Melissa Sines

Experience

• 

  Jankowski Associates/GrantsDirect.com

  Jan 2000 - Jan 2003

  Research Assistant
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  DeLeon & Stang

  Jan 2004 - Jul 2007

  Executive Secretary

  Executive Secretary to named Partner at accounting firm, in charge of all administrative functions for the credit union and nonprofit audit departments, as well as offering administrative support to tax department.

• 

  HandsOn Frederick County

  Mar 2006 - Jul 2011

  President of the Board

  President of the Board at HandsOn Frederick County (formerly Volunteer Frederick). Chair of the Executive Commitee serving ex-officio on all committees and task forces: Finance, Strategic Planning, Board Development, Fundraising & Marketing, and Second Decade Task Force.

• 

  Quantum Governance, L3C

  Jul 2007 - Dec 2012

  Governance Consultant & Analyst

  Governance Consultant and Analyst. As part of this virtual organization, I provided support to a team of consultants working with organizations of all types and sizes across the US and internationally. We provide governance consulting, advice and counsel; keynote presentations, workshops and seminars; strategic planning facilitation and retreats; and assessments, research and knowledge building.

• 

  Self-Employed

  Jul 2007 - Mar 2010

  Executive Assistant

  Technical Writer/Editor available for one-off projects and research

• 

  The Frederick Giving Project

  Sept 2009 - Dec 2015

  Founding Donor and Chair

  The Frederick Giving Project is fostering the next generation of philanthropy in Frederick County. We're now in our fourth year of operation, we've raised over $30,000, recruited over 100 members, and have made three grants (one a year) to three amazing local organizations,

• 

  Maryland Nonprofits

  Mar 2011 - Feb 2018

  As the accreditation manager, I work directly with nonprofit organizations who are implementing the Standards for Excellence code, here in Maryland and across the US. I manage our peer review and Ethics Standards Committee volunteers. In addition to my work with Standards for Excellence program, I also provide member assistance to our members and support to the Maryland Nonprofits consulting team.

  • Director of Education and Accreditation

    Jan 2015 - Feb 2018

  • Standards for Excellence Accreditation Manager

    Mar 2011 - Jan 2015
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  Standards for Excellence® Institute

  Mar 2011 - Feb 2018

  The Standards for Excellence Institute is the national project of Maryland Nonprofits which provides tools, resources, and accreditation services through our partners around the country.

  • Director of Education and Accreditation

    Jan 2015 - Feb 2018

  • Accreditation Manager

    Mar 2011 - Jan 2015
• 

  Hood College

  Jan 2015 - Jun 2016

  Adjunct Professor

  300 Level Nonprofit Management

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  PEAK Grantmaking

  Feb 2018 - Jul 2021

  Melissa Sines was the Programs and Knowledge Director at PEAK Grantmaking. This position led PEAK Grantmaking’s work to identify equitable and effective philanthropic practices and advocate for their adoption by grantmakers. A key part of this role was to develop strong strategies and partnerships in order to raise awareness of PEAK's work and increase their impact in the sector. Melissa has a strong commitment to racial equity practice and brought this lens to her work at PEAK, leading their efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion across the philanthropic sector. Melissa also directed the development of a knowledge base of the current and changing state of practice in the field. Melissa started at PEAK Grantmaking as the Effective Practices Program Manager in 2018. Show less In this role, she works with internal teams, external consultants, volunteer advisory groups, and partner organizations to articulate and highlight the best ways to make grants – Effective Practices. This body of work will help to define the role of grants management in philanthropic institutions in the United States and across the world.Contact Melissa with questions about PEAK Grantmaking’s effective practices program and partnerships, or to share your big (or small) ideas to improve the way philanthropy gives. Show less

  • Programs and Knowledge Director

    Jan 2019 - Jul 2021

  • Effective Practices Program Manager

    Feb 2018 - Jan 2019
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  Colmena Consulting

  Aug 2021 - now

  Partner

  I am a Partner at Colmena Consulting, a co-op for consultants, coaches, and change-makers with systematically marginalized identities and social justice values, seeking to create change through new models of work. I am also the owner of Jeanius Lab, LLC, a strategic consulting firm offering services through the collective at Colmena. I am a network strategist, capacity builder, learning design specialist, and technologist on a mission to re-engineer the philanthropic, nonprofit, and public sectors through my consulting and to align my business and livelihood with the solidarity economy. I have extensive experience holding space for developing emergent and adaptive strategies for the leaders within networks and organizations that are courageously working to shift power and resources to the global majority. I work with partner organizations to support collaborative “big thinking” efforts with multiple stakeholders and solutions within a complex system. I am an organizer at heart, helping to organize networks and people around equitable strategy, operations, learning, and technology.Reach out to me if you’re interested in working with me on:Strategic planningNetwork/movement buildingOrganization, leadership, and board capacity buildingLearning design for networks and movementsSystems and process implementationVolunteer board/committee rolesI’m fully committed through June 2024, (except for potential one-off speaker/facilitation requests), but I have 2(ish) spots open for the second half of the year for new partners and adventures. Show less