2010 Conference Faculty Biographies:

Merrily S. Archer, Esq., M.S.W., is Of Counsel in the Denver office of Fisher & Phillips LLP. She began her legal career as a trial attorney for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in Denver, Colorado. Since entering the private sector, Ms. Archer’s practice has focused on counseling, training and representing employers in a broad range of employment matters, including wage and hour, employee leaves of absence, trade secret protection, and discrimination and harassment claims. She has published several articles on employment topics and is a regular presenter for the Colorado Human Resource Association, CO-SHRM, the Council on Education in Management, the EEOC Training Institute, National Business Institute, and the Colorado Bar Association. She holds an M.S.W from Washington University and is a graduate of the Washington University School of Law.

    

Tabitha A. Beck is a Data Analyst at the National Association for State Community Services Programs (NASCSP), where she also serves as CSBG Regional Specialist for Regions 6, 8, 9, & 10. She has a bachelors in math from Colgate University and a masters in public policy from George Mason University.

    

Monica Scott Beckham, Esq. is General Counsel of United Planning Organization (UPO), the community action agency for Washington, D.C. UPO’s extensive network of agencies, organizations and special programs provides core services in neighborhoods throughout the District of Columbia. These services include specialized hotlines and transportation, youth services, weatherization training, phlebotomy and dietary aide training, child care services, substance abuse treatment and counseling,

services for homeless families, energy programs and housing initiatives. UPO directly operates four community service centers and 17 early childhood development centers. UPO also provides funding for four delegate agencies that provide services to its local communities; eight community-based initiatives that provide specialized unique services to District residents in all wards of the city; four Head Start delegate agencies and four slot purchase centers; plus a number of other programs and services. For over 25 years, Ms. Beckham has represented and advised UPO on a range of legal matters including corporate issues, general litigation, labor and employment, contracts, and real estate development. She is a graduate of Howard University Law School and Howard University School of Fine Arts.

    

Jean Block is President of Jean Block Consulting, Inc. Ms. Block organized her first fundraiser when she was 13, and was hooked! In the 50+ years since then, she has served in leadership positions as volunteer and staff for numerous local, regional and national nonprofits. She is now a national speaker, trainer and consultant on nonprofit management, fundraising, board development and governance, and social enterprise. She is based in Albuquerque, New Mexico and has written two nonprofit books: Fast Fundraising Facts for Fame & Fortune and The ABCs of Building Better Boards. In 2006, she co-founded Social Enterprise Ventures, LLC, a national training company that teaches nonprofits how to diversify revenue through earned income. Visit her two websites to learn more and sign up for her free informational newsletters, www.jblockinc.com and www.socialenterpriseventures.com.

      

Tracey Pilkerton Cairnie, MS, ACC is the President of CoreVision, LLC, a woman-owned small business specializing in conflict analysis and resolution, coaching, and communication processes. Ms. Cairnie is a court certified mediator/mentor, facilitator, trainer, coach, and public participation specialist. Ms. Cairnie has over 20 years experience in developing and implementing a variety of communication and alternative dispute resolution programs. Ms. Cairnie works closely with her clients in assessing

conflict situations and designing strategies to optimize organizational and individual effectiveness. She facilitates interest-based dialogues (workplace, community, family), provides coaching (one-on-one, team, couples), and designs and implements public outreach programs for a variety of environmental and transportation projects. Her clients include government agencies (federal, state and local), businesses (profit and non-profit), educational institutes, communities, families, and individuals. As an adjunct professor at George Mason University, Ms. Cairnie teaches mediation, collaborative communication, negotiation and conflict theory. She also provides specialized training in leadership development, conflict management, workplace coaching and mentoring, solution oriented problemsolving, and effective relationship awareness. Ms. Cairnie holds a MS in conflict analysis and resolution, a BS in public administration, and is a graduate of the Georgetown University Executive Leadership Coaching Program. She is ACC-certified by the International Coach Federation.

    

Lois Carson has served for 30 years as the Executive Director of Community Action Partnership of Riverside County (CAP Riverside). She promoted an anti-poverty vision on state and national levels as President of the California-Nevada Community Action Partnership Association (Cal-Neva), the state trade association, and as Vice President and President of the National Community Action Partnership, the national trade association. Ms. Carson has worked with programs funded by the federal Department of Health and Human Services, the IRS and the Department of Energy, leading her agency in utility assistance, weatherization, conservation education and solar exploration. She has led the agency in the development of a weatherization training program “Green TEAMWorks,” for emancipated foster youth, along with a variety of ARRA-CSBG funded initiatives. She also serves on the Workforce Development Board for Riverside County. Ms. Carson holds a bachelors in English from California State University, San Bernardino and a masters in English-Education from the University of California, Riverside.

