Worried About Making
Payroll, Replacing Board Members, or Just Keeping the Doors Open?

My second pay period as a brand-new Executive Director, the bookkeeper called to tell me we couldn’t make payroll.

I was stunned. I’d assumed the board knew what they were handing me — that if the organization were in financial trouble, they would have said so during hiring. But they didn’t know either. They’d assumed the previous ED had left things strong and that I’d simply pick up where he left off, no worries. The truth was, no one was watching the finances — because no one understood whose job it was.

These were smart, accomplished people. The problem was never talent. It was clarity. So I brought in help, trained my board, built a real plan — and we went from barely making payroll to a surplus, new staff, and the city and state calling us because they trusted us with their funding.

That’s the work I’ve done ever since. For more than two decades, I’ve walked alongside executive directors and boards through crisis, growth, and everything in between. As a licensed social worker with a master’s degree, a national conference speaker, and someone who’s facilitated 100+ board sessions, I don’t offer theory — I offer what actually works, because I’ve lived it and taught it on the frontlines.

Unlike the big-name consultants, I’ve served the smaller and mid-sized nonprofits where the ED wears ten hats and every dollar counts. And when you work with me, you actually get me — not an associate, not a franchise. I built my company on honesty, integrity, and straight talk. My faith shapes how I work: with grace, and a deep belief that no organization is beyond hope.

I know how much the mission asks of you. I’m here to help you give your best — without giving yourself away.