Leadership
Founder and President, NICE
Debra J. Berg, MPA, CNC
Founder/President
www.DebraBerg.com
Debra Berg’s eight-year journey across America fueled her avid interest in the grassroots innovations of nonprofit and social enterprise founders. She’s gained the attention of the national press including the Chicago Sun Times, Sky Radio, WE-TV, and Family Circle magazine. And she’s a frequent guest on radio and TV talk shows to educate audiences and foster social enterprise efforts. The author, speaker, and nonprofit leader spent her college years in "Illini country" earning her B.A. in political science/economics and Masters of Public Administration (MPA) degrees at the University of Illinois. Even as an undergrad, she was a student of local solutions and was recognized as a Charles E. Merriam Scholar for research on Illinois' local government. She rounded out her college experience in Washington, D.C. as a Congressional Intern and IRS Intern and eventually as an Illinois Legislative Intern.
In the seventies and eighties, Debra served for over a decade as a legislative analyst for the Illinois Senate Appropriations and Local Government Committees and as a budget and program analyst for the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission and the Minnesota Legislative Audit Commission. She was the author of several studies on education and chemical dependency and the analyst of social welfare budgets totaling into the billions of dollars. In the late eighties, Debra made a career switch to the nonprofit sector when Minnesota's largest HMO recruited her as a senior finance analyst. She later capitalized on her financial skills to establish TeamNet International, a marketing and training company in the U.S., Mexico, and the Netherlands. The company's success led to her eventual recruitment by the wireless software industry.
Since that time, she has chosen to reinvest her public policy and marketing experiences in the future of social enterprise, specifically those solutions that service human need. Her research has attracted the attention of Dr. Kathleen Wilson-Robinson, adjunct professor at Clemson University. (Dr. Robinson has acted as an advisor and results analyst on the NICE Nonprofit Founders Legacy Project.) Debra is an advocate for bringing visibility to successful nonprofit initiatives and fostering their replication.
Debra wears several hats at NICE Network as the spokesperson, as a trainer overseeing marketing and visibility, and as the primary connector between human service nonprofits and the broader philanthropic community. She also promotes their efforts to businesses, helping them "cause-partner" with initiatives that match their interests. In the midst of leading her mission, she's earned three certifications at the Rollins Crummer Graduate School of Business and the Philanthropy and Leadership Center in Volunteer Management, Leadership Practice, and Nonprofit Management. In her research, Debra found that many human service nonprofit efforts in the U.S. have been founded by persons of faith. Debra is especially focused on initiatives that have successfully replicated their causes, like Habitat, and are doing so dozens of times across the U.S. and around the world. She terms this "civic-franchising", a practice that helps to reduce the duplication of effort that commonly occurs in the nonprofit arena.
Originally from Illinois, Debra and her husband, Paul, reside in Central Florida. He is the city manager of Eustis, Florida. They have two grown daughters.
Debra is available to speak to groups of all sizes. She's a sought after keynote speaker for business and service clubs, nonprofits, and civic organizations. She conducts nonprofit seminars on marketing, visibility, and fundraising. And, she's available for coaching on those topics. Learn more about Debra at www.DebraBerg.com or contact her at debra@NICENetwork.org or contact the NICE Change office at 352-589-5981.
Founder/President
www.DebraBerg.com
Debra Berg’s eight-year journey across America fueled her avid interest in the grassroots innovations of nonprofit and social enterprise founders. She’s gained the attention of the national press including the Chicago Sun Times, Sky Radio, WE-TV, and Family Circle magazine. And she’s a frequent guest on radio and TV talk shows to educate audiences and foster social enterprise efforts. The author, speaker, and nonprofit leader spent her college years in "Illini country" earning her B.A. in political science/economics and Masters of Public Administration (MPA) degrees at the University of Illinois. Even as an undergrad, she was a student of local solutions and was recognized as a Charles E. Merriam Scholar for research on Illinois' local government. She rounded out her college experience in Washington, D.C. as a Congressional Intern and IRS Intern and eventually as an Illinois Legislative Intern.
In the seventies and eighties, Debra served for over a decade as a legislative analyst for the Illinois Senate Appropriations and Local Government Committees and as a budget and program analyst for the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission and the Minnesota Legislative Audit Commission. She was the author of several studies on education and chemical dependency and the analyst of social welfare budgets totaling into the billions of dollars. In the late eighties, Debra made a career switch to the nonprofit sector when Minnesota's largest HMO recruited her as a senior finance analyst. She later capitalized on her financial skills to establish TeamNet International, a marketing and training company in the U.S., Mexico, and the Netherlands. The company's success led to her eventual recruitment by the wireless software industry.
