Student Advisory Board

The Student Advisory Board of NPM is dedicated to ensuring that the Center meets the needs of Business, Public Policy and Social Work students. If you are interested in learning more about the Student Advisory Board and how to apply, please click here.

Our current Student Advisory Board members include:

Grant D'Arcy, President, Ross School of Business
Michael Davis, School of Social Work
Catherine (Cat) Fish, School of Social Work
Stacey Gates, School of Social Work
Kelsey Hamory, Ross School of Business
DawnLynne Kacer, Ford School of Public Policy
Jeff Kessner, Ford School of Public Policy/Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning
Nina Maturu, Ford School of Public Policy/Ross School of Business
Elizabeth Ramus, School of Social Work
Ira Shaughnessy, Ross School of Business/School of Natural Resources and Environment
Sarah Shaw, Ross School of Business/School of Education
Atalie Short, Ross School of Business

Grant D'Arcy President,2nd year MBA
Grant is a second year MBA student at the Ross School of Business. Prior to school, he worked as a business development manager with Feeding America, the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief nonprofit. Grant has also worked as a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group, and at BCG served as a board fellow with the Center for Neighborhood Technology. Grant is working with the SAB to expand NPM's relationships both within Ross and across the UM campus. Outside of the SAB, Grant has been involved with the Net Impact Conference, led a Community Consulting Club project, and worked on a MAP project with the Acumen Fund in India. Grant hopes to bring the business skills he will develop at Ross back to the nonprofit world, either in basic human needs or environmental sustainability.

Michael Davis 2nd year MSW
Michael is a second year student at the School of Social Work.  During his first year, he completed his field placement in the Monroe School District where he co-facilitated adventure therapy groups to help youth improve their interpersonal skills and counseled high school special education students.   Michael also served as a Board Fellow with SOS Community Services.  This year, he is working with youth and families at Southwest Solutions in Detroit.  Michael has a background in nonprofit management.  He has worked for Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston developing their performance management strategy and for New Sector Alliance recruiting AmeriCorps participants and designing and delivering programs.  Most recently, Michael spent six months with City Year's Strategy and Growth team in Boston where he helped create their winning $36 M i3 grant.  In the future, he hopes to better align programs and educational opportunities to meet the needs of youth and provide all children the opportunity to excel in school and beyond.  Michael is excited to serve on the SAB to help NPM harness and focus U of M students’ excitement and interest in nonprofit and broader social change efforts.  Michael enjoys basketball, meditation, laughing and U of M athletics.

Catherine (Cat) Fish 1st year MSW
Cat is a first year student at the School of Social Work, focusing in Management of Human Services. Prior to graduate school, she worked as a Policy Aide on Capitol Hill, handling federal legislation facing veterans, children, women and seniors. Leading up to the 2008 election, Cat was a Political Assistant at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Independent Expenditure. While she enjoyed working in politics, Cat is pursuing an MSW in order to be closer to the implementation arm of social policy. Through NPM, Cat is excited to meet and work with U of M students who share her interest in the nonprofit field. Cat enjoys traveling, skiing, and live music.

Stacey Gates 2nd year MSW
Living by the creed "To whom much is given, much is required," Stacey took to several causes as a teenager that included uplifting the quality of life for underrepresented communities. It is in this spirit that Stacey came to the University of Michigan to pursue her MSW. Before coming to Michigan, she spent nearly a decade in Washington, DC, where she received her bachelor's degree from Howard University, and worked for five years in civil rights and social justice advocacy. While Stacey enjoyed working in nation's capitol, she became increasingly aware of the growing disconnect between Washington and the so-called Main Street. She decided to move from advocacy at the federal level to her true passion of working with local communities. Believing that she has been endowed with a passion for helping others, and the joy of being a "people person," she plans to move into a corporate social responsibility role upon attaining her MSW, to promote "moral organizationalism" in corporate America. She feels that social workers bring a unique perspective to this work, particularly with regard to the implementation of the various socially responsible programs in communities. Stacey is looking forward to working with her colleagues on the SAB at Ford and Ross, and being equipped with the Interdisciplinary knowledge needed as she plans to sit at the junction of the private, public and nonprofit sectors.

Kelsey Hamory 2nd year MBA
Kelsey is a second year MBA student at the Ross School of Business. Prior to school, she was a Rural Community Development Volunteer with the United States Peace Corps in Costa Rica. Before this, Kelsey worked in fundraising and finance at a civil rights nonprofit in Washington, DC. Aside from being involved with the Student Advisory Board, Kelsey worked on a Community Consulting Club project with Gleaners Food Bank, is Co-VP of Event Planning for the Revitalization & Business Club, and worked on a MAP project building public-private partnerships with Grupo Salinas in Mexico. In her free time, Kelsey enjoys baking, remodeling homes and traveling.

