Bio

Dr. Neena Jain has focused for decades on global health, humanitarian assistance, and international development, including social determinants of health, decolonization, strategic planning, program design, project management and implementation, monitoring/evaluation and impact measurement.

Education

Neena completed her B.A. in Human Biology at Stanford University, MS in Tropical Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health, MD at SUNY Brooklyn Health Sciences Center, and Diploma in Tropical Medicine & Hygiene from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. After becoming board-certified in emergency medicine, Neena was an attending physician at Swedish and Denver Health Medical Centers. Additionally, she completed epidemiological studies and public heath projects with the Epidemic Intelligence Service at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Professional Background

Neena’s work in international humanitarian assistance and global health included serving as Program Manager, Country Medical Director, Health Sector Lead, and Technical Advisor with international organizations throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean, including Doctors Without Borders, International Medical Corps, Australian Aid International, Save the Children, and the World Health Organization. Building on this experience, she designed and directed a global nonprofit organization dedicated to emboldening locally led solutions with marginalized communities globally, navigating over 90 community-led partnerships in 25 countries.

Neena currently serves as the Project Manager for the Global Mental Health Psychosocial Network through DU Graduate School of Professional Psychology and teaches with DU’s Office of Internationalization. She previously directed the Program in Humanitarian Assistance at DU Korbel School of International Studies and led core courses in the Global Health Affairs Program. Neena has also directed the Center for Community Safety and Resilience at University of Colorado-Denver School of Public Affairs and created innovative courses with multiple schools at University of Colorado Anschutz.

Teaching Philosophy

Using practical applications, real-life examples, and hands-on exercises in the classroom, Neena draws on decades working directly with crisis-affected and marginalized communities, often in complex contexts. She cares deeply about advancing the nonprofit sector and maximizing positive equitable social impact and global justice for all communities as well as for our planetary well-being.

Bio

Janney Carpenter is an independent consultant with 30 years of global consulting experience in social enterprise strategy and impact management. She helps social-purpose organizations, funders, and impact investors design effective strategy, manage social impact, and strengthen financial viability, with a focus on engaging markets for sustainable change.

Education

Janney holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a B.A. from Stanford University.

Professional Background

Janney has taught graduate-level courses at DU since 2010, including at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, the Nonprofit Leadership Program at the College of Professional Studies, and the Daniels College of Business Denver MBA Program. In 2023, she received the University of Denver’s highest award for excellence in teaching, the Ruth Murray Underhill Award. Previously, she served as Faculty Director for DU’s Barton Institute Social Enterprise Fellowship program, and she spent five years as adjunct faculty at the Kellogg Graduate School of Business at Northwestern University. Her consulting work in social enterprise strategy and impact management has focused on helping social-purpose organizations learn about problems and customer needs, develop and strengthen strategy, communicate effectively with diverse stakeholders and funders, and measure and manage their impact.

Janney has worked with non-profit and for-profit social enterprises, philanthropic funders and impact investors, and public sector entities. Prior to her work as an independent consultant, she worked in development finance at ShoreBank Advisory Services and in corporate finance at JP Morgan.

Teaching Philosophy

Janney wants to share her experience with social enterprises as effective local development actors and inspire students with case studies and project-based learning opportunities that bring course content to life. Her goal is to provide students with critical thinking frameworks for understanding how social enterprises can drive market and systems change. Janney brings practitioner voices and experiences into the classroom to connect students to diverse social impact strategies and leadership challenges, and shares examples from international development, corporate sustainability, and local social enterprises.

Bio

Rebecca Arno is the CEO of Prosperity Denver Fund, a sales tax-funded organization that provides funding to help Denver students on their college or career journeys after high school.

Rebecca has more than three decades of experience in the philanthropic sector, including as Vice President for Operations and Communications for The Denver Foundation, Chief Impact and Innovation Officer of the Barton Institute for Community Action, and Vice President of Communications for the Daniels Fund. She has served on numerous boards, including as chair of the Washington, D.C.-based Communications Network and of the Colorado Nonprofit Association. She is currently board chair of Lighthouse Writers Workshop, serves as a board member of the Colorado Safe Parking Initiative, and as member of the Reisher Scholarship Committee through the Denver Foundation.

Education

Rebecca earned her master’s degree in Nonprofit Management from Regis University and her bachelor’s degree in English from San Francisco State University.

Bio

Karen Kaminski is a consultant in instructional design for professional organizations where she works to analyze their needs, mentor staff, and provide direct services in areas such as developing on-boarding training, enhancing training department effectiveness, and designing learning and development opportunities. Karen also provides support for nonprofit organizations in the areas of leadership and development, resource development, and grant writing.

Education

Karen earned her B.S. in Elementary Education from the University of Wisconsin Madison, and her M.S. in Instructional Design and Technology and her Ph.D. in Adult Learning and Technology, from the University of Wyoming.

Professional Background

Previously Karen served as the Executive Director of CASA of the Continental Divide, a nonprofit that serves abused and neglected youth. In this role she brought significant changes to the program staff and developed a strong working board. She managed most of the development events and funding activities. Before that, Karen worked for 20 years at Colorado State University, first as the Associate Director in the Office of Instructional Services. In this role she worked with staff to provide support for faculty across the campus in the areas of teaching excellence, instructional technology, and distance teaching and learning. She then became the Chair of the Masters of Adult Education and Training program, building the program up to 200 active students, then as Associate Professor she designed and taught courses in instructional design, adult learning theory, assessment and evaluation, distance learning, cognitive learning theory, and critical thinking and problem solving.

Helping Students Be Successful

Karen’s experience working in the field brings a significant level of expertise to the courses she teaches, providing students with practical examples. She has a passion for mentoring students and helping them reach their personal and professional goals. She continues to connect with students after they graduate, providing recommendations for jobs and guidance in their careers.

Bio

Ellen Winiarczyk (win-ar-zic), Ed.D. is a Teaching Associate Professor for the College of Professional Studies. A DU faculty member since 2018, she started the Nonprofit Leadership master’s program and has directed courses including graduate research methods, leadership development and capstone. For 18 years, Ellen consulted in leadership development, program/grants management, strategic planning, and diversity/equity/inclusion for national and local nonprofits, government agencies, and some corporations.

Education

Ellen earned her Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership and Policy from the University of Denver, her Master of Environmental Studies (MES) in Water Policy/Tribal Natural Resources from the Evergreen State College, and her Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and Physical Education from the University of New Hampshire.

Professional Background

Ellen served in Washington State government for 10 years leading AmeriCorps workforce development and youth program education. She also worked in environmental regulation. She pioneered collaborative training and technical assistance across four Pacific Northwest states, as well as project-based and service-learning education for AmeriCorps programs. She has been a Bill and Melinda Gates grantee in education management and workforce development. She coached K-12 superintendents and principals for the National SAM Innovation Project.

Ellen has been an executive coach at the Center for Creative Leadership (Colorado Springs, CO) for nonprofit, governmental, and corporate executives. In addition, she has provided training services for the U.S. Department of Interior University, Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation, Outward Bound, and other leadership, learning and development programs.