Institute for Nonprofit Management and Leadership
Building the Next Generation of Leaders

Core Faculty


The Institute draws its faculty from world-class practitioners, researchers and social activists.

2009-2010 Affiliated Faculty and Senior Fellows

Roberto Cremonini

Chief Knowledge and Learning Officer, Barr Foundation

Barry Dym

Founder and Executive Director, Institute for Nonprofit Management & Leadership

Barry Dym has been an organization development consultant, executive coach, psychotherapist, entrepreneur, author, researcher, and teacher. He is a Founder and Director of three additional organizations - The Family Institute of Cambridge, The Boston Center for Family Health, WorkWise Research and Consulting - and a journal, Family Systems Medicine. Dr. Dym is the author of four books, including Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations and Passing the Torch: Leadership Transition in Nonprofits. As a consultant, Dym specializes in executive coaching and team building; strategic planning and implementation; aligning strategic direction with organizational capabilities; the management of change and key organizational transitions. He has consulted extensively to and served on the boards of nonprofit, corporate, and public sector organizations. Dr. Dym received his AB and his PhD from Harvard University.

Catherine Gill

Director, NFF Capital Partners

Catherine Gill is Director for NFF Capital Partners at the Nonprofit Finance Fund, a Community Development Financial Institution founded in 1980 that is a national leader in financing nonprofits. At NFF, Catherine works with high performing mission-driven organizations and their funders to structure and monitor large philanthropic investments in growth and impact. Since its launch in 2006, NFF Capital Partners has served as an advisor on "equity" like transactions involving over $250 million. Previously, Catherine ran NFF's New England regional program where she was responsible for advancing the delivery of financial and advisory services as well as NFF's advocacy agenda throughout the six states. Catherine has also worked as a senior lender both at NFF and at SEEDCO, a Community Development Financial Institution headquartered in New York City. In these roles, she managed multi-million dollar portfolios of loans to nonprofits in every sector. Catherine also has experience as a fundraiser for Columbia Business School and as a consultant on economic development projects in Honduras.

She is a lecturer on nonprofit financial management at Boston University and serves on the boards of Family Continuity and the Massachusetts Center for Charter Public School Excellence, and on the finance committee of On The Rise. She holds an MBA from IESE, Universidad de Navarra in Barcelona, Spain, and a BA in Ancient Greek from Wellesley College.

Karen Golden-Biddle

Professor of Organizational Behavior, Boston University School of Management

Karen Golden-Biddle is Everett W. Lord Distinguished Faculty Scholar and Professor of Organizational Behavior at Boston University School of Management. She has also been on the business faculties at Emory University and the University of Alberta. She received her BA degree from Denison University and MBA and PhD degrees from Case Western Reserve University.

Karen has two related areas of research interest. In the first, she examines how people in organizations create, implement and sustain innovation. Her ethnographic studies in the health sector, for example, have identified everyday processes and practices necessary to implement new roles and care delivery models that improve the quality and safety of patient care. Drawing on her studies across non-profit, for-profit and public organizations, she is developing a process-based model of how leaders cultivate successful innovation. She is also enthused about a new book project that is bringing together a select group of leading organizational scholars to explore how positive social change is produced within and by organizations in the areas of poverty/low wage work, health care and the environment/sustainability. In her second research area, Karen examines how scholars theorize, with a special emphasis on the construction of contribution and the cultivation of discovery. In this work, she seeks to demystify the theorizing process in order to enrich scholarly and practical understanding of the complexities facing contemporary organizations and to enhance the institutional mechanisms for developing young scholars in the academic community.

Karen has more than 50 publications and is co-author of the book, Composing Qualitative Research, with Karen Locke, now in its second edition. Her article, "Managing Traditionality and Strategic Change in Nonprofit Organizations" received the Editor's Award for best paper at Nonprofit Management and Leadership. She was also the 2003 recipient of the Robert McDonald Award for the Advancement of Research Methodology from the Academy of Management Research Methods Division.

She has consulted with for-profit and non-profit organizations, and has conducted executive education seminars for North American and international managers at Boston University, Emory University, the University of Alberta and the University of Michigan.

Kevin Lee Hepner

President & CEO, United South End Settlements

Kevin Lee Hepner is the President & CEO of United South End Settlements (USES), an 117 year-old community agency which provides a comprehensive array of services available to older adults, adult learners, teens, children, and community residents in the South End and Lower Roxbury. He oversees a $3.6m budget, 58 staff, and the programs and operations of the organization's four buildings: the Harriet Tubman House on Columbus Avenue, the South End House and the Children's Art Centre on Rutland Street, and Camp Hale in New Hampshire.

