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About Our Team

Founded by pioneers in the area of leadership transition in nonprofits, TransitionGuides has assembled a diverse team of outstanding consultants with extensive track records in working with nonprofit organizations and leadership transitions. Our team offers a full range of leadership succession, executive search and transition services for nonprofits. Individually and collectively we bring years of nonprofit executive and senior management experience to our practice. Our consultants offer a unique blend of experience with organizational development, strategic planning and executive search.

Principals

Tom Adams – President. Tom leads succession planning, executive transition and search projects as well as serving as the practice leader for TransitionGuides' educational services and our research and program development efforts. Tom has been leading executive transition projects since 1991 and has over 30 years experience serving nonprofit organizations as an executive director, senior manager of a national organization and as a consultant. His research and practice in the area of nonprofit executive transitions includes five years as director of the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation's Community Development Leadership Project and nine years as a private consultant to nonprofit boards and foundations. He served as the project manager and lead consultant for the Annie E. Casey Executive Leadership Transition and Capacity Building Project and helped create the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations’ Executive Transition Initiative. Tom writes on leadership transition and related topics and regularly presents at conferences and leads workshops. Earlier in his career, he was the first executive director of Neighborhood Housing Services and has a particular interest in coaching and supporting founders and long-term executive directors.

Tom received his BA from St. Mary's Seminary and University and his MSW from the University Of Maryland School Of Social Work.

Don Tebbe – Managing Partner. Don leads executive transition and search projects and serves as the practice leader for TransitionGuides' leadership transition services. Don has been leading executive search and transition projects since 1995. He spent his first decade in the nonprofit sector as an executive for several statewide organizations and as a founder and leader in several national groups. He was a cofounder of the National Council of Nonprofits Associations, served as one of the early leaders in the movement to develop statewide associations of nonprofits and helped form a national unemployment insurance trust. Since starting his consulting practice in 1993, he has focused on advising nonprofits on leadership transitions, as well as helping them develop more effective strategies and business models. He has served a wide variety of organizations from grassroots startups to international organizations, including the world’s largest child welfare organization. Don is the author of For the Good of the Cause: Board Building Lessons from Highly Effective Nonprofits, a report based on case studies that explored the link between governing board behavior and nonprofit effectiveness. He is also the author of a forthcoming book on executive transition management that will be published by BoardSource in 2008.  

Don holds a BA in History from the University of Illinois-Springfield where he has also pursued graduate studies in nonprofit administration.

Consultants

Adar Ayira A. Adar Ayira has more than 20 years of management and organizational development, membership, and fundraising experience gained through her tenure in both locally and nationally focused nonprofit, community-based, social justice organizations.  Adar is also an experienced anti-racism/anti-oppression education trainer.  In addition to conducting “Training of Trainer” workshops in the field of anti-oppression education, she was also a long-term volunteer trainer at The Support Center of Washington.  Her training workshops included “Managing a Small Nonprofit”, “Asking for Money In Person” (a workshop that developed skills in major donor fundraising), “Fundamentals of Management”, and “Everything an Executive Director Needs to Know About Fundraising”, among others.  She was also a faculty member for the Support Center’s National Leadership Development Institute, co-developing and facilitating its “Leading the Organization” workshop, and providing “coaching” services to those executives who participated in the NLDI program. 

Through the years, Adar has continued her education by taking courses to keep current with changing trends in the fields of organizational management, membership, and development.  She received degrees in Public Communications and Sociology from American University in Washington, DC. 

Catrese Brown – Consultant. Catrese leads executive transition and search projects, provides related organizational planning and post-hire services, and presents and facilitates workshops nationally on Executive Transition Management and Succession Planning. With over 20 years experience in nonprofit organizations, Catrese’s diverse experience includes organization development consulting, including board development, serving as an interim executive director, education and training, facilitating strategic planning processes, and managing leadership transitions.

Catrese has BA in Sociology from Chestnut Hill College and a MS in Human Resource Development from what is now Towson State University. She also is a certified administrator of the Myers Briggs Personality Type Indicator.

Lisa Burford Hardmon - Consultant. Lisa has lead executive transition and search projects for TransitionGuides since 2003.  In addition, Lisa's specialties include board development workshops and retreats, facilitation and executive coaching. She is a native Washingtonian with over twenty years of experience in the nonprofit community. Throughout her career, she has served the nonprofit sector in a variety of capacities including grassroots organizations, local affiliates, as well as national nonprofit organizations, governmental agencies, and universities. She is involved in a number of local initiatives, including Leadership Washington, is a founding member of Black Female Executive Directors Developing Capacity, and she has served on the committee for the Washington Post Award for Excellence in Nonprofit Management.

