About Cassandra
A fundraising practice built for the long haul.
Cassandra founded Accelerate Change for the nonprofit leaders doing powerful, necessary work—and carrying the responsibility of making that work sustainable.
Accelerate Change was founded in 2023 in response to a familiar gap: nonprofits with meaningful missions, but without the development leadership or infrastructure needed to sustain them.
With more than 12 years in nonprofit development and experience across 17+ organizations, Cassandra brings a clear-eyed, relationship-centered approach to fundraising. She pairs data-informed growth with an equity-centered lens, so the strategy is useful and the relationships at its center are respected.
For Cassandra, the work is not about chasing a single grant or making a nonprofit look polished from the outside. It is about helping leaders see what is possible, make decisions with intention, and build the systems and shared confidence that let good work continue.
The approach
Strategy is a way of paying attention.
The strongest fundraising work makes room for both rigor and humanity: clear choices, honest stories, and relationships treated as more than transactions.
01
Start with what is true
Listen for the organization’s real capacity, the people closest to the mission, and the conditions shaping the work before recommending a path forward.
02
Make the system visible
Connect goals, relationships, proposals, and follow-through so the team can understand what moves the work—and what does not.
03
Build confidence that lasts
Leave teams with a clearer point of view, practical habits, and the confidence to keep making good fundraising decisions.
Career impact
Experience you can feel in the room.
$26M+
in philanthropic revenue across initiatives led
17+
nonprofits supported across sectors
12+
years in nonprofit development
Recognition
Recognized as one of Influential Women’s Most Influential Women of 2026.
The numbers matter because they represent the organizations, leaders, and communities behind the work—not because fundraising is a scorecard.
Selected speaking & writing
A perspective shaped for the room.
Cassandra brings the same practical, human-centered lens to conversations with fundraising leaders and the wider field.
Speaking
AFP Alabama Chapter 2025 Opening Plenary Speaker
Speaking
AFP Alabama Chapter 2026 June Meeting Guest Speaker
Featured article
Published in Giving Magazine
For the next chapter