Core Staff
Celeste Amato
President
Joyce Bartlett
Member Engagement and Services Manager
Charlotte P. Haase
Communication and Data Manager
Celeste Amato
President
Celeste joined the philanthropic community in 2012 after 18 years invested in public service and issues including housing, economic development, public works and environmental initiatives. Her wide and varied background in business development, marketing, communications, management and leadership led her to her role with Maryland Philanthropy Network. Celeste loves many things about her job but a few things stand out including the support she has received to elevate racial equity learning and action; that advocacy is now a routine part of funder conversations; and that she gets to work every day with colleagues who care so deeply about Maryland communities.
Celeste was recognized as an Influential Marylander in 2018 and 2020 and was recognized as a Most Admired CEO in 2019 by the Daily Record.
Celeste is an active volunteer and currently serves on the boards of the MDSPCA and the South Baltimore Learning Center. Her past board service includes Cleaner Greener Baltimore, Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore, Baltimore International College and the Southeast Community Development Corporation.
Celeste earned a Bachelor of Arts from Loyola University in Maryland. Go Greyhounds! She is a Baltimore City resident living in North Harford/Parkville with her partner, her stepsons and two pugs.
Joyce Bartlett
Member Engagement and Services Manager
As the Member Engagement and Services Manager, Joyce is our primary liaison to our members. She cultivates and strengthens our relationships with current and prospective members through individual and association engagement. Joyce leads our enrollment and renewal procedures, member-specific research and requests, and helps facilitate member connections. She staffs the Member Engagement Committee of the Board of Directors as well as our member roundtables including the Family Philanthropy Roundtable, Corporate Giving Roundtable, and the Maryland Community Foundation Association (MCFA).
With expertise in relationship-building, Joyce seeks to organize strategic action that is rooted in the needs and dreams of communities. She holds a graduate degree in Social Work with a concentration in Community Action and Social Policy from the University of Maryland Baltimore and a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from Grinnell College. Joyce is passionate about nurturing trust, practicing racial equity, and building bridges for transformative change.
Charlotte P. Haase
Communication and Data Manager
As the Communication and Data Manager, Charlotte leads the day-to-day work that keeps our services to members and our behind the scenes data management systems running smoothly. She works closely with our entire team to design and support all direct member engagement efforts, oversees all of our communication platforms, and ensures member requests for technical assistance are answered. She leads our efforts to continuously develop and improve our integrated website and membership database.
Throughout her professional career, Charlotte has worked with various organizations to strengthen branding, improve communications strategies, and streamline internal processes. Most recently, she served as the Director of Food and Farm Programs for Civic Works Inc. Charlotte earned a bachelor's degree in Communication from Christopher Newport University with minors in Civic Engagement and Social Entrepreneurship as well as Leadership Studies. She grew up all over the U.S. and spent some time living in Nairobi, Kenya before deciding to call Baltimore home. These days she can regularly be seen walking her dog, Lewis, in Patterson Park or checking out the seasonal offerings at Baltimore’s many farmers' markets.
Elisabeth Hyleck
Director of Learning and Engagement
Elyse Robinson
Office Administrator
Elisabeth Hyleck
Director of Learning and Engagement
Elisabeth manages Maryland Philanthropy Networks’s 100+ educational programs, various Affinity Groups as well as MPN's Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee. She manages the consultants who work with various other Affinity Groups and provides members with peer connections and assistance related to a wide variety of philanthropic initiatives and community issues. Prior to joining Maryland Philanthropy Network in 2007, she worked at the Annie E. Casey Foundation as the Leadership Development Program Assistant and was the Administrative Coordinator for a residential treatment facility for chemically dependent women and their children.
With a master's degree in City and Regional Planning from Morgan State University, Elisabeth has a great interest in the relationship between people and the natural and built environment. She has a BA in English and French and a minor in Women's and Minorities' Studies from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. She recently stepped down from the board of Blue Water Baltimore and was elected to the Board of Directors of City Neighbors Hamilton as Director of Family Participation. When not at work, she can be found assisting with school, scout, and church activities, and spending time outdoors.
