Columbia University's M.S. in Nonprofit Management program is committed to continuous innovation, equipping students for leadership roles across diverse mission-driven sectors—including global and community nonprofits, foundations, higher education, healthcare, and the arts. The curriculum emphasizes strategic decision-making, public-private partnerships, digital communications, and social entrepreneurship, all taught by scholar-practitioners who are leaders in their fields.
A key aspect of this innovation is the integration of new ideas, fresh perspectives, and diverse faculty expertise into the coursework. This year, we are thrilled to welcome seven new distinguished professionals to our faculty: Elizabeth Angeles, Louis Bickford, DeNora Getachew, Anna Glass, Nathaniel Goldman, Shaba Keys, and Lonni Ryan. Their expertise and dedication enrich our academic community and empower our students to drive meaningful impact in the nonprofit sector.
Please read more about our newest faculty members below.
Elizabeth Angeles, Lecturer, Nonprofit Management
Elizabeth Angeles built a career focused on transforming how institutions serve and engage with local communities. A lifelong New Yorker with roots in community advocacy, Elizabeth brings extensive field experience in public policy, emergency management, and social impact to the classroom.
Her work in public service includes establishing the first advocacy unit at United Way of New York City, where she led initiatives to address systemic inequities in education and food access. Her expertise in emergency management and community resilience was honed during her tenure at NYC Emergency Management, where she developed critical partnerships with disability service organizations and advocates and became a founding member of the Strategy and Program Development team.
Angeles's hands-on crisis management experience includes deployment to Puerto Rico in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Maria, and she has also contributed to numerous emergency preparedness and response efforts across New York City, implementing strategies that prioritize community engagement and equitable resource distribution. Building on this experience, during her time at the Clinton Foundation, she developed new partnerships to support community resilience initiatives in the Caribbean.
Elizabeth currently leads Angeles Impact Advising, a consulting practice that partners with organizations to design and implement change initiatives. Her insights on economic equity and policy reform have been featured in The New York Times and Columbia Spectator, contributing to broader discussions about the true cost of living and its implications for policy development.
Louis Bickford, Lecturer, Nonprofit Management
Louis Bickford has been working in the field of international human rights for over 20 years. From 2012 to 2017, Bickford managed the global human rights program at the Ford Foundation. Prior to that, at the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), he was a founding staff member (2001) and a member of the senior management team (through 2010). He later worked at RFK Human Rights as a member of the executive leadership team and as the director of the European Office. He has consulted with various national and international institutions, including the United Nations and various philanthropic foundations across the world. He has a Ph.D. from McGill University and an M.A. from The New School, both in political science. He is currently the founder and CEO of MEMRIA, a social enterprise which develops partnerships with organizations to collect, analyze, and circulate narrative accounts of past violence with the aim of strengthening human rights.
DeNora Getachew, Lecturer, Nonprofit Management; Chief Executive Officer, DoSomething
DeNora Getachew is the Chief Executive Officer of DoSomething, a 32-year-old national nonprofit for youth-centered leadership and service. DoSomething fuels young people to change the world by taking action on the issues most pressing to them.
DeNora is a democracy lawyer who has dedicated her career to securing free and fair elections and a multiracial democracy. Her experience ranges from serving as New York Executive Director of Generation Citizen to leading issue campaigns at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law and Citizens Union. DeNora also directed policy for then-Public Advocate Bill de Blasio.
DeNora has been appointed to several prominent commissions and task forces, including the New York State Public Campaign Financing Commission, the New York State Civic Readiness Task Force, and Manhattan Community Board 7, where she served as vice chair. She serves as chair of the board of Higher Heights for America, a nonprofit that harnesses Black women’s political power and leadership potential. DeNora is a dedicated public servant, having served on the boards of directors for organizations such as Planned Parenthood, the New York Junior League, Union Settlement, and John Jay College’s Pre-Law Institute Law Advisory Board.
Anna Glass, Lecturer, Nonprofit Management
Anna Glass has been involved in the performing arts as both an artist and arts administrator for over 25 years. She currently serves as the chief executive officer of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, named an “American Cultural Treasure” by the Ford Foundation and a recent recipient of $18.5 million combined gifts from the Mellon Foundation, Ford Foundation, and MacKenzie Scott and Dan Jewett—the most significant gift amounts in DTH’s history. Together with Artistic Director Virginia Johnson, Glass co-launched The Equity Project, a collaborative initiative addressing racial inequity in ballet. In May 2013, she launched her own endeavor, dedicated to preserving and documenting the legacies of prominent Black artists and cultural institutions, and reinterpreting those legacies across multiple platforms, including live performance. She recently produced Carmen de Lavallade’s newest solo show, Carmen de Lavallade: Life of a Legend, for Jazz at Lincoln Center, and As I Remember It, an intimate portrait of this legendary artist, which toured across the country.