    

Jeannie Chaffin is a graduate of Drury University with a bachelors of science in sociology and a certified community action professional. Ms. Chaffin has worked in the CSBG network for over twenty years, at both the state CSBG office and at a local community action agency. As Missouri’s State CSBG and LIHEAP Program Manager for the last nine years, her responsibilities were to manage a portfolio of federal anti-poverty programs, contract management, monitoring, federal and state reporting, including ROMA, budget development, training and creating new initiatives and approaches to address poverty.

    

Richard Dieter is the Executive Director of Southwestern PA Community Development Corporation (SPCDC). He facilitates support for social enterprises of three community action agencies: Community Action Southwest, Fayette County Community Action & Westmoreland Community Action. Prior to his tenure at SPCDC, Mr. Dieter was a nonprofit management consultant for 25 years serving community development organizations in Pennsylvania, New England & the Midwest. Mr. Dieter has provided assistance to numerous community action agencies including the Pennsylvania Community Action Association. He has a B.A. from Valparaiso University and a M.Div from Lutheran Seminary.

    

Dr. Joyce J. Dorsey is President and CEO of Fulton Atlanta Community Action Authority (FACAA), a nonprofit organization that annually serves 30,000 individuals and families of Atlanta and Fulton County by helping them become self-sufficient. She earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Spelman College and a master’s degree in social work from Atlanta University. She recently earned her doctorate in Biblical studies from North Carolina’s College of Theology. Dr. Dorsey is a frequent speaker on the issues of poverty, and is member of numerous boards of directors of organizations such as the Georgia Community Action Authority and the national Community Action Partnership.

    

Lindley (Lil) Dupree is Director of Training and Technical Assistance for the national Community Action Partnership, Washington, D.C. She started her career in community action in 2005 in Kalispell, Montana, having worked in small business, banking, investment analysis and community economic development. While at Community Action Partnership of Northwest Montana, she served as a grant writer, development director and development officer. She joined the Community Action Partnership in

January 2010. She oversees the development and implementation of learning sessions, workshops, and resources for the Partnership’s network of 1,000 community action agencies that fight poverty on the local level. She also manages grants from the federal Office of Community Services and the Partnership’s Pathways to Excellence, Award for Excellence and Certified Community Action Professional (CCAP) programs. A certified Results Oriented Management and Accountability trainer, Ms. Dupree is a graduate of Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, and is completing her masters of public administration at the University of Montana.

    

Eleanor Evans, Esq. is Deputy Director and Senior Counsel at CAPLAW, where she advises community action agencies on a wide range of legal matters. Ms. Evans presents workshops throughout the country and writes publications on legal issues of importance to CAAs. Prior to joining CAPLAW, Ms. Evans practiced with the Boston law firm of Hill & Barlow, where she represented nonprofit and for-profit organizations in corporate, tax and employee benefits matters. Ms. Evans is co-author of “Being A Player: A Guide to the IRS Lobbying Regulations for Advocacy Charities,” published by the Alliance for Justice. She is a graduate of Smith College and Georgetown University Law Center.

    

Stacey Flowers is the national Community Action Partnership’s Director of Community Economic Development. Ms. Flowers has over 15 years experience in the private sector, having held senior-level positions in marketing, financial management and project direction and has led training, provided project support, and directed projects for energy/utility systems in North America. Ms. Flowers earned her BS in accounting/business administration from Troy University and master of business administration with a marketing concentration from Auburn University.

    

Seth Hassett, M.S.W. is the Director of the Division of State Assistance within the Office of Community Services in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). Programs within the Division include the Community Services Block Grant, the Social Services Block Grant, and Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities. Mr. Hassett is a social worker with experience in health and human service program administration, policy, budget, as well as community planning and services. Prior to coming to ACF, he served in a variety of administrative and programmatic roles within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. For several years, he managed large-scale disaster and traumatic response programs in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. His responsibilities included oversight of the federal crisis counseling response to the September 11 terrorist attacks. Mr. Hassett began federal service in 1993 as a Presidential Management Intern. Prior to joining the federal government, he worked in a variety of community settings in direct service and planning roles. He holds a masters in social work from the University of California at Berkeley and a degree in psychology and history from Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina.

