People CSR – The Munshine Group

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Our People

With deep roots in New Jersey and the Northeast corridor, The Munshine Group has extensive nonprofit sector experience and an executive team with a broad understanding of effective community engagement and high-impact philanthropic strategies. The Munshine Group’s consulting process combines positive community results along with building goodwill with clients and key stakeholders.

David Munshine

President & CEO

Julia Kathan

Chief Communications Officer

Tonya Addy

Executive Vice President

Newell Thompson

Director of Business Development

Megan Leitheiser

Senior VP, Development Communications

Suzanne Albin

Senior Vice President

Shay Laderbush

Senior Vice President

Cindi Altieri

Executive Assistant

Alex Napuck

Analytics and Research Manager

Sarah Lalevee

Consulting Associate

Jimmy Pitingolo

Consulting Associate

Maia Chester

Consulting Associate

Roman Brooks

Public Affairs Associate

Maria DiStefano

Consulting Intern

The Power of CSR

“The entrepreneurs and business leaders of today and tomorrow have an extraordinary opportunity: to prove that through upholding values we can create value-for the company, for the customer, and for the community.”

— Arthur M. Blank, author, “Good Company”

“By taking a broader, more complete view of corporate purpose, boards can focus on creating long-term value, better serving everyone – investors, employees, communities, suppliers and customers.”

— Bill McNabb, former CEO, Vanguard

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David Munshine

President & CEO

David Munshine is a no-nonsense strategist and leader in transformational fundraising, communications and nonprofit management. After noteworthy achievement as a development, associate and executive director in the education and health sectors, David has been consulting since 2001. He has worked with some 150 charities spanning every nonprofit sector, ranging from new initiatives to large, complex health systems and universities. David’s energy is matched only by his passion for creating positive change.

He founded The Munshine Group in 2013 to bring a fresh perspective to consulting in order to help nonprofits thrive in a rapidly-changing digitally connected world. Key issues include fierce competition for major gifts and donor loyalty; building strong staff and volunteer teams; and breaking through the noise to deliver messages that move people to take action.

David is a member of the Forbes Business Council and a noted speaker and trainer. Recent media appearances include WCBS News Radio, WCBS Small Business Spotlight, nj.com, NJ Spotlight and Advancing Philanthropy magazine.

David received his bachelor’s degree in public administration from John Jay College of Criminal Justice. David is a trustee of the New Jersey Hall of Fame and is Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of Camp Nejeda Foundation, serving children and teens with type 1 diabetes. David is also on the Board of the New Jersey Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, where he chairs the Government Relations and Advocacy Committee, responsible for coordinating and amplifying public affairs activities in Trenton and Washington, D.C.

Julia Kathan

Chief Communications Officer

Julia Kathan is a communications, public relations and media executive with deep experience in the worlds of nonprofits and network news, helping to make sure clients of The Munshine Group solve their challenges and meet — and exceed — their goals. She brings the writing, editing and creative skills needed to craft and deliver compelling, spot-on messaging.

She joined The Munshine Group after serving as Director of Public Relations and Communications for the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, the state’s largest anti-hunger and anti-poverty organization, where she greatly expanded awareness of the issues and the organization. Julia is dedicated to giving back and to supporting a variety of causes.

For more than 20 years, she was an award-winning writer and producer for ABC News, where her credits include head writer of the flagship World News with Diane Sawyer, as well as senior staff member of World News Tonight with Charles Gibson. She is the recipient of more than a dozen major broadcasting awards, including multiple Edward R. Murrow, Writers Guild, Gracie and National Headliner Awards.

Julia, who studied Rhetoric and Communication at The State University of New York at Albany, is a contributing writer for The Huffington Post.

Tonya Addy

Executive Vice President

Tonya is a visionary nonprofit strategist with extensive experience in the world of philanthropy. As a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE), Tonya is a tested and proven professional with established skills in volunteer management and fund development. Tonya blends her comprehensive knowledge of management, philanthropy and communications to assist clients in realizing their full potential.

