Meet the Team

Helen Brown

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.

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 is a former 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 NEDRA Ann Castle Award for service to the prospect research community.

Helen is Special Advisor on Fundraising to the North American Foundation for the University of Manchester and is a member of the board of directors of Factary Ltd. (Bristol, UK). She is a member of NEDRA, APRA, the Association of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP), Women In Development, the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) and Researchers in Fundraising (UK).

Helen is a frequent speaker and has led seminars for a number of professional associations, including Action Planning, AFP, APRA, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), NEDRA, RIF, the Planned Giving Council of Central Massachusetts, the Georgia Center on Nonprofits, the International Fundraising Congress and Resource Alliance.

Helen is also co-author (with Jen Filla) of the book, Prospect Research for Fundraisers (Wiley & Sons, 2013).

Maureen Kilcommins

Director of Research

Maureen has been a part of the non-profit world since 1991. She started out in annual giving at Harvard Law School and continued her career as director of annual/special gifts at UC Santa Cruz.

In 1999 she made the switch from front-line fundraising to serve as director of prospect research/management at Bentley University and in 2001 began her role as administrator for the North American Foundation for the University of Manchester. She became part of the HBG team in September of 2011.

Elizabeth Huntley Roma

Assistant Director, Research

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 APRA and APRA-Carolinas.

Grace Chandonnet

Senior Researcher

Grace began her career in development in 2001 as Executive Assistant to the Chief Development Officer with Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), a Harvard Medical School-affiliated academic medical center.

In 2003, she became a prospect researcher for the BWH principal and major gifts team and spent the next 11 years in various research positions with BWH, culminating as Assistant Director of Prospect Research. She has been affiliated with The Helen Brown Group since January 2014.

Rachel Dakarian

Research Associate

Rachel is fundraising professional with non-profit and political campaign experience. Prior to joining The Helen Brown Group, Rachel served as Prospect Research Analyst for her alma mater, Drake University. She previously held the position of Assistant Director of Development Research at the Iowa State University Foundation.

Rachel is a member of APRA and serves on the board of the Great Plains chapter (IA, NE, SD). She also leads the Board of Directors for Wheatsfield Cooperative Grocery in Ames, Iowa.

Angie Herrington

Research Associate

Angie began her career in development in 1999 at Virginia Tech in Corporate and Foundation Relations and later in prospect research at the University of Connecticut Foundation.

A graduate of the University of Tennessee at Martin, her experience includes grants management at the University of South Carolina, program evaluation for South Carolina Research Authority and human resources analysis for Nissan North America.

She returned to development in 2007 and worked in various prospect research positions at Vanderbilt University, including Associate Director. She was named Director for Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s research office in 2015, and joined The Helen Brown Group in 2016.

Heather Hoke

Senior Researcher

Heather began her career in development in 2001 as a prospect researcher for National Wildlife Federation (NWF). She was with NWF for more than thirteen years, including nearly five years as director of research and analytics. Heather is a former secretary of the board of directors of APRA-Metro DC.

She joined The Helen Brown Group in October 2014.

The Helen Brown Group, Brian Phillips Photography, Boston Corporate Photography

Julie Kahn

Office Manager

Julie has managed finances for The Helen Brown Group since its founding.

In her spare time, she is an editor for the PBS series Masterpiece at WGBH. Julie was nominated twice for an Emmy award for her work on the PBS show Zoom..

Kelly Labrecque

Senior Researcher

Kelly began her career in development in 2008 as an administrative assistant in Major Gifts at Wheaton College.

In 2010, she became a research analyst at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in the Division of Development & Jimmy Fund as part of the prospect identification team. Kelly joined The Helen Brown Group in 2013.

She is a member of APRA and NEDRA.

Tara McMullen

Senior Researcher

Tara began her career in development in 2002 on the major gifts team at Simmons College, where she ultimately served as assistant director of prospect research.

