Robert Ashcraft

Executive Director | ASU Lodestar Center
Saguaro Professor of Civic Enterprise
School of Community Resources & Development

Robert F. Ashcraft, Ph.D. is the executive director of the Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation at Arizona State University (ASU), the Saguaro Professor of Civic Enterprise in ASU's School of Community Resources and Development (SCRD) and a Senior Global Futures Scholar, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory.

Founded in 1999, the ASU Lodestar Center has emerged as a global leader in advancing effective philanthropic and nonprofit practice as a distinctive community development strategy. Through research, education, technical assistance and convenings, the Center advances nonprofit leaders and philanthropists to solve problems, to realize a community’s highest aspirations and to accelerate social impact.

As the Center’s founding executive director, Dr. Ashcraft has a global reputation for his pioneering work to advance the understanding of and effective practice for leaders of nonprofit/philanthropic organizations. Under his leadership, the ASU Lodestar Center is considered one of the world’s leading nonprofit academic centers, renowned for its research, education, leadership programs, technical assistance and conference activities, helping to build the capacity of the social sector for those who lead, manage and support nonprofits.

In 2012 Dr. Ashcraft was named one of the most influential leaders in the nonprofit sector by the Nonprofit Times as a member of its “Power and Influence Top 50” list.

Gary Cunningham

President & CEO | Prosperity Now

Gary L. Cunningham was appointed President and CEO of Prosperity Now in August 2019. Under his leadership, Prosperity Now has shifted its strategic focus from simply mitigating the effects of a broken racist system to transforming that system by testing, investing, and scaling effective solutions.

For more than 20 years, before moving to Washington, DC, to lead Prosperity Now, Gary served as the top leader of philanthropic, health care, public policy, and educational organizations. In addition to leading NorthPoint, he was the Associate Superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools, the Deputy Director of Civil Rights for the City of Minneapolis, and the CEO of the Metropolitan Economic Development Association (MEDA), a minority-entrepreneurial organization.

Gary is a recognized and respected expert on entrepreneurship, job creation and racial wealth equity, and is a sought-after thought leader on issues related to building a more inclusive economy.

Mary Dalsin

Program Manager, Global Development & Alzheimer's | GHR Foundation

Mary Dalsin is a program manager supporting the health and global domains at the GHR Foundation. In this role, she contributes to design and implementation of monitoring and evaluation systems, manages the grants process, and assists in impact reporting.

Prior to joining GHR, Mary served as a program administrator at the Public Health Trust in Oakland, CA. and has more than 25 years of experience in grants and program administration, working both overseas and domestically.

Mary currently serves as a Master Gardener with the Extension Office of the University of Minnesota and has lived in Russia and Uzbekistan where she partnered with environmental and health activists and non-governmental organizations.