Elyse Robinson
Office Administrator
Elyse provides administrative support to Maryland Philanthropy Network on a day-to-day basis as receptionist, secretary, administrator of financial and other records, office systems, and human resources. She works closely with all senior staff in support of the association's operations, board of directors and committees, data entry and event logistics. Her duties also include calendar scheduling, conference room scheduling, program logistics, ordering office supplies just to mention a few.
Elyse enjoys working at Maryland Philanthropy Network because of the close team/family-like setting and being a part of a team that works hard to inform and better our communities. In her spare time, she likes to visit her pup-nieces, Miss Yoko, pug mix and Millie, poodle/pug mix.
Project Staff and Group Coordinators
Yinka N. Bode-George
Consultant, Environment and Health
Liz Briscoe
Coordinator, Affinity Group on Aging
Jonalyn Denlinger
Consultant, Impact Investing
Yinka N. Bode-George
Consultant, Environment and Health
Yinka N. Bode-George is an environmental health advocate enthusiastic about creating health equity, environmental justice, and sustainable development through activism, policy, and practice. She is the Environmental Health Manager for the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators but continues to serve Maryland Philanthropy Network (MPN) as an Environment and Health Consultant.
Yinka has worked in various capacities to support programs that promote health outcomes and undo drivers of health inequities in Baltimore City. She serves as Board Member and Advocacy Committee Chair for the Maryland Public Health Association, leading public health professionals across Maryland in political advocacy. Yinka received her Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science, and Bachelor of Arts in Health Administration and Policy, from the University of Maryland Baltimore County. She is also a graduate of Johns Hopkins School of Public Health where she received a Master of Health Science degree in Environmental Health.
Liz Briscoe
Coordinator, Affinity Group on Aging
Liz Briscoe has worked in human services and healthcare throughout her career. Most recently, she was the Division Chief of Advocacy and Special Projects along with managing the Baltimore City Health Department Division of Aging & CARE Services MD Access Point (MAP), a no wrong door point of entry for older adults and their families to access support services. The prior eleven years, she was executive director of Action In Maturity (AIM), a Baltimore City senior center ‘without walls’, a unique model which provides activities, education, and senior-friendly transportation programs.
Liz is a native Baltimorean and attended both Towson and Johns Hopkins Universities. She received Bachelor of Science degrees in Chemistry/Medical Technology and Mechanical Engineering. She recently graduated from University of Baltimore’s Certified Public Manager Program and is a Weinberg Fellow. She serves on the Boards of Maryland Gerontology Association, Baltimore Transit Campaign, Myerberg Senior Center, Keswick Multi-care; and the Advisory Boards of Comprehensive Housing Association, Inc. (CHAI)’s Aging in Community, Civic Works’ Housing Upgrades to Benefit Seniors, and Access HEARS (Hearing Equality through Accessible Research).
Jonalyn Denlinger
Consultant, Impact Investing
Jonalyn works to support Maryland Philanthropy Networks members interested in Impact Investing including the Baltimore Small Business Technical Assistance Fund.
Linda Dworak
Director, Baltimore Workforce Funders Collaborative
Elaine Garven
Consultant, Fiscal Sponsorship Landscape
Melissa Rock
Coordinator, Prenatal to Five Impact Collaborative
Linda Dworak
Director, Baltimore Workforce Funders Collaborative
Linda provides support to Maryland Philanthropy Network on matters related to workforce development. Her primary role is to staff the Baltimore Workforce Funders Collaborative, a group of public and private funders which works to build pathways to family-supporting jobs for unemployed and underemployed Baltimore City residents while meeting the needs of our region's employers for a skilled workforce. Linda also develops programming for Maryland Philanthropy Network's Workforce Affinity Group and provides support to the Baltimore Integration Partnership. Linda has devoted her career to the work of enhancing employment opportunities for low- wage workers.
She formerly served as the Executive Director of the Garment Industry Development Corporation – one of the first nationally recognized sector-based workforce partnerships, and as Senior Consultant to the Aspen Institute's Workforce Strategies Initiative. Her work has helped to define the field of sectoral workforce development. Additionally, Linda brings to Maryland Philanthropy Network experience gained through her work with a number of national and regional organizations. Linda holds a Masters Degree from the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs and a post-graduate certificate in Non-Profit Management from the Columbia University School of Business.
