Our Team

At 20 Degrees, Tom oversees day to day operations, finances, growth strategy, and products and tools for our clients.  All of that to say, Tom is the engineer behind the scenes who makes things work.  He takes our clients’ complex problems and looks for approachable and accessible solutions they can use.  He is especially fond of working with teammates to deliver “community-centered design” solutions and affirming leaders’ agency in the process.  Tom’s work ensures that clients are able to understand their financial position and access the products and tools they need to lead effectively.  Of the work Tom is most proud of at 20 Degrees, it was creating a nonprofit sector COVID-19 financial response tool-kit in March 2020 that saw 10,000 downloads in two weeks.  The tool-kit’s impact and resonance came at a tumultuous moment for the sector and spawned programmatic work that 20 Degrees continues to deliver today.

Nearly 20 years ago, Tom built his career at a top Fortune 50 company, and is recognized as a corporate social responsibility (CSR) leader with experience in developing funding strategies, analyzing business opportunities, managing teams, and deploying community investments.  Tom began his career at The Boeing Company as an engineer, bringing this mindset and his CSR skills to his work at 20 Degrees.

Tom was recognized by the Washington Business Journal as one  of 40 emerging leaders under the age of 40 who demonstrate impact through exceptional  leadership in the Washington Metro region. Tom is a member of the 2020 class of Leadership Greater Washington.

Paola works with clients through our Endurance and Philanthropy+ programs, offering expertise and best practices on non-profit and  small business fundraising and finance. As a jack of all trades, she also manages 20 Degrees’  business development, marketing and communications, and ensures project management systems are optimized by the team.  Paola has over 5 years of fundraising and development experience,  specifically within workforce development and educational nonprofits. Paola is on the board of Franciscan Mission  Service, and on the Alumni Executive Board of Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School and  Corporate Work Study Program.  She  graduated with a BA from Albright College, PA, in both French and  Psychology.

At 20 Degrees, Sara serves as ambassador in chief, partnership sommelier, and community connector.  In other words, she brings everyone together.  Sara sees new finance and revenue spaces being formed and is using her skills as an extrovert to bring non-profits, small businesses, and others into those spaces.  She sees opening access to communities who have been left out of these financial spaces as a priority for changing the non-profit sector to be more equitable and financially stable.  Of all her work at 20 Degrees, Sara is most proud of receiving applause from a group of Early Childhood Center providers when she presented a free new financial tool for their use.  Applause at a seminar is rare praise and the tool helped providers streamline their financial processes!

Sara’s 20-year career spans service in the corporate and nonprofit sectors, having worked at the Advisory Board Company (later Corporate Executive  Board) and award-winning service organizations, including Miriam’s Kitchen, AppleTree  Institute for Education Innovation, Sitar Arts Center, and Samaritan Ministry of Greater Washington, as well as L’Ecole Koenig in Paris. Sara brings the experience of two campaigns as a staff member and one as a board member to her work.

Sara’s work has been highlighted as a best practice in the book Engaging Your Board in Fundraising: A Staff Guide and in the Washington Business Journal. She is a 2021 Washington  Business Journal Woman Who Means  Business and a proud member of Leadership Greater Washington.

Leigh works with nonprofit and social enterprise clients on  all their revenue needs, whether that be standing up a new revenue idea, assessing their readiness for revenue growth, or supporting  development strategy and implementation.  Leigh’s background is in nonprofit management  and consulting, working across countries – consulted with The World Bank (in  Haiti), WOM (Chile), and The Resource Foundation (New York/Latin America) on  projects spanning fundraising strategy, social entrepreneurship, and diversity,  equity & inclusion. She received a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from  Tulane University and an MBA from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of  Business with a Certificate in Sustainable Business.  Leigh currently serve as the Secretary on the Board of Directors at Dancing Grounds.

At 20 Degrees, Frances brings the knowledge and experience she obtained as an ECE professional and entrepreneur, to train providers on how to be financially efficient and empowered business owners.  Frances is a former Licensed Family Child Care professional in the State of Maryland with a background in Accounting and Business Management.  She has worked as a federal and city government employee and as a contractor in the private sector. Frances holds an A.A. Degree from Montgomery  College in Business Administration and a BS in Accounting from the University  of Maryland.  Additionally, Frances volunteers for the Montgomery County Board of Elections and occasionally for DC’s 202Creates.

Chrissy provides our operations team with administrative support, project management, contracts development, and calendar planning.  She has worked as a virtual assistant for the past three years, with leaders of varying size organizations and ICF coaches.  This role helped shape her diverse set of  skills – planning, organization, new systems and processes.  Prior to her work as a virtual assistant, she was in the Healthcare administration field. Chrissy has a Bachelor in Arts  degree from University of Lynchburg (formerly Lynchburg College) in Communications.

Erica is a presenter and coach for 20 Degree’s ECE  cohort-based programming.  She also provides  board management expertise as well as general project management services.  Erica brings experience in event planning,  project management, budgeting, and human resource administration which add to  her versatility, agility, and cross-functionality. Erica has twenty years of  experience in project management and operations in government agencies and  businesses of all sizes. She previously served as Director of Board Operations for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.  Erica earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from  Howard University and a Master of Science degree from Johns Hopkins University.

Derek leads a team of irreverent optimists in fundamentally changing the game for overlooked and underfunded do-gooders. Our team does this by creating innovative financial tools that help nonprofits and social enterprises build self-directed revenue. Derek’s impact journey started working at a nonprofit empowering individuals with disabilities through therapeutic recreation. Moving from services to systems, he joined a foundation focused on innovating philanthropy to build a thriving social sector. This led to his work at Sorenson Impact, a pioneer in impact investing and harnessing business to drive good.  Derek graduated Cum Laude from Skidmore College in upstate New York with a BA in Psychology. He currently volunteers at a local adaptive sports program and serve as a volunteer Search and Rescue team member.

As a Manager of Early Childhood Education, Crystal assists our partners with all aspects of their back office bookkeeping, HR and general operations work. She brings nearly 15 years of experience in the areas of nonprofit accounting to 20 Degrees, including technical skill in the intricacies of audit preparation and regulatory compliance. Crystal also builds forecasting and data management tools for both internal and client use. A graduate of Ohio Dominican University with a B.S. in Business Administration, Crystal has worked in management for corporate businesses, nonprofit organizations and childcare centers. When she’s not slaying scarcity here at 20 Degrees, she enjoys spending time with her dog and creating art.