About Us

If you would like to receive occasional updates about this project, please say so in an email to info@justphilanthropy.org

Steven E. Mayer, Ph.D., Director, Effective Communities, LLC has worked the past thirty-five years with the gamut of civic, public and philanthropic organizations – grassroots groups, donors, foundations, agencies, associations, networks, and systems – to help them achieve greater effectiveness consistent with their mission.  Mayer concentrates on organizations seeking to level the playing field, reduce barriers and otherwise improve conditions that support fair and equitable progress. Before beginning Effective Communities in 1999, he was the founding director (in 1974) at Rainbow Research, Inc., a Minneapolis-based nonprofit that helps foundations and nonprofits focus on organizational effectiveness, program evaluation, and capacity building. Some of his key publications are Building Community Capacity: The Potential of Community Foundations; Successful Neighborhood Self-Help: Some Lessons Learned; Community Philanthropy in Central and Eastern Europe; Better Together: Religious Institutions as Partners in Community-Based Development; Inclusiveness Assessment Tool: A Tool for Assessing Progress in Racial and Ethnic Inclusiveness and Cultural Competence; and Building Community Capacity with Evaluation Activities that Empower. Steve Mayer can be reached at steve@justphilanthropy.org or StevenEMayer@msn.com

Vanessa McKendall-Stephens, Ph.D., FaceValuEvaluation, Inc. has eleven years of local and national experience working as a facilitator, trainer and evaluation consultant with nonprofits, foundations, educational institutions and community-based organizations. Her work focuses on social and community change through addressing issues of access and equity. Using participatory, capacity-building approaches, McKendall-Stephens conducts community research and facilitates organizational processes, development of evaluative practices to assess impact and systematically using evaluation as a learning tool. Vanessa can be reached at Vanessa@facevalu.com

Betty Emarita, President, Development and Training Resources, is a strategic management consultant. She works with nonprofit institutions, foundations, educational institutions, government agencies and businesses to help them absorb new information, manage change, and move concepts to action. Her firm helps clients to attain targeted results in a changing economic environment with increasingly diverse populations. She works with organizations to design and launch bold initiatives, design curricula, conduct evaluations and assessments, and develop and implement strategic plans.  She infuses local action with global thinking in her national and international work. Betty can be reached at bemarita@aol.com

Melissa Johnson, MSW, Field Director, National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy , has over 10 years of experience in the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors. Her work is centered on issues of racial and social justice, giving in communities of color, and next generation leadership in the nonprofit sector. She has successfully advocated, promoted, and furthered the efforts of diversity and cultural understanding in academic and foundation settings. Melissa has a passion for furthering the dialogue, forming solutions, and building the pipeline of leadership in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. She has developed particular expertise in community foundations, donor education, community philanthropy, cultural competency, and giving circles. Melissa can be reached at  mjohnson@ncrp.org

Athan Lindsay, Independent Consultant, has over eleven years of experience working in the nonprofit and philanthropic sector. Working as a program officer and an independent consultant, Mr. Lindsay works with organizations and individuals to help them be more effective in bridging the racial divide. Athan acts as a community organizer, community philanthropist, and concerned citizen interested in broadening civic participation in the decision-making process to solve complex community problems. He has played an active role in promoting the concept of community philanthropy - organizing individuals and organizations to think and act more strategically with their giving to impel greater social change in their communities. Athan can be reached at athan@me.com