• Peggy Morrison Outon
• Scott Leff
• Garrett Cooper
• Jeffrey Forster
• Cindy Leonard
• Carrie Richards
• Carrie Tancraitor
• Yvonne Van Haitsma

Peggy Morrison Outon, Executive Director
Peggy Morrison Outon is the founding Executive Director of the Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Prior to establishing the Bayer Center, Peggy founded similar institutions in Austin, Texas and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Peggy has three decades’ experience in the nonprofit sector as development officer, management support professional, board member and volunteer.  She has served as a management consultant to more than 600 nonprofit organizations in fund development, board development, strategic & operational planning and volunteer management.  As a volunteer, she has served on 34 boards—7 as president, including chairing the founding board of the Alliance for Nonprofit Management, a national network of nonprofit capacity builders.

She has taught graduate students at both the University of New Orleans and Robert Morris University.  She is a founding member of the Peter F. Drucker Foundation international training team and serves as a trainer and advisor to the Institute for Global Ethics.  She has spoken to audiences locally, nationally and internationally. In July 2006, she was named to the Nonprofit Times Power and Influence Top 50.

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Scott B. Leff, Associate Director
Scott B. Leff is the Associate Director of the Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management at Robert Morris University.  Scott holds a Masters Degree in business and technology from Carnegie Mellon University and has spent more than 25 years as a senior level business executive, entrepreneur, consultant to nonprofits, and member of approximately 20 nonprofit Boards.

Scott’s particular expertise is in the areas of strategic planning, financial planning, social entrepreneurship, marketing, technology strategy, organizational development, and executive management.  His former positions include Senior Vice President and COO of Fayette Bank and Trust Company, where he planned and implemented the Bank’s merger with BT Financial Corporation.  Scott also has been Senior Vice President and COO of AmeriServ Trust and Financial Services, and President of Bright Plaza, Inc., a Carnegie Mellon University spin-out technology company.

Scott was Co-Principal of McDaniel-Leff Consultants, a boutique advisory firm for nonprofits that has provided capacity-building, strategic planning, marketing, and development/fundraising consulting to approximately 50 arts, education, health, and human services clients.  Scott also was founder/owner of ZarPics Productions, a marketing/communications company that created and implemented branding and communication projects in print, media, and television and video.  Scott has held appointments as adjunct faculty with Carnegie Mellon University and Chatham College’s MBA Program. Scott was writer/director of a nationally broadcast PBS documentary and has made frequent presentations on topics of interest to the nonprofit sector at national, regional, and local meetings.  He is a member of Leadership Pittsburgh XXV.

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Garrett Cooper, M.S., Associate Consultant and Researcher
Garrett holds a Bachelors and Masters Degree in finance from The University of Maryland, College Park, and has spent five years building up expertise in financial risk management, investment banking, capital market analysis, and computerized accounting. Garrett is proficient in strategic management, research, corporate finance, and accounting concepts.

At the Bayer Center, Garrett is responsible for conducting research and providing strategic management analysis to assist nonprofits in focusing their mission.  Most recently, Garrett served as a Liquidity Financier and Risk Analyst at Ellington Management Group, where his duties included raising short-term loans for the fund, and summarizing daily earnings and risks to management and investors. Prior to that, Garrett held positions with UBS Investment Bank and Freddie Mac, where his responsibilities included corporate restructuring/funding and risk management duties.

Garrett is a Pittsburgh – Literacy AmeriCorps alum and a volunteer mentor for Big Brothers & Big Sisters, Beginning with Books, and Community Human Services, respectively. Garrett also holds a part-time adjunct faculty member position at The Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC). When not working or serving his community, Garrett enjoys competing in marathons and triathlons, and planning snowboarding trips.

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Jeffrey Forster, Senior Consultant
Jeffrey Forster is a senior consultant at the Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management at Robert Morris University.  He has assisted a variety of nonprofit organizations in the Pittsburgh area, specializing in the use of databases for process improvement.  He is proudest when clients say that for a techie, he speaks astonishingly plain English.  In addition to consulting and training, Jeff has lead the Bayer Center’s biannual Nonprofit Technology Survey.  Previously, he served as policy analyst in the Pittsburgh Planning Department and an information management specialist at Carnegie Mellon University.

Jeff holds a masters degree in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University and a bachelors degree from Yale University.  He sits on the board and the Alumni Schools Committee of the Yale Club of Pittsburgh and is a former Vestry member and current lay reader at Church of the Ascension.  He lives in the east end of the city with his wife and two young sons.

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Cindy Leonard, MBA, Technology Services Manager
Cindy came to the Bayer Center from PA CleanWays, a statewide environmental nonprofit, where she provided technology management for the home office as well as 22 chapters and affiliates.  An experienced website designer, she adds website design and development to the portfolio of services at the Bayer Center.

In addition to direct consulting with clients, Cindy convenes the Bagels & Bytes group for nonprofit techies, teaches tech classes such as “See Your Computer Naked,” and coordinates special events such as the Technology Day of Caring and the annual TechNow conference.

Cindy is a graduate of Seton Hill University, where she earned first her B.S. degree in computer science, and, in 2006, her M.B.A.  She is currently working on a second masters degree in instructional design technology, also at SHU.  She serves on the board of Stage Right!, a theater organization in her hometown of Greensburg, on the Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organization’s marketing committee, and is a founding member of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network.  Cindy is fluent in three languages: English, geek, and feline.

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Carrie Richards, Marketing Manager
As Marketing Manager, Carrie Richards plays an integral role in planning and marketing the educational programs offered by BCNM, as well as special projects and events.  After receiving an undergraduate degree in Youth Ministry from Eastern University, Carrie spent several years living in the Washington D.C. area as a youth minister, and manager of a non-profit coffeehouse start-up.  In 2002 she moved to Pittsburgh with her husband, Bradly and worked with several faith-based non-profit organizations before joining the team at the Bayer Center in 2007.

As a Northsider and bird lover, she is a 5+ year member of the National Aviary and serves on the board of the Brighton Heights Citizens Federation.  She and her husband enjoy playing music, taking peculiar road trips, listening to records, and spending time with their parakeets, Bird and Friend.

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Carrie Tancraitor, Consultant and Researcher
Carrie joined the Bayer Center after earning her Masters degree in Public Administration from the University of Delaware. She is responsible for the collection and analysis of customer, demographic, and survey data which is used to help agencies strategically plan for the future. She also analyzes financial statements and provides risk assessments for over 75 nonprofit agencies, annually.

Carrie was a Schreyer’s Scholar at The Pennsylvania State University, where she earned her degree in communications and business. Her background also includes work with the Delaware League of Local Governments, the Institute for Public Administration, and the University of Delaware’s Institutional Research department. Carrie serves on the boards of Neighbors in the Strip and Healthy Home Resources. Her patience and perseverance are further evidenced by her choice of hobbies – she’s a marathoner and the proud parent to a tail-less shelter cat, Rocky.

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Yvonne Van Haitsma, ESC Program Coordinator
Yvonne Van Haitsma has been a consultant at the Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management at Robert Morris University since 2000. She is now the coordinator of the Executive Service Corps program.  Ms. Van Haitsma has fourteen years of experience with nonprofit organizations locally and internationally. She earned her M.S.W. in Community Organizing and Nonprofit Management at the University of Pittsburgh.  She has consulted with nonprofit organizations in collaboration development, strategic planning, board development and executive transitions in El Salvador, Ecuador, and Pittsburgh.

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