Staff - PACE

Job Opening: Pittsburgh Cultural Treasures (PCTI) Program Manager (Contracted)

Maggie Johnson Richardson

President & CEO

Maggie Johnson Richardson is an accomplished non-profit leader with over 20 years of experience in nonprofit management, marketing, fundraising, partnership development, and program innovation.At PACE, Maggie oversees the organization’s mission to advance a more equitable community by strengthening small-to-mid sized, community-based nonprofits within BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) communities that have been marginalized. She guides PACE’s strategic direction, programs, partnerships, financial sustainability, and community impact initiatives.Prior to joining PACE, Maggie founded Jazzspace Consulting in 2012, providing arts management and collaborative leadership for clients like Arts | Equity | Reimagined and the COVID-19 Arts Working Group. She has previously held leadership roles at the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, Light of Life Rescue Mission, and Pittsburgh Opera, raising over $5.5 million in support for various collaborative initiatives.

Maggie’s accomplishments include receiving the 2006 ADDY Award from the Pittsburgh Advertising Federation and a Woman of Excellence Award from the New Pittsburgh Courier. She has served as a visiting professor at Point Park University’s Sport, Arts & Entertainment Management program and volunteers with the Performing Arts Academy of the Urban Impact Foundation.Maggie earned a Master of Arts Management degree from Carnegie Mellon University and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology degree from Millikin University.

Juliette Smith

Director of Finance & Administration

Juliette Smith, B. Sc., M.A.A.A., joined PACE as the Director of Finance & Administration in January 2020. Juliette has 20- years’ experience in the nonprofit industry, most recently as the allocations and program manager for the Washington County Community Foundation.

Ms. Smith taught nonprofit administration for seven years at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina, specializing in advocacy, grant administration, financial management, and sustainability.

Prior to moving to Pennsylvania, she was the executive director of Family Promise of Gaston County (an agency serving homeless families) in North Carolina.

Juliette earned a Master in Arts Administration degree from Goucher College, Maryland and Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from the University of Nottingham, England.

Daniel Jackson

Data & IT Strategist

Prior to becoming a member of the PACE team, Dan worked in analytics mostly within the healthcare and manufacturing industries. He has worked to better organize data, increase the amount of information provided, build a collaborative culture, and improve the usage of technology.

PACE sees being data-informed as a vital and necessary component to eliminating the inequities that many people face, having inclusion being a standard practice, and embracing diversity. Dan will be responsible for developing, implementing, and overseeing the technology strategies that PACE uses to service the nonprofits and their associated communities within the region. Dan earned a Bachelor of Computer Science from Penn State University, and enjoys traveling, watching sports, and learning about the world.

Sharon L. Jefferson

PROGRAM MANAGER

Sharon L. Jefferson brings to PACE nearly 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector that has broadly centered on strengthening community-based organizations across a variety of industries including housing, workforce & youth development, and education. In her role as Program Manager, she guides organizations through focused efforts at strategic planning and plan implementation as a component of PACE’s diverse programming around capacity building. As a former manager at United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania she was responsible for building consensus among diverse stakeholders, developing and implementing community-based initiatives and assessing and enhancing the effectiveness of health and human service delivery to targeted populations. She has also served as a Peer Monitor for the Pennsylvania Department of Education, assisting in the process of review, assessment and oversight of area school district’s and charter school’s delivery of special education programs and services. More recently Sharon earned a certificate in Community Mediation, expanding her skillset to serve organizations, communities and individuals in need. Sharon attended the University of Pittsburgh earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Urban Studies and Spanish, a Master of Arts degree in Public Administration, a certificate in Nonprofit Management and served as a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Fellow.

Maurice Speaks

OPERATIONS MANAGER

Maurice “Mo” Speaks manages PACE’s African American Executive Coaching Program in addition to his responsibilities as project & finance coordinator. Prior to joining PACE in 2017, Mr. Speaks worked as the program assistant for Three Rivers Waterkeeper, where he organized and handled logistics for agency events. Maurice also gained considerable community organizing experience working as an intern for the Hilltop Alliance.

During his time with the Hilltop Alliance, Maurice was an integral part of the committee that organized two community-wide dialogues that examined the various assets and the greatest challenges facing the Pittsburgh South Hilltop neighborhoods. As a result of these dialogues, action teams, formed by stakeholders, addressed the needs of the community. The experience of working at the Hilltop Alliance still has a profound impact on Maurice today as it illustrated that when non-profit agencies work in unison with communities to create positive, sustainable, impactful change, it is amazing what can be accomplished.