    

Sherry Heyl, founder, CEO and Community Director of Concept Hub, Inc., the premiere, full service social media agency in Atlanta, GA. is especially well versed in social media, as an acclaimed author, speaker, and evangelist in supporting the democratization of knowledge and information. Ms. Heyl is responsible for building and nurturing the eRollover community, as well as managing a team responsible for providing a superior social media experience on the site, and throughout the web. Under her guidance, Concept Hub provides strategic road maps and training that enables her clients to effectively listen, connect with, and influence their growing and evolving audience. A graduate of Florida State University, Ms. Heyl earned dual undergraduate degrees in English (creative and business writing) and marketing. She also earned an AA in history and secondary education at Broward Community College in Pembroke Pines, Florida. Sherry is a native of Miami, FL.

      

Edward I. Leeds, Esq. is Counsel at Ballard Spahr LLP, where he is a member of the firm’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Group, Health Care and P3/Infrastructure Groups and Health Care Reform Initiative. His practice concentrates on issues relating to the design, administration, and taxation of health and other welfare benefits plans. Mr. Leeds has represented employers in the negotiation and drafting of contracts with insurers, third-party administrators, and other vendors in

documenting and communicating welfare benefits plans, and in complying with applicable state and federal laws, including HIPAA, COBRA, cafeteria-plan requirements, and the rules applicable to government benefits programs, such as Medicare. He has counseled employers on the introduction of paperless technologies to the administration of their benefits arrangements, the provision of benefits to domestic partners, the introduction of wellness initiatives, and health and welfare issues that arise in corporate transactions, litigation, and collective bargaining. Mr. Leeds lectures frequently on health and welfare benefits topics. Mr. Leeds is a graduate of Haverford College and Harvard Law School.

    

Anita Lichtblau, Esq. serves as Executive Director and General Counsel of CAPLAW and as General Counsel of Action for Boston Community Development, Inc. (ABCD), Boston’s community action agency. Ms. Lichtblau advises community action agencies on issues such as tax-exempt organization requirements, lobbying and political activity rules, nonprofit board responsibilities, contracts, Head Start and other government program requirements. She has presented numerous workshops on these topics across the country. Prior to her positions with CAPLAW and ABCD, Ms. Lichtblau was a Senior Trial attorney with the United States Department of Justice, prosecuting bank fraud in federal courts in New England. Ms. Lichtblau also previously practiced law with the Boston firm of Hill & Barlow, specializing in civil litigation, and the Washington, D.C. firm of Steptoe & Johnson, specializing in civil litigation and government contracts. She is a graduate of Cornell University and Harvard Law School.

    

Cara Loffredo is the Communications Assistant at CAPLAW. She coordinates and manages CAPLAW’s marketing and communications initiatives including the CAPLAW website, e-news bulletins, audio conferences, financial management conference calls and e-forum, as well as designing various CAPLAW publications, online toolkits, newsletters, training modules and promotional and outreach materials. Prior to joining CAPLAW, Ms. Loffredo worked in development and fundraising for the nonprofit educational travel organization, Elderhostel, Inc. in Boston, Massachusetts. Ms. Loffredo received her bachelors degree in public relations at Suffolk University and is currently attending the New England School of Art and Design for electronic graphic design.

      

Marjorie Lombard has served as Director of Finance for Action for Boston Community Development, Inc. (ABCD), Boston’s community action agency, since July 2005. Prior to joining ABCD, Ms. Lombard was the Chief Financial Officer for Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Boston. While she is a relative newcomer to the community action arena, Ms. Lombard has significant experience in the not-for-profit sector including finance, audit, banking, property management, governmental regulations and compliance, and in the implementation and management of accounting systems. She holds a bachelor of science in business administration from Northeastern University and earned her Executive MBA from Suffolk University Sawyer School of Management.

    

Allison Ma’luf, Esq. is Associate Counsel at CAPLAW. She advises community action agencies on a wide range of legal issues, including board responsibilities, Head Start, employment law, and tax exempt organization law requirements. Prior to joining CAPLAW, Ms. Ma’luf practiced law as a corporate associate at Goodwin Procter LLP in Boston, Massachusetts and Troutman Sanders LLP in Atlanta, Georgia where she represented public and private companies and nonprofit organizations in general corporate matters. She also completed a two-year appointment to the Staff Attorney’s Office at the United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit. Ms. Ma’luf received her undergraduate and law degrees from Wake Forest University.

