Who We Are : Associates

• Steve Brock
  Branding Specialist
• Calvin Edwards
  Management Specialist
• Kay Edwards
  Management Specialist

• Sam Kennedy
  Resource Development Specialist
• Frank Martinelli
  Strategy Development & Planning Specialist

Steve Brock

- Branding Specialist
Steve Brock is the CEO of HighPoint Solutions, a strategy and integrated marketing agency specializing in social marketing (fundraising for non-profits and Corporate Social Responsibility for corporations), branding and the Internet. Steve sets the direction for the company and serves as its lead brand strategist. Steve has led projects for clients ranging from corporations such as Microsoft, Wal-Mart, Rain Bird and Safeco Insurance to not-for-profit organizations such as Boys and Girls Club, Focus on the Family, the Salvation Army and World Vision.

Prior to HighPoint Solutions, Steve served in a variety of leadership roles at World Vision, headed up the import/export division of a Japanese electronics manufacturer and taught a graduate program in International Marketing and Trade in China. Steve graduated with distinction from The Thunderbird School of Global Management with an MBA in the areas of Pacific Rim studies, Marketing and Mandarin Chinese. Steve holds a BA from the University of Redlands where he graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a dual major in Economics and German. (top of page)

 

Calvin Edwards

- Management Specialist
After more than 20 years of executive management in the nonprofit community, Calvin Edwards now serves as an advisor to high-capacity donors to nonprofit and faith-based organizations. Previously, he was executive vice president for Walk Thru the Bible Ministries in Atlanta, GA and subsequently ran Peter Lowe International in Tampa, FL. More recently he was vice president at Ronald Blue and Co., which offers financial planning and investment management services to high net worth families. In these roles Mr. Edwards saw that individual donors and family foundations often need professional advisory services as they research and evaluate giving opportunities.

For several years Calvin Edwards & Company has operated out of Atlanta where it advises thoughtful philanthropists as they explore giving options and design prudent gifts. The firm also provides a number of venture philanthropy services. The focus is on "Maximizing the Good of Giving."

Calvin has degrees in English, math, and education; he graduated summa cum laude from Andrews University with a M.Div., and subsequently completed an MBA with a 4.0 GPA at Georgia State University. He has edited, compiled and authored a number of books, and frequently speaks on philanthropy and effective giving. (top of page)

 

Kay Edwards

- Management Specialist
Kay provides research, planning, and project management services to not-for-profit and service organizations throughout the United States. Kay brings over 20 years of consulting experience and has worked with organizations throughout the United States, leading research and planning projects in the fields of financial services, grant making, higher education, health care, human services, religious, and membership organizations. She is a national leader in research among faith-based and denominational institutions, and has developed research models which enable organizations to learn and plan while respecting their unique culture and relationships with their constituents.

She founded and was managing partner of Criterion Consulting, where she built and managed a network of more than 4500 consultants throughout the United States, bringing together service teams and ensuring high quality service delivery to all of Criterion’s clients. This innovative model of consulting practice helped clients access new thinking resources, simplify consulting engagements, and manage costs. Under her leadership, Criterion created four spin-off companies in partnership with its clients; led the design and launch of an innovative knowledge sharing and management information portal for the world’s largest association of women’s and girls’ funds, funded by the WK Kellogg Foundation; and provided marketing research, planning, and organizational development counsel to senior leadership of some of the largest not-for-profit organizations in the United States.

Kay began her career as a communications specialist for a national cookware manufacturer, producing corporate training films and other communications vehicles. She has also worked as a research specialist and account executive for a regional advertising firm. She spent 14 years with Growth Design Corporation, as head of its research services, and 2 years as a member of its Executive Team, responsible for the firm’s service and team development and quality assurance.

Currently, she serves on the board of S.H.A.L.O.M. Ministries, a social ministry organization serving Milwaukee’s inner city, and is a member of the board of Guardian Electronics, a medical electronics manufacturing firm. Kay holds a music degree from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, an MBA from the University of Wisconsin, and has done graduate work in English/Creative Writing at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. (top of page)

 

Sam Kennedy

- Resource Development Specialist
Sam is President and founding partner of Strategic Partners, Inc. His areas of specialty include major gift development; annual, endowment and capital campaigns; leadership development; and board and staff training. Sam has worked for a variety of not-for-profit clients from small, start-up operations to regional clients with service locations in several states. He is particularly familiar with Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and northwest Ohio, having worked professionally in these areas for more than twenty-nine years.

Sam had more than seventeen years of resource development experience prior to entering the consulting field where he has been working for 11 years. He served as Vice President for Development at Siena Heights University in Adrian, Michigan and as Director of Development and Executive Director of the Foundation at Shrine High School in Royal Oak, Michigan. The majority of his career has been in the field of education, where he began as a junior high school science instructor in 1972. Sam continued his connection to education by serving as a member and President of the Adrian (Michigan) Public School Board of Trustees for several years.

Sam has completed post-Masters work in the Not-for-Profit Organization Administration Program of the Graduate School of Business at the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana. He received his Master's and Bachelor's degrees from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan.

Sam is a charter member of the Michigan Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (formerly National Society of Fund Raising Executives), achieving certification in 1986. He has also held volunteer leadership roles in the National Catholic Development Conference, and was the founding president of the Michigan Association of School Development.

Sam has special expertise in the area of resource development strategy. His insights into personal gift strategy, campaign design and overall project direction produce results far beyond what is expected or predictable. Sam's strategic insights make him a sought after advisor to annual, capital and endowment campaigns around the country. He is also skilled in organizational analysis, which has provided numerous opportunities to create, re-create or turn-around new or struggling development programs. (top of page)

 

Frank Martinelli

- Strategy Development & Planning Specialist
Frank has over 35 years of consulting experience with nonprofit and public sector organizations. President of the Center for Public Skills Training, he specializes in strategic planning, governing board development, volunteer management, and community partnership and alliance building. He has provided training and consultation to over 1800 organizations in the US including Peace Corps, Head Start, The Points of Light Foundation and many others.

 

Frank served as a member of the national faculty of The Learning Institute, a joint venture of the Society for Nonprofit Organizations, PBS, United Way of America, and the University of Wisconsin-Extension designed to deliver training through a range of emerging technologies.

A graduate of the University of Wisconsin with an M.S. in Urban Affairs, Frank has done numerous workshops on nonprofit management topics with special emphasis on involvement of the Board of Directors, written extensively about the management of nonprofit organizations and is a contributing author to the New Directions publication by Jossey-Bass, "Small Nonprofits: Strategies for Fund Raising Success". (top of page)