About

Dana has spent the past 17+ years working with and for nonprofit organizations as a lender, consultant and Board Treasurer to strengthen financial and operational strategies, infrastructure and leadership capacity. As a long-time champion for advancing greater equity within nonprofit management and philanthropic practices, Dana remains a steadfast supporter and thought-partner to nonprofit leaders working to advance justice and equitable systems-change throughout the social sector. Currently, Dana serves as an independent consultant that provides financial management capacity building and technical assistance services for nonprofits across the country. Her clients currently include Nonprofit Financial Commons where she supports webinar content development and delivery, discussion forum moderation, and the curation of online resources intended to provide greater access to the information and tools needed for more effective and strategic nonprofit financial management.

Prior to this, Dana spent over 7 years at BDO FMA (formerly Fiscal Management Associates - FMA) where, in her most recent role as Managing Director, she led the firm’s Chicago-based Midwest team. In this role, she delivered and oversaw workshops, coaching and consulting engagements for nonprofit leaders across the Midwest through initiatives that included the MacArthur Arts & Culture Loan Fund and the Stronger Nonprofits Initiative funded by JP Morgan Chase. Through her extensive experience working alongside nonprofit leaders, Dana regularly presented at conferences and participated in interviews to share learnings and help address sector-wide challenges.

Before joining the BDO FMA team in 2015, Dana spent over 6 years at Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF) providing loan financing and delivering workshops and customized client consultations to nonprofit leaders including business model assessments, financial projections, capitalization planning, and financial literacy coaching. During her time at NFF, she led the administration of a $1.1-million loan fund for arts organizations and helped develop processes for providing financial coaching and a total of $1.6 million in flexible grant capital for seven NYC-based health and human services organizations. Prior to NFF, Dana worked as an Executive Assistant at Homes for the Homeless, one of the largest providers of transitional housing in the country, where she supported the executive team and helped manage financial reporting requirements for NYC contracts.

Beyond her professional affiliations and experiences, Dana currently provides strategic financial oversight and thought-partnership as the Board Treasurer for Allied Media Projects and 2nd Story. Dana is also a graduate of the Certified Nonprofit Accounting Professionals (CNAP) training program. Dana received her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Amherst College and spent a semester at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.