Prepare for an enriching experience at the INNOVATE 2024 conference, hosted by JMT Consulting. As the largest and longest-running conference hosted by a firm exclusively dedicated to serving nonprofit finance professionals, our event is designed to provide valuable networking opportunities and education in financial and accounting matters.
Join us as we welcome some of the industry’s most prominent finance and nonprofit professionals. This conference is not only an investment in your team but also in your organization’s mission. We’re proud to announce our lineup of expert speakers who will be joining us in Boston, MA this year. Read on to learn about each speaker and their invaluable contributions to the event.
The INNOVATE 2024 Lineup
Aaron Harris, Chief Technology Officer, Sage
Meet Aaron Harris, Sage‘s visionary Chief Technology Officer, steering emerging tech investments, and AI-powered innovations, and driving the company’s SaaS excellence. Aaron’s passion lies in powering the accounting industry forward with transformative technology and building the next generation of diverse tech talent.
Jacki Davidoff, Principal, Executive Leadership Coach and Facilitator, Davidoff Strategy
Based on years of consulting, training, and coaching with social sector leaders and organizations nationally, Jacki Davidoff, Principal of Davidoff Strategy, and Executive Leadership Coach, shares concepts that invite personal reflection and learning through small and large group exercises. Each participant will be guided to define a vision of the next level of their effectiveness and leadership within their organization – and come to recognize they have much more capacity than they know. This work involves understanding we each have internal, habitual ways we think and act – – our “internal system” – – and that our missions call us to develop skills to intentionally disrupt our “systems” and make choices as Mission-Drivers.
David Greco, President and CEO, Social Sector Partners
David Greco is a nationally recognized nonprofit leader, speaker, and author on creating a more sustainable and effective social sector. Today David serves as President & CEO of Social Sector Partners helping nonprofits and funders better understand what it really costs for nonprofits to be sustainable and achieve long-term impact. Since May 2023, David has been volunteering in Ukraine helping people and communities that have been devastated by the full-scale Russian invasion and ongoing atrocities. He is providing humanitarian aid and medical supplies to combat medics and front-line defenders as well as helping to rebuild schools, homes, and communities damaged by shelling, flooding, and other acts of war.
Julia Patrick, CEO, American Nonprofit Academy Co-Host, The Nonprofit Show
Patrick, a native of Phoenix, Arizona has served on both cultural and social service Boards. She has worked with more than 500 nonprofit organizations during her career. Prior to establishing the American Nonprofit Academy, Patrick published award-winning niche publications such as The Arts and Crafts Chronicle, The Wedding Chronicle, Food & Flourish and Frontdoors News over 25 years. Patrick’s work with nonprofits led her to realize these organizations were desperate for cost-effective training and topic-specific education.
The process of philanthropy is a constant in communities across America, but it’s a changing sector. “Benevolence is no longer the only reason for giving. Donors are expecting more, demanding measurements, and seeking solutions,” explains Patrick. “Today’s nonprofits need to operate from a place of passion and accomplish their missions using all the business tools of a professional organization.”
This is where the American Nonprofit Academy comes in. Using engaging panel discussions, lectures, online courses, and workshops, with highly respected experts, Patrick and her team have developed innovative low-cost programs focused on educating nonprofits. “Our goal is to help nonprofits achieve their mission, vision and values,” adds Patrick. This includes working with nonprofit leadership-level professionals, volunteers, donors, and Board Members.
Training topics are wide-ranging and thought-provoking. The Nonprofit Board Boot Camp moves Board Members through a fast-paced course on leadership, stewardship, and governance. Individual workshops include subjects covering donor relations, marketing, communications, accounting, human resource management, real estate, event planning, auctions, donor demographics, naming rights, and even social venture management. “As organizations search for innovations and solutions, our curriculum continues to expand.”
Jacqueline Tiso, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, JMT Consulting
Jacqueline is a frequent speaker on financial management and Cloud (SaaS) technology. She is regularly called upon for her expertise by the media and as a conference speaker. Several years ago, JMT migrated most of its internal systems to the Cloud. After experiencing the benefits of these systems, Jacki has been a leading proponent of Cloud systems for non-profits. Jacqueline continues to serve on several nonprofit boards and committees in support of their efforts to make a difference in the world.
Jacqueline is an enthusiastic and passionate leader frequently called upon to speak on financial management and cloud technology topics for nonprofit organizations. As a proponent of these modern systems, Jacqueline has received national recognition from accounting and nonprofit industry organizations and publications. Prior to founding JMT Consulting Group, she was CFO and Comptroller for a number of nonprofit organizations. Jacqueline has assisted nonprofit organizations with accounting services, technology, executive management, and board consulting.
John Tiso, Director of Client Services, JMT Consulting
As Director of Consulting and Support Services, John Tiso is responsible for contributing to the entire client experience as he works to align processes across sales, implementations, and along each step of the client relationship journey. John started his JMT career in 2008 as a member of the sales team before moving to the internal finance department and working with the same systems JMT partners with day in and day out. Developing a deep understanding of such systems led him to roles as a consultant, implementation expert, and support team manager, each giving him a unique perspective and hands-on knowledge that helps create an extraordinary experience for every JMT client.
Ken Cerini, Managing Partner, Cerini & Associates
Ken is the executive responsible for the administration of the not-for-profit and educational provider practice groups at Cerini & Associates. In addition to his extensive audit experience, Ken has been directly involved in providing consulting services for nonprofits and educational facilities of all sizes throughout New York State in such areas as cost reporting, financial analysis, Medicaid compliance, government audit representation, rate maximization, board training, budgeting and forecasting, and more.