Glass has also served as a consultant providing strategic planning and fundraising guidance to various nonprofit arts organizations across the country and has served as an advisor for the DeVos Institute of Arts Management, supporting New York City nonprofits. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina. Glass is also a licensed attorney in the State of New York.
Nathaniel Goldman, Lecturer, Nonprofit Management
Nathaniel Goldman is a certified public accountant licensed in New York and Georgia, currently serving as the chief financial officer of the American Friends of Rambam Medical Center, a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting Rambam Hospital in Haifa, Israel. In this role, Goldman leads the organization's financial and business operations, helping drive sustainable support for vital medical care.
Previously, Goldman worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young, gaining valuable experience in tax strategy and compliance. A committed advocate for his profession, he serves on the American Institute of CPAs’s Nonprofit Expert Panel and Joint Trial Boards.
Goldman is also deeply involved in volunteer leadership. His work with the American Jewish Committee has included roles as a member of the Board of Governors, the Executive Council, the Budget Committee, and as president of the Global ACCESS Board. Now in his second term as president of the Board of Jewish Queer Youth, he champions the mission of supporting LGBTQ youth in the Jewish community.
Shaba R. Keys, Lecturer, Nonprofit Management; Cofounder, The Bridge Lab; Chair, Boys & Girls Club of Harlem and the New York/Long Island Area Council for Boys & Girls Clubs of America
Shaba R. Keys is a nationally recognized leader in social innovation, with over 25 years of experience advancing equity and opportunity through education, advocacy, and public-private partnerships. Her work centers on building inclusive, innovative systems that connect individual potential to economic opportunity and reimagined education to career pathways.
She currently serves as chair of both the Boys & Girls Club of Harlem and the New York/Long Island Area Council for Boys & Girls Clubs of America. In these roles, Keys has expanded access to holistic youth development programs that emphasize college access, career readiness, and family support. She is also the co-founder of The Bridge Lab, where she launched the Future Workforce Initiative (FWI)—a national model for connecting underrepresented youth to careers in film, media, business, and technology.
Previously, Keys spent a decade in senior leadership at Columbia, where she designed community investment initiatives and led a $1 million workforce partnership with Empire State Development. She oversaw grantmaking and capacity-building efforts for more than 60 nonprofit partners and created the Connecting Youth Initiative, which provided educational and career services to over 400 young people. She also co-chairs the Columbia University Seminar on the Collaborative of Community Programs for Youth and Families.
In 2022, Keys was named one of the 25 Empire Whole Health Heroes by Empire BlueCross BlueShield and Crain’s New York Business for her leadership in health and well-being. A trusted voice on boards and advisory committees, she is known for aligning strategy, policy, and partnerships to drive meaningful change.
Lonni Ryan, Deputy Program Director, Lecturer, and Alumna, Nonprofit Management
Lonni Ryan is a communications, advocacy, strategy, and fundraising professional who possesses a wide range of public, private, and nonprofit sector experience. She has served as a reporter for a New York City-based daily newspaper, in leadership positions as an executive at one of the country’s premier public relations firms, the legislative director for a former New Jersey assemblyman, the deputy press secretary for a former New York State Attorney General, the communications director for the New York Republican State Committee, a local councilwoman-at-large, and a communications consultant.
Ryan has donated her time and talent to a variety of nonprofit organizations, including Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, the Princess Grace Awards, Girl Scouts of Northern NJ (serving as a former leader and a service unit manager), and Boy Scouts of America, Northern NJ Council – Ramapo Valley District.
She was a member of the Wayne Township Planning Board for 11 years, the chair of the Passaic River Basin Flood Task Force, and a founding member of Wayne VOAD and the Wayne Long-Term Recovery Organization, which were created in 2011 in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene.
Lonni recently cycled off the Board of Directors of Sisco Village/Wayne Seniors LLC—a 242-unit, 55+ affordable housing complex in Wayne, New Jersey. She served on the Sisco Village/Wayne Seniors LLC board for nine years.
She is a lecturer and currently the deputy program director of Columbia University's M.S. Nonprofit Management program.
Learn more about NOPM’s faculty, curriculum, and courses here.
About the Program
Columbia University’s M.S. in Nonprofit Management prepares graduates for leadership roles within mission-driven organizations in a wide variety of contexts, including global and community nonprofits, foundations, education, healthcare, the arts, or as fundraising and development experts.
Learn more about the program here. The program is available part-time, full-time, on-campus, and online.