    

Jessica Margolin, Esq. is an associate in the Labor and Employment department of Ropes & Gray LLP. Her clients include non-profit community action organizations, hospitals, primary and secondary schools, colleges, and universities. She has extensive experience preparing employment contracts and appointment letters, drafting policies to strengthen an organization’s record of compliance with the law, and conducting training sessions on topics such as data privacy, diversity initiatives, and harassment prevention for all levels of staff and management. Ms. Margolin also handles matters with labor unions, including collective bargaining negotiations and certification petitions. In connection with the recent economic downturn, she has provided considerable guidance on voluntary retirement programs and reductions in force, drafted retirement and separation agreements, and represented clients in administrative proceedings before agencies such as the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the National Labor Relations Board. Ms. Margolin earned her undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and her J.D. degree from the University of Michigan Law School, where she was the Executive Editor of the Journal of Law Reform. Prior to joining Ropes & Gray, Ms. Margolin worked for an advocacy organization in South Africa promoting the constitutional right to basic education and also worked for a non-profit education research organization in Washington, D.C.

    

Lawrence S. McGoldrick, Esq., Of Counsel with the Atlanta office of Fisher & Phillips LLP, concentrates his legal practice on assisting employers with compliance programs and preventive practices in the areas of employment law and human resources management. This includes extensive work with employers on hiring and termination practices, background investigations, pay plans/overtime issues, employment contracts/policies, and training of managers in these areas. He also works extensively with employers on dealing with ill, injured, or disabled employees. Mr. McGoldrick has handled labor and employment litigation matters in state and federal courts throughout the country and has practiced extensively before federal agencies and departments such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, and similar agencies in various states. Mr. McGoldrick received his B.A. from the University of Virginia and his J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law.

    

Colin A. McRae, Esq. is a Partner in the Savannah office of Hunter Maclean law firm. A native Savannahian, Mr. McRae graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in history, and from the University of Georgia School of Law with a J.D., cum laude. Mr. McRae is the current Chairman of the Chatham County Board of Registrars, and serves on the Board of Directors of both the Economic Opportunity Authority of Savannah-Chatham County and the Community Health Mission, a non-profit “volunteersin- medicine” health clinic. Mr. McRae also volunteers as attorney coach for the high school mock trial team at Savannah Country Day School, his alma mater.

    

Dan Miller, CPA has been providing consulting services in financial management to community action agencies across the country for the past seven years. Mr. Miller is currently CFO of Meliora Partners, the successor to the Peer-to-Peer and National Community Action Management Academy (NCAMA) programs of Mid-Iowa Community Action, Inc. (MICA). Previously, he served as a financial services specialist for MICA’s Peer-to-Peer program and as a fiscal trainer for NCAMA. Mr. Miller has special expertise in cost accounting systems and housing tax credits.

    

Timothy Phillips, Esq. is Senior Counsel for the National Home Office of the American Cancer Society, Inc. He specializes in the areas of taxation, nonprofit governance, risk management, compliance, employee benefits and executive compensation, grant reviews, vendor contracts and collaborative efforts with foreign cancer fighting entities. Prior to joining the American Cancer Society, Mr. Phillips spent eight years in private practice in the Atlanta office of Troutman Sanders LLP, where he focused on advising tax-exempt entities. Mr. Phillips is a past president of the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation and serves on the Boards of the Navy SEAL Warrior Fund, the Naval Academy Alumni Association -- Atlanta Chapter, the Atlanta Bar Association’s Section of Taxation (Chair Elect), and the Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta (Advisory). Mr. Phillips received his B.S. from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1989 then served as a commissioned Officer with the U.S. Navy’s SEAL Teams. He earned his J.D. from the University of Virginia. He is a native of Washington, DC and lives in Marietta, Georgia with his wife Lissa and their sons, Jacob and Miles.

    

Richard W. Pins, Esq. is a shareholder in Leonard, Street and Deinard’s Labor and Employment Law practice group. He splits his practice equally between the labor and employment disciplines, and both counsels and litigates on behalf of clients. Mr. Pins has appeared before numerous state and federal judges and administrative agencies, including the Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board, and the EEOC. He has first-chaired multiple trials and countless arbitrations, both labor and otherwise, and has argued before several state and federal district courts, as well as Minnesota and South Dakota courts of appeal. Mr. Pins counsels clients daily in a variety of employment-related areas, including wage and hour, drug and alcohol testing, FMLA, discrimination, hiring, discipline, separation, privacy, background checking, record keeping and workplace violence. Mr. Pins also counsels clients on compliance with state and federal prevailing wage laws and transportation regulations, and frequently trains supervisors and employees on the basics of employment law, positive employee relations, and preventing workplace harassment and discrimination.

