NFF Board of Directors

Elizabeth C. Sullivan
NFF Board Chair
Vice President, Community Investment
Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan

Jim Bildner
General Partner
New Horizons Partners, LLC

Maria E. Blair
National Vice President, Strategy
American Cancer Society

Antony Bugg-Levine
CEO
Nonprofit Finance Fund

Andrew B. Cohn
NFF Board Secretary
Partner
Kaplin Stewart Meloff Reiter & Stein, P.C. 

Tessie Guillermo
President and CEO
ZeroDivide

Lisa Hall
President and CEO
Calvert Foundation

Kimberly Johnson
Partner
KPMG LLP

Robert S. Robbin
Partner
Holland & Knight, LLP

Ruth Salzman
CEO
The Russell Berrie Foundation

Janet Thompson
Citibank
(Retired)

David Vollmayer
NFF Board Treasurer
President
Liberator Management Company, LLC

Founder: Clara Miller
Clara Miller founded NFF in 1984, and held the role of President & CEO through February 2011.

Staff

NFF MANAGEMENT
Antony Bugg-Levine: CEO
Elizabeth Hall Ortiz: Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer
Leon E. Wilson: Executive Vice President

Sonia Montoya: Senior Associate
Kelly Goff: Executive Assistant to Executive Vice President
Joanne Sullivan: Executive Assistant to COO

EASTERN REGION
William Pinakiewicz: Vice President
Emily Triggs: Coordinator

WESTERN REGION
David Greco: Vice President

MIDWEST REGION
Dione Alexander: Vice President
Kevin Sweeney: Director

CAPITAL PARTNERS
Craig Reigel: Managing Director
Julia Bromka: Manager

FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION
Elizabeth Hall Ortiz: Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer

FINANCIAL SERVICES
Norah McVeigh: Managing Director
Anne Dyjak: Chief Credit Officer & Vice President
Brendan Beier: NMTC Compliance Manager
Barbara Libove: Portfolio Manager
Catherine Lozaw: Portfolio Manager
Gilda Moussazadeh:Senior Loan Administrator
Nancy Nichols: Closing Specialist

NATIONAL SERVICES
Rodney Christopher: Vice President
Kristin Giantris: Vice President
Emily Guthman: Associate Director
Peter Kramer: Senior Associate
Rebecca Thomas: Vice President


To view staff by location, please click on the relevant NFF office.

New York
Boston
Newark, NJ
Philadelphia
Detroit
San Francisco
Los Angeles
National

(Photo credit: Jai Catalano)

Antony Bugg-Levine: CEO Antony Bugg-Levine is the CEO of Nonprofit Finance Fund, a national nonprofit and financial intermediary dedicated to mobilizing and deploying resources effectively to build a just and vibrant society.  In this role, Mr. Bugg-Levine oversees more than $225 million of capital under management and a national consulting practice, and works with a range of philanthropic, private sector and government partners to develop and implement innovative approaches to financing social change. Mr. Bugg-Levine writes and speaks regularly on the evolution of the social sector and the emergence of the global impact investing industry. He is the co-author of Impact Investing: Transforming How We Make Money While Making a Difference (Wiley, 2011). As a Managing Director at the Rockefeller Foundation, Mr. Bugg-Levine designed and led the Foundation's initiative, Harnessing the Power of Impact Investing, and oversaw its program-related investment portfolio. He is the founding board chair of the Global Impact Investing Network, and convened the 2007 meeting that coined the phrase “impact investing.” Previously, Mr. Bugg-Levine was the Country Director for Kenya and Uganda for TechnoServe, a nongovernmental organization that develops and implements business solutions to rural poverty. Earlier in his career, as a consultant with McKinsey, he advised Fortune 100 clients in the financial services and health care sectors and helped develop new frameworks for incorporating social dynamics into corporate strategy. A native of South Africa, he served in the late 1990s as the acting communications director at the South African Human Rights Commission and as a speechwriter and media strategist for the African National Congress's 1999 election campaign. He is an associate adjunct professor in the Social Enterprise Program at the Columbia Business School. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, Ahadi.

