CEO, BoardBuild

TD Smyers has more than three decades of executive leadership across the government, social, and private sectors. As BoardBuild’s CEO, he is focused on evolving the way we populate, strengthen and manage boards across the social sector by growing the impact of the platform’s industry-best training and automated matching to prospective nonprofit board members and social sector organizations across North America.A retired US Navy Captain (O-6), TD commanded a maritime patrol squadron and a joint military air base and served at the Pentagon. The Secretary of the Navy awarded him the coveted Legion of Merit for his transformational leadership of Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base. After retiring from the Navy, TD began a second career as a nonprofit executive, serving as CEO of the American Red Cross North Texas Region, then President & CEO at United Way of Tarrant County. TD’s civilian leadership was also formally recognized when the Fort Worth Business Press named him their 2019 Nonprofit CEO of the Year. TD and his wife Barbara took a career pause between 2019 and 2021 to sail the Atlantic and Carribean about their sailing catamaran La Vie Dansante.

President & CEO, Partnership With Native Americans

Joshua Arce (he/him), JD, is President & CEO of Partnership With Native Americans, one of the largest Native-led and Native-serving organizations in the U.S. A citizen of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, he has 20+ years of experience in Indigenous leadership, Tribal law, social work, and the advancement of Native communities. Josh became CEO of Partnership With Native Americans in 2020, after serving on their Board. Before PWNA, he served as Chief Information Officer of Haskell Indian Nations University, advancing their IT infrastructure and services to better meet their mission. He has also volunteered for the Kansas court-based Citizen Review Board for child welfare and Lawrence+Memorial Hospital for health equity, diversity, and inclusion. Josh earned his B.A. in social work from the University of Kansas and then a J.D. specializing in Tribal law, applied Indigenous leadership, federal Indian law, and Indian gaming law. He brings in-depth knowledge of social issues facing Tribal communities, such as food insecurity, education barriers, the digital divide, emergency preparedness, and misconceptions about Native people, history, and funding. As a Native thought leader, he helps organizations become more NativeAware® and engaged as change agents.

Executive Director, Southeast Texas Nonprofit Development Center

Kayla White (she/her), BBA, is a Southeast Texas native with a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Lamar University. She has been honored as one of the Southeast Texas Top 40 Professionals Under 40 by the Beaumont Chamber of Commerce and as one of Southeast Texas’ Top 30 Professionals Under 30 by the Beaumont Enterprise. Kayla has been working in nonprofit business development and finance over the last fifteen years. During this time, she’s secured millions of dollars in grant funds, organized and managed countless fundraising initiatives, and cultivated sustainable strategies for programmatic success. Now, Kayla leads the Southeast Texas Nonprofit Development Center, the area’s only nonprofit agency providing quality management support services to nonprofits and funders, enabling them to effectively serve the community. Through education, training, consulting and more, the Center is SETX’s go-to resource for vital development resources that ultimately ensure the continuity of the area’s most critical public charities.

Principal, Woollard Nichols Torres Consulting

Kelly Nichols (she/her) is a consultant specializing in social impact and collaboration. With two decades of experience in project management, strategic planning, community engagement, program evaluation, and community assessments, Kelly works primarily with nonprofits and local government entities (often helping connecting the dots between the two sectors). Through her engagement with a wide variety of participants, organizations, and systems contributing to addressing social determinants of health in the Austin area since 2006, she has a deep knowledge and understanding of local collaborations and initiatives relating to addressing affordable housing and homelessness, health and human services, behavioral health, education, workforce and community development, food systems, and criminal justice. One of her key learnings from this work is that persons who are directly impacted by the issue must be engaged in identifying and addressing the solutions for sustainable change to occur. Kelly is a graduate of Washington and Lee University and the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

Founder + Coach, Kenny Lange Coaching

After selling his company that he started in his late 20s to another agency, Kenny Lange served as its second-in-command and helped grow their revenue by almost double in 2 years from high six-figures to low seven-figures. Now, as a coach, he helps nonprofits and purpose-driven businesses scale by helping them focus the organization, foster high-performance teams, and create leaders worth following. ​He is also the host of the top 10% globally ranked podcast, “How Leaders Think with Kenny Lange.” He and his wife, Rebekah, have fostered 18 kids and counting, and adopted 2 in addition to their 3 biological children. They are on a mission to positively impact 10,000 kids by December 31, 2033, because kids from hard places deserve to be seen, heard, and know someone is coming to help them.

