These new Senior Advisors—who have decades of combined leadership experience in philanthropy and international development—represent an outstanding complement to our growing staff and will be working across a range of client engagements and thought leadership initiatives to provide technical expertise to many of our teams at both Geneva Global and our parent organization, Global Impact. We are excited to welcome them to the Geneva Global family and are eager to introduce them to our clients and partners around the world. Our initial cohort of Senior Advisors includes:
Lindsay Coates
Lindsay Coates is a nonprofit executive with a legal background in civil rights that brings together her passion for human rights, the social sector, and global development. Currently, Lindsay is a non-resident fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington DC. Prior to that, she was managing director of the BRAC global Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative. At BRAC, Lindsay led the advocacy agenda to leave no one behind through the effective, innovative and multi-dimensional solutions. She was responsible for learning and technical assistance activities worldwide in 10+ countries in Africa and South Asia. Before joining BRAC, Lindsay served as the president of InterAction, a coalition of NGOs working to address poverty and injustice.
Lindsay has also served numerous boards and as part of leadership initiatives to address pressing global challenges. These include the steering committees of the World Bank Global Partnership for Social Accountability and the World Bank Partnership for Economic Inclusion, the Leadership Circle of Foreign Policy for American, the executive committee for the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network, and the boards of Episcopal Relief and Development, United States Global Leadership Coalition and Development Gateway. She also served on the Obama administration’s Task Force on Global Poverty.
Prior to her work in the nonprofit sector, Lindsay practiced civil rights law in various capacities including beginning her law practice in Mississippi. She is a graduate of the University of the South (Sewanee) and the University of Mississippi School of Law.
Stacy Donohue
Stacy Donohue is a purpose-driven senior executive dedicated to advancing fair and just societies globally, particularly for women, girls, and non-binary people.
Stacy leads organizations and serves on Boards with high integrity and a collaborative approach, focused on data-driven, human-focused decision making to drive impact and inspire team members in rapidly changing environments. Stacy was most recently Executive Vice President at Luminate, partnering with the CEO to lead an international philanthropy with over $100M budget and 70+ staff in 20+ countries, focused on global governance and civic engagement. Her leadership responsibilities included Strategy, Communications, People Operations, Learning and Impact, and Partner Support. Previously at Luminate, Stacy was a Managing Director, leading the global funding teams in Africa, Latin America, Asia and the US.
Prior to Luminate, Stacy spent a decade as a Director and Investment Partner at Omidyar Network (ON), a philanthropic investment firm founded by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar. At ON, Stacy built ON’s work in Governance and Citizen Engagement in the US, with a focus on civic technology, growing the portfolio to $50M+ deployed to 40+ organizations. She has been an active Board member for several non-profit organizations and for-profit companies, including Code for America, Change.org, Global Integrity, and NationBuilder. Stacy has spoken on civic tech and democracy at industry leading conferences, and her perspectives have been covered by outlets including BBC TV, the New York Times, TechCrunch, Forbes, and Fortune.
Before joining Omidyar Network, Stacy had a career in business, including technology strategy and M&A at Hewlett-Packard Company, management consulting at Boston Consulting Group, and corporate finance at JPMorgan & Co. She earned an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School, a Masters Degree in Art History from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor’s Degree, summa cum laude, in Art History from Yale University.
Michael Layton
Michael Layton serves as the W.K. Kellogg Community Philanthropy Chair, the nation’s first endowed chair focused on community philanthropy, at the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy, Grand Valley State University.
Michael brings a wealth of experience to this role, including his work as a researcher, teacher, executive director, and consultant. He has worked closely with a broad array of philanthropic and development organizations, including the Inter-American Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, Hispanics in Philanthropy, FHI 360, and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). After teaching at Wesleyan and Yale Universities, he founded and directed the Philanthropy and Civil Society Project at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM) in Mexico City.
Michael earned a master’s degree and a doctorate in political science from Duke University, holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Haverford College, and is a proud graduate of Philadelphia’s Central High School.
Neil Sumilas
Neil Sumilas has spent nearly fifteen years as a senior non-profit executive, with extensive experience in leading financial and administrative operations for NGOs and philanthropic organizations. He is adept at leading teams through evolution, having built and upgraded financial and operational structures for organizations on significant growth trajectories.
As Vice President at the Elizabeth Dole Foundation and previously at the National Center for Family Philanthropy, Neil provided strategic vision and leadership in the areas of financial management, human capital management, board governance, and strategic planning. Earlier in his career, while at the German Marshall Fund, he spent more than a decade building and supporting the growth of GMF’s leadership development programs before serving as Managing Director. Having worked in both internal and consulting roles with organizations to address their most pressing operational needs, he is able to identify challenges and opportunities before seeking to formulate unique solutions that benefit institutions and their stakeholders. Over the course of his career, Neil has worked domestically and internationally with a diverse range of organizations including private and family foundations, museums and educational institutions, and a variety of non-profit and political groups.
Neil holds both his bachelor’s degree and his MBA from Georgetown University. He is Vice Chair of the Board of Atlas Corps, and also serves as a member of the Finance and Audit Committee for the United Philanthropy Forum.
Geneva Global looks forward to welcoming additional Senior Advisors throughout 2023 to support our growing portfolio.
“I’m so excited to welcome this incredibly impressive collection of Senior Advisors to Geneva Global,” said Nathaniel Heller, Vice President & Managing Director of Geneva Global and Global Impact. “Like so many Geneva Global staff, our Senior Advisors are unique in the philanthropy industry in that they each bring significant real-world leadership and entrepreneurial experience, having built and led complex global organizations, served as trusted advisors to the world’s largest donors, and shaped norms within philanthropy. They represent the best of what has always set Geneva Global apart from its peers—the ability to channel real-world social change experience into cutting-edge advice, strategy, and operational support to our clients daily.”
You can learn more about Geneva Global’s Senior Advisors here. For any questions or if you would like to learn more about the group, please reach out to Nathaniel Heller.
