Cat Slack helps nonprofit leaders find joy in service of their missions by creating a process of collaborative questioning, storytelling, and laughter.

Meet Cat Slack

Cat is a nationally recognized fundraising expert, strategist, writer, communications strategist, public speaker, and trainer. Cat has led partnerships with dozens of organizations such as: BostonWomen’s Fund, California State University in Sacramento, Feeding America, International Rescue Mission, RestoreOKC, North Texas Food Bank, Food Bank of Northern Nevada, United Way of Rhode Island, and many more. She advises c-suite leaders through transition and culture-change as they grow and leads acclaimed trainings for fundraisers in myriad missions across the United States.

Prior to consulting, Cat led fundraising at Second Harvest of Silicon Valley through annual revenue growth from $37 to $112 million and a $150 million campaign. She served as Chief Development Officer for an organization serving former foster youth, leading a $10 million capital campaign and increased revenue by 133% over five years.

Cat holds an MBA from Dominican University and a BS from Baldwin-Wallace University. She served in the United States Peace Corps in Armenia.

Meet the Team

Kelly Braunegg

Organizational Development
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Kelly Braunegg empowers nonprofits to build strong fundraising programs through strategic development operations. With over 20 years of experience, she helps organizations streamline processes, manage databases, and create a solid foundation for growth.
Kelly's expertise goes beyond technical skills. She fosters collaboration between teams, untangles complex situations, and provides coaching to elevate staff abilities. Her leadership resulted in a 140% increase in fundraising at Water.org and the successful creation of a DevOps team at Feeding South Florida during a critical period.
Across the country, Kelly has led successful database implementations and optimizations for organizations like Ability KC and Share Hope.
When not working, Kelly enjoys volunteering, exploring Kansas City with her dogs, and hosting fun, interactive dinner parties (think homemade ravioli!)
Michelle Heery

Organizational Development & Fundraising
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Michelle builds systems that achieve outcomes and realize missions. Michelle does so by digging into what matters and what works, pushing through identified barriers, and stacking up successes.
Michelle is a tenured non-profit executive specializing in organization development, business systems, and fundraising. She advises organization leaders to develop and implement plans that do more than collect dust on shelf. She’s worked with dozens of nonprofits, political campaigns, and government entities to ensure communities work for all our neighbors.
In addition to supporting mission driven organizations, Michelle serves as the Chief Strategy & Business Officer for Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma-Marin, the 11th largest Boys & Girls Clubs organization in the country. Most recently, Michelle secured $15M for and led the implementation of academic support services for kids in 10 Bay Area communities. Michelle also led the development and implementation of Intervention & Diversion Services for youth.
Michelle grew up in one of the most under resourced neighborhoods in Nashville, Tennessee. She earned a scholarship to The University of Memphis and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree. She holds a Masters Degree in Organization Development from Sonoma State University in California. Michelle is the co-founder of Green Tractor, which works to build strong & lasting organizations.
Meredith Nguyen

Leadership Development
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With more than two decades of experience in non-profit work, Meredith has connections and strong relationships across the non-profit sector.
Meredith is the founder of the nonprofit strategic consulting firm, Vim & Rigor. Meredith served the mission of the San Francisco Marin Food Bank for 15 years in successively broader c-suite roles—as the Chief Development Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Strategy Officer as the organization grew from ~130 FTE with a $10MM+ budget to ~275 FTE supporting a $60MM+ budget and began the work to transition the organization from a more traditional charity to a food justice organization. She successfully led the organization through executive director transition, COVID response and transformation, a successful $45 million capital campaign, new building acquisition, and multi-facility expansion and renovation.
Kathleen Nicholson

Prospect Research, Donor Stewardship & Campaign Management
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Kathleen Nicholson is an experienced nonprofit professional with a strong background in prospect research, donor data management, and philanthropic operations. After earning her master’s degree in Nonprofit Management and Leadership from the University of Georgia, Kathleen began her career at the University of Nebraska Foundation, where she played a key role in managing a database of over 1.3 million alumni and stakeholders, and served as a key internal partner for development officers in moves management for high-net-worth donors. Her work supported several academic fundraising teams, as well as the Office of Trustees, Foundation Relations, and Donor Relations teams.

