Planned Giving Day Faculty:
Minda Vale Brusse
Co-founder + Managing Director, First Row Partners Venture Partner, 2048 Ventures Co-founder, The $1k Project
Moderator - Mining for New Donors: Gifts of Cryptocurrency
Minda Brusse is an early stage venture investor, based in Seattle. She spent the majority of her 25+ year career in business leadership roles at tech startups in the Bay Area and Seattle. In 2020, she launched First Row Partners with her co-founder Yoko Okano to invest in early stage tech startups; she also joined New York venture firm 2048 Ventures as a Venture Partner.
During the pandemic, Minda co-founded The $1k Project which connected families suffering job loss and financial crisis with private sponsors who gifted them $3,000. In all, the Project facilitated $3.3 million to 1,100 families and received positive coverage in The New York Times. In 2018, Minda was Chief of Staff at Seattle's StormX, an app for earning cryptocurrency through joining product trials and shopping rewards. She organized a Blockchain series for Techstars Seattle Startup Week, and shares her presentation, "Blockchain 101: Cats, Dogs and World Peace" to educate non-technical audiences on blockchain and cryptocurrency.
Wendy Hapgood
Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer & Board Director Wild Tomorrow Fund
Panelist - Mining for New Donors: Gifts of Cryptocurrency
During her 10 years based in Japan, Singapore and New York as a Director of Currency Sales for Barclays and Citibank, Wendy spent much of her free time volunteering for wildlife organizations in Asia and America.
Wendy believes that biodiversity loss and climate change are two of the most critical issues facing our planet today. In 2015 she left the finance world to complete her Masters Degree in Sustainability Management at Columbia University's Earth Institute where she studied climate change science and policy, researched the intersection of poverty and rhino poaching, and studied new methods for financing the green economy. Wendy now uses both her business knowledge and her environmental education to help protect our planet's biodiversity.
Jennifer Mace, CPA
Shareholder, Clark Nuber
Panelist - Mining for New Donors: Gifts of Cryptocurrency
Jennifer provides planning and compliance for domestic and foreign corporations and pass-through entities. She is also a strategic member of Clark Nuber’s Blockchain/Cryptocurrency Services Group. Jennifer’s clients are primarily domestic and international companies in technology, professional services, and the blockchain space. Prior to joining Clark Nuber, Jennifer worked in the international tax group at KPMG, LLP. She has a BA in Accounting from Seattle Pacific University and M.S., Accounting Golden Gate University
Deby MacLeod, CPA
Shareholder, Clark Nuber
Panelist - Mining for New Donors: Gifts of Cryptocurrency
Deby is an audit & assurance shareholder with Clark Nuber, P.S, where she specializes in serving the firm’s not-for-profit clients with a focus on foundations, international NGOs, and education organizations. She provides a variety of services including financial statement, Single Audit and program audits; process, policy and internal controls consulting; grantee assessment, due diligence and monitoring; and site visits.
Deby is a member of the firm’s Technical Issues Committee that evaluates emerging accounting and auditing standards, implements the standards within the firm, and conducts both internal and external educational training. She is a member of the Washington Society of CPAs, AICPA and is licensed in Washington State and Washington DC.
Dr. Jen O’Ryan
Organizational change Diversity and Inclusion Strategist Bestselling author and host of “Paging Dr. Jen”
Training Facilitator - Mentoring Workshop and Professional Development
Dr. Jen O’Ryan is an Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity strategist focused on helping people build authentically inclusive and welcoming companies. She brings a unique perspective to organizational change, combining a PhD in Human Behavior with over 20 years of experience in leading global launches of new consumer experiences, products, and policy.
A data geek at heart, Jen brings an extensive grasp of how people interact with technology, with each other, and with change. She is also the author of “Inclusive AF: A Field Guide for ‘Accidental’ Diversity Experts”. Designed for anyone thinking about Inclusion and Diversity, IAF explains how to safely launch meaningful and lasting change. Outside of I&D work, Jen is a travel enthusiast and avid runner. She also has a strange affinity for bad 80’s music, getting lost in new cities, and scary movies.
Colby Reade
Murdock Charitable Trust Director of Communications, Senior Leadership Team
Presenter - The Legacy Ripple Effect
Colby Reade, APR is the Director of Communications and a member of the Senior Leadership Team at the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, a private nonprofit foundation that has awarded more than $1.2 billion in grants to nonprofits serving the Pacific Northwest.
Prior to joining the Murdock Trust in 2017, he began his career in journalism before moving into strategic communications where he served a wide variety of Fortune 500 firms, startups, and nonprofits. An alumni of the University of Oregon Honors College, Colby is currently pursuing his master’s at Georgetown University. Happily married to someone way out of his league, Colby is also the devoted father of a precocious six-year-old.
Dr. Raymond Tymas-Jones
President, Cornish College of the Arts
Featured - Mentoring Workshop and Professional Development
Tymas-Jones PhD served as Dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of Utah for 12 years and became the University’s Associate Vice President for the Arts in 2017. During his tenure, he established the Center for Interdisciplinary Arts in Technology and led the development of the CreateCONNECTIONS Project to foster interdisciplinary activity through the infusion of arts and design practices in medicine, science, and business. On July 1, 2018, he became the tenth president of Cornish College of the Arts.
Tymas-Jones was previously the Chief Administrative Officer for the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, the Pioneer Theatre Company, the Tanner Dance Program, and UtahPresents Performing Arts Series. Prior to his time at University of Utah, Tymas-Jones served as Associate Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Fine Arts at Buffalo State College (1990-93), Director of the School of Music at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls (1993-98), and Dean of the College of Fine Arts at Ohio University (1998-2005). As a music instructor or associate professor, he taught at Washington University (1980-83), Buffalo State College (1983-93), University of Northern Iowa (1993-98), finishing there as Professor of Music, and was Professor of Music at Ohio University (1998-2005).