our team

Rowena Veylan - Founder and Lead Instructor

A fundraiser, consultant, teacher and mentor, Rowena has been working within the non-profit industry since 2003. She has held positions at a number of different organizations and also ran her own consulting company where she worked with teams to build fundraising capacity and increase revenue.

Rowena has taught fundraising-related courses at BCIT and the Art Institute of Vancouver. She also has guest lectured and participated as a panelist for the Association of Professional Fundraisers, VantagePoint Vancouver and Selkirk College.

Rowena whole heartedly loves what she does and her passion for her work has been described as contagious.

Diana Mustafa - Virtual Admin Assistant

Diana is the voice behind admin@nsof.ca! She is a versatile and accomplished professional with a background in business, entrepreneurship, customer service, and administration. She was born and raised in North Vancouver, BC, and obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Saskatchewan. Upon completing her degree, Diana successfully ran a small business in her hometown for several years. After the birth of her second daughter, Diana decided to pivot her career and become a virtual administrative assistant. She recognized the growing need for remote administrative support, and was excited to apply her skills in a new way.

As a virtual admin assistant, Diana works with clients across Canada, providing a wide range of administrative services, including data entry & research, calendar & email management, website management, social media content creation, customer support, and personal tasks – just to name a few! Diana's commitment to excellence, organization, and attention to detail have made her a valuable asset to her clients. She continues to take pride in providing exceptional customer service, and is dedicated to helping businesses succeed.

Siobhan Aspinall - Foundations of Fundraising

Siobhan has been fundraising for 20 years for non-profit organizations including the Canadian Cancer Society, United Way, the David Suzuki Foundation and many others.

She teaches three fundraising courses at the BC Institute of Technology and is active in the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Mentorship Program. She holds a BA in languages from UBC, an Associate Certificate in Fundraising Management from BCIT, and the Certified Fundraising Executive designation.

In her spare time, she writes for her fundraising blog at www.siobhanaspinall.com and surfs in Tofino, BC.

Emily Cabrera - Indigenous Protocols

Emily Cabrera is a fund development and philanthropy professional with over a decade of experience. She is of Ojibway/Mexica/European ancestry and is a proud member of Fort William First Nation in Thunder Bay, Ontario. She resides as a guest on the lands of the Lək̓ʷəŋən People, known today as the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations.

She has a demonstrated history of building meaningful, trust-based, relationships with funders, writing grants and proposals, securing major gifts and leading strategic and organizational planning whether it's been in small shops or large institutions. Creating safe spaces and cultivating Indigenous talent is a passion of hers and she hopes to remove barriers to access through sharing her knowledge with the charitable sector.

Emily works with the First Peoples' Cultural Foundation as their Lead, Partnership Development, uplifting the vitality of Indigenous languages, arts and cultural heritage and strengthening Indigenous-led philanthropy across Turtle Island.

Janet Edmison - Stewardship

Janet is a strategic thinker with ten years of experience fundraising for small and mid-sized non-profits including Cystic Fibrosis Canada and Union Gospel Mission. Passionate about sharing the vision and mission of organizations making an impact around the world, Janet excels at developing strategies and materials that change the game for small teams with limited resources.

Janet is a Principal at Fawkes + Holly, a Vancouver-based consulting company that specializes in building and executing effective, well-rounded fundraising programs for small charities with big goals. Equipped with a certificate in Fundraising Management from BCIT, Janet’s asset is her diversity. With substantial skills in programs like InDesign, SquareSpace, MailChimp and more, Janet understands the tools that small non-profits need to succeed. Janet and her husband, Luke, are raising two boys in East Vancouver.

Morgan Kalk - Indigenous Protocols

Morgan Kalk is a proud member of Lac La Ronge Indian Band located in Treaty 6 territory, the traditional lands of the Cree, Metis, Saulteaux, Dene, Nakota, Lakota, and Dakota peoples. She was raised by her grandmother in the northern community of Buffalo Narrows and later relocated to what is now known as Saskatoon, SK.

She has a Bachelor of Commerce in Management with Honours from the Edwards School of Business and recently completed a certification program in digital marketing. Morgan is a passionate volunteer who currently sits as a board member with The Princess Shop and the Saskatoon Society of Fund Raising Executives. Professionally, she works as an Associate with DCG Philanthropic Services Inc., a fundraising consulting firm that serves a variety of clients across Turtle Island.

Outside of the community and in her home, you will find Morgan expressing her creative side through culinary creations, DIYs, and art pieces. She believes that while doing this, she is continually reminded to step outside of her comfort zone, and that is, after all, when you are most likely to make a change.