Maurice earned a Bachelor of Social Work and Master of Social Work degrees from the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work. In his free time, Maurice enjoys playing guitar and long-distance running and his goal is to complete an ultra-marathon.

Brionna Street

Program Associate

Brionna Street is the Program Associate for the Pittsburgh Cultural Treasures Initiative. Brionna joined PACE in 2022.

Prior to joining PACE, Brionna spent the last five years at Crossroads Foundation as the Office Administrator where she managed the daily operations of the organization. She also worked closely with the Programs and Development department where she discovered her passion for social justice and the fight to eliminate systemic obstacles.

Brionna will bring this passion and perspective to her role as Program Associate for the Pittsburgh Cultural Treasures Initiative PACE. Brionna is currently studying Business Management at Geneva College with an anticipated graduation date of December 2022.

Kristin Walker

Director of Strategic Advancement

Kristin H Walker received a bachelor’s degree in Art History, a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology, and a certificate in Classic & Mediterranean Studies from Penn State University in 2008. In her final year as an undergraduate, she studied abroad participating in an archaeological excavation in Egypt. It was in Egypt that everything changed. Until her study abroad experiences Kristin was on a trajectory to work at a museum, she was most interested in “stuff” the artifacts left by ancient peoples that told their stories. However, after seeing firsthand the poverty, disease, and overall struggles of the local Egyptian population with whom she worked, Kristin became more interested in “people” and their experiences, and perseverance. After returning home, she decided to pursue a dual graduate degree at the University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public & International Affairs, and Graduate School of Public Health. In 2013, Kristin graduated with a Master’s Degree in Public Health (Behavioral and Community Health Sciences) and a Master’s Degree in International Development (Development Planning and Environmental Sustainability). Throughout her graduate studies, Kristin focused on sustainable development, mainly programs that could self-sustain their funding so as to not continually rely on support from external sources. In her professional career, she flipped the script to focus her skills on obtaining sustainable funding for organizations serving vulnerable populations by utilizing data to support program planning, implementation, and evaluation. In November 2022, Kristin received a Certificate of Professional Fundraising from Boston University.

Kristin joined PACE’s team in March of 2023, as the Director of Strategic Advancement. With over 10 years of experience in data analytics, research, program planning, quality improvement, IT, compliance, grant writing/research, fundraising, event planning, donor management/stewardship, and marketing/communications, Kristin plans to leverage her skills to assist PACE in advancing its mission through strategic, creative, and innovative resource development.

Consulting Team

Lucille E. Dabney

CONSULTANT

Luci Dabney has over 30 years’ of experience in the nonprofit, corporate, small business, and higher education fields.

She serves as PACE’s president and CEO. Prior to her move to Pittsburgh in 2005, she was the owner of the consulting firm, Dabney & Associates. She was the prime consultant and project manager on a multi-year project to recast public support for the arts in the city of Austin, Texas.

Ms. Dabney worked as a sub-consultant to Decision Information Resources, Inc. on a multi-year project to evaluate W. K. Kellogg Foundation’s grantee capacity building programming; National Arts Strategies; and the Stevens Group at LarsonAllen as part of the Ford Foundation’s Working Capital Fund Program. She also served as the Executive Director of the Cultural Arts Council of Houston/Harris County where she supervised a $7 million dollar grants program that annually awarded funds to 140 arts and non-arts organizations and 40 individual artists.

Luci is a founder and past chairperson of the board of the Alliance for Nonprofit Management, a national organization with a mission to increase the effectiveness of individuals and organizations that help nonprofits build their power and impact. She currently serves as a board member of the POISE Foundation and Board Vice President of Grantmakers for Western Pennsylvania. She earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Michigan and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Houston. She is a fellow of the Amherst Wilder Foundation’s James P. Shannon Leadership Institute.

Peg Fiedler

PROGRAM MANAGER

Peg Fiedler, M.S., currently provides grants management, communications, and technical assistance services to PACE’s Intensive Services Program grantees. Her areas of focus within her general consulting practice are organizational development, marketing, communications, grants management, fundraising and training.

Ms. Fiedler formerly served as a development officer and the director of marketing within the St. Francis Health System and is a licensed realtor in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Peg earned a Master of Science degree in Professional Leadership from Carlow University, a certificate in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution and a certificate in Executive Coaching from Duquesne University. She has also served as adjunct faculty at Carlow University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, teaching in the graduate Leadership Program.