Previous to this, Mr. Hepner served as Vice President at the Judge Baker Children's Center, and as Vice President of Finance and Administration at USES from 1989 to 1994. He then returned as Executive Vice President from 1998 to 2002. He is a certified public accountant who has worked in the non-profit sector since 1989; an Instructor at the Boston University Schools of Social Work and of Management; Board President of the South End Community Health Center; Past Board Chair of The Center for Teen Empowerment; and Founding Board member and past president of the Massachusetts Bay Self Insurance Group. Mr. Hepner is a resident of the South End and is active in many other nonprofits in the Boston area.

Deborah C. Jackson

Chief Executive Officer, American Red Cross of Massachusetts Bay
Regional Executive, American Red Cross of Eastern Massachusetts

Deborah C. Jackson is the Chief Executive Officer of the American Red Cross of Massachusetts Bay, and the Regional Executive of the American Red Cross of Eastern Massachusetts. The American Red Cross of Massachusetts Bay provides a complex array of services to over 300,000 people per year including disaster relief and preparedness; hunger relief; health care job training; and health and safety education and training. As a Regional Executive, Jackson oversees the delivery of Red Cross services to 190 cities and town throughout eastern Massachusetts, covering over 4 million people.

Jackson's career in urban policy and community services has spanned more than 30 years. During this time, she has held a number of executive positions in health and human services including Vice President of the Boston Foundation; Senior Vice President of Boston Children's Hospital; and President and CEO of Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries. Jackson began her career at Abt Associates, Inc. a public policy and consulting firm, where she spent nearly a decade and held the position of Deputy Director of the Health Care and Income Security Group.

Jackson has served on numerous Boards, commissions and special tasks forces. She was appointed by Boston's Mayor Menino to serve as Co-Chair of the Task Force to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health. She serves as a Director on the Boards of a number of institutions in Boston including Eastern Bank and the Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation and Harvard Pilgrim Health Plan (HMO). She serves on the Steering Committee for the City of Boston Disaster Preparedness Meta Leadership Initiative.

Jackson was voted one of Boston's 100 Most Influential Women by Boston magazine and named as one of the top 10 Bosses for 2008 by Boston Women's Business Journal. She has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors including being selected as a 2009 Barr Foundation Fellow, the Boston Delta Sigma Sorority Chapter Community Service Award (2009); BCCJ Humanitarian Award (2008); YWCA Boston Academy of Women Achievers (2006); the Healthy Lifestyles Award for community leadership (2006); the Boston Celtics "Heroes Among Us" award (2005); the Women's Business Hall of Fame inductee (2003); and the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Women's Network Pinnacle Award for Achievement in Non-Profit Management (2003).

She is a frequent speaker, presenter and panelist on topics including disaster preparedness, non-profit leadership and management; women's leadership; social justice; philanthropy and organizational development and change.

Jackson's conducted her undergraduate studies at Hampton University and Northeastern University and her graduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Urban Studies and Planning. She is married and the mother of two adult sons.

Francine Jacobs

Associate Professor, Department of Child Development
Associate Professor, Department of Urban & Environmental Policy & Planning
Tufts University

Dede Ketover

Dede Ketover has twenty five years experience leading local and national not for profits.

Dede was Founding Executive Director of Community Servings, the hot, home delivered meals program for individual and families living with HIV/AIDS in greater Boston. She also served as Executive Director of Search For A Cure and was Director of Leadership and Organizational Development for the Boston Public Health Commission.

Other experiences include Editor,the Needham Chronicle, fulltime freelance photojournalist. Director of StreetSAFE and Manager of JobStart.

Dede graduated from Ithaca College with a B.A., a dual degree, in Sociology and Criminal Justice. She received her M.S. from Boston University in Journalism.

Dede's high profile success in executive leadership as well as unrestricted and income generating fundraising led to the formation of Dede Ketover Consulting in 2000.

Dede's clients are both grassroots and large, complex organizations with budgets ranging in size from $800,000 to 90 million dollars.

Dede is on the boards of Hysterical Performances, Inc., The Namugongo Fund for Special Children, Wellfleet Preservation Hall and Hancock Woods Neighborhood Association.

Dede lives in Boston and Wellfleet, Massachusetts with her wife Dr. Nancy Carlucci and their dog Belle.

Kristi Kienholz

Lecturer, Marketing Department
Boston University School of Management

Kristi Kienholz has 15 years of management experience at nonprofit organizations, served as Principal of a leadership coaching practice for 2 years, and currently is concentrating her work on teaching and consulting in cross-sector partnerships. Kienholz focus is on corporate social responsibility, cross-sector engagements, and social marketing. Consulting projects have involved analysis of partnerships between activist NGOs and the private sector for Oxfam America, marketing strategy development for MIT's Leadership Center, and strategic marketing for a literacy program at World Education.