Ami Kane (she/her/they), MPA, CFRE, is a nonprofit professional, gender-justice activist, Hoosier, film producer, cat mom, auntie, fundraiser, and philanthropist working to create social justice in Texas and beyond, by empowering others and telling powerful stories. An adult survivor of child abuse and domestic violence, Ami’s work is focused on advocating for youth and other individuals who are pushed to the margins and overlooked. She is currently Girls Empowerment Network’s Executive Director, where she originally joined the staff in 2010 and previously served as Deputy Director, Chief Development Officer, Development Director, and Conference & Workshop Manager. She also currently serves on the board of Impact Austin, Central Texas’ largest women-focused collective giving circle, and the Association of Fundraising Professionals Greater Austin Chapter, and is a frequent Good Measure collaborator. She was named an AU40 nonprofit service finalist in 2017, the Outstanding Fundraising Professional of the Year by AFP in 2023, and the 2024 Core Values Member of the Year in Impact Austin. When she’s not working for GEN or volunteering, Ami also serves as a producer in her partner, Ronald Short’s, indie film production company, Short Pictures Independent.

CEO, Giving Blueprint

Kimberly O’Neil (she/her), MPA, MA, CPM, is an award-winning leader, professor, social innovator, and CEO of Giving Blueprint, where she drives social and economic progress through philanthropy, policy, and education. With over 30 years of experience, Kimberly has dedicated her career to empowering diverse communities and cultivating nonprofit leaders. As a former senior government executive, Kimberly made history as the youngest Black female city manager in the U.S., gaining extensive experience in public administration and community development. Over her career, she has helped secure more than $22 million for community initiatives. Kimberly founded Cause Studio, an initiative that provides capacity-building support to nonprofit startups. Since its launch, Cause Studio has trained over 5,000 nonprofit professionals, helping organizations grow their impact and strengthen compliance. Kimberly is also a founding member of the HERitage Giving Fund and Power in Action; both focused on advancing Black communities through collective giving and social change. In addition to her consulting work, Kimberly is an adjunct professor in the John Lewis Public Administration Program at Tulane University. She is pursuing a Professional Doctorate in Philanthropic Leadership at Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Senior Consultant – Good Measure, Collective Impact, Mission Capital

With over nine years in the Central Texas nonprofit sector, Ashika Raval (she/her), MSW, brings experience as both an in-school worker and a consultant, collaborating with funders, nonprofit leaders, and organizations. Ashika empowers Central Texas nonprofits to leverage equitable data practices, fostering collective approaches that make data accessible, relevant, and impactful. By collaborating with sector professionals, Ashika helps organizations build data and evaluation capacity to support their missions and demonstrate their impact more effectively.Outside of work, Ashika volunteers with organizations like Asian American Resource Center, Asian Family Support Services of Austin, and Austin Parks & Recreation. In her free time, you’ll find her at Ruiz or Menchaca libraries or walking the trails with her Shih Tzu, Hazle.

Founder, South Rim Partners

Growing up in national parks, Natalie Gray (she/her), MEd, attended some of America’s most under-resourced schools. After graduating from Van Horn High School, she enrolled at The University of Texas at Austin and discovered a vast difference between her college readiness and that of peers who had attended more resourced schools. This realization sparked her interest in educational equity. After completing her M. Ed. at Harvard University, she taught middle school and began work with what is now Breakthrough Collaborative, helping grow three affiliates, serving as a National Program Officer, and helping launch Breakthrough Central Texas. In 2008, Natalie joined Teach For America’s staff to design executive director training, ultimately serving as VP – Staff Learning and Development. Through South Rim Partners, she offers schools and organizations highly customized, experienced support, adding capacity to increase impact through a variety of services including training, facilitation, coaching, writing, planning, project management, and coalition support.

Vice President, CCS Fundraising

Ashley Meruani, MPA, serves as a Vice President at CCS Fundraising. She brings extensive experience supporting the nonprofit sector to each engagement, leveraging her on-the-ground experience in Texas to ensure her work is aligned with the regional philanthropic landscape. Her areas of expertise include bespoke lead and major gift strategy, volunteer management, board engagement strategy, and structuring regional fundraising initiatives. Her clients include a wide range of organizations across subsectors of the nonprofit sphere. Her attention to detail and strong grounding in philanthropy allow her to be a strong resource to her partners. Clients of note include the Medical College of Wisconsin and Froedtert Hospital (WI), Kessler School (TX), and Dallas College Foundation (TX).