STAFF
Chief Executive Officer: Kristen Cambell
Kristen Cambell is CEO of PACE, a philanthropic laboratory for funders seeking to maximize their impact on democracy and civic life in America. Previously, Kristen ran her own consulting practice focused on civic engagement, education, and leadership. She served the National Conference on Citizenship as its Chief Program Officer, and has held philanthropic roles at the Case Foundation and Points of Light. Kristen is an AmeriCorps Alum and serves on the board of United Philanthropy Forum and Citizen University, as well as the advisory groups of several national groups, including the working group of the Philanthropy Initiative at the Smithsonian Institution.
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Managing Director for Learning and Experimentation: Amy McIsaac
As PACE’s first Managing Director for Learning and Experimentation, Amy is responsible for developing and executing PACE’s organizational learning agenda and the programmatic elements to achieve it. She works closely with PACE members to identify learning themes and objectives aligned with their interests and priorities. Prior to joining PACE in a staff role, Amy was an independent consultant to clients such as the Aspen Institute, Aspen Leadership Group, and PACE, where she led the development of PACE’s Civic Engagement Primer, Democracy Primer, research paper Entrepreneurial Reciprocity: The Case for Entrepreneurs’ Engagement in the Community, and various communication efforts. Amy is a proud AmeriCorps Alum, having served as an AmeriCorps VISTA in Washington, DC, during the height of the 2008 economic crisis. She has led multiple national and international nonprofit organizations focused on community engagement and service over her career, including serving as the National Director of Development and Communications at LIFT and Executive Director of 2Seeds Network. Most recently, Amy served on the Executive Team as the Chief Business Development Officer for Service Year Alliance. Amy lives in the Boston/Providence area (Go Friars!) with her husband, Kevin, and three children.
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Managing Director of Funder Engagement: Joy Turner
Joy is Managing Director of Funder Engagement at PACE, where designs, curates, and implements experiences that maximize the participation of the funders within the PACE community. She brings years of experience as an organizational leader who has guided multiple constituencies toward fulfilling a single mission using critical questions, deep listening, trust, and ultimately value-based action. She holds a Master’s Degree from Loyola Marymount University and a B.A. in Social Welfare and African American Studies from the University of California-Berkeley. Joy lives in Los Angeles with her husband, two grade schoolers, and two cats. She is especially proud of the work she did at Teach for America, where she was both a corps member and on staff for a number of years.
Operations Support Lead: Bhumika Shah
Bhumika is an Operations Support Lead at PACE with over 20 years of experience in healthcare, operations, and finance management. Bhumika specializes in financial processes, organizational systems and progressive technology and application and is responsible for logistics and communications within the team. She is a graduate of Northeastern University and Harvard Business School CORe Business Analytics, Economics for Managers, and Financial Accounting. Bhumika is inspired by daily walks in nature and knowing that there will always be more to explore and learn.
Program Support Lead: Siri Erickson
Siri supports learning and experimentation initiatives, including Faith In/And Democracy and the Civic Language Perceptions Project, as well as member communications. She joined the team after working in leadership, learning, and strategy positions in the non-profit, faith, and higher education sectors. Siri most recently held DEI, learning, and religious life roles in higher education and was the founding director of the Gustavus Academy for Faith, Science, and Ethics. She is a graduate of Carleton College and Claremont School of Theology (M.Div., D.Min.). She lives in St. Peter, Minnesota, with her husband and two children.
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Communications Support Lead: Kevin Singer
Kevin is Communications Support Lead at PACE after six years of media relations and PR experience for a non-profit and two research organizations. Kevin grew up at the intersection of his mother’s evangelical Christianity and his father’s reform Jewish roots, learning how to appreciate deep difference at home. In 2015, while pursuing an M.A. in systematic theology from Wheaton College, he co-founded Neighborly Faith, an organization equipping evangelical Christians to live out neighborly values when engaging people of other faiths. He also holds an M.A. in higher education from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, where he now calls home with his four young kids, dog Sheeps, and cats Han and Chewie. Kevin is a prolific writer on religion and politics with placements in WashPo, The Hill, Religion News, Christianity Today, and more.
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CORE CONSULTANTS
Equity Analyst: Danielle Marshall
Danielle Marshall is PACE’s Equity Analyst, with a focus on centering racial equity. Throughout her 20 years in the social sector, she has worked in various leadership roles with nonprofit youth development and community-based organizations at both the local and national level. Her early experience as an AmeriCorps member helped shape her approach. Danielle believes not only in civic engagement but also in amplifying a diversity of voices and ensuring communities are active in designing solutions from within. Most recently she served as the Executive Director at Playworks Mid-Atlantic, where she led efforts to increase social-emotional development and physical activity in elementary students. Danielle additionally served as a senior member of the national equity team, working in partnership with the Center for Equity and Inclusion to establish REDI policies, examine programming, and develop and implement training on cultural competencies and centering racial equity. Danielle is a Certified Diversity Professional (CDP) and holds a Master’s degree in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Louisiana Tech University.
Campaign Lead, Social Cohesion Project: Betsy Rider
Betsy develops guidelines and assembles tools that will help funders identify ways to support social cohesion and bridge polarized groups while forwarding social policy. Her experiences from her two careers, one as a teacher and advocate for immigrants and refugees at the International Language Institute of Massachusetts, and another as a Director of Operations for an educational firm, National Evaluation Systems, provide her with the advocacy, education, and management skills that are necessary for identifying and implementing cooperative strategies among people and organizations. Betsy has participated in her community by being on her town’s Finance Committee and by working with a group committed to supporting positive engagement in political campaigns. She settled in Northampton, Massachusetts after attending Smith College, but has recently moved to the Washington, D.C. area to experience the many social, cultural, and political opportunities offered in the DC area.
Measurement and Evaluation Consultant: Marian Mulkey
Currently an independent consultant, Marian Mulkey has worked at the intersection of strategic philanthropy and health policy for over 20 years. From 1999-2016 she held progressively responsible positions at the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF). From 2014-16 she was CHCF’s Chief Learning Officer, driving efforts to incorporate learning, evaluation and impact assessment across the organization. Previously she directed CHCF’s work to support California’s implementation of the federal Affordable Care Act; informed state efforts to expand coverage and improve access to health care; and analyzed insurance markets and California’s uninsured population. Earlier she worked in the health insurance industry and in county and federal government agencies. Marian serves on Boards of Directors for two California non-profits and contributes time and talent to several community organizations. She holds master’s degrees in public policy and public health from the University of California, Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree from Reed College in Portland, Oregon.
Faith In/And Democracy Project Lead: Diane Douglas
Throughout Diane’s 30-year career as an executive director in regional civic, education and arts organizations, she’s transformed vision into action, inspired and managed Board, staff and volunteer teams, led strategic planning and major fundraising campaigns, and created impactful cross-sector partnerships involving businesses, foundations, media, nonprofits, educational institutions and government. During her recent decade+ of leadership at Seattle CityClub, Diane published a regional index of civic health and co-founded an innovative statewide network to bring fair and smart candidate debates to Washington college and university campuses. Diane serves on the board and volunteers with national nonprofits supporting civic engagement, including Citizen University and Common Purpose.
We have also had fellows join our team occasionally. Learn more about the fellows and their projects here.