Client's Perspective

“The National Women's Alliance would like to express our sincerest gratitude for your training at the Young Women of Color Executive Director Retreat, your workshop received rave reviews from participants.  To be sure, your expertise and participation were an integral part of the success of the retreat.  We appreciate all of the time and energy that you devoted to ensuring that participants had an excellent opportunity for learning.  We look forward to working with you in the future!”

C. Nicole Mason
Executive Director
National Women's Alliance
Washington, DC

 

Our Team

CIC is a woman of color owned consulting firm and because we value diversity, clients are able to access a multicultural pool of consultants with extensive experience working in diverse sectors of the nonprofit community.

CIC has carefully screened and selected a highly skilled and experienced team of consultants to meet the diverse capacity building needs of nonprofit organizations. A brief profile of each of our consultants is provided below.

Elsa A. Ríos, CIC President

Executive Coaching, Fund Development, Board Development, Strategic Planning, Policy Advocacy Campaigns

Elsa A. Ríos has twenty-five years of nonprofit experience in the areas of management, grant writing, program design, community organizing and public policy analysis and writing. During her public service career she held several executive level management positions and engaged in extensive fundraising and program development.

Her accomplishments include having served as the Founding Director of the Violence Intervention Program, Chief of Staff for the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund and Executive Director of the HIV Law Project.

Ms. Ríos holds a Juris Doctor degree from New York University School of Law where she received the prestigious Root-Tilden-Snow Scholar Award in recognition of her outstanding public service achievements. She also holds a Master's of Science degree in Social Work from Columbia University and is a graduate of the Columbia University, Institute for Not-for-Profit Management sponsored by the Graduate School of Business.

Carmen Vivian Rivera, Senior Associate

Strategic Planning, Policy Advocacy, Program Design, Needs Assessments & Outcome Evaluation

Carmen Vivian Rivera has over twenty-five years experience in nonprofit management, community organizing and public policy advocacy. Her professional training and social activism has focused on women’s rights and social justice causes.

She has held top-ranking positions in New York City government; as Senior Health Policy Analyst for the Manhattan Borough President followed by an appointment as the Director of the Mayor’s Office on Health Policy. Subsequently, Ms. Rivera became Director of the Maternal Health Commission for the City of Boston.

Her areas of expertise include: assessment, strategic planning, board development and outcome evaluation. Ms. Rivera holds Master's degrees in Social Work and Public Health from Columbia University.

CIC Associates

Andrea Williams, JD

Leadership Development and Policy Advocacy

Andrea Williams has more than fifteen years of nonprofit experience; she is the former Policy Coordinator of the HIV Law Project and an expert in grassroots leadership development. She coordinated the Center for Women’s Organizing, a comprehensive leadership development program for HIV positive women of color and has worked on numerous legal and policy advocacy projects defending the civil and human rights of disenfranchised communities. Ms. Williams also served as staff attorney for the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund and Bergen County Legal Services in New Jersey. She holds a Juris Doctor degree from Rutgers University.

Jessica F. Vasquez, JD

Fund Development and Grant Writing, Strategic Planning, Board Development

Jessica F. Vasquez has ten years of nonprofit experience in the areas of nonprofit law, public policy analysis, grant writing, and program design. She has served as a domestic relations litigator, immigration lawyer, program manager, non-profit board member, and is an expert on issues of violence against women. Ms. Vasquez is a recipient of the prestigious Soros Justice Fellowship awarded by the Open Society Institute. Ms. Vasquez received her Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from Bryn Mawr College and her Juris Doctor from New York Law School. She is the President of Athena Strategic Council, LLC.

Paul Morejon

Website Development

Paul Morejon has over ten years of experience developing website solutions for a variety of clients including Violence Intervention Program, Random House, Columbia University and PFLAG. He has developed a specialized consulting practice that focuses on helping nonprofits realize success in all digital design projects from websites to opt-in newsletters.

Fernando Gomez, CPA

Financial Management Training and Consultation

Fernando Gomez has fifteen years of experience advising nonprofit and for profit clients in the areas of accounting, auditing, taxation and general business management. His clientele includes communications, publishing, health, and nonprofit organizations, as well as professional services clients. He provides individual financial management consultation, as well as, training to boards of directors and executive leadership staff.

Mr. Gomez is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Mr. Gomez holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and is a graduate of Herbert H. Lehman College of the City University of New York.

Darice Guzman Piotrowski, JD

Fund Development, Research and Special Projects

Darice Guzman Piotrowski has several years of experience working with nonprofit organizations. She is primarily responsible for a wide array of fund development and policy/social action research. She conducts prospect cultivation research, develops letters of inquiry to prospective funders and direct mail campaigns, among other fund development activities.

She also conducts policy and social action research for client organizations that may be required for needs assessments, grant applications and policy reports and advocacy campaign materials. She holds a Juris Doctor degree from Fordham University School of Law and a Bachelor's degree in International Relations from Boston University.