Board Member Bios
Lynn Labieniec (Board Chair)
Lynn Labieniec has been helping the nonprofit sector apply technology to their business operations since 1980 and is currently the CEO of and a strategy consultant for Beaconfire Consulting. She has developed technology strategies for clients such as the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Research Foundation, United Way of America, Planned Parenthood, and others.
Before co-founding Beaconfire, Lynn served on Commerce One's Nonprofit Leadership Team, as well as a leader within Commerce One's project management skill track. Previously, Lynn was a founding partner of RivCom Limited, in the United Kingdom, a consultancy firm specializing in applying XML technologies to knowledge and information management problems. She has also held various management positions at Blackbaud Inc. and Riverside Software Inc., with a particular focus on helping corporate and private foundations effectively implement and integrate grants management and employee gift matching software. She started her career at IBM's Corporate Headquarters in Armonk, NY. During her tenure of nearly seven years, she worked on many projects with the corporate philanthropy department, including leading the technology development of IBM's employee matching gift program.
Gavin Clabaugh (Board Vice-Chair)
Gavin Clabaugh is Vice President of Information Services for the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, where he oversees the administrative, developmental and operational aspects of technology, and has overall responsibility for the Foundation's worldwide information, library and technical services. Clabaugh developed a keen interest in philanthropy and technology and an expertise in technology for non-profit organizations over the past 15 years of working with scores of non-profits and foundations. Before joining the Mott Foundation, he was vice president of the Telecommunications Cooperative (TCN), a not-for-profit technical assistance and group-purchasing cooperative serving hundreds of NGOs and non-profits. While at TCN he provided strategic consulting services to member organizations, assisting in the design and implementation of new communications and information management systems.Prior to joining TCN, in 1987, Clabaugh was director of research for the Washington-based Present/Futures Group (formerly TRAC, Inc.), a think-tank specializing in social trend analysis and issues management. He was also senior research associate with the Naisbitt Group in Washington, D.C., and associate editor of "John Naisbitt's Trend Letter." Before his formal association with the Naisbitt Group, Clabaugh was a personal consultant to John Naisbitt, and designed and managed the research process culminating in Naisbitt's best-selling book, Megatrends. A noted expert in the field of information systems, futures research, issues management, strategic information systems and trend analysis, Clabaugh has been a featured speaker at more than 250 conferences, trade shows and universities. He holds a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Kansas, and a master's degree in futures research from the University of Houston.
Sheeraz Haji (Board Treasurer)
As the CEO and a co-founder of GetActive Software, Sheeraz has led the Company to become a leading provider of member relationship management software. Before GetActive, Sheeraz was managing a product management team at Digital Impact. Sheeraz has also worked as a strategy consultant in the San Francisco office of management consulting firm McKinsey & Company. As part of their high-tech and Internet practices, he focused primarily on software, hardware, and telecommunication clients. At McKinsey, Sheeraz most frequently addressed issues of corporate strategy, market entry, and operational effectiveness. Sheeraz has also worked as an Associate in the Washington DC office of the consulting firm Environ International. Sheeraz has a BS from Brown University and a MS from Stanford University.Lauren-Glenn Davitian (Board Secretary)
Lauren-Glenn Davitian is widely credited with establishing strong community access to cable television throughout Vermont. She is a well-known spokeswoman on behalf of public telecommunications and first amendment issues both locally and in the state capital. Her most recent project is updating Vermont's cable statutes. Ms. Davitian is founder and executive director of CCTV's Center for Media and Democracy and oversees Channel 17/Town Meeting Television (a regional government access TV channel), CyberSkills/Vermont (a community technology center with a focus on nonprofits and low income job seekers) and CCTV Productions (a nonprofit media production and distribution unit). Ms. Davitian is a founding member and serves on the board of Vermont Access Network (a trade group of 27 public access tv centers in Vermont). She currently serves on the editorial board of the Alliance for Community Media's Community Media Review and is working on a spectrum policy handbook, due out in Spring 2005. Ms.Davitian was named one of Vermont's "25 most influential people" in the mid 1990's. She is a graduate of the University of Vermont (B.A. in Anthropology, Phi Beta Kappa, 1982).Barbara Chang
Barbara is the Executive Director of NPower NY, a non-profit technology assistance provider focused on assisting other non-profits use technology more effectively in serving their communities. NPower NY launched in early 2001 and in its first 9 months of operations, served over 60 NYC nonprofits with over 2000 hours of technology assistance and training. On September 11, NPower NY assumed a major role in assisting nonprofits affected by the World Trade Center disaster replace their technology and set up for relief activities. In addition, NPower NY is running an innovative workforce development program that is training inner city youth on technology skills and placing them in the nonprofit sector for a year of service. Barbara has 19 years of managerial experience in various non-profits in the NY metropolitan area including the New York Public Interest Research Group, Planned Parenthood and the Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC). She currently serves on the advisory committees of the Community Assistance Mapping Project, a program of the New York Public Interest Research Group and Changing Our World, a national fundraising and philanthropic services company designed to assist not-for-profit and corporate clients in achieving their goals in philanthropy.NPower NY is an affiliate of NPower, a Seattle-based non-profit technology assistance provider serving the non-profit community in the Puget Sound area. In partnership with the Microsoft Corporation, NPower is expanding its model to a dozen other cities across the United States over the next 2 years.
