2012 National Conference

President & Chief Executive Officer

Fred Ali is president and CEO of the Weingart Foundation, which makes grants exclusively in Southern California. He has over thirty-five years of senior management experience with nonprofit organizations, educational institutions and government. Before joining the Weingart Foundation, he was executive director of Covenant House in Los Angeles and vice chancellor of the University of Alaska, Anchorage. Ali serves as board chairman of Southern California Grantmakers and the Board of Advisors at the Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy at the University of Southern California. He received his bachelor's from Santa Clara University, and his master's in education from the University of Michigan.

Program Director

Christopher "Kit" Gillem has worked at the M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust (Trust) since 1998. His non-profit portfolio includes Arts & Culture, Environmental and Nonprofit Support Organizations in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. He has served on the Philanthropy Northwest board for 10 years and was president in 2008-2009. He has been a presenter at the Council on Foundations annual convening and other regional conferences. He is a regular trainer and facilitator for regional grantmakers and numerous non-profit support organizations. Prior to working at the Trust, he spent 20 years in the non-profit sector as executive director and program manager of conservation and science education organizations. He lives with his wife, artist Deborah Horrell, in Portland, Oregon.

Senior Partner and Chief Client Services Officer, San Francisco

Paul Connolly is senior partner and chief client services officer at TCC Group, a 34 year-old consulting firm that provides strategy, evaluation and capacity-building services to funders and nonprofits. Before joining the firm, he was associate director of Nonprofit Finance Fund. He is the author of "Navigating The Organizational Lifecycle: A Capacity Building Guide for Nonprofit Leaders" and co-author of "Strengthening Nonprofit Performance: A Funders’ Guide to Capacity Building". He is on the board of directors of the Nathaniel Wharton Fund and the San Francisco Advisory Committee of The Foundation Center and has served on the boards of a community health center, a local community board and an artists' credit union. Connolly received his master's in public and private management from Yale School of Management and a bachelor's with honors from Harvard University.