Since that time, she has worked as a senior research analyst at MIT, as associate director of prospect management and research at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and most recently as director of development research at Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP). Tara originally joined the Helen Brown Group team in 2007 and served as a research associate and ShareTraining coordinator until 2008 – she rejoined the company as a senior researcher in 2013.

Tara currently serves as vice president of the New England Development Research Association (NEDRA), where she chairs the Website and Technology Committee and formerly served as editor of NEDRA News. Tara has also been involved with the Membership Committee, Chapters Committee, and Bylaws Task Force of the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement (APRA).

Alisa Morgan

Operations Manager

Alisa Morgan joined HBG in 2014. She studied business then owned and operated a corporate transportation company; serving Southern Maine for nearly ten years. With a strong interest in business operations and a passion for excellent service, the Helen Brown Group is a natural fit.

Josh Ostroski

Research Associate

Josh began his career in development as the Phonathon Coordinator at Keene State College. He then worked at non-profit consulting firm Schultz & Williams in Philadelphia.

He started his research career at the University of Pennsylvania as a Research Assistant in 2005. He then moved over to the Wharton School of Business, where he became the Associate Director, Research and Prospect Management. Josh joined the Helen Brown Group in 2016.

Josh is also a Colorado licensed Realtor and graduate of Lehigh University.

Rick Snyder

Senior Researcher

Rick has been a member of the Helen Brown Group team since 2005. Prior to joining HBG, Rick was director of research at St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire. 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 past president of NEDRA and is a member of and frequent volunteer for APRA.

Angie Stapleton

Research Associate

Angie has worked in development since 2002, partnering with a wide range of nonprofit institutions. She began her professional career at Vanderbilt University in research and prospect development.

She has also worked with a number of community nonprofits in front-line fundraising, grant-writing, and event management. Angie holds an MPA in Nonprofit Management from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and a BS in Journalism from Middle Tennessee State University. She resides in Nashville, Tennessee, and is a member of AFP Nashville and APRA MidSouth, where she has been active on the executive team.

She joined The Helen Brown Group in October 2015.

Mary Taddia

Research Associate

Mary’s career in development began in 1995, where she worked as an assistant at The St. Paul Foundation. She has also worked at several non-profit organizations in the Northeast, including MIT and the Maine Alzheimer’s Association. In 2005, Mary joined the Office of Institutional Advancement at the University of New England, where she established prospect research protocols and a portfolio management system and ultimately served as the department’s manager of prospect research. From 2013-2016, Mary served as a director for the New England Development Research Association (NEDRA) and was chair of the Heather Reisz Memorial Scholarship Committee, chair of the Annual Conference Scholarship Committee, and co-chair of the Sponsorship Committee. She is a current member of NEDRA and APRA.

Mary resides in Portland, Maine and serves on NEDRA’s Heather Reisz Memorial Scholarship Committee. She joined The Helen Brown Group in September 2016

Kenneth Tavares

Senior Researcher & Efficiency Lead

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

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 APRA and NEDRA.

Kenny is a member of APRA and NEDRA.

Jennifer Turner

Senior Researcher

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 earned a master’s degree in library science from the Southern Connecticut State University in May 2009. Jennifer is a member of APRA and NEDRA.

Heather Willis

Senior Researcher

Heather began her career in 2002 as a prospect research coordinator for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and then moved to Carroll College in 2004.

In 2005, Heather began working on her own as a freelancer and eventually started her own consulting firm, Willis Research Services, in 2007. She joined The Helen Brown Group in 2012.

Heather is a member of the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement and the Montana Nonprofit Association.

Kristina Gropper

Research Associate

Kristina started her career as a legal assistant at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2004. Since that time, she has gained development experience at several nonprofit organizations in New York City.

From 2012 to 2015, she served as the Associate Manager of Prospect Research at City Harvest, a food rescue organization. Then from 2015 to 2017, she was the Research Manager at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Kristina is a member of APRA and has been a board member of Apra Greater New York since 2014. She was APRA-GNY’s Director of Programming from June 2014 to May 2016. In March 2017, Kristina joined the Helen Brown Group as a Research Associate.

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