Kienholz holds a BA from Williams College and an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, with a course concentration on effective management of social enterprises and corporate social responsibility.

Kristen J. McCormack

Executive in Residence, Organizational Behavior Department
Faculty Director, Public and Non-Profit Management Program
Boston University School of Management
Faculty Director, Institute for Nonprofit Management and Leadership

Kristen McCormack has over twenty-five years of experience managing and leading public and nonprofit organizations. She is the Founder of the Neighborhood House Charter School in Dorchester and the Founding Executive Director of the Boston Food Bank. In addition to her many years leading nonprofit organizations, Ms. McCormack has served as a teacher, consultant, and board member to Boston based nonprofit organizations. Ms. McCormack serves as the Faculty Director of the Public and Nonprofit Management Program at Boston University's School of Management, where her work is focused on global social enterprise and leadership of nonprofit organizations. Ms. McCormack holds a BA in Community Planning from the University of Massachusetts and an MBA from Boston University with a concentration in Public and Nonprofit Management.

Julia Ojeda

President, Ojeda Enterprises

Ms. Ojeda is an accomplished education, healthcare and social services executive with over 25+ years of proven ability in multi-cultural progressive change and organizational transition and growth. She received her M.Ed. from Cambridge College, is a LeadBoston civic leadership fellow, alumnae of the National Hispana Leadership Institute in Washington, D.C. and Senior Fellow at Boston University, Institute for Nonprofit Management and Leadership. As a nationally recognized consultant she has steered educational institutions, community health systems and other non-profit organizations through major organizational changes including leadership transition, mergers and effective system-wide reform. Julia has been President of her own national consulting business, an executive director of a Boston nonprofit and a Board member for several organizations. Her greatest strengths lie in Facilitating Connections, Fostering Diversity, Uniting People and Creating Lasting Positive Change.

STRENGTHS
  • Organizational Assessment
  • Capacity Building and Sustainability
  • Coaching Sr. Managers and Executives
  • Leadership Development
  • Mid Year Course Corrections and Action Planning
  • Constituency Engagement and Coalition Development
  • Diversity and Cross Cultural training
  • Needs and Assets Assessment
  • Training and Process Facilitation
  • Chartering Teams and Cross functional Team Building
  • Retreat Planning and Facilitation (Staff/Project 1-2 day)
  • Planning (accountability and strategic)
  • Technical Assistance
  • System-wide district public school reform
  • Networking and Fundraising
Ojeda Enterprises, 130 Dartmouth Street, Suite 408, Boston, MA 02116 (617)306-6485 jojeda54@comcast.net

Ned Rimer

Lecturer, Organizational Behavior Department
Boston University School of Management
Founder, Citizen Schools

Ned Rimer is the Managing Director and co-founder of Citizen Schools. He has been an educator, non-profit leader and manager for the past 20 years. As an educator in Washington, D.C., he designed and implemented health seminars for non-governmental organizations and managed a physician's group that provided trainings in over 15 countries. He later spent several years as a teacher of high school youth at the Close Up Foundation. Ned also served as a leading administrator for the Close Up Foundation and as the Director of East Coast Operations for Pacific Intercultural Exchange, a non-profit organization that provides educational experiences at U.S. schools for students from ten countries.

Ned earned a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Vermont, an MBA from Boston University (Public Management Program), and a Master's Degree in Education from Harvard University.

Harold Sparrow

Senior Vice President of Development, YMCA of Greater Boston

Mr. Sparrow oversees all aspects of the YMCA's fund-raising for an urban improvement agenda that includes raising more than $4 million annually to support core programs for youth and families and additional capital funding towards renovating the West Roxbury YMCA, rebuilding the 1902 Hyde Park YMCA, and building a new landmark YMCA on the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.

Mr. Sparrow was most recently the executive director of the Black Ministerial Alliance (BMA). Established in the early 1960s, the BMA is an alliance of over 80 faith-based and community-based organizations with a 40-year history of serving the Black community in Boston.

Under Mr. Sparrow's leadership, the BMA:

  • Implemented over $12 million Compassion Fund grant that served 180 faith-based and communitybased
    • organizations, and 30,000 youth and families in the city of Boston
  • Eliminated $120,000 of debt in the first year of operation and increased the organization's revenues from $800,000 to $3.6 million in three years
  • Positioned the BMA to become the faith-based intermediary provider for the After School for All partnership, which funneled $3 million in state and federal resources to faith-based after-school programs.