Lisa has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) in Marketing from The American University and a Master of Nonprofit Organizations’ (MNO) degree from Case Western Reserve University.

Victor Chears – Consultant. Victor leads succession planning, executive transition and executive team development projects. He is also a sought after coach, trainer, mentor, consultant, confidant and advisor to the leaders of complex organizations. He assists such leaders in defining their success requirements, clarifying their goals and pursuing their highest vision.

He is a seasoned manager and management consultant with extensive experience in the public and private sectors.  Since starting his individual consulting practice in 1986, Victor has consulted with a wide-range of organizations focusing on leadership; capacity-building and vision; organizational analysis and development; program analysis; strategic planning; team building; project management; communications; search and transition; and human capital development.

Victor has BA from Yale University and is ABD (All But Dissertation) in the pursuit of his Doctorate in Education from Fielding Graduate University (expected 2008).  He is a 2007 Recipient of the Yale Medal - the Association of Yale Alumni's highest honor awarded, annually, to five Alumni in recognition of their outstanding, individual service to the University.

Recipient of the Yale Medal - the Association of Yale's highest honor awarded to five Alumni in recognition of their outstanding individual service to the University. To read more click here.

Karen Gaskins Jones – Consultant. Karen serves as our senior trainer and leads succession planning and executive transition projects. Her expertise is in training design, facilitation, evaluation, and organization development consultation. Karen has over 20 years of experience as a trainer/consultant, which includes working in different international settings and within diverse communities across the United States. As a consultant, she has provided training and organization development services to a variety of government agencies and large, small and medium-sized organizations in the public, private and nonprofit sectors within the United States and abroad. Her work results in people and organizations achieving their maximum operational potential. She is certified to administer the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, the Strength Deployment Inventory and is a student and practitioner of Appreciative Inquiry and NLP.

Karen is a founding member and chair of the board of directors of the Diversity Leadership Forum (DLF), a national association of multi- disciplinary practitioners devoted to the development of the field of diversity and multiculturalism. Also, she is the president of the board of directors for the Bureau of Rehabilitation, Inc.

Karen has a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from Spelman College and holds a Master’s degree in Education from Texas Southern University.

Denice Rothman Hinden, PhD – Consultant. Denice leads succession and other types of planning projects, executive transitions and related research. She has 20 years of experience in nonprofit management, organization development, and research. At the Development Training Institute (Baltimore, MD) she facilitated an unprecedented organization capacity building program for community development organizations and developed an accredited curriculum for a leadership academy for community development professionals. She is the former executive director of Voices for Children (Miami, FL) and deputy director of Miami Bridge Emergency Shelter for Runaway and Homeless Youth.

Denice is also a trained presenter for The Drucker Foundation Self-Assessment. In addition to leadership transitions, her firm provides evaluation for customer service and performance improvement, strategic and business planning, and organizational development to support strategic plan implementation. She is active in the Alliance for Nonprofit Management and chairs the McAdam’s Book Award Committee recognizing excellence in nonprofit management literature. Denice has a MS in Human Services from Nova Southeastern University and a PhD in Public Administration from Florida International University.

Paige Hull - Consultant. Paige's specialties are research, planning and facilitation. Before becoming a full-time consultant, Paige was a program manager at the Development Training Institute (DTI), a national training and technical assistance provider in the field of community development. She has been team leader for projects for Fannie Mae Foundation, National League of Cities and HUD’s New England Field Office. She also managed a research project on the competencies of successful community builders and authored several related reports and articles.

Paige was the primary investigator with Lester Salamon in the collection and analysis of data for his publication, “America’s Nonprofit Sector: A Primer,” published by The Foundation Center 1992. She has a Master’s degree in Policy Studies from Johns Hopkins University with a concentration in economic and community development.

Katherine Morrison – Consultant. Since 1982, Katherine has held a series of increasingly responsible positions in human services administration culminating with 15 years as president and CEO of The Campagna Center, a local nonprofit in Alexandria, VA with a budget of $8.5 million serving 1,500 children each day. She leads executive transition projects, specializing in interim leadership, resource development, program implementation and oversight, board development and strategic planning.  Katherine has served in a leadership capacity with numerous local organizations including Leadership Greater Washington, the Women’s Giving Circle of the Alexandria Community Trust, the WETA Community Advisory Council, the Virginia Prevention and Promotion Advisory Council, the Rotary Club of Alexandria, Alexandria Call to Community, Washington Street United Methodist Church, Arlandria Health Clinic Coalition, Northern Virginia Coalition of Nonprofit Human Services Agencies, Hopkins House Board of Trustees and the Junior League of Northern Virginia.

Katherine holds a BA in Sociology and Psychology from Duke University and a MA in Gerontology from George Washington University.

