Tri-Valley CARES, an anti-nuclear group in Livermore. Will received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Sciences from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of Nonprofit Administration degree from the University of San Francisco.

Paul Elmore
Paul teaches the research sequence in the MNA program: Research and Evaluation Methods, Statistical Analysis, and Research Capstone Seminar. A native Californian who grew up in Petaluma, Paul received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. He taught for Cal State U at L.A., Cal. Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo and the University of Dayton of Minnesota. He worked for eight years evaluating mental health programs for the Contra Cost Country and has taught program evaluation, research methods, statistical analysis, and capstone courses for CPS for over fifteen years.

Kathleen Fletcher
Kathleen teaches Nonprofit Governance and Strategic Planning in the MNA program. She has been a consultant to nonprofit organizations for over 20 years, currently specializing in board development, strategic planning, and evaluation. Her research activities have included studies on board/executive relations, ethnic diversity on nonprofit boards, and nontraditional board structures and practices. She also teaches a course on nonprofit boards to MBA students at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. Kathleen received a Bachelor of Arts degree from UCLA, a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of San Francisco, and a doctorate in education from the University of San Francisco.

Ellen French
Ellen has been providing nonprofit financial management services in the Bay Area/ Sacramento Area for 14 years. She is graduate of the USF MNA Program. Currently, she serves as Associate Director of St. John's Educational Thresholds Center, a nonprofit that serves youth in the North Mission District of SF. She also provides consulting services to nonprofits and serves on a national review team for Head Start Performance Reviews.

Robert Glavin
Bob teaches Nonprofit Fundraising and Development in the MNA program. He provides management consulting services to nonprofit organizations throughout the U.S., specializing in fundraising, strategic planning, facilitation, management, and organizational and leadership development. As a consultant, he works closely with staff and board members to conduct assessments, create plans, increase organizational capacity, raise funds, and execute changes in mission, leadership, management, and advancement. Bob has held executive positions in nonprofit organizations working in education, the arts, health care, social service, and the environment. He holds an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and a master’s degree in nonprofit management from the University of San Francisco.

Paul Harder
Paul teaches the research sequence in the MNA program: Research and Evaluation Methods, Statistical Analysis, and Research Capstone Seminar. Paul is a nationally recognized expert in applied social research with over 25 years experience working with a broad range of nonprofit community-based organizations, government agencies, and foundations. Paul's work has spanned a wide range of service areas, from the arts and philanthropy to services for children and families. In addition to his extensive professional experience, he has served on the boards of many nonprofit organizations including the National AIDS Fund, the Children's Television Resource and Education Center and the Support Center (now CompassPoint Nonprofit Services). Paul holds a B.A., an M.A. in School of Social Service Administration, and an MBA in Public and Nonprofit Management, all from the University of Chicago.

Eliot M. “Skip” Henderson
Skip teaches two courses in the MNA program: Nonprofit Fundraising and Development, and Governance, Strategic Planning, and Organizational Effectiveness. He has been a Certified Fund Raising Executive (Association of Fundraising Professionals) since 1992 and has over 30 years of experience in the management of both business and nonprofit organizations. His current consulting activities include financial feasibility studies, proposal writing, board training and development, and program evaluation. Besides teaching at USF, Skip has taught graduate and certificate courses in nonprofit administration at UC Berkeley and Oberlin College.

John Kenyon
John teaches Information Systems in the MNA Program. He has been helping improve nonprofits for 15 years teaching seminars, writing articles and providing advice about technology. While Information Technology Director at San Francisco?s Management Center, John created and managed the I.T. consulting practice that became techunderground.org. Along with Michael Stein he wrote ?The eNonprofit: a guide to ASPs, internet services and online software?and the recent Nonprofit Quarterly article ?A Decade of Online Fundraising?. He has been a guest speaker at the University of San Francisco and a featured presenter at conferences in the US and England. His clients have included Meals on Wheels, Theater Bay Area and CompuMentor. He earned his B.S. at Emerson College in Boston. Currently he manages Training and Consulting operations at Groundspring.org. For the past 2 years he has traveled around the country teaching nonprofit professionals how to effectively use the internet to communicate, raise funds and advocate for causes.

Ken Larsen
Ken teaches Nonprofit Lobbying and Advocacy course in the MNA Program. He became the first director of the California Association of Nonprofits (CAN) Sacramento public policy office in 2001, after more than 20 years in state government advocacy, including stints with the Friends Committee on Legislation and the California Confederation of the Arts. He spent eight years as executive director of Rural Arts Services in Mendocino. He has served on over two dozen state and national nonprofit boards, grants panels, and advisory committees, been a university lecturer, and edited six nonprofit newsletters. Perhaps his most interesting job in the nonprofit sector was booking the first California tour of North America's only professional horse-drawn theater company.

David A. Levitt
David teaches the Legal Issues Affecting Nonprofit Organizations course in the MNA program. He received his B.A., with distinction, in 1993 from Cornell University, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He received his J.D., cum laude, in 1996 from Harvard Law School, where he served as Technical Editor of the Environmental Law Journal. Mr. Levitt served as Secretary of the Exempt Organizations Committee of the American Bar Association Tax Section from 2003 through 2005. Before joining the firm, Mr. Levitt practiced as an associate with the law firm of Latham & Watkins, focusing in the area of corporate law and the representation of healthcare organizations. Mr. Levitt currently serves as Co-Chair of the ABA Tax Section Intermediate Sanctions Subcommittee, and is a member of the bar in the states of California and New York.