Amanda Leier - Social Media with Purpose

Amanda learned to design for community impact from the world’s best creative practices—designers of cultural brands, buildings, and experiences. She’s one part analytical, one part creative and 100% energy. With 16 years leading brand strategy and content marketing—both in-house and agency side—Amanda knows how to create effective campaigns with small teams. She grows brands that connect people through her impact marketing consultancy, Dawn Creative.

As a strategist and copywriter, Amanda’s role is to advocate for your audience. She helps you find the message, team, and tactics to achieve your vision. She’s worked with brands like the University of British Columbia, Kids Market Granville Island, and A Better Life Foundation. With a degree in gender studies and journalism, Amanda brings an equitable lens to communications and activations. In her free time, she loves to stroll or bike around Vancouver with her rescue pup, Jenny.

Jen Love - Storytelling

Jen Love is a storyteller. And not in a poetic sense. In an awkward-and-authentic, cryball-in-throat, let's-get-to-the-heart-and-the-emotions sense… Jen has been a fundraising writer for over 25 years, crafting compelling stories that build deeper and more meaningful connections with donors.

Jen is a Partner at Agents of Good, a strategic and creative storytelling firm. Where vulnerability, values, passion and purpose come first and forever. Let’s talk about metrics and meaning, facts and feelings. Agents of Good believe in collective impact, abundance thinking, and we exist to help fundraisers explore and express their own creativity, love their work more, and raise more money. Jen lives and birdwatches in Waterloo, Ontario with her family and two rescue dogs, Tux and Sara J.

Laura Ralph - Grant Seeking

Laura is a grant seeking guru with over a decade of experience in higher education and healthcare fundraising.

After her graduate degree in English, Laura fell into fundraising through a writing position with the UBC Faculty of Medicine’s development office. She caught the fundraising bug and has contributed on various teams that have raised money from individuals, corporations, and granting foundations.

She also had the pleasure of working as fundraising consultant for Grant Advance, where she developed grant seeking resources for Canadian nonprofits.

Currently, she works as a freelance writer and Co-Founder of Fundraising Fix, a strategic and relational grant seeking agency that helps charities secure grants more efficiently and effectively.

Leigh Schumann - Stewardship

Leigh is a creative communicator with over a dozen years of experience sharing the heart of non-profit organizations across cultures and continents. From Swaziland to Ethiopia, Mozambique to Vancouver, her asset is the ability to powerfully connect donors and sponsors to the impact they are making in the world. With a diverse skill set and unique global experience, Leigh is passionate about equipping small charities with the tools and strategies they need to extend their reach and increase their revenue.

Leigh is a Principal at Fawkes + Holly, a Vancouver-based consulting company that specializes in building and executing effective, well-rounded fundraising programs for small charities with big goals. She also sits on the Board of International Justice Mission Canada and she volunteers locally with the District of Sechelt as a part of their Community Investment Program Grant Review Committee. She has a BA from Trinity Western University and an MBA from Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business. Leigh and her husband, Rob, live with their two kids on the Sunshine Coast.

Nicole Taylor-Sterritt - Indigenous Protocols

Nicole Taylor-Sterritt is a heart-centered leader who is committed to building and strengthening relationships with Aboriginal communities across the country. She currently works as the Lead for Aboriginal Partnerships at Interior Health supporting Engagement with Indigenous communities across the region. Nicole joined the New School of Fundraising to help fundraisers deepen their understanding on working with Indigenous communities.

In 2018, she co-founded and managed the Indigenous Women’s Leadership Summit (IWLS) while she completed her Bachelor of Business Administration. Nicole has utilized her education and experience to build and collaborate on numerous projects across the country and has been continuously inspired to learn and collaborate with Indigenous peoples from across Turtle Island.

Nicole is mixed heritage, a member of the Kispiox Band (Gitxsan Nation) and mixed European and calls the territories of the Syilx peoples (Kelowna, BC) home. She is known for fostering meaningful connections and credits her success to many positive, personal and industry relationships.

Joanne Veltri - Sponsorship

Joanne Veltri works on all sides of sponsorship: as a sponsorship rights holder and on behalf of beneficiaries and corporate sponsors. She has helped non-profit organizations and corporations redefine their strategic priorities and bring their operations to a world-class level.

She specializes in non-philanthropic (earned) revenue streams, and boasts a $13 million fundraising record, with $9 million raised from non-philanthropic revenue platforms. She has an ahead-of-the- curve analytics acumen, and a stellar portfolio that includes the Sponsorship Chief position for Canada’s Paralympic Team supporting the 2008 Beijing and 2010 Vancouver Games.

Joanne is one of a small group of professionals in North America who lecture at post-secondary institutions and under the National Training Center, she has been delivering Canada’s #1 sponsorship, earned revenue workshop training for sport and charities to cities across Canada since 2018.