The Collaboration Conference 2015

At Root Cause, Margaret Leipsitz is the Director of the Youth Violence Prevention Collaborative, a public/private alliance of over seventy-five funders and content experts. Initiated by State Street Foundation in 2008, the Collaborative connects and intensifies funding to improve young people’s lives in the Boston neighborhoods most affected by violent crime. Margaret is deeply knowledgeable about youth development, having built programs and philanthropic partnerships with community, business, and foundation leaders for twenty-five years. Before Root Cause, Margaret worked at Putnam Investments, The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, The Boston Foundation, Boston Children’s Museum, and Building Educated Leaders for Life.

Karley Ausiello is Senior Vice President of Community Impact for United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley. She sets strategic direction for UW’s investments and initiatives in the community in three impact areas - Healthy Child Development, Increasing Youth Opportunities and Family Financial Stability. Previously, Karley served as UW’s Vice President of Volunteer Engagement and Associate Director at Massachusetts Campus Compact. She has a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University, a M.P.A. from Harvard University, and a M.S. in Higher Education Administration from Syracuse University. Karley is a sustaining leader of the YVP Funder Learning Collaborative.

Meghan Duffy is Director of Programs at Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, overseeing content development for GEO conferences, publications and other programming. From 2011-2013, Meghan led implementation of the Scaling What Works initiative at GEO as Manager of Special Initiatives. Prior to joining GEO, Meghan served as Director of Special Projects for San Diego Grantmakers, a regional association of funders. In six years with SDG, she managed a variety of projects, including conferences, communications, and organizational technology. Meghan has over fifteen years of experience in the philanthropic/nonprofit sector. She has served on the San Diego HIV Funding Collaborative Allocations Committee and the San Diego Human Dignity Foundation Grants Committee. Before moving to California, Meghan was Development Director at a national nonprofit LGBT health organization. She has also worked in fundraising and outreach for the Victory Fund and the Feminist Majority Foundation, and as a consultant specializing in writing and research for several other community organizations. Additionally, Meghan has taught sociology and LGBT studies as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maryland. Meghan earned her master’s in sociology at the University of California San Diego. Her graduate research focused in part on institutional philanthropy, and she has published an article on elite groups and social change. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Maryland.