More About CRC's Team

Carol Crawford, MSW. Carol Crawford has served in Colorado’s nonprofit sector for twenty-eight years.  She is currently the Director of Training, Leadership and Coaching Development at the Community Resource Center, (CRC), where she has worked since 1990. For the past 18 years, Carol has directed CRC’s acclaimed Colorado Nonprofit Leadership and Management Program. She is responsible for the curriculum, marketing, facilitation, training, coaching component, and evaluation of this premiere Executive Leadership Program. Carol is a professional coach and directs CRC’s nine member Capacity Coaching Initiative. Her additional areas of expertise include developing and delivering extensive nonprofit training and consulting services to nonprofit professionals throughout Colorado. Carol has served on numerous boards and advisory groups and earned her master’s degree from the University of Denver in Community Services and Social Planning.

Maria Fabula. Maria brings more than 15 years of experience in nonprofit management, fund development, volunteer engagement, collaboration and business development.  Maria has extensive experience delivering training and consulting services to increase nonprofit capacity.  Maria earned a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California at San Diego’s Revelle College and has spent a majority of her career connecting government agencies, nonprofit organizations and private enterprises to improve community. Her experience includes leadership positions with the Nonprofit Support Center, the Junior Statesmen Foundation and the California State Senate.  She is the past president of the Nipomo Area Recreation Association and resides in Castle Rock with her husband and three sons.

Sarah Fischler, MPA. Sarah oversees CRC’s consulting activities and directs CRC's special projects.  She also served as the organization's Interim  Co-Director for most of 2009. Previous to joining CRC, Sarah served as the Director of Grantmaking and Mission Initiatives for the Denver Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure where she oversaw the distribution of nearly $10 million in funding.  Sarah graduated from the University of Colorado with a bachelor of arts in history, a bachelor of science in business administration, and a master’s degree in public administration.  Sarah brings expertise in grantmaking, board development, fundraising, planning, organizational assessment, and program development, management, and evaluation to CRC.  Sarah is also the co-author of Engaging Tomorrow’s Donors Today, a toolkit for nonprofits interested in utilizing social media tools and developing specific strategies to attract and engage younger donors.

Sam Gallaher. Sam is a current Masters degree candidate at the University of Colorado in Denver and is half-way to earning his Masters in Public Affairs. Before starting graduate school he worked for Johns Manville as research processes engineer creating computer simulations of various manufacturing processes and thinking up new products and became an expert in various systems and data analysis. As he moves toward the non-profit sector his interests lie in community development and sustainable infrastructure. Sam enjoys snowboarding and hiking and, every Thursday, performing with a local improv group at the Bovine Metropolis in Downtown Denver.

Hollie Hendrikson. Hollie recently earned her MSc in Social Policy and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her interest in Social Policy stems from a variety of personal experiences, including many years of visiting developing African countries, especially Swaziland where she and her family continue involvement with orphaned children and the Manzini Youth Care Project. While completing her undergraduate studies at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado, Hollie worked as a research team member for Denver Vote Project, and as a student Research Assistant for the Conflict Research Consortium in Boulder. Hollie was invited to share her dissertation, “Migrant Social Networks and Health Care: Exploring the Relationship between Women’s Social Networks and Migrant Health Care in the United States” at the Western Migrant Stream Forum in Seattle (Feb, 2010). On a more personal level, this interest in healthy lifestyles supports personal interests like running, climbing and skiing. Finally, Hollie looks forward to continued involvement in policy-related research and continued studies at the doctoral level.

Jennifer Jones. Jennifer is the Finance Coordinator at the Colorado Rural Health Center and the Accountant for CRC. For both organizations, Jennifer is responsible for the general accounting functions, ensuring that the organizations’ financials are correctly stated under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, and assisting with the implementation of procedures to allow for proper internal controls. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting at the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, OK and later earned her designation as a CPA. Jennifer has worked for several years as a for-profit Staff Accountant and briefly worked as an auditor. In her free time, she enjoys volunteering and traveling and is an avid hockey fan.