Sonia Melara
Sonia teaches Nonprofit Marketing in the MNA program. She is the founder of CommuniQue World Marketing, a firm specializing in developing and implementing strategic marketing programs to targeted market segments domestically and internationally. Her previous positions include serving as Executive Director of Arriba Juntos, Executive Director of the City and County of San Francisco Department of Women, and, National Director of Leadership Programs for MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund). Sonia received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and a Master of Social Work degree, both from San Francisco State University.

Patricia Nicholson
Patricia (Pat) teaches the Fundraising course in the Program. Pat has been a fund raiser for 28 years. She has held key development positions with large institutions (California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and Stanford University) and has consulted with a wide range of nonprofits including ACLU, VolunteerMatch, Daniel Pearl Foundation, and Museum of Modern Popular Culture. Her writings have been published in Fundraising Management, the NSFRE Journal, and The Futurist. Her hobbies are reading, racquetball, and rowing.

Michael O’Neill
Michael teaches the Introduction to the Nonprofit Sector and the Management and Organizational Behavior courses in the MNA program. He was the founder in 1983 of the Institute for Nonprofit Organization Management at USF and served as director of the Institute for 17 years. He is currently professor of nonprofit management in the College of Professional Studies at USF. A highly respected leader in the nonprofit management education field, he is the author or co-author of several books on the nonprofit sector, including his latest, Nonprofit Nation: A New Look at the Third America (Jossey-Bass, 2002). He is past president of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA). Michael received his doctorate in education from Harvard University and is a former faculty member and dean of the School of Education at USF.

Scott Ormerod
Scott teaches Human Resource Management in the MNA program in Santa Rosa. As owner/principal of Leap Solutions, a management consulting firm located in Santa Rosa, CA, he brings over 23 years human resources, organizational development, and management experience to his consulting practice. Clients sectors served include technology, research institutes, health services, private colleges and universities, utilities, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations. Prior to starting his consulting practice, he worked in the higher education field as a director of human resources. Scott received his undergraduate degree in Business Administration and Business Education from Pacific Union College and holds an MBA in management and marketing from Golden Gate University.

Janice Gow Pettey
Janice teaches fundraising and development in the MNA program. She has over 25 years experience in development, working for the American Red Cross, YMCA, United Way, San Francisco Ballet, and the Girl Scouts. She is currently CEO of the Sacramento Regional Foundation. She is the author of Cultivating Diversity in Fundraising, published by John Wiley & Sons (2001). Janice has a BA from Park University. Her graduate work was at Colorado State University (American Literature), California State University, Hayward (MPA), and Regis University (nonprofit management). She holds the CFRE credential.

Barbara Rosen
Barbara teaches the Legal Issues Affecting Nonprofit Organizations course in the MNA program. She is an attorney with Silk, Adler, and Colvin in San Francisco, a firm specializing in working with nonprofit organizations. She is also a licensed CPA and was previously employed as a tax accountant with Hood & Strong, LLP in San Francisco, advising nonprofit organizations. Barbara received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana University, her Masters degree in Taxation from Golden Gate University, and her J.D. from UC Hastings College of the Law.

Brian Ross
Brian teaches the research sequence in the MNA Program: Research and Evaluation Methods, Statistical Analysis, and Research Capstone Seminar. He has been a long-serving full-time faculty member in the Organizational Behavior and Development Programs at USF and has only recently retired. Brian conducts research and serves as a consultant in human factors psychology as applied to high reliability organizations, in particular, civilian and military aviation. Additionally, he is actively engaged in research promoting quality and effective management in adult education. He earned Doctorate in Education from University of San Francisco.

Bruce Sievers
Bruce teaches the Introduction to the Nonprofit Sector course in the MNA program. He recently retired after almost 20 years as executive director of the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, a private foundation in San Francisco. He has served as chair of the Northern California Grantmakers and on several committees of the Council on Foundations, including two recent delegations to Russia and the Baltics. His work previous to his position with the Haas Fund included serving as executive director of state humanities councils in Montana and California. Bruce received a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and a Master of Science and Ph.D. in political science, all from Stanford University.

Carol Silverman
Carol teaches the research sequence in the MNA program: Research and Evaluation Methods, Statistical Analysis, and Research Capstone Seminar. She is the current research director for the Institute for Nonprofit Organization Management at the University of San Francisco. Her past research has focused on the implications of homeowners associations for civil society and how voluntary organizations run by and for mentally ill, often homeless, individuals affect member outcomes. At the Institute, she conducts research in a wide variety of areas with policy and practice implications for the nonprofit sector. Besides teaching at USF, Carol has taught at UC Berkeley and San Francisco State University. Carol received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University, and her Masters and Ph.D from U.C. Berkeley, all in Sociology.

Timothy Smith
Tim Smith teaches Legal Issues for Nonprofit Organizations in the Program. Tim is an attorney licensed to practice in California and Illinois. He received is B.A. from DePaul University in Chicago and J.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Since moving to Rohnert Park in 1986 he has been involved with several nonprofit organizations, including: Education Foundation of Cotati-Rohnert Park, Rohnert Park-Cotati Library Foundation, Rohnert Park Chamber of Commerce and The Volunteer Center of Sonoma County. He has also been involved in local governmental organizations including the City of Rohnert Park Planning Commission and the Rohnert Park-Cotati Library Advisory Board. He has previously taught courses at Sonoma State University.

Paul Sussman
Paul teaches the Financial Management course in the MNA program. He is chief financial officer of the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation in San Francisco, a $14 million/year nonprofit that develops and manages low income housing in the Tenderloin. He has been a financial management and business planning consultant to nonprofit organizations and a program consultant to foundations. He was the founding President of the Northern California Community Loan Fund, which he directed for 11 years. Prior to that, he developed affordable housing for several neighborhood-based San Francisco nonprofit corporations. Paul received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Harvard University, and a Master of City Planning degree from the University of California at Berkeley.