    

Mary Pockl, CPA, Principal of S.R. Snodgrass A.C., Certified Public Accountants is the officer in charge of the non-profit services practice in the firm’s Wheeling, WV office. She serves as the Government Audit Quality Control partner for the entire firm, team captain for the Snodgrass Quality Control Group, and member of the firm’s Accounting and Auditing Committee charged with the quality control practices and standards of the firm. Ms. Pockl has over 20 years of experience in audits of not-for-profit entities and publicly funded programs, including community action agencies.

    

Jeffrey J. Polich, Esq. is an attorney with the Children, Families, and Aging Division of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of the General Counsel. His primary focus is on block grant programs, including the Community Services Block Grant, Social Services Block Grant, Low- Income Home Energy Assistance Program, and the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF). Prior to joining the OGC, Mr. Polich was a policy analyst with the Child Care Bureau of the Administration for

Children and Families (ACF), where he worked on issues related to CCDF. He also has experience working at a private law firm, where he assisted clients with banking and real estate transactions, and on Capitol Hill, where he served the House Small Business Committee. He earned his juris doctor from the William and Mary School of Law and a bachelor of arts in political science and economics from the University of Michigan.

    

Marianna “Brandy” RayNor is the Supervisory Community Services Program Manager in the Division of State Assistance, Office of Community Services (OCS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Ms. RayNor assists in the provision of day-to-day program administration and oversight for the Division’s CSBG, SSBG, and ARRA programs. Ms. RayNor is a former Community Services Program Analyst, with a background in program operations, administration, and financial accountability of CSBG working with states, tribal governments and community-based organizations, and with national organizations that support community services programs. She has worked with other OCS programs having served as a LIHEAP analyst, and has had prior responsibilities associated with the Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities program. Ms. RayNor’s experience with federal programs extends to her work in other offices of ACF, and other components of HHS, including Special Assistant to the Deputy Director of Civil Rights and as a Program Analyst evaluating the effectiveness of Medicare service agencies in the Bureau of Program Operations in the Center for Medicare Services at HHS. She holds an M.B.A. from the University of Maryland College Park and is a recent graduate of the American University Key Executive Leadership Program.

    

Robert E. Sasser, Esq. is Managing Shareholder of Sasser, Sefton, Tipton & Davis, PC, a full-service law firm located in Montgomery, Alabama. Mr. Sasser has served as a consulting attorney for CAPLAW and as general counsel for the Montgomery Community Action Agency, the Community Action Association of Alabama, the Alabama Manufactured Housing Institute, the Alabama Water and Wastewater Institute, and the Alabama Retired State Employees Association. For over 25 years, Mr. Sasser has represented community action agencies and their Head Start programs throughout the United States on a range of matters including corporate issues, employee relations, general litigation, and regulatory compliance, especially termination issues with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ regional offices and before its Departmental Appeals Board.

    

Jeanne M. Schuster, Esq., CPA is an Executive Director at Ernst & Young LLP, concentrating in tax-exempt organizations. Her experience with tax-exempt organizations includes representation during IRS and state audits, including IRS CEP examinations; mergers and reorganizations of exempt and taxable corporations; applications for exempt status; unrelated business income tax; employment tax; information reporting; and sales tax issues. Ms. Schuster is an adjunct professor at Suffolk University where she teaches a course on tax-exempt organizations. She is a member of the American, Massachusetts and Boston Bar Associations and is also a member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association’s Tax Committee. Ms. Schuster received a B.S. in accounting from Bentley College, a J.D. from the New England School of Law and an LL.M. from Boston University School of Law.

