Renee Herrell, M.A., CFRE
Strategic Planning/Business Plan Development

Renee Herrell, M.A., CFRE has been a consultant with RCH Consulting since 2004 and a development professional four years previous focusing on fundraising, strategic planning and board development. She earned a Masters in Nonprofit Leadership and Management from the University of San Diego and a Certificate in Fundraising and Development from University of California, San Diego. She has worked with the San Diego Women Film Foundation, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Santa Barbara Museum of Art and The New Village Arts Theatre. As a Fundraising Consultant, Renee has created and implemented fundraising plans to increase annual fundraising as well as major gift and capital campaigns that have resulted in millions of dollars raised for nonprofits. Working one-on-one with Executive Directors, Director of Developments and Board members, she has developed individual strategy and approaches for donors, resulting in successful cultivation, solicitation and stewardship. Additionally, Ms. Herrell regularly speaks on topics like major giving and board development.

Wesley Brustad
Board Development

Simultaneously pursuing a double-edged career as a producer and director, Wes Brustad founded Stage South (South Carolina) and served as Vice President of The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis where he developed the Second Stage and oversaw the Theater's national touring productions in addition to heading up its fundraising efforts. He was the Executive Director of the South Carolina Arts Commission and a co-founder of the South Carolina Arts Foundation. He oversaw the design and building of the Tennessee Performing Arts Center where he also served as the Producing Director for the Advent Theatre (a LORT Theater) directing a variety of work from the classics to contemporary comedies to musicals. He moved from theater to music to manage the Spokane, Los Angeles Chamber, and San Diego Symphony Orchestras. After a stint producing major arts festivals such as the Beale Street Music Festival, he returned to San Diego to direct the performing arts, lecture, film production and new media programs at the San Diego Museum of Art. Most recently, Mr. Brustad served as the President and CEO of the State Theatre Regional Arts Center in New Jersey, a multi-theatre venue offering in excess of 225 performances annually.

Cristina Chacon
Effective Grant Writing/Proposal Writing

Cristina Chacon has been working in arts administration in San Diego for 20 years. She began her career in grant making with the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture as a grants program associate for 8 years and one-year fellowship at the California Arts Council. Since then she has been self-employed as an arts consultant through ATL Arts Management Services, providing grant writing services for local arts organizations throughout the San Diego region. In 2001, she facilitated a citywide cultural planning process for the City of Encinitas Commission for the Arts and developed the city’s Arts Master Plan and arts agency program. For the past six years, Ms. Chacon has served as review panelist for the Commission for Arts and Cultural grants programs.

Ms. Chacon holds a B.A. in theatre from Loyola Marymount University and a Studio Arts Diploma in photography from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

She also completed postgraduate work at the University of Southern California and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

JoAnne Berg, CPA
Financial Management for the Arts and Nonprofits

JoAnne M. Berg, CPA, is the founder and CEO of PEER Coaching Network, Inc., a business advisory firm in Carlsbad, California. She is a business advisor, speaker, teacher, and nationally published author. With over 30 years of professional experience as a CFO and COO, she brings a "big picture" view to creating and running successful businesses and non-profits. She is an expert in creating and implementing strategies that make businesses more successful. In addition, she is a gifted teacher, speaker and writer with the ability to make complex subjects understandable and actionable.

JoAnne's extensive experience in financial and operational management includes non profits, retailing, manufacturing, product development and licensing, international sourcing, import and export, domestic and international distribution, real estate development, consulting, business services and software development.

CJ Lucke
Social Media for the Arts-Beginner level

CJ is the CEO of Public Remix, a social media marketing firm that focuses on non-profits, government and small businesses to help them understand the marketing power of social media.

She is a frequent speaker at conferences and local events focusing on "5 Things You Can Do Now to Understand Social Media". Her class is a hands-on class for those just learning social media skills. Her students leave with a blueprint for how to use social media in their businesses, as well as active accounts on most of the social media platforms.

Prior to starting her own company, CJ worked with local governments in their marketing and public relations departments for over 20 years. While at the Port of San Diego, her social media team made the short list for the 2010 Webby awards for their short videos explaining this complex government agency to the public. You can follow CJ on Twitter at PublicRemix.

Al Salcedo, MS, MBA
Website Optimization-SEO and Marketing Strategies

Al Salcedo is an independent business consultant, specializing in internet marketing and eLearning content development. Prior to his present endeavors, he completed 20 years of active‐duty service in the U.S. Navy, retiring at the rank of Commander. He has held numerous executive positions in training and development, logistics operations, contracts and procurement, information technology, and finance. Al is a graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He also holds a Master of Science in Logistics Management, and an MBA from the University of Redlands, Redlands, California.

Sharon LeeMaster; CFRE
Fundraising for the Arts

Sharon LeeMaster, CFRE, has served non-profit organizations for over 35 years including local arts and culture organizations: San Diego Opera, San Diego Symphony, La Jolla Music Society, Combined Arts and Education Council, San Diego Civic Light Opera Association, Museum of Natural History, Museum of San Diego History (now the History Center), Horton Grand Theatre, Eveoke Dance Theatre, and Poway Center for the Performing Arts. Sharon designed the fundraising plan for the Friends of First Ladies and their support of the First Ladies Exhibit at the Smithsonian’s American History Museum in Washington D.C. She is a Certified Fund Raising Executive and was the lead consultant on a contract with the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture to assist its funded organizations increase contributed income.

She has completed 11 years of service on both the national boards of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) which serves 30,000 fundraising professionals internationally. She has been named an "Outstanding Development Professional" by AFP San Diego and was nominated by the San Diego Performing Arts League.

Felicia Shaw
Nonprofit Management for the Arts

Felicia Shaw is the Director of Arts and Culture at the San Diego Foundation. Felicia utilizes her expertise and knowledge of San Diego's arts and culture community to ensure that the region has the necessary resources to become a nationally competitive arts and culture center. Advised by the members of the Arts and Culture Working Group, she works to establish arts and culture as a community priority, to reintroduce the arts to San Diego schools, increase the capacity of arts and cultural organizations to serve new audiences and cultivate donors' passion for the arts. To support these efforts, Felicia is currently leading the "Drive to 25," a campaign to establish a $25 million permanent endowment at the Foundation for arts and culture and "Art Works for San Diego", a multi-year initiative grounded in the belief that art and culture are powerful tools for social change and civic engagement. Prior to joining the Foundation, Felicia served as Senior Program Manager for the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, where she assisted in the management of the City's multi-million dollar arts and culture contracts for service program for over 12 years. She is a frequent panelist and juror for arts agencies such as the National Endowment for the Arts and the California Arts Council, is a member of LEAD San Diego and was past vice-chair of the Carlsbad Arts Commission. A graduate of Northwestern University with a degree in Communications, Felicia also completed post-graduate studies at the University of California, San Diego in Art History, Theory and Criticism.

Sara Wilensky Napoli
Marketing for the Arts

Through her marketing and communications consulting firm, TellWell, Sara serves a wide range of for-profit and for-purpose clients, including The New Children's Museum. Previously, she served as president of the Southern California office of ASTONE, a statewide advertising agency. Sara held the post of senior vice president for marketing and communications at The San Diego Foundation, where her achievements included leading the communications campaign for Endow San Diego and Understanding the San Diego Region, through which she developed publications and promotions for the Arts& Culture Working Group. Sara joined the Foundation after a decade in the media, where she directed marketing and advertising for daily, weekly and monthly business publications and special reports like Art Beat. Before that, she held marketing and public relations positions in the higher education sector, culminating in promotion to executive director of the International Technical Institute. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Utah, where she graduated magna cum laude.