As a fundraising, talent, and organization design professional, Elyssa’s mission is to build relevant, inventive, and equitable organizations through structural and cultural organization development. She draws on twelve years of expansive experience, successfully partnering with non-profits, private companies, and government agencies alike in bold decision-making and transformational fundraising, organization,  and        people   strategies.

Elyssa has lead teams in fundraising and sales, business process improvement, and organization transformations. Using her ability to develop and foster strong relationships with stakeholders across organization levels, she has worked with government officials to enhance the management and structures supporting $11B allocated to improving the lives of NYC’s most vulnerable populations; Identified and solved management issues with institutional campaigns and successfully implemented new fundraising strategies, raising $2.5 million in two (2) months (overall raised $8 million); developed and implemented fundraising strategies to manage a portfolio of nine (9) simultaneous campaigns, raising $9 million in eight (8) months.

She is deeply committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and has led global DEI research teams and efforts; shaped research agenda on ‘DEI in an Uncertain World’ and led and advised on numerous client proposals on DEI strategy.

Elyssa graduated from Texas A&M University with a B.A. in English and a minor in Art History. She received an M.A in Arts Management from the H. John Heinz Ill School of Public Policy & Management at Carnegie Mellon University. She has been active as a mentor to students from both universities and splits her time between New York City, Bucerf, and Mexico.