CEO, The Women’s Home

Anna Coffee, JD, brings over 20 years of non‐profit experience, and a passion for empowering families to The Women’s Home, where she has served as the CEO for 7 years. She holds an undergraduate degree in Social Work from Marquette University and earned her law degree at the University of Houston, specializing in Public Health Law. This professional training has enabled Anna to pursue her passion for building healthy, strong communities.

Active in the local and international health communities, Anna has held board positions on multiple nonprofits most recently as the Chair of the Network for Behavioral Health Providers and the Treasurer for the Center for the Healing of Racism. Anna is an alumna of the Texas Lyceum and a senior fellow of the American Leadership Forum. She is also the excessively proud parent of two outstanding young men.

Chief Experience Officer, Amplify Credit Union

Stacy Armijo (she/her) is the chief experience officer for Amplify Credit Union, overseeing nearly $3 billion in assets across Central Texas. She leads the marketing, retail, payments, and talent teams, ensuring a seamless experience for members, employees, and the community.

Armijo has experience sitting in four different seats for nonprofit organizations: (1) advisor; (2) board chair; (3) funder; and (4) service provider. She occupied the first role during her 17-year career as a public relations and marketing consultant, advising nonprofit and association clients on PR and crisis communications.

Over the same time, she was Board Chair for the American Red Cross in Central Texas as well as the American Marketing Association nationally, and she held board positions for numerous other Austin-area nonprofits and civic organizations.

From each of those seats, she’s learned something different about effective leadership for nonprofits. That has included beliefs that risk management isn’t a task, it’s a mindset; the truth of an organization’s priorities is not in its strategic plan, it’s in its budget; and nonprofit organizations can play a unique role in not only the lives of those they serve, but also in the lives of those who serve them, like their Board, staff and volunteers.

 Principal Attorney, Martell Media House PLLC

Michèle Martell (she/her), JD, is an entertainment, licensing and intellectual property attorney and entrepreneur who has provided business guidance and legal insight to major brands including the Muppets, the WWE, Sony, Crayola, Hasbro, Samsung, and The Saturday Evening Post. Michèle started her business and legal consultancy, Martell Media House PLLC, in Austin in 2014, where she helps creators, entrepreneurs, artists and visionaries propel, protect and empower their businesses with insightful, practical and well-informed legal guidance. She is the licensing strategist behind the world’s most popular VR multiplayer game, Walkabout Mini Golf, and its licensed IP including Elvis, Wallace & Gromit, Exploding Kittens, Myst, Fraggle Rock and Meow Wolf.

Professionally, Michèle is the Secretary of the Entertainment and Sports Law sections of both the Texas and the Austin Bar Associations; the Co-Chair of the 2024 Racing Attorneys Conference; and founder of the Austin chapter of Women in Toys, Entertainment & Licensing.

Personally, Michèle serves on the Board of RISE, an anti-racist and liberatory early childhood education program, as well as on the Board of the Travis Audubon Society. She was recently the Board President of Austin’s award-winning Forklift Danceworks.

Partner, Holland & Knight

Jonathan Blum, JD, is a nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations attorney in Holland & Knight’s Dallas office. Mr. Blum’s experience includes assisting nonprofit leaders in managing their legal matters on a broad array of issues affecting charities, foundations, trade and professional associations, advocacy groups, educational organizations and other nonprofit organizations. Mr. Blum recognizes the importance of concentrating on the key issues affecting clients and moving quickly to identify practical legal options in order for clients to stay mission-focused and make informed decisions.

Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Mr. Blum worked in the nonprofit practice group for a national Am Law 100 firm in Dallas, where he served as counsel and later as shareholder. He also spent nearly seven years serving as in-house counsel for tax-exempt organizations such as a national breast cancer foundation and a private family foundation. In addition, Mr. Blum served as a transactional attorney for an international law firm headquartered in New York City. He previously served as an adjunct professor at Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law.

Mr. Blum is a frequent speaker on best practices in governance, fundraising, tax compliance and current developments for nonprofit organizations.

