A.C.E.S. - Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations

Bryon Thornburgh '02 is the Chief Operating Officer at the Denver Art Museum where he oversees strategic management of key infrastructure and visitor-facing operations including stability and sustainability of the museum’s buildings and physical infrastructure, the safety of the museum’s visitors, staff, volunteers and artwork, and key service and sales functions. As COO Bryon is responsible for ensuring that the museum’s infrastructure, systems, onsite strategies, and processes enable it to achieve its short and long-term programmatic and organizational goals. In addition to being a member of the museum’s senior leadership team, Bryon has strategic oversight of functional areas of daily operations, including visitor services, protective services, facilities, events, food service, retail, sustainability efforts, information technology, and capital infrastructure.

Prior to COO, Bryon was Director of Technology where he oversaw and directed all technology-related initiatives and staff throughout the museum and represented technology design and implementation at the senior management level. Bryon has been with the Denver Art Museum since 2014.

Bryon holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from John Carroll University and a Master of Business Administration from Cleveland State University.

Kristin Warzocha '93 is the President and CEO for the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, Northeast Ohio’s largest hunger relief organization.  The Food Bank relies on community support to fulfill its mission of ensuring that everyone in our communities has the nutritious food they need every day. She leads the organization’s efforts to provide nutritious food and support to more than 1000 program partners that serve hungry Northeast Ohioans in six counties and champions the organization’s mission. Kristin has a B.A. from John Carroll University and additional coursework through the Harvard Business School Executive Education programs in Governing for Nonprofit Excellence (GNE) and Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management (SPNM).  Warzocha lives in Lakewood with her husband, Christian, and daughters, Samantha and Ryan. She is a proud graduate of the Leadership Cleveland Class of 2010 and Cleveland Bridge Builders Class of 2002!

Dani Robbins is the director of Nonprofit Administration programs at John Carroll University. After serving in the nonprofit arena for over 25 years, primarily in executive leadership positions for social justice agencies, she has ascended to what she considers her dream job and the continuation of her life’s work: advancing social justice.

Her education includes a M.A. in Public Administration from the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University, and a B.A. from Kent State University. She is also a graduate of Leadership Akron Class 22, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Advanced Leadership Program, offered in conjunction with the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. Robbins founded and still leads Non Profit Evolution, a consulting firm dedicated to building capacity, board governance, and organizational development in small to mid-size nonprofit organizations. She has served as the chief executive of two domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centers, as well as two Boys & Girls Clubs. She introduced the Women’s Coalition – the prelude to the Women’s Center – at Case Western Reserve University.

Dani received the Vision and Spirit Award by Boys & Girls Clubs of America in 2006 and was included as a Notable Women in Nonprofits by Crain’s Cleveland Business in 2019.

Dani is also a speaker and trainer, the co-author of the Innovative Leadership Workbook for Nonprofit Executives, the author of a blog on issues relating to nonprofit organizations, and formerly a Network for Good fund raising coach, the nonprofit expert on answers.com and an instructor at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University.