Jeff Young, Senior Vice President, FirstBank
Jeff provides custom banking solutions that help drive success for middle-market sized companies involved in healthcare, energy, real estate, logistics, and the food and beverage industries. He has also been instrumental in funding over $200 million dollars in loans to nonprofits across the Southeast. Throughout his career, Jeff has supported and been active in several non-profit organizations including the American Diabetes Association, the YMCA of Middle Tennessee, Rotary Club, Nashville Emerging Leaders, and The Phoenix Club of Nashville. He also currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Board for Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee.
Matt Thompson, Financial Advisor & Portfolio Management Director, Morgan Stanley
Matt Thompson joined Morgan Stanley in 2008 and continued buildings the three pillars of the practice: Corporate Services, Investor Services and Philanthropic Services. As the interplay between the three expanded over the years, I developed a robust practice to include Private Corporations, Non-Profit Organizations, and Individual Families. My philanthropic involvement has expended as well, as I serve of the Board of Director for the Bayside Business Association, the Board of Directors for Career Day Inc., Chairman of the Board for The Nonprofit Cooperative, Vice-Chairman of the Board for The Nonprofit Collective Foundation, the Board of Directors for Pelham Travel Soccer Club, and the Advisory Board for Transitional Services of New York, Inc. as well as working with other charities on an as needed basis.
Christian Templeman, Financial Advisor, Morgan Stanley
Christian A. Templeman is a financial advisor with Morgan Stanley in Greenwich, CT. His mission is to help nonprofits manage and attract capital and to help individuals become and remain financially independent. Mr. Templeman attained his Series 7, 66 and health and life insurance certifications as well as his Financial Planning Associate designation from Smith Barney. He completed the Chartered Retirement Planning CounselorSM and the Chartered Retirement Plans SpecialistSM Professional Designation Programs from The College for Financial Planning®. He is a graduate of St. Lawrence University with a Bachelors of Arts degree in Philosophy.
David Goldstein, Chair – Nonprofit/Tax Exempt/Religious Organizations Practice Group, Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman LLP
David Goldstein represents international, national, regional and local not-for-profit and religious entities across a wide variety of nonprofit sectors. Mr. Goldstein counsels and advocates for nonprofits and religious organizations in a wide variety of areas, including governance, compliance, regulatory matters, ethics, conflicts of interest, risk assessment and risk management, as well as operations and commercial matters. He represents clients (both individuals and organizations) in internal disputes, regulatory investigations and regulatory actions, as well as in litigation – and continually counsels his clients on how to avoid these entanglements.
Bob Martin, JMT Consultant
Bob has extensive experience implementing ERP systems in both nonprofits and large public corporations. He has built budgeting and planning tools to help senior management teams oversee critical operations, anticipate responses to possible scenarios, and engender trust with a broad array of constituencies. Best-practice planning requires ready answers for boards, donors, accreditors, industry regulators, and financial institutions. Bob has helped entities to arrange financing, work through M&A transactions, restructure finances, and build entirely new IT operating environments.
Bart Holzer, Chief Information Security Officer, Affinity Technology Partners
Bart Holzer served 20 years as an engineer in the Data Intercept Technology Unit of the FBI, working nearly every kind of case performed by federal law enforcement with a nexus to the Internet – from hacking to humantrafficking to counter-terrorism. He joined a cybersecurity startup in 2016, where he built a security operations center (SOC) and a managed security services provider (MSSP) line of business. Bart served as a Chief Security Officer (CSO) for a financial services company in Franklin, TN before starting several companies in security consulting and cloud software. He is the owner of Overt Channel, LLC, a cybersecurity firm based in Nashville providing fractional executive services. He has a BSE in Computer Science, an MS in Telecommunications, and multiple certifications – including CISSP, ISSEP, and CPP. Bart is currently serving as virtual Chief Information Security Officer (vCISO) to Affinity Technology Partners.
Andrea Small, Senior Product Manager for General Ledger and Financial Reporting, Sage
As Senior Product Manager for General Ledger and Financial Reporting, Andrea is laser-focused on improving the Sage Intacct customer experience with financial and operational optimization. Leveraging twelve years of experience with the Intacct solution, over twenty years of experience in financial and managerial roles, and the knowledge gained from her Masters in Nonprofit Administration, her personal mission is to help accountants and finance leaders of small to medium-sized organizations excel while tasked with managing complex issues of growing organizations.
Walt Hicks, Principal Solution Consultant & Manager, Sage
Walt has been an Industry Principal at Sage Intacct for 17 years with more than 30 years of experience providing business-driven consulting to prospects, as well as existing customers and business partners. Highly knowledgeable about the unique nuances of financial solutions, but also can navigate many facets of the customer cycle from pre-sales engineering support to solution qualification and execution, to solution architecture and post-sale solutions.
Jigar Darji, Technical Solutions Consultant, Sage
Jigar serves as a Technical Solutions Consultant at Sage, helping translate functional and non-functional requirements into integration interfaces and solution architectures for clients and prospects. He utilizes his computer engineering background and a lifelong passion for learning, combining technical knowledge with sales skills to remove objections related to technology infrastructure, scalability, and security.
Are You In?
These are just a few of the brilliant minds you’ll encounter at the INNOVATE 2024. Each speaker brings a unique perspective and a wealth of experience to the table, ensuring that you’ll leave our event with a newfound sense of purpose and direction.
So, mark your calendars and get ready to be inspired. INNOVATE 2024 is more than just an event; it’s a catalyst for positive change in the world of nonprofit finance. We can’t wait to see you there!
Register Here.
