Helen E. Brown	Valerie Anastasio	Julie Kahn
Elizabeth Roma	Rick Snyder	Kenneth Tavares
Jennifer Turner
	The Helen Brown Group
Photos courtesy of Brian Phillips Photography.
They [The Helen Brown Group] also assisted us in our search to find a top notch Director of Prospect Research. Today we have a fully functioning Research Office producing tremendous research and prospect leads. — David Vigneron Endicott College

Helen E. Brown (helen@helenbrowngroup.com)
President
Helen has been a development professional since 1987. Her previous experience includes The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Albert Einstein Institution, Boston College, the Harvard School of Public Health and Northeastern University.

Under her eight-year leadership as director of research at the Harvard School of Public Health, Helen's innovative prospecting strategies enabled the School to reach a $125 million goal with two years left in its capital campaign. HSPH Development went on to raise an additional $55 million in that campaign.

Currently she works with a variety of clients to establish, benchmark and re-align research departments; identify major gift prospects; and train researchers and other fundraisers through on-site and web-based training services. Helen leads a talented group of experienced researchers who provide targeted, strategic information tailored to each of its client's needs.

Helen is currently a member of the board of the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement (APRA) and is past president of the New England Development Research Association (NEDRA). In 2006 she received the 2006 NEDRA Ann Castle Award for service to the prospect research community.

She is Special Advisor on Fundraising to the North American Foundation for the University of Manchester, England and a member of the board of directors of Factary Ltd. (Bristol, UK). Helen is a member of NEDRA, APRA and Researchers in Fundraising (RIF), based in London.

Helen is a frequent speaker and has led seminars for a number of professional associations, including Action Planning, the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), APRA, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), NEDRA, RIF and Resource Alliance.

Helen is president of ShareTraining, which provides web-based training for fundraising professionals. She is also a partner in BFTConnect ContactReporter, which provides swift, automated solutions for traveling professionals to report meeting results to their office via telephone.

^ back to top

Valerie Anastasio
Senior Consultant
With 18 years in research, operations and prospect management and frontline fundraising, Valerie helps HBG clients gain practical insight into their relationship management, portfolio management, and prospect identification systems, with a particular focus on wealth screening and data mining, strategic planning, and fundraiser/researcher management. From 1999 to August 2007, she served as the Director of Research and Prospect Development at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, working on strategy, feasibility, and donor prospecting for its unprecedented $500 million campaign (completed in June 2008), to date the largest fundraising effort for a cultural institution outside of New York. From 1996 to 1999 she was the Director of Development Research in the Harvard University Development office, managing a staff of 14 in the context of Harvard's comprehensive $2 billion campaign (completed in 2000). Prior to Harvard, Valerie worked in frontline annual fund raising and volunteer management positions at Boston Lyric Opera, Brandeis University, and WGBH Television and Radio.

A sought-after speaker, Valerie has presented locally and nationally on an array of topics including compensation practices in hedge fund and private equity industries, the strategic role of research in campaigns, and proactive prospect identification systems, for organizations such as AFP, CASE, APRA, NEDRA and the IVY/Stanford/MIT conference. She serves on the editorial advisory board of the Association for Prospect Researchers for Advancement (APRA) and is a past board member of the New England Development Research Association, from which she received, in 2008, the Ann Castle Award for distinguished service to the research profession.

^ back to top

Julie Kahn (julie@helenbrowngroup.com)
Office Manager
Julie has managed operations for The Helen Brown Group and ShareTraining since their founding. She is also the office/project manager for BFTConnect ContactReporter, founded in 2007. In her spare time, she edits television programs and films ranging from nationally-aired programs on PBS to independent films and documentaries. Julie was nominated twice for an Emmy award for her work on the PBS show Zoom. She is also working on her own documentary film project provisionally titled Town Farm.

^ back to top

Elizabeth Huntley Roma (elizabeth@helenbrowngroup.com)
Research Associate
Elizabeth has worked in development since 1998. She began her career at the University of Pennsylvania and joined the prospect research staff at Boston College in 2001. Elizabeth served as assistant director of research at Boston College from 2004 until 2007, when she became associate director of prospect management. She joined The Helen Brown Group in September 2008. Elizabeth is a member of the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement (APRA).

^ back to top

Rick Snyder (rick@helenbrowngroup.com)
Director of Research
Rick takes charge of project management as well as product creation and delivery. He also coordinates the work of the Group's global network of experienced researchers.

Rick was most recently director of research at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. He is president of the New England Development Research Association (NEDRA).

Rick has worked in development since 1996, both in prospect research and major gifts fund raising. His experience includes the University of Vermont, Phillips Exeter Academy and St. Paul's School. Rick is a member of the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement (APRA).

^ back to top

Kenneth Tavares (kenny@helenbrowngroup.com)
Research Associate
Kenny has worked in development since 1999 and has been involved in prospect research since 2002. Prior to joining The Helen Brown Group, he was the director of donor and prospect research at the United Way of Massachusetts Bay. Kenny is a member of the New England Development Research Association (NEDRA).

^ back to top

Jennifer Turner (jennifer@helenbrowngroup.com)
Research Assistant
Jennifer began her career in development at her alma mater, Wheaton College, where she was an administrative assistant for the major gifts department. She joined The Helen Brown Group in March 2008. She is a member of the New England Development Research Association (NEDRA) and the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement (APRA). She will earn her master's degree in library science from the Southern Connecticut State University in May 2009.

^ back to top