About Rosetta

Rosetta Thurman is an emerging nonprofit leader of color working and living in the Washington, DC area. She grew up in the public housing projects of Cleveland, Ohio, and if it weren't for the nonprofits in her community who helped her family in times of need, she doesn't know where she would be today. Given her own experience, Rosetta believes that change is possible, no matter what the situation. Rosetta came to the nonprofit sector to be a part of that change.

Rosetta currently serves as Director of Development and Special Programs at the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington where she leads fundraising to support a $1.5M budget as well as manages leadership development programs such as the Future Executive Directors Fellowship. She is also the Principal Consultant of Thurman Consulting, working with nonprofits to increase their leadership and management capacity. In addition to her work as a nonprofit practitioner, Rosetta serves as an adjunct professor teaching nonprofit management in the School of Professional Studies at Trinity University in DC. She is a creative, dynamic management professional who has been working in the nonprofit community for over six years with extensive training and experience in fundraising, human resources, financial management, writing and communications, strategic planning, and education/training for nonprofit managers and staff. She has worked in nonprofits within the fields of historic preservation, youth development, technical assistance and associations including: Landmark Resource Center, Alliance to Conserve Old Richmond Neighborhoods, United Way of America, and Fair Chance.

Rosetta holds a Master's Degree in Nonprofit Management from Trinity University and a Bachelor’s Degree in English from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has also completed advanced training programs at The Fundraising School at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University and the Institute for Nonprofit Management at Columbia Business School. Rosetta is an active member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and is Co-Coordinator of DC Fundraisers. She currently serves on three nonprofit boards – DC Young Nonprofit Professionals Network, DC Central Kitchen and the DC Creative Writing Workshop.

Rosetta is a prolific writer, speaker, trainer, and consultant and has been quoted in articles about the nonprofit sector in the Washington Post, Nonprofit Quarterly, and the Chronicle of Philanthropy. She writes about nonprofit leadership and management to share resources and ideas that might inspire and help others in their work. Her goal is to bridge the gap between challenges and solutions within the nonprofit sector, especially as they relate to the younger workforce and nonprofit leaders of color. As a member of the next generation of nonprofit leaders, Rosetta sees firsthand the challenges for our sector as well as many new ideas for solving them.

If you're wondering where to get started in reading this blog, here are some postings on topics Rosetta writes about frequently that may interest you:

• Nonprofit Leadership
• The Next Generation of Nonprofit Leadership
• Fundraising and Philanthropy
• Professional Development
• Nonprofit Management
• Organizational Change
• Leaders of Color
• Diversity and Race and Class Issues

When Rosetta isn't working or blogging, you can find her eating lots of ice cream, writing poetry, and dancing under the sun.

Email Rosetta at rosettathurman@gmail.com. She doesn't bite, honest.