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Diana Aviv, President and CEO

Diana Aviv is president and CEO of Independent Sector, the national leadership forum for America’s nonprofits, foundations, and corporate giving programs. By representing tens of thousands of organizations across the country, Independent Sector advances the common good by leading, strengthening, and mobilizing the charitable community.

Diana is a frequent speaker on trends in and key issues for the sector, such as the financial state of nonprofits, public policies affecting charities and foundations, the role of civil society in democracy, and civic engagement. She has testified several times before Congress and has been featured in media outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, and MSNBC.com.

Diana also served as executive director of the Panel on the Nonprofit Sector, convened by Independent Sector at the encouragement of the leadership of the Senate Finance Committee. In a major 2005 report and a 2006 supplement, this independent panel of leaders from the nonprofit community recommended actions to strengthen the governance, transparency, and accountability of public charities and private foundations. In 2007, the Panel issued the Principles for Good Governance and Ethical Practice: A Guide for Charities and Foundations, which represented the first time that a broad cross-section of America’s charities and foundations had come together to develop principles that they aspire to and encourage all organizations to consider. More than 100,000 copies of the principles have been distributed to members of the nonprofit community.

Diana came to Independent Sector in 2003 after spending nine years at United Jewish Communities. As UJC’s vice president for public policy and director of its Washington Action Office, she worked closely with Jewish federations and national agencies concerned with the health and welfare needs of vulnerable people. Diana focused on federal legislation and regulations, particularly policies affecting health and human service organizations.

Diana was formerly associate executive vice chair at the Jewish Council of Public Affairs, director of programs for the National Council of Jewish Women, and director of a comprehensive program to serve battered women and their families. She had a private psychotherapy practice in New York and New Jersey and has served as an expert witness in capital cases in New Jersey.

Diana is a member of the board of governors of the Partnership for Public Service and the board of directors of GuideStar and the National Council on Aging. She serves on the advisory boards of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, and the National Center on Philanthropy and the Law in addition to the Comptroller General’s Advisory Board at the Government Accountability Office. She was previously a member of the Smithsonian Institution’s Board of Regents’ Committee on Governance. A native of South Africa, Diana graduated with a B.S.W. from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and received a master’s degree in social work at Columbia University.

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Malvina joined Independent Sector in September 2004. She leads accounting, finance, technology, and human resources services. Previously, Malvina worked as a consultant with the accounting and professional services firm Thompson, Cobb, Bazilio and Associates where her clients included AARP and the Superior Court of California. She spent 10 years as director of finance and administration for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. She also served as director of finance and administration for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and as chief financial officer for the National Council of Negro Women.

Malvina was appointed to the Board of the Fredericksburg (Virginia) City Public Schools in 1991 where she served two terms as chair of the Fredericksburg School Board and chair of the Northeastern Region of the Virginia School Boards Association. Malvina is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Virginia State University.

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Elizabeth Kohm currently leads Independent Sector’s fundraising activities. Elizabeth previously worked for a diverse range of nonprofit organizations. She joined IS after managing resource development efforts at Enterprise Community Partners, where she was leveraged more than a decade’s worth of experience with educational access issues to oversee the development of a pilot strategy for a national school-based community revitalization program. Elizabeth was previously manager of charitable programs for Cisco Learning Institute, where she designed and led programs and created partnerships with business, educational institutions, and nonprofit organizations to leverage technology in education. Earlier, she managed the field operations of Communities in Schools and introduced new planning and measurement systems. She also led their cross –sector partnership efforts with Cisco Systems and HUD, which were recognized by the White House and the Congressional Black Caucus. Prior to joining the nonprofit sector, she worked for the New York State Assembly and served on a number of advisory boards created to support better contracting practices and service delivery effectiveness.

Elizabeth is an active volunteer in local civic and nonprofit activities. She graduated with a B.A. in political science from the Nelson Rockefeller School of Public Affairs at the University of Albany.

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Patricia Read, Senior Vice President, Public Policy and Government Affairs

Pat leads Independent Sector's efforts in advancing its public policy agenda for the nonprofit community. Previously, she served as executive director of the Colorado Association of Nonprofit Organizations. Pat has more than 20 years experience in the nonprofit sector as a staff member, manager, volunteer, board member, and management consultant. In addition to a wide variety of other leadership roles, she served as vice president of program services for the Foundation Center, the national clearinghouse for information about private philanthropy and foundations.

Pat formerly chaired the board of the National Council of Nonprofit Associations and served on the boards of Metro Volunteers! and the Denver/Boulder Better Business Bureau. Twice named to The NonProfit Times' “50 Most Influential People in the Nonprofit Sector” list, Pat has served as a member of the advisory boards of Regis University, El Pomar Center, and University of Denver. She received her B.A. from Rockford College in Illinois and her M.L.S. from Columbia University.

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James Siegal provides leadership to Independent Sector and its members on general policy and program issues affecting the charitable sector, including ethics and accountability; civic engagement, both domestically and internationally; and best practices for the charitable community. Prior to joining IS in 2006, James worked as an attorney in private practice and government specializing in nonprofit law, most recently as the registration chief for the New York State Attorney General's Charities Bureau. At the Charities Bureau he was involved in the development of legislative and regulatory proposals, spoke regularly on governance and accountability in the nonprofit sector, and had responsibility for investigations into conflict of interest in nonprofit organizations.

James has been serving as a committee member for the Panel on the Nonprofit Sector's Form 990-PF Advisory Committee and has been a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York's Non-Profit Organizations Committee. He has played a leading role in collaborations among the public, nonprofit, and private sectors to implement electronic filing for nonprofit organizations nationwide and to improve information sharing among government regulators, including serving as chair of the NASCOnet Oversight Committee of the National Association of State Charity Officials. James received his bachelor's degree in history from Princeton University, summa cum laude, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, magna cum laude.

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Lorraine Snebold joined Independent Sector in July 2009 as vice president of communications and marketing with more than 30 years experience in brand strategy, research and creative marketing services. She was one of the first executives recruited to launch the National Geographic Channel on 01-01-01. As their senior vice president of brand management, her team won more industry recognition, achievements, and first place awards than any other network in their nonfiction category.

Prior to launching NGC, Lorraine worked closely with the news divisions at network-owned stations in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Washington D.C. In 2004, she founded her own research and brand consultancy practice, Absolute Focus. Her clients include Farmers’ Almanac TV, WQED Multimedia, Pittsburgh Magazine and Retirement Living TV. Lorraine holds a B.S. in Speech Communications from Clarion University in Pennsylvania.

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Claire S. Wellington, Vice President, Emerging Issues and Strategic Initiatives

Claire joined IS in November 2004 and now leads the organization's efforts to bring together theorists, researchers, and practitioners to identify the emerging trends in the nonprofit sector. She was most recently vice president and general counsel to the American Association of Exporters and Importers, where she provided legal and policy advice and prepared reports on a range of regulatory and legislative matters. Prior to AAEI, Claire was chief of staff and senior advisor of the enforcement division at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where her work included anti-corruption efforts and sanctions policy.

Claire received a bachelor's degree in government from Smith College, a master's degree in international affairs from Columbia University, and a law degree from Harvard Law School. She is a member of the Minority Outreach Advisory Board of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and co-author of “The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: Avoiding the Pitfalls,” published in the Preventive Law Reporter. Among other accomplishments, she received the Treasury Department's Secretary's Honor Award in 2001.