Speakers

Kassie Cosgrove, CFRE is the Founder of KC Strategy Solutions, LLC, where she partners with organizations to strengthen fundraising strategy, deepen donor relationships, and build sustainable growth plans. With a passion for education and philanthropic matchmaking, Kassie connects people, purpose, and resources to create lasting impact. She has served in executive nonprofit leadership roles including executive director and university advancement roles and is known for her positivity, empathy, and strategic vision. Kassie brings energy, discipline, and a community-centered collaborative approach to both her professional and personal work.

Rachel D'Souza, MPPA, MLS is the Founder and President of Gladiator Consulting. After completing her first Master’s Degree in Public Policy Administration, she built the initial chapter of her career around nonprofit fundraising, organizational culture and strategy. In 2024, Rachel completed her coursework to earn her second Master's Degree at the Washington University School of Law.

Her thought leadership has appeared in numerous spaces including the Blackbaud Institute, the Independent Sector, the Stanford Social Innovation Review, the Collective Impact Forum, NeonOne’s Generosity Xchange, and AFP ICON.

As the Chief Marketing Officer at Bloomerang, Ann is responsible for the company's overall thought
leadership, brand, marketing and community outreach programs that work to strengthen relationships with
customers and the broader nonprofit community. Ann brings with her more than 24 years of experience in
business-to-business (B2B) marketing in the technology industry, including time spent working at a
nonprofit organization. Prior to Bloomerang, Ann spent two years as an independent marketing consultant
for high-growth, B2B Software as a service (SaaS) businesses and was named one of the “Top Women
Leaders in SaaS of 2018".

Derria L. Ford is a strategic nonprofit leader and change agent dedicated to advancing equity through philanthropy. As a seasoned nonprofit executive, she drives fundraising growth, deepens community engagement, and leads initiatives that break the cycle of poverty. With nearly 20 plus years of experience, Derria has secured over $100 million in funding, forged transformative partnerships, and built high-impact strategies that strengthen nonprofit success. She holds a Doctorate in Leadership and an MBA, and is committed to ethical leadership, storytelling, and measurable community impact.

Tanya Frey, J.D., is the Founder and CEO of Terra Firma Consulting, specializing in nonprofit executive search, leadership placement, and organizational strategy. As a former Vice President at ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, she led high-performing teams managing multimillion-dollar fundraising and development efforts.

A practical and candid advisor, Tanya partners with boards and executive teams to strengthen governance and recruit top-tier talent. Her work focuses on bridging the gap between mission and impact. A frequent speaker on nonprofit performance, she holds a J.D. from the University of Arkansas School of Law and is a graduate of Hendrix College.

Cloydia Garrette is the Founder and Executive Director of Christ Rose Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to breaking generational cycles by helping children with incarcerated parents grow in Christ through supportive pathways that nurture resilience and unlock potential.

For the past 24 years, Cloydia has served communities in various capacities, informed by her own experiences growing up with an incarcerated parent in a low-income neighborhood. She deeply understands the importance of compassion and support for individuals facing adversity.

Bri Gerzevske is a veteran fundraiser with nearly 15 years of experience in the faith-based and social-service sectors. Her best work is in giving momentum to generosity and building irresistible, joy-filled team cultures — sometimes while showing up to work with her clothes inside-out and/or backwards.

Today, she strives to disrupt the traditional notions of nonprofit leadership with candor, humor, and a little benevolent mischief.

In her spare time, Bri writes for the Oddball Leadership blog, takes too many photos of her dogs Teebs and Opal, and plays Dungeons & Dragons.

Abby Graf has been developing mission-focused leaders for over 20 years. Focused on new models of leadership that invite the full human being into the room and engage full participation from teams, she offers workshops and trainings to help leaders at all stages of the leadership pipeline address their biggest challenges. She originated and facilitated leadership programs for The Nonprofit Alliance, including Essential Leadership Lab for executive and senior leaders and the annual in-person Leadership Summit, and previously led Omega Women's Leadership Center. She is also a beloved trainer and workshop presenter for first-time and mid-level managers.

Judge Ieshia Gray is a judicial leader and community innovator whose work sits at the intersection of leadership, restorative justice, and community impact. As Presiding Judge of a Cook County Restorative Justice Community Court, she has helped shape a model that brings together courts, community partners, educators, non-profits and service providers to address harm, build trust, and strengthen pathways to change. Judge Gray also develops practical trainings on conflict resolution, communication, violence prevention, and restorative practices. She speaks on leading through complexity, building credibility in hard places, and creating systems that are both accountable and deeply human.

Sami Grisafe is Head of Relationships at Instil, a relationship intelligence platform serving nonprofit organizations, and a three-time USA Women’s Tackle Football World Champion. A recording artist, actor, and nationally recognized speaker, Sami brings an unusual interdisciplinary lens to fundraising, combining elite performance psychology, storytelling, and relational strategy. Her work explores how trust is built, signals are missed, and authentic human connection drives transformational giving in an increasingly automated world. Sami has spent her career performing under pressure, from championship athletics to live theatre to donor-facing relationship work, translating those lessons into practical frameworks for modern fundraisers.

Brittany Hotaling, MA, CFRE, is a fundraising strategist, educator, and pracademic with more than a decade of nonprofit leadership experience. She serves as faculty with The Fund Raising School and is a graduate of the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Her work focuses on rural inclusion, philanthropic systems design, and the role of fundraising infrastructure in advancing organizational values. Drawing from lived experience growing up hidden homeless in rural Appalachia, alongside academic research and frontline practice, she challenges leaders to examine how governance, capital allocation, and participation models shape who philanthropy includes and who it leaves behind.