2016 National Conference

LaDawn Sullivan is Director of Community Leadership of The Denver Foundation where her work demonstrates her commitment to promoting social justice and social change in low-income communities of color.  She currently manages programs that support emerging leaders of color including. She uses her expertise in resident engagement and inclusive emerging leadership practices to work across the Foundation’s focus areas of Basic Human Needs, Economic Opportunity, Education, and Philanthropic Development.  She serves as a mentor, cheerleader, connector, and leader, bringing people and resources together to make connections between issues, supporting community-led/inclusive decision making and collaborating with other organizations.

Judith Bell is the Vice President of Programs at The San Francisco Foundation. Judith brings extensive experience in strategic planning and policy development, with a focus on economic and social equity to the Foundation. Previous to joining the Foundation, Judith was the President of PolicyLink where she had been since its inception, becoming President in 2004. As President, Judith worked to develop the organization into a national leader on a range of equity issues, with her particular focus being policy development and campaign strategy at the local, state, and national levels. Her leadership helped ignite a new national narrative around access and opportunity for all people with a focus on improving health and infrastructure, including increasing access to healthy foods. Judith contributed to the successful establishment of the national Healthy Food Financing Initiative and the Convergence Partnership, which brings together some of the nation’s largest foundations to collectively advance healthy people and healthy places through the many touchstones of health and equity, including the food system, community economic development, and prevention. She also played a leadership role in launching and advancing the federal Promise Neighborhoods program and by helping to create the Promise Neighborhoods Institute at PolicyLink.

Before PolicyLink, Judith directed the West Coast Regional Office of Consumers Union where she engaged in efforts to improve the quality of life for all consumers, particularly in access to health care. She spearheaded a campaign to preserve more than $14 billion in charitable assets, resulting in the creation of several foundations in California and across the country. She is a regular writer for news outlets and academic publications and has authored several studies including, Why Place and Race Matter: Impacting Health through a Focus on Race and Place. She is a frequent speaker, trainer, and consultant on advocacy strategy. She holds an undergraduate degree from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a master’s of public administration from Harvard University where she was a Lucius Littauer fellow.

Tammy Dowley-Blackman, a graduate of Oberlin College and Harvard Graduate School of Education is an author, entrepreneur, leadership expert, nonprofit executive, philanthropic leader and professor. Ms. Dowley-Blackman is the Vice President of CFLeads where she supports community foundation leadership development and is assisting the organization build its consulting practice. In addition, she is the Principal of the consulting firm--tdb group. The firm specializes in organizational and infrastructure development with projects as varied as board development, program design, strategic planning and research and analysis. The client list includes: ArtPlace America, Boston Partners in Education, Boston Foundation, City Mission Society of Boston, Gates Foundation/Stupski Foundation, the Partnership Inc., the Proteus Fund, Schott Foundation for Public Education and the United States Tennis Association/Ford Foundation. In addition, Ms. Dowley-Blackman served as the Director of the Proteus Fund Diversity Fellowship, and is the former Executive Director of two nationally-affiliated nonprofits. To date, Tammy has given over 150 presentation and workshop trainings on topics such as: Arts Management, Board Development (Recruitment and Retention), Career and Professional Development, Diversity and Inclusion, Educational Issues, Fundraising and Grant Writing and Leadership and Philanthropic Trends.  She also serves as a professor of Nonprofit Management at Cambridge College and Lesley University, as well as she is a former Senior Fellow at the Institute for Nonprofit Management and Leadership at the Boston University School of Management. Current board leadership includes Development Committee member, Social Capital Incorporated (SCI); Board of Overseers, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; and Board Chair, Third Sector New England.