SENIOR PARTNERS

John R. Brightman -President

Mr. Brightman has several decades of volunteer experience in the Non Profit sector and has served as a senior officer at UMB Bank for where he was responsible for the Non Profit and foundation business sector. Mr. Brightman graduated from Princeton University, spent two years in the US Navy and later joined his family's wholesale distribution business and served as its CEO until 1998. Mr. Brightman served on the Board of Directors at UMB from 1980 until 2007 and was its Vice Chairman until he left the bank in 2008. Mr. Brightman created the highly successful "Financial Success for Non Profits" workshop which has provided training to over 1200 Non Profit executives in 48 workshops over four years. Mr. Brightman has served on a variety of Boards including the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Gateway Center for Giving, Community Council of St Charles County, Hope Happens, City Academy, John Burroughs School, St Louis Urban Debate League and the Princeton Club of St. Louis. Some of his many skills include financial management, fund raising, Board governance, sales and marketing.

Christopher M. Blake -Vice President 

Mr. Blake is the founder of Blue Skies Consulting, a Non Profit Consulting firm originally formed to assist organizations pursuing State Licensure and National COA accreditation, but upon increasing demand for his services, soon after expanded it into a full-service Non Profit Management & Operations company. Mr. Blake holds a Bachelors degree in Psychology & Sociology from the University of Arizona-Tucson and a Masters degree in Educational & Counseling Psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He possesses over two decades of Executive Non Profit Leadership in Early Childhood Intervention, Special Education, Residential Care and the Child Care & Development industry. Mr. Blake is a long-time Rotarian, has been the recipient of numerous professional & community service awards and has served as a Board Member for the Missouri Coalition of Children's Agencies, DePaul Hospital's Institutional Review Board, Saint Vincent Home for Children and as President of the St. Louis Council on Child Abuse & Neglect.

Richard Savage -Senior Partner

Mr. Savage is a graduate of Princeton University and a native of Ohio where he was employed by BF Goodrich Corp. for over 20 years in their sales and marketing dept. His involvement in community service has been extensive and included Foundation Board Service for Metro General Hospital and leading a major capital campaign for the Cleveland Christian Home, an Ohio-based children's care agency with an affiliation to the National Benevolent Association (NBA). His relationship with the National Benevolent Association eventually led to a career change calling him away from Ohio to join the national staff of NBA at the St. Louis headquarters as their Director of Development. His illustrious career at NBA spans more than two decades and has included involvement in numerous capital campaigns, gift solicitation, major donor relations, bequest generation and planned giving. Mr. Savage is an active member of Webster Groves Christian Church, is a member in good standing of the St. Louis Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and is a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE). Throughout the course of his career, he has been extremely successful collaborating with others and leading campaigns resulting in over $20 million raised to support the mission and works of Non Profit organizations.

John McClusky, PH.D. -Senior Advisor

Mr. McClusky is a consultant, trainer, and educator of Non Profit leadership & management and has worked locally, nationally, and internationally with hundreds of NPOs and thousands of Non Profit leaders. He is the founding director of academic programs in Non Profit and voluntary organization leadership at two different universities, the most recent being the Non Profit Management and Leadership Program (NPML) at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Mr. McClusky acquired his B.A. from Cornell University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California-Berkeley. He is the recipient of numerous academic and professional awards, including the Outstanding Senior Award from Cornell University, the (national) Danforth Graduate Fellowship, and the National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship. He is also the author of numerous publications, including those in leading journals in Non Profit studies, on Non Profit organizational leadership, governance, effectiveness and capacity building. Mr. McClusky was a Non Profit organization executive for more than 20 years, first as chief executive of the St. Louis Center of the Coro Foundation and then as its national president, as vice chancellor for external relations at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and finally as academic vice president of the Washington Center, a national higher education institution in Washington, D.C. and was also previously a program executive at the Danforth Foundation. Mr. McClusky has held extensive volunteer leadership roles locally and nationally, including serving as chair and vice chair of the Voluntary Action Center of United Way of Greater St. Louis, chair and secretary of the Joint Community Board (an ecumenical community outreach ministry in the City of St. Louis), and trustee of the Board of Blackburn College, Illinois. He has also served on the boards of the St. Louis Non Profit Services Consortium, the Missouri School for the Blind Foundation, Community Women Against Hardship, and United Missouri Bank's Non Profit Advisory Council. Currently, he serves on the (Des) Lee Institute Board, St. Patrick Center's Board of Trustees, and St.Louis4Kids' Reaching our Youth Institute (a Compassion Capital Grant capacity building program) Advisory Council. Nationally, he has served on several association boards devoted to academic education in Non Profit studies, as well as leadership and effectiveness in the Non Profit sector, including the Alliance for Leadership Development and the Association of Voluntary Action Scholars where he was a Vice President. Most recently he was Vice President of the Non Profit Academic Centers Council, the international association of academic programs in Non Profit and philanthropic studies.