She brings more than 18 years of experience to The Munshine Group, most recently as Vice President of External Relations for St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital and Executive Director of St. Luke’s Cornwall Health System Foundation. Tonya has also served as Development Director for Crystal Run Village, a human services agency, and as both Executive Director and Corporate Relations Director for the American Heart Association’s Founders Affiliate.

Tonya holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Wagner College and an Advanced Certiﬁcate in Non-Proﬁt Management from the State University of New York, Empire State College. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Leadership Orange, the Port Jervis Soap Box Derby and the Mid-Hudson Valley Association of Fundraising Professionals.

Newell Thompson

Director of Business Development

Newell Thompson is working at the key intersection of the nonprofit and corporate worlds, focused on connecting some of the region’s most dynamic companies, which are committed to giving back, with nonprofits that are seeking support from businesses for their vital missions. By helping companies establish or expand their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs, Newell and The Munshine Group are strengthening corporations and charities in their missions to improve the world.

Newell is a senior sales and marketing executive who brings creativity and a customer-focused approach to every relationship.

He has worked with some of the best-known brands in publishing including National Geographic, TIME, Golf Digest, Fortune, Sports Illustrated, and Money. During his publishing tenure, he led both sales and marketing teams including at Conde Nast and Time Inc.

As Vice President of Content at Time Inc, Newell founded The Fortune Knowledge Group, a thought leadership consortium of subject matter experts, designers, videographers, and storytellers. Newell brings an understanding of content creation for nonprofits, companies and associations to The Munshine Group.

Newell also serves as Executive Director of The Decency Foundation, a New Jersey-based nonprofit dedicated to fueling innovation and success for small business farmers. He holds a degree in History from Hobart College.

Megan Leitheiser

Senior VP, Development Communications

Megan brings creativity, versatility and a spirit of collaboration to every project she undertakes. Megan has extensive experience working in corporate and nonprofit administration, fundraising, marketing, and communications. Her skills consistently deliver positive results for clients. She is noted for her ability to connect with people, and is committed to serving organizations that are doing good work in the world.

After earning degrees in marketing and management, Megan established a career in marketing for a Fortune 500 company before transitioning to the nonprofit sector more than a decade ago. She joined The Munshine Group with nonprofit experience including serving faith-based organizations, and a nonprofit dedicated to the eradication of human trafficking.

Megan’s knowledge of nonprofit communications, with an emphasis on digital and print design and strategy consistently results in what clients say is exactly what they were looking for and needed.She is up-to-the-minute on best practices. At The Munshine Group, Megan is involved with nearly every client engagement, producing customized, compelling materials that result in increased awareness and donations.

Megan has worked with local and national organizations in nearly every sector. She has coordinated and designed development materials for many clients, including Case for Support information, annual reports, brochures, folders, infographics, social media graphics, and appeal letters. Megan has managed multiple successful digital campaigns, including for the Seabee Historical Foundation. By leveraging events such as Veterans Day and #GivingTuesday, she was key to helping the Foundation exceed its fundraising goals and expand its online presence. Megan was instrumental in the creation and design of the Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan’s groundbreaking Fund for Women and Children Report, which raised the organization’s profile and resulted in positive media coverage.

Megan holds bachelor’s degrees in marketing and management.

To read Megan’s insights into the ever-changing world of social media, especially Facebook and ways nonprofits can leverage the platform, check out her Facing the Facebook Facts blog.

Suzanne Albin

Senior Vice President

Suzanne Albin, Senior Vice President, is an experienced and influential nonprofit leader who is active with organizations on both the community and national levels. In addition to her nonprofit expertise, Suzanne is a business and real estate attorney, involved with bar associations and causes related to civil courts and women in law.

