Clarissa Russell is a distinguished non-profit executive and businesswoman known for her ability to align organizational missions with strategic outcomes. She excels in collaborating with Boards of Directors to realize their visions while fostering synergy between strategy and operations. She brings innovative business acumen to nonprofit organizations, enhancing financial stability, creating efficiencies, and driving purposeful results.
As an accomplished Executive Director for multiple trade associations and professional societies, she has successfully guided three organizations from financial distress to fiscal solvency. Her expertise encompasses transformative leadership, strategic planning, program development, C-suite engagement, value proposition enhancement, fundraising, comprehensive P&L management, marketing, public relations, and multi-level advocacy.
Her leadership approach is characterized by:
-Mission-centric decision-making: Aligning resources with core values to cultivate a cohesive culture where employees are motivated by a strong sense of purpose and organizational goals.
-Collaborative transition leadership: Facilitating diverse perspectives to establish trust and transparency, ensuring confidence among the Board of Directors, colleagues, members, and funders in the organization’s strategic direction.
-Financial stewardship: Leveraging strong financial acumen to interpret data, make strategic decisions, and implement scenario planning for forecasting, budgeting, and fund securing, ensuring long-term fiscal health and mission fulfillment.
-Board development and education: Serving as a key resource and educator for the Board of Directors, while nurturing a pipeline of future organizational leaders.
-Operational excellence: Staying abreast of industry best practices to maximize resources and create efficiencies, while balancing evolving technologies with employees’ needs.
-Through this comprehensive approach, Clarissa consistently delivers transformative results, positioning organizations for sustainable success and impact.
Recognized by the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) as a Certified Association Executive, Clarissa leverages ASAE best practices and Foresight Works to drive excellence in professional associations and societies. She holds an MBA from Johns Hopkins University and a BS from James Madison University. Demonstrating a commitment to continuous learning, she also earned a Culinary Arts degree from the École hôtelière de Lausanne in collaboration with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Adding to her experience working for Marriott Corporation where her team won the prestigious Gold Key award for outstanding convention services, Clarissa earned a Certified Meeting Professional designation from the Council for Convention Liaison. As an advocate for workplace diversity and inclusion, she obtained a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Certification from the University of South Florida. She further enhanced her leadership capabilities by completing the Interim Executive Director Academy curriculum. In her role as co-chair of the Reston Loudoun ASAE Program Committee, she curates speakers for monthly meetings, facilitating discussion among non-profit leaders on pressing issues facing professional organizations. Additionally, she volunteers as a SCORE mentor, guiding entrepreneurs in establishing businesses founded on sound practices. Her diverse educational background, professional certification, and volunteer engagement underscores her dedication to advancing non-profit management and supporting business development in her community.
LinkedIn: Clarissa Russell