Dione Alexander: Vice President, National Capital Asset Development
Dione Alexander is Vice President, National Capital Asset Development. Ms. Alexander is responsible for product development, planning, and implementation for loan and capital products and services and associated internal and external client relations. Ms. Alexander's career experience includes service as Vice President, Corporate Banking and Loan Administration Officer, Comerica Bank, President and CEO, Greater Detroit BIDCO (CDFI), Director, Macomb County (MI) Procurement Technical Assistance Center, Department Executive, Wayne County (MI) Departments of Economic Development and Environment, and Managing Director, Detroit Minority Business Development Center.

Dione is a graduate of the School of Business and Industry at Florida A & M University and the Graduate School of Banking at Louisiana State University. She is also a certified small business consultant. She serves on a number of boards and committees to include the W. K Kellogg Foundation's Mission Driven Investing Committee, Northern Initiatives (CDFI), National Community Development Institute, and Nonprofit Enterprise at Work.

Rodney Christopher: Vice President, Consulting Services
Rodney Christopher serves as Vice President, Consulting Services at Nonprofit Finance Fund, where he has been employed from 1992 to 1996 and again since 2001. As one of NFF's most broadly experienced team members, Rodney's clients are both nonprofits and foundations, and he divides his time between custom engagements, client coaching, public presentations, product development and training NFF staff. In the five years between his two stints at NFF, Rodney worked in television production — as Story Coordinator at All My Children and as a Script P.A. on Saturday Night Live. He has an MS in Urban Policy Analysis and Management from The New School and a BA summa cum laude in Social Sciences with a minor in dance and theater from Bard College at Simon's Rock (the nation's first early college), which established a scholarship fund in his name in 2006 to help its students afford study abroad. Rodney is the Board Treasurer for Fractured Atlas, a technology-driven national service organization for artists and arts organizations.

Archie Colander, Jr.: Director, New York & New Jersey
Archie Colander, Jr. is the Director, New York & New Jersey. His responsibilities include managing NFF's advisory services, lending services and new business development activities throughout New York and New Jersey. His experience combines over 30 years of management in both the nonprofit and corporate sectors. He has provided economic and community development leadership, resources and technical support to small businesses, CDC's, and social services organizations in his banking roles. Most recently he was with PNC Bank, where he served as Vice President, Community Development, focusing on business development and lending to nonprofits in PNC's Northeast Territory. He has served on numerous boards and is currently Chair of the Urban League of Essex County, a member of Newark LISC Local Advisory Committee and Jersey City Episcopal CDC board. Mr. Colander holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Trinity College, Hartford, CT.

Anne Dyjak: Chief Credit Officer & Vice President, Financial Services
Anne Dyjak is the Chief Credit Officer and Vice President at Nonprofit Finance Fund.  She oversees credit quality nationwide for NFF, working with a complement of lenders in the underwriting and structuring of loans and management of credit risk.  Ms. Dyjak joined NFF in 2005 following a 20 year career in financial services. She has held diverse positions including regional Chief Operations Officer and Vice President at Wachovia Bank. She has extensive experience in management, analysis, strategic planning, risk management and organizational development.  Her career has included responsibilities ranging from the origination of consumer and commercial loans, credit and operational risk management, and the resolution of distressed loan and real estate portfolios.  Prior to joining NFF, she served in the non profit sector as the Finance and Administration Director of a grassroots environmental organization. Ms. Dyjak is active in community service and has served in various board officer capacities as well as an outings leader with the Sierra Club Inner City Outings youth outreach program. Ms. Dyjak earned a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics from Cook College, Rutgers University.

Kristin Giantris: Vice President
Kristin Giantris is Vice President for the Northeast Region. She is responsible for managing and overseeing delivery of NFF's services and all marketing and fundraising in metropolitan New York and New England. Ms. Giantris' professional experience combines over 15 years of economic development and debt financing in both the nonprofit and for profit sectors. Most recently, Ms. Giantris was a Vice President at Citigroup Global Markets Inc., where she managed cross-border, US-dollar debt issuance for various financial, corporate and governmental clients. Prior to her time at Citigroup, Ms. Giantris served as a multi-country Program Officer in Washington, DC and as a Country Director in Albania for the nonprofit firm ACDI/VOCA, managing agribusiness technical assistance and small business development programs. Ms. Giantris earned a Masters Degree in Public Affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and a BA in Political Science from Kenyon College.