Elaine Garven
Consultant, Fiscal Sponsorship Landscape
Elaine Garven is a strategic finance consultant for Maryland Philanthropy Network. Prior to her consultancy practice, Elaine spent fifteen years working in leadership roles in the public and private sector, running strategic planning processes for the Baltimore City Mayor's Office, Fortune 500 companies, and some of the fastest growing technology startups. She specializes in helping nonprofits and startups build and refine their long range strategic vision, and translating that vision into meaningful operational roadmaps. Elaine is a Baltimore native currently splitting her time between Baltimore City and San Francisco.
Melissa Rock
Coordinator, Prenatal to Five Impact Collaborative
Melissa Rock is the Director of the Birth to Three Strategic Initiative, which is a partnership between the Zanvyl and Isabelle Krieger Fund and Advocates for Children and Youth (ACY). Melissa is focused on eliminating racial disparities in birth outcomes for black women, eliminating barriers for families to access infant and early childhood behavioral health services, increasing access for families to programs that strengthen the attachment between parents and their young children.
Prior to being in this position at ACY, Melissa was ACY’s Child Welfare Policy director for 7 years Her greatest accomplishments in that role was the expansions of Maryland’s tuition waiver for youth in foster care and youth experiencing homelessness and making Maryland the first state in the country to allow foster youth’s federal benefits be placed into savings accounts for when they age out of foster care. Before joining ACY’s staff, Melissa spent 8 years at Maryland Legal Aid as a lawyer for youth in foster care in their Child in Need of Assistance Cases.
Melissa is a member of the State Council on Child Abuse and Neglect (SCCAN), is the Membership Chair on the Infant Mental Health Association for MD/DC (IMHA-MD/DC), is a member of the Baltimore City Early Childhood Advisory Council, the Advisory Board for the Baltimore City Child Care Resource Center (BCCCRC), Baltimore City’s Fetal Infant Mortality Review team (FIMR), the Reproductive Health Equity Alliance for Maryland (RHEAM), the Early Childhood Mental Health Steering Committee, and B’more for Healthy Babies’ Perinatal and Post-Partum Behavioral Health Network. Melissa graduated from The George Washington University Law School and from Brandeis University with high honors.
Nan Rohrer
Coordinator, School-Centered Neighborhood Investment Initiative
Kim Snipes
Consultant, Knowledge Management
Nan Rohrer
Coordinator, School-Centered Neighborhood Investment Initiative
Nan Rohrer has been actively involved in improving Baltimore for the 15 years she has called the city home. Nan worked as Vice President of Economic Development and Planning at the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore for 11 years. She was the founding director of the Office of Partnerships in the Department of Recreation and Parks, and a neighborhood liaison in the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods. Nan has a broad range of experience in project and fiscal management, business outreach, strategic planning, grant writing and program development. She spearheaded the Downtown Partnership’s Strategic Plan, Pratt Street Redesign, Preston Gardens Renovation, Retail Strategy, and Downtown Open Space Plan.
Nan is on the boards of the Baltimore Museum of Industry and Chesapeake Shakespeare Company. She is also an active member of the Enoch Pratt Free Library Advisory Council, and the Friends of Patterson Park. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University. Originally from a dairy farm in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Nan believes that by improving the urban experience, we can minimize the sprawl which threatens farmland and open spaces across the country. Nan enjoys being able to easily access all the City has to offer.
Kim Snipes
Consultant, Knowledge Management
Kim finds great professional fulfillment in creating systems that help organizations run more efficiently. Kim was a member of our staff team from 2007-2018 and is now the Senior Manager of Knowledge Services for the United Philanthropy Forum, a membership organization of nearly 80 regional and national philanthropy-serving organizations who work to make philanthropy better.
Kim graduated from Wheaton College in Norton, MA with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Women’s Studies and holds a Masters of Science in Women’s Studies from Towson University. As a certified Salesforce Administrator, Kim provides additional support for the development and management of our website and Salesforce database.