She brings her skills and knowledge to The Munshine Group, along with her demonstrated passion to help nonprofit organizations achieve their goals and impact those they serve in a meaningful way. Suzanne is able to approach each assignment from a variety of unique stakeholder perspectives, whether with board members, executive staff members, other community leaders or donors. She combines that ability to develop trusting relationships with keen research and analytical skills, enabling her to help clients fulfill their objectives.

Suzanne spent more than 25 years in the legal field. In addition to having established her own practice, she was Of Counsel to the law firm of Newman Ferrara LLP, and was a partner of Borah, Goldstein, Altschuler, Nahins & Goidel, P.C.

Suzanne serves several nonprofit organizations. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the JCC Association of North America, and serves on its Governance Committee. Suzanne is also on the Board of Directors of the JCC of Central New Jersey, and is a past president of the organization. She was a recipient of the Hineni Award for Exceptional Leadership and Service in 2019.

Suzanne received her J.D. from New York Law School and her B.A. in Public Affairs from The George Washington University. She is also certified in Advanced Commercial Mediation in New York and obtained a certificate in Talent Acquisition & Planning from Cornell University.

Shay Laderbush

Senior Vice President

Shay brings extensive nonprofit management experience and a wide variety of skills to our clients. Her strong background in higher education and health care includes specialization in prospect research, data analysis, major gifts, campaigns and annual giving.

Shay joined the team from her position at the University of New Hampshire, where she was Prospect Research and Management Analyst. She was involved in all aspects of advancement goals and results, as well as major gift proposals. In her role, she was also responsible for implementation and training for new database and technical services.

Prior to UNH, Shay was Major Gifts Officer for the New Hampshire SPCA, creating and fostering key donor relationships. Those stewardship skills were also crucial earlier in her career, when Shay was Development Officer for Annual Giving at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

Shay is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, with a minor in Health Management and Policy. Shay is a member of NEDRA (New England Development Research Association) and Apra (Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement).

She is active in supporting organizations and causes including health, education, children, the environment, and animal welfare.

Cindi Altieri

Executive Assistant

Cindi has 10 years of experience in nonprofit fundraising administration with targeted expertise in handling multiple tasks for leadership departments and support for a varied client base. She is a consummate juggler of tasks and priorities and creates a baseline for success for others to follow.

Her expertise includes prospect and data management, client relations, corporate organization and implementation of programs. She has the rare ability to anticipate, develop, and implement processes for time and cost benefits. Her strengths include setting priorities, administering projects and managing information collection and dissemination in a conscientious manner.

She established her career in association management and event planning and then brought her experience to both religious and pharmaceutical organizations before landing in the nonprofit fundraising consulting sector. Cindi is committed to both anticipating and responding to the needs of the organizations that we serve.

Cindi earned her associate’s degree from Orange Coast College and studied psychology at San Francisco State University.

Alex Napuck

Analytics and Research Manager

Alex Napuck

Alex Napuck is a prospect research and data analysis specialist dedicated to helping nonprofits make the most efficient use of their resources. He has extensive experience working on many areas of development including annual fund and capital campaign research, analysis and donor strategy.

Prior to joining The Munshine Group, Alex lead prospect research at charity: water, an organization that brings clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. His previous experience includes a position as research coordinator at Rainforest Alliance. He began his career in prospect research at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Alex studied history at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His professional affiliations include membership in Apra GNY (Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement for Greater New York) for those in the fields of prospect research, prospect management and development analytics.

Sarah Lalevee

Consulting Associate

Sarah Lalevee

Sarah Lalevee brings her strong analytical skills and interest in connecting nonprofits and for-profit businesses in the area of corporate social responsibility to all her engagements at The Munshine Group. As a student at Georgetown University, Sarah has a double major in Mathematics and Economics.

Before joining The Munshine Group, Sarah worked at Connell Finance, where she applied her data analysis skills to improving the firm, creating models to project future revenue and expense outcomes, and conducting in-house research to collect data and evaluate financial performance.