DawnLynne Kacer 1st year MPP
DawnLynne is a first year MPP student. She received a Bachelor's degree in Sociology (juvenile inequality) and International Business at the University of Georgia. Currently she is studying domestic social inequality and education policy at the Gerald R Ford School of Public Policy. Prior to this, DawnLynne was a public sector healthcare consultant serving clients in state and federal government. Her areas of expertise include Electronic Health Records, health insurance and healthcare reform policy and requirements. DawnLynne's policy interests stem from her volunteer work focused on urban education and education inequality. Recently, while on the board of her community council in Chicago, DawnLynne lead the re-visioning process to allow the 50 year old organization to refocus efforts towards community advocacy away from direct service to remain relevant to the neighborhood's needs. After graduation, DawnLynne hopes to join a non-profit organization focused on school reform to assist with the turnaround of troubled school districts one at a time. DawnLynne enjoys photography, reading, and weekend travel with friends.

Jeff Kessner 1st year MPP/MUP
Jeff is a first year dual degree student at the Ford School of Public Policy and the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. He is interested in the intersection of the public, private, and nonprofit sectors in the economic development and revitalization of low-income urban communities. Currently, Jeff is a Board Fellow at Nonprofit Enterprise at Work (NEW), a consultant for Detroit Creative Corridor Center through Detroit Impact (Revitalization & Business Club), and Vice-Chair of Out in Public. He previously worked at Interise, a Boston-based social enterprise that trains established small business owners and helps them create new jobs and generate wealth in historically underserved communities. He has also worked at Commongood Careers where he helped launch the National Nonprofit Sector Workforce Coalition. Jeff is a 2011 StartingBloc Fellow for Social Innovation, an inaugural member of New Sector Alliance's Residency in Social Enterprise, and a graduate of Wesleyan University.

Nina Maturu 2nd year MPP/MBA
Nina is a dual degree student at the Ford School School of Public Policy and the Ross School of Business, focusing on community and economic development. She has worked for nonprofits in New York City, Washington, DC, India and Japan. While the locations are vastly different, she has continued to work on issues of housing, education and job opportunities for under-represented minorities. Prior to school, Nina worked for the American Civil Liberties Union of the Nation's Capital, to prevent racial profiling of immigrant communities in the District of Colombia. Currently, Nina is a Board Fellow for Community Alliance in Ypsilanti and Ross Net Impact Campus Composting Director. In her free time, Nina runs her own clothing business, which makes original designs from vintage and recycled materials.

Elizabeth Ramus 2nd year MSW
Elizabeth is a second year MSW student. She completed her Bachelor's degree in sociology at the University of Michigan in 2010 and is now studying Management of Human Services at the School of Social Work. Her interest in social justice grew during her undergraduate career when she was involved with U of M's Program on Intergroup Relations as a dialogue facilitator. Through this program she facilitated student dialogues about social identities, privilege, and oppression. Currently, she is working with the student group Macro Focus in the School of Social Work to foster the network of Macro MSW students and advance the awareness of Macro resources. Hoping to combine her passion for writing and social justice, Elizabeth's goal for after graduation is to work in nonprofit development and grant writing. In her free time, Elizabeth enjoys reading, ballet, and experiencing new food with her friends.

Ira Shaughnessy 2nd year MBA/MS
Ira Shaughnessy joined the Ross School of Business after serving in the United States Peace Corps in Ghana. Ira implemented successful projects in rural Ghana with concentrations including education, poverty alleviation and agribusiness. At Ross, Ira served as a Board Fellow with Friends of CASA in Washtenaw County. He currently serves as a Ross Net Impact Co-President and is a member of the Emerging Markets Club. Ira served as a Domestic Corps intern in San Francisco with Institute at the Golden Gate where he worked on a report quantifying the impact sustainable food programs can have on national parks and other establishments. As part of the NPM Student Advisory Board, Ira hopes to increase awareness among Ross students who are unaware of opportunities in nonprofit. During his free time, Ira enjoys traveling, reading and playing soccer.

Sarah Shaw 1st year MBA/MA
Sarah is a first year dual-degree student at the Ross School of Business and the School of Education. Before coming to the University of Michigan, she was a Teach For America corps member in San Jose, California, where she taught first grade at a bilingual charter school. Sarah is interested in the intersection of management and education reform and hopes to work at a charter school management organization, an education nonprofit, or a public school district. Sarah is excited to work collaboratively with students from Ford and the School of Social Work through the NPM Student Advisory Board, and she is looking forward to engaging students at Ross in conversations about transferring management skills to the public sector. In her spare time, Sarah enjoys reading, photography, and crossword puzzles.

Atalie Short 1st year MBA
Atalie is a first-year MBA student at the Ross School of Business. Prior to business school, Atalie obtained a variety of professional experiences which include marketing and investor services for Ariel Investments, an asset management firm; account management for McCann Erickson, one of the world's largest advertising agencies; and business development for a startup health website. She also founded an event management and consulting firm for nonprofits serving urban youth in Chicago, where she helped Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Cook County plan and execute its annual fundraiser, raising over $85,000. Atalie's long-term goal is to lead transformational social change by aligning public and private sector interests and leveraging the insights and strengths of both domains. Atalie is very excited to serve on the Student Advisory Board of NPM, where she will have the opportunity to educate other students, specifically in the Ross School of Business, on how to engage meaningfully with the public sector in their own careers. In her spare time, Atalie enjoys cooking for friends, traveling abroad, and hanging out with her 6-year old niece at museums and ice-cream shops.