Leslie Nair - Search Consultant. Leslie has over 20 years experience performing all phases of executive search research and recruitment.  She has conducted hundreds of searches in all functional areas in the medical device manufacturing, pharmaceutical, financial services, insurance, association and non-profit industries.   

Leslie worked for several boutique firms before launching her own consulting practice in 2004.  Her clients include retained search and consulting firms from all around the country. 

Leslie earned a BA in International Relations from Bradley University.

Ann Thompson Cook - Consultant. Ann’s transition work is informed by many experiences—as CEO, as Interim Executive, as founding board member, and as Executive Coach to nonprofit executives and board leaders. After leading the national Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice as President/CEO through a major transformation in the 1990s, she has assisted scores of national and international organizations such as African Wildlife Foundation, National American Indian Housing Council, WomenHeart, and YWCA of the USA. Ann brings expertise in nonprofit governance, team development, multicultural collaboration, change and crisis management, and strategic planning. She has coached staff and board leaders and facilitated numerous retreats, offering guidance on a range of critical issues such as clarifying vision, building effective boards, and structuring corporate governance.  

Ann has a Master of Arts degree from the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration.

TransitionGuides Office Team

Ginna Goodenow - Recruiting Consultant. In addition to providing exceptional candidate outreach, sourcing of potential networks, pooling candidates through extensive research, Ginna brings over 15 years of experience in marketing, communications, strategic and event planning to TransitionGuides. A large span of her career is in corporate aviation and transportation. Her work experience has overlapped with the association and non-profit arena since 1995. Ginna has served in a leadership capacity with several national and international associations and is currently involved with a host of philanthropic organizations.

Ginna holds a Bachelor of Arts with a triple-major in English, Marketing and Sociology from Austin College.

Jackie Huber - Office Manager. Jackie provides back-office support, scheduling and project coordination for our clients.  Her professional experience bridges a variety of fields including human resources, marketing, leasing and accounting/finance. Jackie was a four year recipient of the Richard Hudnut and Olive Bowlin Scholarships due to academic achievements and was inducted into the Omicron Delta Epsilon International Economic Honor Society in 2006. 

She received her BA from Hood College in Frederick MD in the field of economics, with a minor in business management and studio arts. Jackie is currently enrolled in the Hood College Masters Program pursuing her MBA with a finance concentration.

Athalia Joseph - Executive Assistant/Assistant Bookkeeper. Athalia provides assistance to the president and financial director of the company by providing office support, bookkeeping and project support to our consultants and clients.  Athalia has over 10 years of office support experience and 3 years of experience in the accounting field.  She is currently working on her Bachelors in Accounting at the University of Phoenix.

Doris Kiser - Administrative Consultant. Doris provides back-office support, recruitment advertising and resume management for our clients. Doris has a background in writing, editing and graphic design. She has worked in many fields including accounting, medical billing, and graphics design. She is active in her church community and plays guitar for her worship team.  

Doris has a BA in English from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and holds an MA in Publications Design from the University of Baltimore.

Karen Schuler - Finance and Operations Director. Karen’s work with clients has focused on financial analyses and strengthening financial/operational management capacity. At TransitionGuides, Karen refines operational systems to maximize efficiency and quality, recommends and integrates financial and operational strategies to support business planning and growth, reviews client contracts and develops/implements budgets. She brings more than 25 years experience in business management and development, including extensive work in the non-profit arena. She has served as Chief Operating Officer and Acting Executive Director for local non-profits and has consulted with private educational institutions and serviced-based non-profits to revitalize their business functions and improve management-Board relations.   Karen received a BA with Honors from Duke University and has an MBA in Strategic Planning from the University of Maryland.

Melody Thomas-Scott - Associate Project Manager.

Melody leads the education office and provides transition and succession planning assistance. She successfully completed the Executive Consultant Training Program and has supported many nonprofit organizations with leadership transitions, recruitment, research and succession planning. Her professional expertise includes marketing, public relations, meeting planning, desktop publishing, facilitation and project management. She has served as the Vice President and President of The Maryland Society of Radiology Technologists and consistently serves as a member of community associations and serves on the public elementary education board of directors in Prince George's County.

Melody is a certified meeting planner, holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Columbia Union College and was awarded a full Academic Entrepreneurial Leadership Scholarship in pursuit of her Masters Degree at the University of Maryland in College Park. 

TransitionGuides offers a full range of leadership succession, executive search and transition services for nonprofits. For more information call (301) 439-6635.

TransitionGuides
1751 Elton Road, Suite 204 | Silver Spring, MD 20903
Phone 301-439-6635 | Fax 301-439-6638
info@transitionguides.com

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1/27/08