Since that time, she has chosen to reinvest her public policy and marketing experiences in the future of social enterprise, specifically those solutions that service human need. Her research has attracted the attention of Dr. Kathleen Wilson-Robinson, adjunct professor at Clemson University. (Dr. Robinson has acted as an advisor and results analyst on the NICE Nonprofit Founders Legacy Project.) Debra is an advocate for bringing visibility to successful nonprofit initiatives and fostering their replication.
Debra wears several hats at NICE Network as the spokesperson, as a trainer overseeing marketing and visibility, and as the primary connector between human service nonprofits and the broader philanthropic community. She also promotes their efforts to businesses, helping them "cause-partner" with initiatives that match their interests. In the midst of leading her mission, she's earned three certifications at the Rollins Crummer Graduate School of Business and the Philanthropy and Leadership Center in Volunteer Management, Leadership Practice, and Nonprofit Management. In her research, Debra found that many human service nonprofit efforts in the U.S. have been founded by persons of faith. Debra is especially focused on initiatives that have successfully replicated their causes, like Habitat, and are doing so dozens of times across the U.S. and around the world. She terms this "civic-franchising", a practice that helps to reduce the duplication of effort that commonly occurs in the nonprofit arena.
Originally from Illinois, Debra and her husband, Paul, reside in Central Florida. He is the city manager of Eustis, Florida. They have two grown daughters.
Debra is available to speak to groups of all sizes. She's a sought after keynote speaker for business and service clubs, nonprofits, and civic organizations. She conducts nonprofit seminars on marketing, visibility, and fundraising. And, she's available for coaching on those topics. Learn more about Debra at www.DebraBerg.com or contact her at debra@NICENetwork.org or contact the NICE Change office at 352-589-5981.
IT Volunteer
IT Consulting
Mike Maine, Certified IT Specialist
“Being granted the honor of working with Debra Berg to make the NICE Network a reality is a joy.”
Mike owns and operates GHSI, a computer services, consulting, and hosting company serving clients throughout Central Florida. As a 30-year resident of Lake County Florida, his first IT business was Grasshopper Software International. Meeting Mike was a “nice coincidence” that has brought the NICENetwork to its current level of virtual outreach. He and his partner, Kent White, are experts at DSL, dialup, hosting, web site design, data backup, network consulting, and custom computer building. In addition, they provide Voice-over-IP service to private homes and businesses throughout the country. Their clients include Resorts Condominiums International (RCI), national banks, cities, the entertainment industry, small businesses, and physicians’ offices in the “lightening capital of the world.” Mike’s 27 server back-ups are critical for medical personnel who depend on health records to treat patients. CCC also holds the distinction of being the only systems back-up service to make it through the 2005 hurricane without a glitch. If there’s a problem, Mike finds a way to make it work even if he has to call in an outside consultant to make it happen.
Mike has been a friend to the nonprofit community in Lake County, Florida for some time. He’s responsible for setting up the private Blue Lake Academy computer lab as well as systems for churches and other schools and often at his own expense. He’s now become an indispensable part of the NICE Network community.
“Being granted the honor of working with Debra Berg to make the NICE Network a reality is a joy.”
Mike owns and operates GHSI, a computer services, consulting, and hosting company serving clients throughout Central Florida. As a 30-year resident of Lake County Florida, his first IT business was Grasshopper Software International. Meeting Mike was a “nice coincidence” that has brought the NICENetwork to its current level of virtual outreach. He and his partner, Kent White, are experts at DSL, dialup, hosting, web site design, data backup, network consulting, and custom computer building. In addition, they provide Voice-over-IP service to private homes and businesses throughout the country. Their clients include Resorts Condominiums International (RCI), national banks, cities, the entertainment industry, small businesses, and physicians’ offices in the “lightening capital of the world.” Mike’s 27 server back-ups are critical for medical personnel who depend on health records to treat patients. CCC also holds the distinction of being the only systems back-up service to make it through the 2005 hurricane without a glitch. If there’s a problem, Mike finds a way to make it work even if he has to call in an outside consultant to make it happen.
Mike has been a friend to the nonprofit community in Lake County, Florida for some time. He’s responsible for setting up the private Blue Lake Academy computer lab as well as systems for churches and other schools and often at his own expense. He’s now become an indispensable part of the NICE Network community.
Research Analyst
Dr. Kathleen Wilson-Robinson, Adjunct Professor, Clemson University
Dr. Robinson assists NICE with research analysis of nonprofit founders. During most of her career she was the founder the Institute for Family and Neighborhood Life at Clemson University and an adjunct professor of community pediatrics in the School of Medicine at the University of South Carolina. She is currently an adjunct professor at Clemson University. Dr. Robinson’s field is rural, integrated community development. Her work has largely been in systems-based approaches to community planning and policy development; social impact assessments of various community change projects; and development of various community systems, including community and regional systems of support for at risk families, out-of-school children and youth organizations, community-based literacy systems, family centers, and systems of support to grassroots and nonprofit organizations.