Prior to the BMA, Mr. Sparrow was the vice president and executive director for the Roxbury YMCA, where he increased the operating budget from $900,000 to $3.6 million in five years. He also repositioned the Roxbury YMCA as a strong and effective partner and collaborator in community affairs. He led a successful effort that raised more than $2 million in resources for programs and services for the Roxbury community.

Mr. Sparrow is a vice president of the Board of Trustees for the Children's Museum; trustee of the Park School; board member of Save the Harbor, Save the Bay; and former co-chair of the Municipal Harbor Planning Committee. He has been honored with the African American Achievement Award by the City of Boston, as well as the Golden Triangle Award from the YMCA Professional Society. He also served as a member for the Governor's Commission on Criminal Justice Innovation and as a class president of the YMCA Black Achievers program.

Mr. Sparrow graduated from Tufts University and received his Masters in Education from Cambridge College. He resides in Hyde Park with his wife Rita and their three daughters.

Ben Thompson

Executive Director, STRIVE

Benjamin F. Thompson joined STRIVE as Executive Director in December 2001. STRIVE's mission is to help chronically out-of-work young men and women from Boston's inner cities find and keep jobs. STRIVE's clients are the most difficult to serve. They are school dropouts with troubled backgrounds, no work history, no income and, by their own assertion, no future. Their attitudes reflect failure and rejection - as children, in school and as young adults. Many are ex-offenders or homeless, or both; some are survivors of parental abuse. More than a few have experienced addiction. When they come into STRIVE, they have reached the end of the line, with tragedy ahead. Under Thompson's leadership STRIVE's operating budget has grown from $600,000 to $1.3 million with corresponding increases in the number of training sites, clients served and placed in full-time employment. Equally important, STRIVE's donor list has grown to include virtually every Boston foundation interested in inner city workforce development and 25 of the city's leading corporations.

From 1991 to 2001, Thompson was co-owner and President of Zurriyat Transportation Inc., a school bus operator, with facilities in Hyde Park and Dorchester, Massachusetts. Prior to 1991, Ben served for ten years in high-level posts in the City of Boston's Flynn Administration. His assignments included Penal Commissioner, Suffolk County House of Correction; Senior Advisor to the Mayor on Civil Rights; and Chairman, Boston Election Commission. He served as Area Director, Department of Social Services, Region II of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; Director of Programs, Massachusetts Department of Corrections and Director 577 House, Massachusetts Halfway Houses, Inc.

The years between 1971 and 1973 solidified Thompson's commitment to public safety through full engagement with the hard to employ, particularly the ex-offender population. In January 1971, he was honorably discharged from the United States Air Force after serving four years during the Vietnam conflict. In July of that same year, he, along with three other honorably discharged vets, was arrested for robbing a supermarket at gunpoint in South Bronx, New York. One month later, he was in the Bronx House of Detention having been sentenced to 0-7 years for armed robbery. He was a 22-year old high school dropout and Vietnam vet on his way to jail. On September 9, 1971, 1,200 inmates rioted in the Attica prison in upstate New York. Inmates and guards alike were held as hostages. The prisoners presented a list of 29 demands to William Kunstler to be broadcasted worldwide. Chief among their demands was education and job training for inmates so that they could find a path out of incarceration that was not being provided by the state penal system. Governor Rockefeller ordered the retaking of Attica shortly thereafter. Hundreds of state and local police stormed the prison and in the process 39 people, including 10 guards, were killed. Hearing about the Attica rebellion while sitting in a jail cell, Thompson knew prison was his crucible. He could continue on the destructive path he was on or he could choose a different path. Before he was even released from prison the following year, he made a commitment to a life dedicated to social change and social justice that eventually led him to attain his GED, an M.Ed degree from Antioch University (now Cambridge College) and an M.P.A degree from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

Thompson's work at STRIVE has gained the attention of both Deval Patrick, Governor of Massachusetts and Paul Grogan, President of The Boston Foundation. He served on Governor Patrick's transition team on corrections reform and public safety; participated on The Boston Foundation's Taskforce on CORI Reform; and was a featured speaker on the United Way's panel on justice. Thompson has been featured in The Boston Globe, "The Turn-Around Specialist" (2005); Ebony magazine, "From Prisoner to Penal Commissioner" (1984); and a guest panelist on The McNeil-Lehrer Hour (1983). Currently Ben serves as an adjunct faculty for the Institute for Non-Profit Leadership & Management, a certificate program at the Boston University School of Management.

For over 35 years, Thompson's career has traversed politics, city/state government, entrepreneurship and non-profit leadership. Throughout his career, he has used his professional expertise and personal testimony to create effective community-building strategies to address Boston's most critical social and economic challenges for those most in need.



Boston University | School of Management | Executive Education