Through its training programs the Communications Leadership Institute brings nonprofits and foundations together with a wide range of communications experts who bring to our sessions the latest trends and technologies in the communications field.

Kristen Grimm, Spitfire Strategies, specializes in strategic communications planning, messaging and positioning. Kristen has served as a lead trainer and coach for many of CLI’s training programs. She has written a number of publications to increase nonprofits’ understanding of strategic communications including the “Smart Chart,” “Discovering the Activation Point,” and “Now Hear This: The Nine Laws of Successful Advocacy Communications.” She is the founder of the Communications Leadership Institute and a well-regarded trainer and presenter. More about Kristen >>

Holly Minch, brings more than a decade of experience in communications strategy and organizational capacity building. Holly has been instrumental in helping nonprofits of all sizes realize the importance of strategic communications.  Holly was the lead editor of the book "Loud and Clear in an Election Year", a communications primer for community advocates working to get their messages heard during an election year. She was the vice president of trainings at Spitfire Strategies, running all of Spitfire’s training programs, including trainings for grantees of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, among others.

Edith Asibey, Asibey Consulting, provides services for nonprofits and grantmakers in communication, advocacy, evaluation, program design and youth engagement. Her latest project is Continuous Progress, a set of online tools for better advocacy through evaluation, developed for the Aspen Institute's Global Interdependence Initiative. Previously, Edith has worked for NetAid, a nonprofit that engages youth in fighting global poverty; the AVINA Foundation, an international grantmaking foundation supporting social entrepreneurs in Latin America; and the International Center for Nonprofit Management, an institution that provides management training to nonprofit executives in Latin America.

Heather Berthoud, Berthoud/Greene Consultants, LLC, has been providing capacity-building and organization development consulting services for more than 15 years. She believes deeply in everyone’s inherent excellence. Seeing people and organizations reach their potential despite their uncertainty gives her great joy. With groups of three to several hundred, Heather helps people realize the benefits of working effectively with differences, resolving conflict and creating unifying visions, plans and processes.

Colleen Chapman, Spitfire Strategies, specializes in local, state and national policymaker communications. She has close to 15 years of public policy and advocacy experience, beginning with grassroots environmental and public health efforts in New York state during the Cuomo administration. Her background includes extensive work in federal, state and grassroots policy and issue campaigns.

Andy Goodman, a goodman communications, helps public interest groups and foundations reach more people more effectively. Current clients include the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, Environmental Defense, Tom Paine.com and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Andy also serves as a senior fellow for Civic Ventures. Andy publishes a monthly newsletter, “free-range thinking,” to share best practices in public interest communications, is author of “Storytelling as Best Practice,” “Why Bad Ads Happen to Good Causes,” and “Why Bad Presentations Happen to Good Causes.”

Kim Johnson, Spitfire Strategies, specializes in media training and messaging. She also supports content development and serves as a coach for CLI’s trainings. Kim brings experience in special event planning and management, as well as skills in writing and editing for a variety of media, including press releases, newsletters and print and radio ads.

Piper Kerman brings her experience in interactive communications, branding and marketing from years as an agency creative director and independent consultant. Piper has a solid track record of conceiving and implementing integrated communications strategies that include award-winning Web sites and interactive marketing, television advertising, print and promotions. Prior to her marketing strategy work, Piper was a film and video producer, with producing and writing credits on “Jets Insider,” “Speedvision,” “WalkFit with Kathy Smith,” and commercial clients including Sony, Murad, Select Comfort, Guthy-Renker, 24 Hour Fitness and Harper Collins.

Will Novy-Hildesley, Peregrine Strategic Consulting, works to identify the key strategic constraints facing the next generation of non-profits and convene innovative partnerships to address them. He is the founder of Peregrine, whose initial effort is to work with 12 leading environmental non-profits identified as having outstanding potential for growth on the challenges they face in developing and sustaining their organizations. Prior to establishing Peregrine, Will was a program officer at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. At Packard he led initiatives teams on strategy development and communications for the Conservation Program, and brought together the team that developed "Now Hear This." Prior to joining the foundation he directed World Wildlife Fund’s international campaign to establish marine protected areas from Washington, D.C.

Tony Proscio is a freelance writer and a consultant to foundations and nonprofit organizations. His clients include the Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies, the United Nations, the Enterprise Foundation and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation. He is the author of “In Other Words,” “Bad Words For Good,” and “When Words Fail,” three essays on philanthropic and public-interest jargon published by the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation. From 1995 to 1997, as New York City’s Deputy Commissioner of Homeless Services, Proscio had chief operating responsibility for New York’s 40 emergency shelters for adults, caring for 35,000 homeless people a year. He was associate editor of The Miami Herald from 1990 to 1995.

Alexis Sanford has been channeling her curiosity about people and passion for asking questions into strategic branding projects for the likes of Starbucks, the Lance Armstrong Foundation, Lexus and Revolution Health Group for the last 15 years. Specializing in brand strategy and consumer and cultural exploration, she works with clients to help them better understand their market, their brand and their customer. Her goal is to bring insight and understanding to her clients that can spark creative business solutions. Her work includes market exploration, new product investigation, brand positioning, internal visioning facilitation, brainstorming workshops and communications development.


In addition to the trainers listed above, CLI’s training programs regularly feature other experts in the field who can speak to specific topics relevant to the needs and interests of each training cohort.