    

Norval D. (John) Settle, Esq. is President of SETTLEment Associates, LLC, a firm providing mediation, arbitration, conflict management training, and conflict coaching. He specializes in teaching managers how to avoid and cope with workplace conflict, how to build workforce trust, and personal negotiation skills. Mr. Settle is a member of the adjunct faculty for the George Washington University (GWU) Law School, teaching negotiation skills, and for GWU’s Center for Excellence in Public Leadership, where he teaches conflict management and other subjects. He served for many years as Chairman of the Departmental Appeals Board at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where he adjudicated hundreds of cases involving disputes under the Department’s health, public assistance, Head Start and other programs. Mr. Settle is the author of The Advocate’s Practical Guide to Using Mediation, Dewey Publications, Inc., and recently coauthored “A Perfect Storm: A Confluence of Problems in Organizational Team-Building,” in the Fall/Winter 2007 issue of ACResolution. Mr. Settle received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Richmond, a master’s in public administration from the University of Southern California, and a J.D. from American University.

     

Christina Sieber is Director of Planning, Development and Evaluation for Action for Boston Community Development, Inc. (ABCD), Boston’s anti-poverty-agency. She has served in this position for ten years; during this period she has conducted strategic planning for this $120-million agency, has increased competitive grant funding by more than 70%, and has established an agency-wide outcomes-based evaluation process. In collaboration with a variety of academic institutions, advocacy groups and service agencies, Ms. Sieber has designed and led community-based research projects on a variety of topics—including impacts of state and federal welfare policy, racial and ethnic health disparities, and the effects of domestic violence on publicly-funded training and job retention programs. Prior to joining ABCD, Ms. Sieber held the positions of Human Services Planner for the City of Cambridge, Massachusetts and Director of the Cambridge Council on Aging, in addition to working extensively as a planning consultant for human services agencies. She received her undergraduate education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

    

Rachel Epps Spears, Esq. serves as Executive Director of Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta, an organization that provides free legal assistance to nonprofits that serve low-income individuals and that cannot afford a lawyer. Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta matches eligible nonprofits with volunteer attorneys who can help address the organization’s legal needs. Since taking on its first client in September 2005, Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta has matched over 400 nonprofit clients with over 1,100 active attorney volunteers. Ms. Spears frequently speaks on legal topics of interest to nonprofits and has presented at conferences for the Georgia Center for Nonprofits, the Boys & Girls Clubs, and the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta. Prior to joining the Partnership, she worked for eight years as an attorney in the public finance department at King & Spalding. An Atlanta native, Ms. Spears graduated from Davidson College with a degree in political science and received her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.

    

Howard Snyder has worked in community development on the Northwest Side of Milwaukee since 1978 and, in 1983, founded and is currently Executive Director of Northwest Side Community Development Corporation. Under Mr. Snyder’s leadership, the Northwest Side CDC has been nationally and locally recognized for its outstanding economic, workforce and community development endeavors. Mr. Snyder is a graduate of Penn State University and holds a masters of science from the University of Wisconsin.

     
Brandan Still, Esq. is a Massachusetts-licensed attorney, is currently CAPLAW’s Ropes & Gray Legal Fellow. During his tenure at CAPLAW, he has advised Community Action Agencies across the country on a variety of legal issues and written articles for publication in CAPLAW’s Legal Update and on the CAPLAW website. Prior to joining CAPLAW, Mr. Still worked as a summer associate for the law firms Ropes & Gray and Chadbourne & Parke and was an intern to U.S. District Judge Marcia Crone. He received his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School and dual Bachelors of Business Administration Degrees in Management and Economics from Lamar University.

    

R. Brian Tipton, Esq. is a shareholder in the Montgomery, Alabama, law firm of Sasser, Sefton, Tipton & Davis, P.C. Mr. Tipton’s practice is concentrated in the representation of nonprofits, including charitable organizations, private foundations, trade and professional associations, public utility boards, and community action agencies and Head Start programs. He regularly represents community action agencies and Head Start programs in the areas of regulatory compliance, audits, funding source disputes, administrative appeals, and litigation. In addition to representing nonprofits in legal and

regulatory disputes, Mr. Tipton consults with organizations on governance, human resources, programmatic, and corporate matters, and develops and presents training programs for nonprofits. Mr. Tipton is a summa cum laude graduate of both Louisiana State University and Cumberland School of Law of Samford University. Prior to entering private practice, he completed a judicial clerkship with Senior United States District Judge James H. Hancock of the Northern District of Alabama.

    

Michael Zeno, CPA, President of S.R. Snodgrass, is the officer in charge of the governmental services practice in the firm’s Wheeling, WV office. He has served on the Ohio Auditor of State’s Regional Advisory Board for the Southeastern Region and as Chairman for the Audit and Accounting Standards Committee for the Continental Association of CPA Firms. Mr. Zeno has over 30 years of experience in audits of not-for-profit entities and publicly funded programs.