JW Croft Consulting Group

Jim Croft, PhD, is the founder of the JW Croft Consulting Group. He is the academic director for nonprofit financial management programs in the Center for Nonprofit Management at Northwestern University, where he is also a faculty member in the School of Professional Studies. He teaches in the MBA program at the University of Nebraska, and acts as a management consultant for several nonprofits. Prior to serving as executive vice president and chief financial officer for the Field Museum (1985–2014), he held positions in The Salvation Army, including as a community center executive director, finance officer, and chief business officer. He was also a member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s Nonprofit Advisory Committee. Jim has served on several nonprofit governing boards. His PhD (University of Nebraska) focused on higher education leadership and nonprofit financial management. He also studied business administration and management at the University of Nebraska, Roosevelt University, and National Louis University.

Bela Barner, MBA, leads executive teams through high-stakes decisions. Much of his work has been in higher education, assisting universities in relocating campus facilities to more favorable markets; creating new branding, marketing, and enrollment strategies; developing new academic offerings; and prioritizing investment budgets. Bela has held a variety of consulting roles with professional services firms, and has developed quantitative methods to support collaborative decision making. His expertise includes capital budgeting and capital project portfolio optimization, business planning and modeling, market research and opportunity assessment, and financial literacy for non-financial executives. Bela also teaches financial decision-making methods in various higher education programs. He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago, and is a member of the Society of Decision Professionals.

Jeri Bingham, EdD, is a marketing communications executive with more than twenty years of experience helping build, enhance, and revamp organizations’ brands. Her marketing career has spanned nonprofit management, higher education, healthcare education, state government, and agency work (public relations and advertising). She is currently a higher education administrator for Prairie State College and an adjunct lecturer for Northwestern University, where she teaches the course Organizational Behavior: Managing Diversity and Inclusion. Jeri earned a bachelor’s degree in public relations and a master’s degree in integrated marketing communications from Roosevelt University, and an EdD in higher education leadership from National Louis University. She is also a certified MBTI^® practitioner and host of the award-winning WGN Radio podcast Hush Loudly, which focuses on introversion.

Franz Cartwright, MSc, is founder and president of CATH Associates, Inc., provider of construction management and owner representation services. Prior to founding CATH, Franz engaged in structural design and construction across the US, as well as Guatemala, Hong Kong, Egypt, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Saudi Arabia. With over 30 years of diversified and practical experience with numerous building systems, he has managed commercial, industrial, institutional, and residential projects of various sizes and levels of complexity, providing keen insight into the financial planning of complex projects. In conjunction with realistic scheduling of interacting factors, he emphasizes budgeting and cost control. With a B.Arch. from the University of Illinois at Chicago and MS in civil and structural engineering from Northwestern University, he has also studied international business at the University of Chicago.

Matthew Charlton, PhD, is an experienced nonprofit leader and fundraiser who teaches at Belmont University and works as the vice president for philanthropy and development at the Virginia United Methodist Foundation. He has served as a major gift officer for a capital campaign, and has consulted on administrative issues, strategy and priority setting, and organizational storytelling. An ordained clergyperson in the United Methodist Church, he serves both in local churches and as an executive supporting higher education-related programs around the world, and leads the Oxford Institute Foundation, a global fund supporting the work of emerging scholars. Matt holds a PhD in theological studies from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary, and master’s degrees in divinity and arts in religion from Vanderbilt University, as well as a master’s degree in strategic communication and leadership from Belmont University. He is a research fellow at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, and was previously appointed as a research associate at Wesley House in Cambridge.

Joni Pearlman, MBA, MSA, is a finance and operations leader with over twenty years of experience helping mission-driven organizations thrive. She specializes in guiding nonprofits through times of change, bringing stability, clarity, and sustainable growth. She has led organizations through transitions, implemented new systems, strengthened investment and financial strategies, improved compliance, and enhanced service quality. Known for her ability to solve complex problems, build strong teams, and align resources with impact, she partners with organizations to unlock their full potential. Joni is an alumna of the Broad Residency in Urban Education. She holds an MS in accounting from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, an MBA from Georgetown University and a BS in finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.

Ashley Ramchandani, MPP, assists organizations in reimagining their operations by coupling change leadership with comprehensive communication strategies. She also helps organizations understand their cultures, developing strategies to incorporate cultural change alongside implementation of strategic plans; operational effectiveness measures; performance improvement; financial management; and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) action plans. Her work in the nonprofit and educational sectors includes evaluating the governance structures, operations, financial management, and performance of 501(c)(3)s and cultural institutions. With expertise in strategic planning, organizational design, and business process redesign, she advises clients on management and governance, DEI initiatives, stakeholder engagement, and risk management. Ashley has a master in public policy studies from the University of Chicago and a BA in criminal behavior studies from Transylvania University.

Katy Scrogin, PhD, helps teams think through conflicts, complex decisions, and the cultural factors that influence them, understanding that frictions in planning and execution are often due to miscommunication. She also engages in prospect research, and works with teams to craft fundraising appeals and communications. In addition to university teaching, Katy served as the vice president for programming at the Chicago Sunday Evening Club. She holds a PhD in religion from Claremont Graduate University, a master of theological studies from Vanderbilt University, and a BA in German and Spanish from the University of Texas at Austin. A writer, editor, and translator, she holds an editing certificate from the University of Chicago.

Patti Tuomey, EdD, has over 25 years of management experience in nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, and is skilled in strategic planning, program management, financial planning, marketing, and fundraising. Prior to her current role as advisor to and past president and CEO of Josephinum Academy of the Sacred Heart in Chicago, she served as president and CEO of the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation. Patti has held leadership positions at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, and the Field Museum. She has also spent several years teaching management and marketing courses at both the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Northwestern University. Patti received a BA in political science and education from Marquette University; she also holds an MA in arts administration from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and an EdD in higher education administration and organizational change from Benedictine University.