Barbara spends much of her "off time" with her 3 children who range in age from 5 to 12. The family hobby is baking chocolate chip cookies, eating them and leaving mom to clean up afterwards. The other family hobby--correction, obsession--is the Yankees leading to daily fights for the morning sports page to check on the box scores. Balancing work and family has always been a challenge for Barbara but with adolescence looming, she has decided that working full time isn't such a bad idea after all.
Phil Ferrante-Roseberry
Phil Ferrante-Roseberry joined CompuMentor in 1995 as a project manager after a software engineering career in Massachusetts, San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Phil's relationship with CompuMentor goes back to the early 90s when he was one of their volunteer 'mentors'; in fact, it was a CompuMentor match that introduced Phil to his wife, Lydia, who was the executive director of small organization with big computer problems. Phil and Lydia and their two cats (Dana and Rumi) now live in a cohousing community in downtown Oakland.Bill Lester
Bill Lester is the Chief Technology Officer of the NinthBridge program and Senior Director of Technology for EngenderHealth. A visionary in nonprofit use of technology (particularly in low-resource settings), Mr. Lester serves as lead technology strategist on all NinthBridge projects.As the Senior Director of Technology for EngenderHealth, Mr. Lester was instrumental in designing and implementing Internet connectivity and technology solutions for the agency's offices in more than 30 countries and designed strategies to build and maintain cost-effective technology solutions, streamline upgrading of all hardware and software components, and train staff in the effective use of technology and new media tools.
Prior to his work for EngenderHealth, Mr. Lester was a senior technology consultant for Keane, Inc., a major international consulting firm. Of his many long-term assignments, his favorite was a two-year stint working for the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society in Rome, Italy, where he designed and implemented systems for emergency immigration routing, helping hundreds of thousands of people successfully migrate from the former Soviet Union to Israel and the United States.
Mr. Lester holds degrees from The College of The Holy Cross, the New England Conservatory of Music, and The Juilliard School.
Jorge Martinez
Jorge is the Director of Information Systems at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and has extensive experience as systems engineer and end user support, the most recent being with The Miami Herald. Jorge is currently pursuing a bachelor's degree in computer science at Barry University. He is a Microsoft certified professional, and a Microsoft certified systems engineer.Randal Pinkett
Dr. Randal Pinkett is the President and Chief Executive Officer of BCT Partners, a management, technology and policy consulting firm that works with corporations, nonprofit organizations and government agencies to improve organizational effectiveness and support strategies for change.A nationally recognized expert in the strategic use of technology, Dr. Pinkett is a graduate of the renowned MIT Media Laboratory. He has corporate experience as a Member of Technical Staff at General Electric, AT&T Bell Laboratories, and Lucent Technologies. He also served for seven years as the Founder, President and CEO of MBS Educational Services & Training, a company committed to providing the highest caliber training and development for academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, and Fortune 500 companies.
Michael Schreiber
Mr. Schreiber is the Executive Vice President for Enterprise Services at United Way of America, which houses United Way's P&L based subsidiaries as well as the organization’s technology infrastructure and initiatives.
Prior to joining United Way of America in 2001, Michael worked for Deloitte Consulting. During his 6 years at Deloitte, Michael worked with a wide range of commercial and governmental clients. These clients included: The National Government of Namibia, The Commonwealth of Kentucky, and The Philadelphia Eagles. In addition, Michael created and ran Deloitte Consulting’s National Non Profit Organization Practice.
Most of Michael’s career prior to Deloitte was spent in Africa, where he worked for the US Embassy in The Gambia and a Swiss NGO providing privatization assistance in Zimbabwe.