In recent years, Kathleen has transitioned into consultancy, where she has successfully supported dozens of nonprofits in areas including prospect research, development operations, philanthropic writing, donor stewardship, and campaign management. Outside of work, Kathleen enjoys spending her free time at the beach, cooking, listening to Taylor Swift, and creating watercolor artwork. Kathleen lives in Galveston, TX with her husband and their cat, Franklin.
Shannon Petrello

Fundraising Strategist
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Shannon Petrello is a nonprofit executive with 18 years of experience in fundraising leadership, specializing in major and mega gifts, board development, and building high-functioning teams that get results. Her approach helps organizations meet their fundraising goals and create sustainable outcomes to achieve their vision.
Over the course of her career, Shannon and the teams she led have raised nearly $300 million for food security, housing, youth development, K-12 education, digital rights and AI ethics, civil and reproductive rights, and the arts.
Shannon has led major fundraising initiatives, including a $150 million capital campaign for Second Harvest of Silicon Valley. At LifeMoves interim housing, she led a team of 30 professionals through the post-pandemic recovery, steering them through one of the organization’s most challenging periods and positioning them for a successful future. Under her leadership, the LifeMoves team raised $73 million annually to support the organization’s rapid growth, exceeded its private revenue goal by $9 million, increased the number of major donors by 60%, and elevated messaging and event outcomes.
Shannon builds high-performing, collaborative teams that unlock new opportunities. She fosters a results-driven culture where team members feel empowered to take bold, creative risks and hold themselves accountable for individual and team success.
She holds a bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley; a master’s from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale; a Diversity and Inclusion Certificate from Cornell University; and was trained in organizational impact by the Center for Creative Leadership.
Shannon is committed to advancing justice and equity and is inspired by the power of the collective to change the world.
Mike Slack

Fundraising & Marketing Strategist
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Mike Slack is a nationally recognized expert in pipeline development, specializing in authentic and intentional relationship building. At Cat Slack Consulting, he serves as a nonprofit fundraising coach, empowering CEOs to achieve their fundraising and executive goals.
As Vice President of Sales and Marketing at AVIO Consulting, Mike leads the strategic vision for marketing and sales initiatives, driving both client retention and new client acquisition. Prior to this role, he served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Clevyr, a custom software development company based in Oklahoma City.
Mike is deeply passionate about supporting startups and nonprofits. His love for technology inspired him to co-found StarSpace46, a coworking space in Oklahoma City designed for the tech community. Before transitioning to enterprise IT sales and leadership, Mike excelled as a top nonprofit fundraiser and adjunct faculty member for the nonprofit leadership graduate program at Oklahoma City University. Today, he consults organizations on sales, marketing, growth strategy, and fundraising.
A strong advocate for intentional leadership, Mike has been invited to speak at numerous conferences and events. He encourages others to “pay attention to the leaders who inspire you, be honest about where you need to grow, and commit to acquiring the knowledge and skills to become the leader you would want to follow.”
In his free time, Mike enjoys reading, exercising, traveling, and spending quality time with his wife and two children.
Hannah Zachry

Brand Strategy & Website Development
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Hannah Zachry is the founder of Say When Design Studio, a creative studio dedicated to serving nonprofits grow by creating bold brands and websites.
Hannah’s specialty is making the abstract visual through strategic branding and design. She works with nonprofits to revamp their identity, website, and brand touchpoints so that they can reach new audiences, win more funding, and grow their organization.
Since 2017, Hannah has won 13 American Advertising Awards for her branding, web design, and marketing work. She’s also taught Advertising Design and Brand Development at UCO's School of Design, a NASAD accredited institution.
In her free time, she does jigsaw puzzles, reads books, and takes her dog, Junji, to the park.