Executive Director, Austin Together

Karen LaShelle is the Executive Director of Austin Together, an organization dedicated to strengthening nonprofits in Central Texas through sustained collaborations that increase capacity and maximize impact. Karen is a respected nonprofit leader and was instrumental in the success of Creative Action where she currently serves a consultant in the development of a new collaborative arts education facility. During her 20-year tenure at Creative Action, the organization grew from a grassroots startup into one of the largest arts education organizations in Texas, reaching more than 20,000 students every year. Karen has received many accolades for her leadership, including the 2022 Learn All the Time Legacy Leader award, being named 2015 Mission Capital Executive Director of the Year, being recognized as a finalist for the 2012 and 2013 Ernst and Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year and receiving the 2011 “Austin Under 40” Award. Since 2016, Karen has been a trustee of the National Guild for Community Arts Education where she has served as the co-chair of the Racial Equity Committee and is the current Board Chair. She holds a BFA from Illinois Wesleyan University and an MA in Community Based Arts from New York

President, Colton Strawser Consulting

Dr. Colton Strawser, PhD, is a nonprofit and philanthropic consultant and the President of Colton Strawser Consulting—a consulting firm that works with mission-driven organizations to develop the funding, data, and leadership skills necessary to create change.He has provided consulting and coaching to organizations and leaders at community foundations, United Ways, homeless shelters, senior service agencies, youth programs, arts and culture organizations, and more.
Colton has trained over 1,500 organizations, generated over $25 million in government grants, and supported local and national research efforts to understand social issues and community challenges better. His research has been featured in numerous academic journals and practitioner outlets, including The Foundation Review, Journal of Advancement Analytics, Journal of Nonprofit Education and Leadership, GrantCraft, CFInsights, and Candid.
Established in 2012, Colton Strawser Consulting was created to serve a need in the nonprofit sector to merge practical nonprofit management with rigorous academic research to address social issues. With a special emphasis on empowering organizations to create change®, Colton Strawser Consulting assists clients in the areas of organizational development, fundraising/philanthropy, research/evaluation, and leadership development.

Associate Professor, University of Texas at Dallas

Dr. Elizabeth Searing (she/her), PhD, CNP, studies how nonprofit and other social economy organizations become more resilient. This normally involves financial management, but also relies on strategic management, program evaluation, and the local community. She is a firm believer that scholars should be rooted in the needs of the community, and she focuses on finding (and teaching others to find) data-driven answers for social economy organizations around the globe.

Senior Evaluation Officer, St. David’s Foundation

Jesse Simmons (he/him), MS, is the Senior Evaluation Officer at St. David’s Foundation, a health equity funder in Central Texas. Jesse develops, implements, and manages comprehensive evaluation strategies for the Foundation. In this role, Jesse supports team members in developing theories of change, documenting current thinking and assumptions, and incorporating continuous learning practices. He is also responsible for analyzing demographics trends, community needs, and the impact of Foundation strategies. He received his Master of Science in Applied Sociology from Texas State University and brings a strong work ethic and future-oriented vision to his job.

Executive Director, Academy 4

John Shearer has served as Academy 4’s Executive Director since 2017. John oversees all operations of the organization and administration of programs, works with the Board of Directors to identify and execute strategic goals, oversees director-level staff, and works to build and expand community partnerships. Before becoming the Academy 4 Executive Director in 2017, John Shearer was the VP of Product Development with Praesidium, the national leader in abuse risk management – helping hundreds of organizations keep children safe. Shearer’s prior experience is in corporate learning and development and organizational development. He had his own consulting firm, developing custom learning courses and facilitating leadership development experiences for almost 10 years. The rest of his career was spent in a variety of roles in the learning and development world. John is a proud graduate of Texas Tech University with degrees in Economics and Technical Communication.

Executive Director, Dallas College Foundation

Josh Skolnick, JD, serves as Dallas College Foundation’s Executive Director. Before joining Dallas College Foundation, Josh led the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, a yearlong leadership program for mayors from around the world at Bloomberg Philanthropies. He also played an instrumental role in the design and development of the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University. Prior to his time at Bloomberg Philanthropies, Josh served at the U.S. Department of Education as Deputy Director of Strategic Partnerships in the Office of the Secretary. There, he led the launch of the Success Mentors Program, a chronic absenteeism reduction effort in 30 school districts around the U.S., as part of President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper Initiative. Before serving in the federal government, Josh worked at the New York State Education Department and the New York City Department of Education to advance education innovation initiatives. He holds a J.D. from Boston College Law School and graduated from Brown University with a bachelor’s in political science.