America’s Charities Welcomes New Board Directors

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 4, 2014 – America’s Charities is pleased to announce the appointment of five new members and two re-elected members to its Board of Directors. 

Joining America’s Charities’ Board of Directors is Robert Letgers Senior Vice President – Product of Fidelity National Information Services; Perla Ni, Founder & CEO of GreatNonprofits; George Sifakis, CEO of Axela LLC; Laura Thrall, CEO of CureSearch for Children’s Cancer; and Heather Lofkin Wright, Corporate Responsibility Director of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Re-elected board members include Erline Belton, Chairwoman and CEO of Belton’s Crossing, LLC and CEO and Founder of the Lyceum Group, re-elected to Vice Chair of America’s Charities and Joi Gordon, CEO of Dress for Success Worldwide, re-elected as Secretary. 

“We are very pleased to welcome these leaders to our board,” announced Steve Delfin, President and CEO of America’s Charities. “Each Board Director brings a wealth of expertise spanning all areas of business from publishing, technology, financial services, fundraising, product development, strategic planning and communications, corporate responsibility and nonprofit management.” 

The 2014 Board Director roster is listed below. Click here for more information.

Meet America’s Charities’ New Board Directors

Robert Letgers is Senior Vice President – Product of Fidelity National Information Services. Bob leads the FIS Payments group where he oversees the personnel, financial and strategic aspects of the group. During his time with FIS, he has held leadership roles in Consumer Servicing, Client Servicing, Strategic Planning. He has worked with teams in North/South America and Europe to provide award winning results in the payments efficiency and innovation space.  FIS is the world’s largest global provider dedicated to banking and payments technologies. With a long history deeply rooted in the financial services sector, FIS serves more than 14,000 institutions in over 100 countries. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., FIS employs more than 35,000 people worldwide.  FIS is a leader in payment processing and banking solutions along with software, services and outsourcing of the technology that drives financial institutions. 

Perla Ni is Founder & CEO of GreatNonprofits. Think “Yelp” for nonprofits. Perla oversees all aspects of GreatNonprofits, including fundraising, marketing, technology and product development.  GreatNonprofits helps inform and inspire donors and is the leading developer of tools that allow people to find, review, and share information about great – and perhaps not yet great – nonprofits. Currently, users can rate more than 1.2 million nonprofits directly on the GreatNonprofiits website or via syndication on partner sites like Guidestar. GreatNonprofits represents the largest database of first-person stories about nonprofit organizations ever assembled. This resource helps donors, volunteers, journalists, and concerned citizens learn about nonprofit services available in their communities and beyond.

George Sifakis is CEO of Axela LLC. Since founding and leading Axela nearly a decade ago, George has crafted countless successful grassroots, legislative, funding and executive communications strategies for Axela clients. George has served in all branches of the Federal Government including as a Presidential Appointee, Senate Committee Staffer at the Committee on Small Business and Docket Clerk at the US Attorney’s Office (Boston). George has successfully coordinated initiatives for clients, including coalition/partnerships, grassroots advocacy campaigns, legislative briefings, executive communications and funding blueprint development in coordination with the Axela development and writing team. George is a frequent speaker at national events on topics such as higher education, healthcare and homeland security.  He is the founder of www.idea-gen.com, a cross-sector collaboration platform focused on digital and in-person (zero-degree™) collaboration.

Laura Thrall is CEO of CureSearch for Children’s Cancer where she was recruited in 2012 to transform CureSearch from its position as the largest Federal grantee for pediatric cancer to a privately funded organization driving novel research with measurable results.  Prior to joining CureSearch, Laura was President and CEO of the United Way Metropolitan Chicago where she led the transformation from a ‘pass through fundraising’ organization into a ‘community impact’ organization.  She developed a common vision and goals and mobilized a broad range of activities including funding, legislative advocacy, volunteers and corporate partners. Previously, Laura was CEO of the YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago where she transformed program development, fundraising, community outreach and legislative affairs.

Heather Lofkin Wright is Corporate Responsibility Director at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).  Heather has been with PwC for over 14 years and oversees day-to-day operations of the firm’s internal corporate responsibility strategy community.  Her work focuses on employee engagement issues such as nonprofit partnerships, employee volunteerism, pro bono efforts, and the firm’s sustainability commitment.  Heather is a sought after speaker on corporate responsibility branding, philanthropy and volunteerism, employee engagement and the business sector’s role in youth STEM education. Heather has held a variety of roles at PwC and also serves as a leader on the nationwide giving campaign that raised over $10.8 million dollars for charities across the country in 2012.

About America’s Charities
America’s Charities (www.charities.org) is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization and is at the forefront of the workplace giving and employee engagement transformation. The organization connects public and private sector employers with charities to engage employees in greater giving and provides a wide range of programs and services for both employers and charities. Learn more about America’s Charities at www.charities.org and connect with us on social media.

​CONTACT:
Lynne D. Filderman
Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer
America’s Charities
703.674.5346
LFilderman@charities.org

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