David Greco: Vice President, Western Region
David Greco is Vice President for the Western Region and manages NFF's Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles and San Francisco offices. He is responsible for leading NFF's lending, capital grants, asset-building programs, and customized consulting services in the Western United States. Mr. Greco brings more than 20 years of experience in building nonprofit programs and earned income ventures. Prior to joining NFF, he served as Vice President of the Youth Leadership Institute and built YLI's national training and consulting services helping to bring youth and adults together to create more just and sustainable communities. For five years, Mr. Greco served as Senior Marketing Manager at Jossey-Bass Publishers where he launched a new social leadership publishing line. Mr. Greco has also served as the Corporate and Foundation Relations Manager for the National Wildlife Federation, and Director of Programs for the Horatio Alger Association working with economically disadvantaged youth. He is the author of "Nonprofit Financial Management" featured in "Nonprofit Management 101: A Complete and Practical Guide for Leaders and Professionals."

Mr. Greco is active in the community and serves in a number of volunteer positions including the San Francisco Chapter of the Sierra Club, Full Circle Fund, and a Board Member for Next Step Homes, a national affordable housing network. Originally from Philadelphia, Mr. Greco earned his M.A. in Political Science from Villanova University and B.S. in History & Politics from Drexel University.

Steve Hollingsworth: Vice President, Finance & Administration
Steve Hollingsworth is Vice President, Finance & Administration for NFF. His career spans some 30 years in the financial service arena. Over the course of those 30 years he has worked in public accounting, for-profit sector treasury management, and non-profit sector accounting and finance. Mr. Hollingsworth has directed the accounting departments at Victim Services (now Safe Horizons), The American Foundation for the Blind and the American Academy in Rome. He currently serves on the Advisory Committee of NAMI-Rutgers. Mr. Hollingsworth has a Bachelors Degree from Queens College and has taken numerous accounting and finance courses at the University of Southern California, U.C.L.A, and California State University at Northridge.

Jennifer Kawar: Director, Capital and Strategic Partnership Development
Jennifer Kawar is Director, Capital and Strategic Partnership Development for Nonprofit Finance Fund. She was previously responsible for lending activity in NFF's Western Region. Before joining NFF in 2009, Jennifer worked as a consultant to financial services companies and private investors, evaluating acquisitions and sourcing capital. She has more than a decade of experience in Business Development, Underwriting, Portfolio Management and Credit Administration for financial institutions including Bank of America and GE Capital. Jennifer began her career in finance as a Securities Analyst for TIAA-CREF, a nonprofit Fortune 100 financial services organization.

Jennifer is committed to increasing access to capital and financial literacy in underserved sectors and communities. She co-chairs the Emergency Loan Fund Committee for Northern California Grantmakers and serves on the Housing Advisory Committee for the City of Berkeley, California, and on the Development and Audit Committees at Black Pine Circle School.. She received an MBA from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business, and has dual undergraduate degrees in English and Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley.

Jessica LaBarbera: Director, California Market
Jessica LaBarbera currently works as Director of the California Market and in that role leads program growth and product delivery in California. She is responsible for identifying market needs and opportunities and meeting business development goals, as well as overseeing new regional initiatives and rolling out new products and services in the region. Having previously served as an Associate Director for the Northeast Region of NFF, Ms. LaBarbera plays an important role in integrating the organization's national initiatives to those of the California market. Previously, Ms. LaBarbera was a Vice President at Citi Community Capital, a division of Citigroup Global Markets Inc., where she provided structured financing and relationship management to national nonprofit and Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) clients. Additionally, Ms. LaBarbera has served as a consultant to both municipal government social service agencies and nonprofit advocacy organizations and direct service providers. Ms. LaBarbera holds an MPA in Nonprofit Management from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and a BA in Sociology from the University of Virginia.

Norah McVeigh: Managing Director, Financial Services
Norah McVeigh is responsible for NFF's financial products which include loans, New Market Tax Credits, credit enhancement and asset-building products. She oversees product quality, and manages NFF's credit processes and its $60 million loan portfolio,$150 million NMTC product and other financial product portfolios. She is also responsible for the capitalization of the loan fund, raising capital and managing investor relations. She also works across the organization to develop new products and key partnerships. Before joining NFF in 1993, she was Associate Director and a Loan Specialist for the Housing Development Fund in Stamford, Connecticut. Previously, she worked for International Voluntary Services, where, among other positions, she administered a program in Ecuador that provided assistance to rural communities. Ms. McVeigh holds a Masters in Public and Private Management from The Yale School of Management and a BS from Georgetown University.

