Meet the Trailblazers of AFP Golden Gate – April 2025
Association of Fundraising Professionals Golden Gate Chapter Trailblazers - April 2025
The San Francisco Bay Area Golden Gate Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals is a gathering of remarkable individuals who dedicate their lives and careers to stimulating a world of generosity and positive social good through fundraising. Members are development and communications leaders, executive directors, associates, managers, consultants, coaches, technologists, and board members. This new Trailblazers column aims to shine a light on these remarkable individuals, lift up their work, and inspire us all. — Michael Stein and Andrew Allanson.
Patricia Dalao
Patricia Dalao has been in the nonprofit sector for five years, is a new member of the AFP Golden Gate Chapter Board of Directors, and is the Institutional Giving Manager at Students Rising Above. In her position she is responsible for managing the full grants and corporate giving processes, from prospecting to submission, stewardship, and reporting. One of the highlights of her current role has been the opportunity to be mentored by an incredible consultant and a supportive leadership team dedicated to strengthening their Development department. She is proud to be studying for her CFRE certification with the full support of her organization and mentors. She became involved with AFP through the IDEA Fellowship and is honored to serve on the Golden Gate Chapter Board as a proud IDEA Fellow graduate. We invite you to read a profile of Patricia on our Blog.
Dr. Renee Rubin Ross
Dr. Renee Rubin Ross is used to tackling complex strategic issues with leaders from the nonprofit sector, higher education, and philanthropy. She is the Founder and CEO of The Ross Collective, a consulting firm based in Northern California that designs and leads inclusive, participatory processes for social sector boards and staff. Her team provides strategic planning, scenario planning, and other services, to support individuals and organizations so that they can be the best versions of themselves, especially in trying times. Dr. Renee Rubin Ross is a recognized leader on board and organizational development and strategy, and the Director of the Cal State University East Bay Nonprofit Management Certificate program where she teaches Strategic Planning and Board Development for the program. She recently contributed an article to the Golden Gate Chapter blog entitled "Three strategic, powerful steps for leaders in this hard moment".
Stephanie Shaterian
Stephanie Shaterian is a true trailblazing innovator and storyteller whose passion and work is about creating powerful video content for purpose-driven organizations and professionals. She alternates between creating fundraising appeals for month-long campaigns and capital campaigns, featured videos for fundraising galas, and mission intro videos that nonprofits can use on their websites and social media channels. “There is an art and actually some things you can do to help ensure that you capture real human emotion in your video projects. We have spent years building our knowledge on how to work with people on camera.” You can often find Stephanie speaking at rotary clubs and local chambers of commerce as she aims to help people understand how to connect more deeply to their work and audience. We invite you to follow Stephanie on LinkedIn.
Dena Vongchanh
Last but not least is our very own Dena Vongchanh who many of you know as the current President of the AFP Golden Gate Chapter. She’s earned her trailblazer cred by recently opening her first consulting firm, Good Soup, where she specializes in cleaning up messy CRMs, streamlining workflows with automation/AI, donor database support, and training teams. Before founding Good Soup, she spent years in nonprofit development, most recently as a Director of Development, helping raise funds for a $5M annual budget. She’s worked across major gifts, grant writing, and fundraising strategy, and knows firsthand how overwhelming it can be to juggle donor relationships and broken systems. “I’ve always been drawn to technology and problem-solving, but for me, it’s never just about efficiency—it’s about people. Fundraising is deeply human work. The right tools and processes should enhance connection, not replace it.”
Are You a Trailblazer?
Are you a fundraising trailblazer in Northern California and a member of AFP Golden Gate? We want to hear from you! Tell us about your new job or job change. Are you a consultant with a new client or client success? Did you join a nonprofit Board? Did you recently receive a new fundraising certification? We invite you to submit your Fundraising Trailblazer story which will be reviewed by our editorial team. The submission is free and Chapter membership is required.