Kathy Postel Kretman, Ph.D., is the Director of Georgetown University’s Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership and Research Professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy. She has devoted most of her career to the development of leaders in the public, nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. One of the highlights of Dr. Kretman’s career has been directing Georgetown’s nationally recognized nonprofit executive certificate program, which now has more than 1,700 alumni across the globe. Additionally, she has directed customized leadership programs for organizations such as the USAID, the Qatar Foundation, United Way International, the International Monetary Fund, National Urban League, and the National Hispana Leadership Institute. Earlier in her career, Dr. Kretman advised chief executive officers on corporate social responsibility; researched community and economic development issues in New York City; and investigated discriminatory practices in employment, voting rights, and municipal service delivery for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Maryland, an M.A. in Public Administration from George Washington University, and a B.S. from the University of Texas at Austin. Click for more
Luisa Boyarski, Ph.D. is the Associate Director Georgetown University’s Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership and Associate Research Professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy. She is involved in developing and executing the Center’s many executive education and customized programs, and representing the Center at Georgetown University and in the broader community. She recently researched and wrote How to Lead Systems Change Work and Advancing Racial Equity Within Nonprofit Organizations. Luisa frequently conducts workshops and gives keynote addresses on NGO Management and High Impact NGOs to international delegations, including trainings in China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Mongolia, Panama, Romania, and St. Vincent. She has also co-taught an undergraduate course on Philanthropy and Social Change. Prior to working at CPNL, she was the Executive Director of a D.C.-based nonprofit, working on global warming prevention with Arctic indigenous people. She currently leads a coalition of grassroots groups in Virginia, representing over 15,000 residents. Luisa received her Ph.D. in Comparative Government from Georgetown University, with a research focus on the role of nonprofit coalitions in public policy advocacy. Click for more
Gary Bass is Senior Fellow at the Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership and Executive Director Emeritus of the Bauman Foundation. Gary is known within philanthropic circles for his leadership in promoting a fair and accurate census, drawing fair congressional and state district lines, and other civic engagement issues, particularly those related to economic inequality and promoting government accountability. Prior to working in philanthropy, he founded and, for twenty-eight years, directed OMB Watch, a nonprofit organization promoting greater government accountability, transparency, and increased citizen participation in public policy decisions, which merged with Project On Government Oversight in 2016. An expert on federal budgetary, program management, regulatory and information policy issues, Gary has published extensively, testified before Congress, appeared on national television, and presented to groups across the country. He has received numerous awards, served on various boards of nonprofit organizations, and participated in multiple federal government committees. Prior to OMB Watch, Gary worked for the Human Services Information Center and the U.S. Council for the International Year of Disabled Persons. Gary earned his doctorate from The University of Michigan.
Serra Sippel is a Visiting Practitioner at the Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership. She is founder and president of Serra Sippel Strategies LLC, where she advises and supports nonprofits, foundations, and corporations that seek to build just and equitable societies to help them achieve deeper impact. Serra has devoted more than 20 years to the advancement of gender equality and sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice in the U.S. and globally. She was president of CHANGE (Center for Health and Gender Equity) for fifteen years and in 2021, co-founded Fòs Feminista, a global feminist alliance, through the merger of CHANGE with two other women’s rights nonprofits. Serra was a commissioner for the International AIDS Society-Lancet Commission on the Future of Global Health and HIV Response. She holds a master’s degree in religion from the Earlham School of Religion with an emphasis on peace and justice. She earned an Executive Certificate in Nonprofit Management from the Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership.
Andreas Kern is visiting Assistant Professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy. He teaches in the areas of international political economy and development economics. His research mainly concentrates on the political economy of macroeconomic and financial governance in developing and transition economies, and has been published in internationally renowned journals. Previously, Dr. Kern has been a Senior Research Fellow at the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence for European Integration at Freie Universität Berlin. In this role, he has been engaged in various scientific and consultancy projects for the European Commission and the German government. Andreas Kern earned his Ph.D. in Political Economy from Freie Universität Berlin and holds an M. A. in economics from Ludwig Maximilians Universität in Munich.
Sade Cole is a 2023-2024 Waldemar A. Nielsen Fellow in Philanthropy at the Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership and a second year MPP candidate at the McCourt School of Public Policy. She recently graduated from Virginia Tech where she studied Human Development and Family Sciences. Prior to Georgetown, Sade interned at a Department of Social Services, the House of Representatives and at a criminal justice organization called Flikshop. These experiences have given her an interest in social and criminal justice policy, specially looking at the intersections of race and poverty on the lives of women and children.
Natalie Sandoval is a 2023-2024 Eisenberg Public Interest Fellow at the Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership and a first year MPP candidate at the McCourt School of Public Policy. Before starting her Masters at Georgetown, Natalie lived in Germany for a year as a participant of the 39th cohort of the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program for Young Professionals. While in Germany, Natalie served as a cultural ambassador, including participating in 2 month long intensive German language school, studying Economics at the University of Cologne, and working as a teacher at an international Montessori bilingual kindergarten. Prior to this, Natalie worked as a Consulting Analyst at Public Equity Group (PEG), a diverse practice of strategy and management consultants mobilized to help visionary leaders and organizations achieve impact. Natalie earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.
Aria Nimmagadda is an Office Assistant at the Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership. She is a sophomore at Georgetown University from Lewisville, Texas, majoring in English and Justice & Peace Studies and minoring in Sociology. Aria is on the Varsity Women’s Lightweight Rowing team at Georgetown. In the past, she has fundraised for non-profits such as the Spoorthi Foundation and has served as a foster volunteer for Doodle Dandy Rescue. She currently works with Lucky Dog Animal Rescue. After graduation, Aria hopes to attend law school and work in the field of environmental and animal law.
Ashley Wich is a 2022-2023 Eisenberg Public Interest Fellow at the Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership and a full-time MPM candidate at the McCourt School of Public Policy. For the last six years, Ashley worked in the public affairs and communications office at Harvard University, where she led strategic planning and outreach in Harvard’s host communities, managed the charitable contributions portfolio for local nonprofits and engaged with public officials from municipal and state government. Prior to her work in the higher ed sector, Ashley lived in Athens, Greece for two years as part of a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) grant helping Greek high school students with their personal statements as part of university applications for the UK. Ashley began her professional career as a paralegal and legal assistant for a small real estate law firm shortly after earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology, Women’s Studies and English Literature from Wheaton College in Norton, MA. Ashley is originally from the Berkshires (Pittsfield) located in Western Massachusetts.
