Meet Roxanna

Hello! I'm Roxanna

Fundraising consultant, educator, lawyer & unshakeble believer in the power of people, dedicated to helping your nonprofit create the change you’ve been dreaming about.

Through my work, I’ve helped organizations like yours raise over $150 million with results-proven strategies that build community, develop brand presence and make progress on the world’s most critical needs.

To understand my passion for this work, I think it helps to understand who I am as a person.

My life experience has filled me with an insatiable drive to give back and champion the underdog. From my own struggle with childhood poverty, fighting for a fair education, or advocating for equal treatment of women, minorities, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community, I know just how important it is for your organization to be able to do the good works our communities need to thrive because I’ve been a beneficiary of the power of nonprofit.

Giving Back To Community

This drive to give back has fueled me in every project I’ve led―from my early years as a political activist on the campaign trail, to serving on the Special Olympics Executive Committee of Miami Dade, to lobbying for minority candidates and managing hundreds of fundraising initiatives.

I’m dedicated to helping nonprofits achieve their biggest fundraising goals.

Education

At every step, education has been my cornerstone. My key to opportunities others would tell me were “impossible.” Through my education I have become a lawyer, a CFRE, and received my masters degree in Philanthropic Studies from the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

Education is also how I want to pay it forward. It is why I believe there should be no barrier to access the tools and mentorship a nonprofit needs to achieve their potential.

That’s why I donate my services to 2-3 nonprofits a year, who have great need but lack the funding to afford this caliber of training. To learn more about the application process, please click here.

Meaningful Impact

I want to invest in people who can make a meaningful impact.

In my twenties, that meant moving to LA and setting up my first organization with all of the enthusiasm and idealism of a fresh college graduate.

During this time, I balanced law school with my political advocacy, pulling many an all nighter fundraising for and promoting minority and LGBTQIA candidates running for office. One of my proudest moments? Helping to get the first Black woman elected to the City Council of Hawthorne.

How it started!

And I knew it was my responsibility to bring it ALL back home.

Once I finished my law degree, I felt called to return to Florida and help those from the communities I came from.

While working in politics in Miami, I suddenly found myself helping a local nonprofit organize a major fundraising event. Witnessing the immediate impact these dollars raised had on the community was transformative. This was the moment I fell in love with nonprofit work. And I never looked back.

CharityBox & Charidy

I brought everything I had learned from running political campaigns to this new fundraising space, when I joined a then up and coming fundraising platform, CharityBox, as a Vice President.

A year later, my path led to Charidy, a crowdfunding platform specializing in helping nonprofits around the globe achieve astronomical success by utilizing marketing, social media, and peer to peer strategies.

Dedicated Advocate

At Charidy, I served 4 years as a fundraising specialist and 2 years as Chief Development Officer. Here, I was entrusted with helping organizations overcome their many multi-faceted―and often competing―needs. Some wonderful success stories from this time include the Chesapeake Conservancy, the May School of Santa Fe, the Indianapolis Children’s Choir, and ArtUnited. In 2017, I was honored to work on United for Freedom: the first global giving day to combat human trafficking. To date, I’ve continued to support and advocate ending human trafficking and modern-day slavery around the globe.

Living for Philanthropy

Today, I reside in Coral Gables, Florida with my husband, Brian, and our two rescue dogs, Osiris and Apollo.

We have a shared belief in incorporating philanthropy in our lives. Brian, a land use attorney at Greenberg & Traurig, volunteers his legal services to numerous nonprofits around Miami, including Make-A-Wish and the Miami Children’s Museum.

An Important Question…

Throughout my journey, one question continues to shape the way I live and work:

“Do we live off philanthropy or do we live for philanthropy?”
-Robert Payton

I think every fundraising professional must ask themselves this question.

Inherent in this question is a responsibility we have to this sector to ensure it reflects the trust and ethics that donors and beneficiaries expect of us.

Which brings me to you.

I’m here as a partner. To listen to your challenges, create actionable plans, and to champion your cause in a way that is authentic to your mission and vision. I’m also here as an educator. My programs are dedicated to giving you the resources, training and individualized support you need to steer your nonprofit toward every kind of success.

Because let’s face it, fundraising can be scary. But, together, it doesn’t have to be.

You’ve heard quite a bit about me…Now, I’d like to learn more about you―and the cause you stand for. The best way to reach me is by emailing me here at roxanna@ethoscg.com and by joining our monthly newsletter.

Thank you for visiting me here today! I am honored and excited to partner with you in reaching your fundraising potential. Together, let’s see what’s possible.

Roxanna