Elizabeth Hall Ortiz: Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer
Elizabeth Hall Ortiz joined NFF as Chief Operating Officer in August 2004.  In 2010 she assumed the additional responsibilities of CFO.  A 13-year veteran of Citibank, N.A., a member of Citigroup, Ms. Ortiz brings to NFF a broad range of operational and management experience in both retail and private banking, strategic planning and financial control. In addition, as Citibank's Director of CRA & Fair Lending, Ms. Ortiz was responsible for the coordination of Citibank's activities in low- and moderate-income communities across the United States and in Puerto Rico. Just prior to joining NFF, Ms. Ortiz worked for the New York City Department of Education, managing its process improvement initiatives as part of the restructuring of New York's public school system. An active member of Habitat for Humanity, among other philanthropic groups, Ms. Ortiz displays a sincere commitment to serving her community.

Ms. Ortiz has a Bachelors degree in Economics from the University of Michigan and a Masters degree in Business Administration from the Harvard Business School.

William Pinakiewicz: Vice President, Eastern Region
William Pinakiewicz is responsible for managing NFF's financial services, advisory services and new business development activities throughout the six-state New England region. Mr. Pinakiewicz's professional experience includes over 35 years in management and finance in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors. In his nearly 20 years at Citigroup, Mr. Pinakiewicz's finance experience included senior banker roles in public finance, corporate finance and private banking, both domestically and in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Both before and after Mr. Pinakiewicz's career in finance, he was involved in education and other mission-driven nonprofits as an educator, administrator, financial advisor and trustee. Mr. Pinakiewicz has served as Treasurer and Investment Committee Chair of the Williamstown Community Chest, a funder of social service and youth organizations in Western Massachusetts, and was a Finance Committee member of the Berkshire Country Day School Board of Trustees. Mr. Pinakiewicz completed both his M.A in Educational Administration and M.B.A. in Finance at Columbia University and holds a B.A. in Psychology from Williams College where he serves as a Leadership Gift Chair in the college's annual Alumni Fund Campaign.

Craig Reigel: Managing Director, NFF Capital Partners
Craig Reigel is Managing Director, NFF Capital Partners. He joined NFF after serving as a project based consultant to the nascent Capital Partners business for over a year. The core of his work is attracting essential patient capital to high potential nonprofits, improving the allocation of capital within the sector. Mr. Reigel comes to NFF with a long history of solving the dilemmas of growth in diverse environments. He has been a consultant to for-profit industry leaders, both with Bain & Company and independently, advising on a variety of strategic, operational, and organizational issues. In seven years as a principal in Datagraph Systems, Inc. he has taken a small business delivering performance management tools literally from the basement to international success. In his spare time, Mr. Reigel is a partner in a small wine business in San Francisco. Twice an alumnus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he has earned both a B.A. in Economics and an MBA from the Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Karla V. Salazar: Director, Los Angeles
Karla V. Salazar is the Director, Los Angeles Program. Her responsibilities include overseeing the expansion of NFF in the Los Angeles and Southern California region, managing NFF's advisory services and new business development. Karla brings with her tremendous financial, operations management and consulting experience in the public and private sector. She was most recently the Assistant Manager for the Los Angeles Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Prior to that she also served as the Field Director in Los Angeles for the California State Controller and was a financial analyst with the City of Santa Monica. She has also worked for the YWCA of Greater Los Angeles in their Racial Justice Program. An active board member of US Selective Service Committee, among other philanthropic groups, Ms. Salazar displays a sincere passion for public service.

She has a Masters in Public Policy from Claremont University and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Chicana/Chicano Studies from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). In 2008, Ms. Salazar also completed the Executive Program in General Management at the John E. Anderson School of Management in UCLA.