Sarah’s leadership at Georgetown includes serving as vice president of the Student Investment Fund, with $700,000 in Assets Under Management from endowment funds actively invested. Her work as an undergraduate research assistant through the Department of Mathematics of Statistics involved analysis of gun violence data, and a presentation using mathematical models to uncover notable trends in mass murders in the United States.

Sarah is active in improving her community, including her role as treasurer of Georgetown’s financial literacy tutoring club, and previously leading a large service- based organization in her New Jersey hometown.

Jimmy Pitingolo

Consulting Associate

Jimmy Pitingolo is a junior at Johns Hopkins University, studying Biomedical Engineering as he works toward his goal of helping others by attending medical school. He has both an extensive background in problem solving and critical thinking, and a passion for service that he utilizes to foster collaborations.

Jimmy joined The Munshine Group having already garnered a large amount of clinical research and design experience. He has conducted and published research in the field of neurosurgery, and is collaborating with other undergraduates and clinicians from university hospitals on studies to improve the outcome of cataract surgery.

At Johns Hopkins, Jimmy is an undergraduate research assistant in The Doloff Lab Group. In 2019, he was awarded the Leong Summer Research Grant to investigate long-term pharmaceutical treatment for tuberculosis and has since expanded his research to treatments for other diseases, including cancer. In November 2019, Jimmy was a guest speaker at the TEDxJHU fall salon series, speaking from his experience as a fraternity president on how to better communicate and be welcoming in our communities.

Jimmy’s spirit of service started early. He is an Eagle Scout, and served as the student representative to the Board of Education while in high school.

Maia Chester

Consulting Associate

Maia Chester brings her analytical skill set, unique interdisciplinary background, and results-driven work ethic to every project she undertakes at The Munshine Group. Maia has extensive experience working in psychological research and several nonprofit sectors and is dedicated to helping others and making a positive impact. Maia is a double major at the University of Pennsylvania, studying Psychology and Criminology.

At UPenn, Maia works as a research assistant at the Emotion, Development, Environment, and Neurogenetics (EDEN) Lab, investigating the origins of moral behavior to help inform future interventions and treatment. Most recently, Maia helped develop and publish a measure to assess the long-term effects of pandemics on parenting practices, and she is currently spearheading research on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and mask-wearing on children’s ability to recognize emotions. Maia has also served as a teaching assistant in the University of Pennsylvania’s Criminology Department, and she continues to serve as a tutor for students in the neighboring West Philadelphia community. She is also a member of Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology.

Maia’s other volunteer experience includes working as a legal volunteer at New York County Defender Services and founding her own nonprofit, the English Empowerment Program, which provides an English education to orphans in Paraná, Brazil.

Roman Brooks

Public Affairs Associate

Roman Brooks brings a keen interest in public affairs, especially in New Jersey, to all of his engagements at The Munshine Group, where his focus is on business development. Roman is a junior at The College of New Jersey, with a major in Political Science and minors in Law, Politics, and Philosophy. He plans to attend law school, and joins The Munshine Group with experience as a political fundraising intern at Kalik & Associates, a Washington, D.C. political fundraising and consulting firm that also serves nonprofit organizations. In addition, Roman works to improve his community and support young people, and has worked at organizations including Boys & Girls Clubs.

Maria DiStefano

Consulting Intern

Maria DiStefano is studying History and Education at the University of Pennsylvania where, along with her academic work, she is involved with a number of nonprofit organizations supporting underserved students and communities. Maria’s experience includes working at the National Constitution Center, where she focused on making academic resources and educational programming more available to students and teachers across the country. She has also worked extensively with the Penn Museum, specializing in data digitization, database upkeep, and artifact care.

While at UPenn, Maria has participated in community service projects in Philadelphia, including at food pantries, soup kitchens, and various social justice organizations. She has also been directly involved in Philadelphia schools, volunteering in Spanish language and tutoring programs to support local students. This work is closely aligned with Maria’s efforts toward equitable education systems and helping all students receive the support, supplies, and opportunities they need to reach their goals.