Committee on Directorship

COMMITTEE ON DIRECTORSHIP

THOMAS H. HERREN, CFRE Tom Herren & Company, Inc., has served a cross section of non-profit, charitable organizations since 1984. Tom Herren is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and is a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE). He subscribes to their Code of Ethical Principles and Standards of Professional Practice. Prior to founding and managing his own firm, Herren held executive positions with Dini & Associates and the Houston Museum of Fine Arts Capital Campaign. A native Houstonian and graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, Tom Herren entered the fundraising profession in 1971, and has been counsel to capital and annual drives that have raised over $150,000,000. He has lectured on the capital campaign at Rice University and Houston Community College. Tom has been a member and volunteer of GHC for over 15 years.

ASHLEY ESTES, JD Ashley Estes entered the fundraising and non-profit sector in 2008 after finishing law school and receiving her license to practice law in Texas. Ashley received her Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Baylor University in Waco, TX and then got her Juris Doctorate from the University of Houston Law Center. Ashley has been working at the Houston Food Bank for almost three years as the Manager of Corporate Partnerships, where she helped create a structured corporate sponsorship program for the organization. She manages sponsorships of events and programs, as well as cause marketing initiatives and corporate foundation requests. A three year member of GHC, Ashley served as the Co-Chair of the Every Member Campaign Committee 2010.

NANCY DAVIS, CFRE Nancy Davis, Senior Director of Development with Baylor College of Medicine, has more than 18 years of fundraising experience and received her CFRE certification in 2000. Nancy has been a member of AFP since 1996 and has held many leadership positions, including board member for eight years, Ask the Experts Chair, and 2008 Chair of National Philanthropy Day.

JESSICA RITTER (APRA GH President-Elect 2012) Jessica launched the Houston Zoo’s first in-house fundraising research operations in 2005 during its largest fundraising undertaking to date, a 50 million dollar capital campaign to build The African Forest. Having worked her way up from proposal writer she now leads the team’s prospecting efforts. She has also served as an active member of the Houston chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (Ask the Experts Chairperson 2009, National Philanthropy Day 2009 and Best Boards Committee 2011). Jessica’s writing has also been featured from time to time in AFP International’s Kaleidoscope. She has been a member of the Houston chapter of the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement’s board of directors since 2008. She is also currently a United Way Project Blueprint class member (Class XXX) set to graduate in May of 2011 and on the founding board of directors of the Cullinan Park Conservancy in Sugar Land. COOKY MAYS, CFRE Past President Cooky Mays, CFRE, has an extensive background in fundraising and non-profit management, including senior development positions with Boys and Girls Harbor of Houston, the Alzheimer’s Association for Houston and Southeast Texas, and Spring Branch Independent School District, for which she was Executive Director of the District’s Foundation. Cooky is a Past President of the Houston AFP chapter and chaired the chapter’s National Philanthropy Day, She has provided pro-bono consulting and event consultation for a number of Houston area non-profits and has been a senior professional mentor for new development professionals. In addition to her own consulting firm, Mays Consulting, Cooky is the Managing Consultant in Houston for Skystone Ryan, Inc.

Alternate: DICK SANGER Richard H. Sanger, Jr. came to Texas twenty years ago to raise $30 million to start an automated systems company and be its Co-founder and CEO. He has also served as Chief Financial and Development Officer at GB Tech a leading Aerospace contractor and as Vice President of Administration for Eagle Broadband a publicly traded wireless communications company. He was subsequently named General Manager of a number of Eagle’s divisions. Currently he is Director of Development at Space Center Houston, the Official Visitors Center of NASA’s Johnson Space Center. For the past decade he has served as chairman of the International Business Development Committee of Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership and is a member of the Sickle Cell Association of the Texas Gulf Coast Board. Dick volunteered for NPD 2010 and Best Boards 2011. He has attended our AFP/Rice educational classes as well as ATE 2010. He recently attended the International Fundraising Conference on Chicago as a chapter scholarship recipient.

MIKE DELZOTTI, CFRE Committee Chair/Immediate Past President

SEAN HAMMERLE, CFRE President

CHRIS KASAVICH, CFRE President Elect

ISKA WIRE, Past President 2010