Nicole Simoneaux: Director, Pacific Northwest and Southwest Markets
As Director of Pacific Northwest and Southwest Markets, Nicole leads NFF's consulting, lending, and advocacy work across the region. Ms. Simoneaux works to determine how NFF can partner with foundations, financial institutions, and nonprofit associations to build stronger nonprofit communities and a more durable safety net of services for the people who rely on them. She also guides NFF's national work in utilizing IRS Form 990 data to analyze financial health trends in specific industries, sub-sectors or geographic regions. Prior to NFF, Ms. Simoneaux worked for five years in grantmaking, government administration and the arts. She served as a program officer at the Minnesota State Arts Board, an arts administrator at the Madison Arts Commission, and was a founding company member of the TEAM theater, a New York city-based theater company. She earned a BFA from New York University and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She now serves on the boards of the TEAM theater and Young Audiences of Northern California, and volunteers as an advocate for children in the foster care system with SF CASA, San Francisco Court Appointed Special Advocates.

Kevin Sweeney: Director, Midwest Market
Kevin M. Sweeney is Director, Midwest Market. His responsibilities include managing NFF's consulting and lending services as well as new business development activities throughout the Midwest. He brings more than 25 years experience as a lending and financial services executive. Most recently, Sweeney served as an independent consultant to NFF, and prior to that, Vice President and senior lender at Fifth Third Bank. He is a member of the Urban Financial Services Coalition Detroit Chapter, and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in accounting from Morehouse College and an MBA from Clark–Atlanta University.

J. Talansky: Vice President, Knowledge and Communications
J. Talansky, Vice President,  Knowledge and Communications, is responsible for NFF's strategies and activities on marketing, press, social media and thought leadership. Her team also conducts NFF's annual State of the Nonprofit Sector survey. Ms. Talansky brings to NFF a wealth of marketing experience from several sectors. Most recently, she spent five years at Credit Suisse Asset Management, where she developed marketing strategy and product positioning for the institutional sales team, created organizational and product-specific marketing materials, led sales training, and engaged in direct outreach to institutional consultants. Ms. Talansky held previous marketing positions at Partnerships for Parks, Hearst Magazines Brand Development, and JP Morgan's Private Client Group. She earned a BA in English Literature from Duke University and an MS in Social Psychology from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Rebecca Thomas: Vice President, Direct Services, Strategy and Innovation
Rebecca Thomas has overall strategic responsibility for national initiatives, funder partnerships and new online and next-generation services that advance NFF's profitability, visibility and impact.  She serves as a spokesperson and advocate for NFF regionally and nationally, speaking and writing on issues of nonprofit capitalization. Ms. Thomas has extensive experience advising nonprofits in areas of financial planning and management and consulting for foundations seeking to incorporate finance into grantmaking practice. Before entering the nonprofit sector, Ms. Thomas served as Senior Economics Correspondent for Smartmoney.com, a personal finance magazine jointly published by Dow Jones and Hearst. At Smartmoney, she covered economic developments and financial markets, and appeared as a commentator on CNNfn, MSNBC, and Fox. She leads Finance and Development committees as a board member of the Rock School for Dance Education and Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre, and participates on the Finance Committee of the Lark Play Development Center. Ms. Thomas received an MBA from Columbia University's Graduate School of Business and graduated from Yale University with a B.A in French and International Studies.

Leon E. Wilson: Executive Vice President
Leon Wilson joined NFF in 2006 as Managing Director of Advisory Services.  In 2009 he was appointed Executive Vice President of NFF.  He is responsible for the business areas of NFF.  This includes day to day responsibility for Consulting and Lending as well as the regional offices of NFF.  He has extensive experience in financial management.  Prior to joining NFF, Mr. Wilson was Executive Vice President of Bank of America responsible for its mid-market asset management division, and the Bank of America endowment/foundation portfolio.
 
Previous to Bank of America, Mr. Wilson held the position of Executive Vice President of Fleet Financial Group's Charitable Asset Division.  Earlier he served as Corporate Senior Vice President of GMAC Residential, the holding company for GMAC Mortgage, GMAC Global Relocation Services, GMAC Home Service, GMAC Real Estate, GM Bank, Family First by GMAC and Ditech.com.  
 
Mr. Wilson has served on numerous professional and community boards including The Bell Foundation, Boston University, Boston Ballet, Dimock Health Care and Fannie Mae's Regional Advisory Board, a Nelson Mandela Children's Fund Board Member, and is a Trustee of Cambridge College and The Boston Conservatory.  Mr. Wilson completed advanced studies at Harvard Business School and the University of Virginia's Graduate School of Retail Bank Management.  He holds and undergraduate degree from Boston University.

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