Carol Nickell. Carol brings extensive experience as a nonprofit leader, most recently as the Chief Executive Officer of NAHRA, a national professional membership association providing site accreditation and instructor certification for equine assisted activities and therapies.  Before returning home to Colorado, Carol recently served as the executive director of the Nonprofit Support Center in Santa Barbara, California, an organization much like CRC.  While with the Nonprofit Support Center, Carol led the organization in nearly doubling its budget and increasing its earned revenue streams by more than 40 percent.  Carol brings over 20 years experience in capacity building, fundraising, community relations, and partnership development to CRC, as well as many years in policy development in local government and several years in corporate management.

Will Paterson. Will has been working with nonprofits for roughly ten years. His experiences began as a mentor for the Partners in Prevention program, which worked with at risk youth from Gove middle school. More recently, he has volunteered writing grants for Casa de la Esperanza in Longmont, which provides housing and educational services for Boulder County’s immigrant farm workers. On top of his nonprofit work, Will has spent the last four years working as a counselor for Centennial Peaks hospital in Louisville. He is currently getting his Master’s in Public Administration with a concentration in nonprofit management from the University of Colorado, Denver. He also loves to write short stories that combine something of Graham Greene’s exotic darkness with the surprise and adventure of Roald Dahl.

Kara Penn, MBA, MPP. Kara is an experienced manager, facilitator and consultant, and an enthusiastic native of Colorado. She’s designed and led departments and programs for several organizations including St. Mary’s Hospital in East St. Louis, IL, and Jonathan Rose Companies in New York, NY, and consulted to a variety of organizations on programs, services, development, mission/vision, and strategy development.   Kara received her Master of Business Administration degree from MIT Sloan School of Management, with a focus on non-profit management and sustainable business. She also holds a Master of Public Policy degree from the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago, and her Bachelor of Arts in English and Psychology from the Colorado College. Kara’s areas of expertise include nonprofit management, facilitation, conflict negotiation, program planning and evaluation, community engagement strategies, sustainability and environmental systems thinking, and visioning and strategic planning.

Marianne Piech. More information coming soon.

Lauren Price. Lauren works with clients and trains across the state in board governance, grants and reporting, donor development, 501(c)(3) development, and fund planning. A former El Pomar Fellow, Lauren is a passionate advocate for small and rural nonprofits. She directs CRC’s Rural Philanthropy Days program and works with clients to build their sustainability. She also staffed the committee that revised the Colorado Common Grant Report, bringing together over sixty grantmakers and grantseekers in a collaborative ten-month process. Lauren has served as the campaign manager for the $19 million comprehensive campaign at the Museum of Contemporary Art | Denver, and as grantwriter and fundraising consultant for arts organizations serving the physically disabled. Lauren has also been to 60 of Colorado's 64 counties.

Cindy Sorensen, MSW. Cindy is your “boomer volunteer” contributing her 25 years of non-profit experience to CRC.  Much of Cindy’s experience is from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society where she served in a variety of leadership roles during her 20 year tenure. She brings expertise in strategic planning, board development, volunteer engagement, program development and outcomes, as well as training and executive coaching. Cindy holds a Master’s degree in Social Work from Norfolk State University, and has a BA in psychology from the University of Guam. In addition, she is a certified business and personal coach exposing the very best of people and helping them reach their dreams and highest potential. After 26 moves, Cindy now calls Colorado home and enjoys her Rocky Mountain backyard skiing, hiking, and photographing. At other times, Cindy finds time to enjoy antiquing, interior design, and sewing.

Kristen York. A Colorado native, Kristen was recruited for gymnastics and attended the University of Arizona. Receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Communications, Kristen remained in Tucson working for the Every Voice in Action Foundation. After deciding to return to Colorado and wanting to remain in the nonprofit sector, Kristen committed to a year of service through the Citizen Action AmeriCorps program with Metro Volunteers. Upon completing her term of service Kristen was hired on to the Metro Volunteers Staff as the Marketing & Communications Manager. Providing Marketing support to both organizations, Kristen is responsible for website maintenance, newsletters, producing training guides, and collateral materials.

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