Our Team
We are a dedicated team of operations baddies with diverse backgrounds in nonprofit management, operations, and learning. We’re here to share the tools, resources, and technical assistance to build operational capacity to thrive.
We are a dedicated team of operations baddies with diverse backgrounds in nonprofit management, operations, and learning. We’re here to share the tools, resources, and technical assistance to build operational capacity to thrive.
Deborah is an organizer and attorney who has worked for candidates for public office, not-for-profit advocacy organizations, policy coalitions, social justice networks, and foundations. She started her career as an organizer, worked as a journalist, and became a lawyer later in life. She left her law career in 2016 and is now the Executive Director of a multi-entity nonprofit: New Left Accelerator and separate but affiliated 501(c)(3), The Capacity Shop. She serves on the boards of Women’s Donor Action, Women Lawyers On Guard, and Action Squared. She lives in California and is a proud and tired mom.
Jen developed a passion for process, planning, and systems during her time working for political and grassroots campaigns, including the Obama Campaign and Organizing for America. Over the course of her 20+ year career, she has held several operational leadership roles at various organizations in the nonprofit ecosystem. Jen has extensive experience building effective grassroots organizations, running organizational systems, and developing nonprofit infrastructure. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and their dogs.
Melinda Gibson is Managing Director of The Capacity Shop, where she supports nonprofits and campaigns working toward equity and social change. With more than 20 years of experience in organizing, advocacy, and political strategy, she’s contributed to a wide range of efforts—from local field work to national legislative wins. Most recently, Melinda helped lead a ballot initiative in Los Angeles County to address housing and homelessness, coordinating teams and partners to collect nearly half a million signatures. She has also supported independent expenditure campaigns focused on protecting democracy and uplifting underrepresented communities. Earlier in her career, Melinda served as Deputy Director at the Center for Secure and Modern Elections, working with state and local partners to expand voting rights and help election departments respond to the COVID-19 crisis. Melinda’s work focuses on collaboration, thoughtful strategy, and building long-term power with communities across the country.
Brit Blalock brings 15 years of experience in brand development, nonprofit marketing/communications, and electoral campaigning across the advocacy, healthcare, and tech sectors. They previously served in strategic leadership roles for Southern Research, Innovation Depot, and the UAB Heersink School of Medicine. Brit is a longtime grassroots organizer and is the founder of two LGBTQ community support orgs. In 2022, they were a candidate for Alabama’s state house in district 54. They received a B.A. in Literature from Samford University and an MFA in Creative Writing from New York University. Brit is based in Alabama with their wife and their menagerie of rescue pets.
Je’Kendria is a Black, disabled, queer person who has been working as a facilitator, organizational leader, event curator, andcommunity organizer in DC for the past 20 years. Known in the community as a dynamic creative and cultural worker, they have been devoted to the Movement for Black Lives for the past decade, developing liberatory programs, co-leading revolutionary campaigns, offering transformative political education, and designing curriculum and gorgeous visual content. They recently concluded 6 years of service as an Executive Director for Collective Action for Safe Spaces, where they equipped individuals and organizations with the capacity to enact abolitionist community safety for marginalized survivors. In their work, they aim to ‘make the state obsolete,’ building community power and infrastructure that supports everyone in dismantling and rebuilding oppressive systems. Additionally, they serve as a healing practitioner for people of color across the country, where they host cultural events, provide spiritual services and products, and support mutual aid efforts.
Mery Concepción Pacheco is an Afro-Caribbean immigrant, abolitionist, and writer building and thinking at the intersection of the literary arts, prison abolition, and creative storytelling. Her written work deals with themes of embodiment, familial unravelings, racial (un)becomings, and healing. Her poetry has been previously published by Newtown Literary and QA Poetry. She lives, dreams, and loves in the margins.
With more than a decade of experience, Dana has leveraged her Master of Social Work education and diverse skill set to drive transformative change in nonprofits both locally and nationally. She is passionate about empowering nonprofit leaders through strategic project management, innovative problem-solving, and fostering collaboration. Dana deeply believes that compassion and empathy are at the heart of meaningful work, and she consistently integrates these values into her communications and the way she supports nonprofit leaders. She is excited to join TCS, where she can continue to empower individuals and contribute to making the world a better place.
