People
Meet the CEP team.
Della Menhaj
Della leads relationships, analyzes data, produces reports, and presents assessment findings to CEP clients. She is an experienced project manager and helps lead the Assessment and Advisory Services team’s development and maintenance of its data-processing and display...
Senior Manager and Data Systems Lead, Assessment and Advisory Services
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Don Chen
Don Chen (he/him) is the president of the Surdna Foundation. He leads the century-old foundation’s efforts to advance social justice and racial equity in America’s communities. Before joining Surdna in 2018, Don directed the Cities & States...
President, Surdna Foundation
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Donovyn Pickler
Donovyn oversees designing, maintaining, and improving data tools and pipelines utilized by CEP. Prior to joining CEP in December 2022, Donovyn wore many hats from analytics platform engineer to robotics lab assistant, stagehand, and bartender. Outside of work,...
Senior Data Systems Engineer, Technology
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Eli Perez
Eli Perez leads technology programs and projects at CEP, overseeing the planning and execution of systems and initiatives that strengthen the organization’s data, survey, and reporting capabilities. He works cross-functionally to align technology solutions with CEP’s...
Technical Program Senior Manager, Finance, Operations, and Technology
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Elisha Smith Arrillaga
Elisha Smith Arrillaga, Ph.D. manages CEP’s Research team, leading the creation, development, analysis, and release of various research projects and initiatives relevant to the philanthropic sector’s most pressing issues. Prior to CEP, Dr. Smith Arrillaga was a...
Vice President, Research
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Elissa Koh
Elissa helps the Client Services team foster an excellent experience for school and district clients during all stages of their engagement with YouthTruth. Prior to joining YouthTruth, Elissa worked in direct services as an advocate for domestic violence victims in...
Senior Coordinator, Client Services, YouthTruth
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Ellie Buteau
Ellie manages research projects and supports research design and analysis training and work across CEP’s teams. Ellie is managing CEP’s Big Gifts study, a three-year research project designed to understand how nonprofit organizations are using large, unrestricted...
Director of Research Projects and Special Advisor on Research Methodology and Analysis
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Emily Radwin
Emily analyzes data, writes reports, and leads creation and presentation of CEP’s benchmarking assessments. She helped develop CEP’s approach to supporting funders’ data collection and thoughtful use of demographic data. Emily works alongside funders to help them...
Manager, Assessment and Advisory Services
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Emma Relle
Emma analyzes data, develops reports, and leads relationships with funders using CEP’s assessments. She is also an experienced project manager and earned her Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification in 2025. Before joining CEP in 2021, Emma contributed to...
Associate Manager, Assessment and Advisory Services
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Georgia Kazemi
Georgia analyzes quantitative and qualitative data, writes reports, and provides assessment insights to CEP clients. Prior to joining CEP in 2025, Georgia worked as an economic consultant at Analysis Group, where she conducted economic research and analysis across...
Analyst, Assessment & Advisory Services
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Grace Nicolette
Grace oversees the organization’s partnerships, outreach efforts, fundraising, communications, and innovative programming. She is a co-host with CEP’s President Phil Buchanan of the widely acclaimed Giving Done Right podcast. Grace was formerly a client lead on CEP’s...
Vice President, Programming and External Relations
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Heather Smith
Heather helps schools across the country drive change through student and community feedback. Prior to joining YouthTruth, Heather developed and ran educational programming across diverse STEM learning spaces including building robust career pathways into the tech...
Manager of Partnerships, YouthTruth
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Jay Kustka
Jay works closely with the programming and external relations team to create, design, and update marketing materials for CEP. Jay has many years of experience in graphic design, having worked previously in Boston and London for R.R. Donnelly Financial and in New York...
Art Director, Programming and External Relations
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Jesús Gerena
Jesús is CEO of UpTogether (previously Family Independence Initiative), a national organization with a bold mission of changing policies, systems, and underlying beliefs so that all people in the United States are seen and invested in for their strengths and are able...
CEO, UpTogether
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John Rangos
John supports the Assessment and Advisory Services team’s survey processes and operations. Before joining CEP in November 2022, John worked at Daily Table and Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. He holds a B.A. from Denison University in English and Psychology. In...
Senior Coordinator, Assessment and Advisory Services
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Joseph Lee
Joseph leads the creation and presentation of assessment insights for CEP’s clients. Previously, Joe worked at CEP from 2007 to 2010. Prior to rejoining CEP in 2022, Joe served as a senior advisor at The Boston Foundation where, as part of The Philanthropic...
Senior Manager, Assessment and Advisory Services
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Joyce Cheng
Joyce co-leads design, content development, and delivery of peer learning cohorts and custom workshops to foundation staff, leaders, donors, and trustees in collaboration with CEP Learning Institute’s vice president and senior manager. Joyce previously served as a...
Associate Manager, Learning Institute
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Kara Doyle
Kara analyzes quantitative and qualitative data, writes reports, and provides assessment insight to CEP clients. Prior to joining CEP in July 2023, Kara graduated from Boston College with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Managing for Social Impact and the Public...
Senior Analyst, Assessment and Advisory Services
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Kennedy Burgon
Kennedy works on YouthTruth's data systems and analytics team supporting the workflows for gathering student data and delivering insight.She holds a master’s degree in information systems from Brigham Young University where she also studied business strategy and...
Associate Manager, Data, Systems and Analytics, YouthTruth
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Kevin Bolduc
Kevin leads the creation and delivery of CEP’s performance assessments and advisory services, including the development of new tools that help funders improve their effectiveness. Since joining CEP in 2001, Kevin helped design CEP’s groundbreaking Grantee Perception...
Vice President, Assessment and Advisory Services
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