ESC of the Triangle - professional, affordable consulting services to Triangle nonprofits

Beth Maxwell (Chair) is retired as executive director of the Volunteer Center of Durham. Beth has served on numerous boards, including Durham Regional Hospital, The Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, and Big Brothers Big Sisters. She has been president of the Durham United Way, The Junior League of Durham and Orange Counties, and Pearsontown PTA.
Dave Gettles (Vice Chair) is currently a consultant and Client relations manager with ESC. Dave also has a practice as an executive coach and management consultant, and he teaches business coaching at NC State. He is retired from Nationwide Insurance.
Don Wells (Board Secretary) is an Independent Consultant. He is a Former Director, Duke University Certificate Program in Nonprofit Management; a Former Executive Director, Durham County Habitat for Humanity; and a Former Principal, Carolina Friends School.
Thomas Cogswell (Board Treasurer) is a CPA (retired) with extensive finance and accounting senior management experience working with both for profit companies (Group Controller for FKI plc) and non profits (Finance Director for Durham's Partnership for Children).
Laura Benson is the Executive Director at the Durham’s Partnership for Children, a service organization working to mobilize and unify the Durham community to create and support innovative and successful collaborative approaches to serving the needs of young children birth to age 5 and their families. Previously she was the Executive Director at Lutheran Family Services in the Carolinas and director of faith-based shelter programs for homeless families in the Triangle. Laura is an ordained United Methodist pastor and former president of Raleigh Business and Professional Women.
Allen Berk has had a forty-five year career in finance, venture capital, banking, information systems, education and administration. He served for a number of years as VP-Finance of Chemical Bank and as Senior VP of Fidelity Investments in Boston. Allen has had recent volunteer experiences with the NC Symphony, the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass and the Gregg Museum of Art.
Perry Colwell is an ESC board member, the board development chair, a client relations manager and a consultant. Currently he serves on the boards of the Triangle Community Foundation and the Center for Child and Family Health, and has served on the boards of a number of local nonprofits. Perry retired from AT&T as Senior Vice President – Financial Management after a career in operations and finance.
Bonnie Gordon is the Senior Program Director at MDC, a Chapel Hill based nonprofit organization devoted to research and program development focused on strengthening the lives of North Carolinians and people in the South. She was previously with the Nellie Mae Education Foundation as College Prep officer and earlier, she spent twenty years at Ithaca College in senior administration positions. Bonnie has served as a leader with a number of state and national educational associations.
Mike Gulley is the Director of Annual Giving and Stewardship at the WakeMed Foundation. Prior to WakeMed, Mike had positions as Senior Development Officer for N C State University Libraries, Director of Development for Curamericas and Campaign Manager for United Way - Bay Area, San Francisco.
Dave Pottenger is a VP Financial Advisor at the Durham Office of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. Dave’s service to nonprofit organizations include the Durham Chamber of Commerce, Board Member of Urban Ministries, Elder and Capital Committee Chair of Westminster Presbyterian Church, Board Member and Chair of the Museum of Life and Science, and President of Hope Valley Country Club.
Josh Ravitchis currently a strategic consultant working with The Helping Hands Clinic and the Durham-Chapel Hill Jewish Federation. Josh's community service has included being a Guardian ad Litem of Orange County, he served as Co-Chair of Victory Village Daycare Center and as Treasurer of Sycamore Preschool. Currently he serves on the Boards of the Durham-Chapel Hill Jewish Federation and Chapel Hill Kehillah Synagogue.
Fred Stanghas served the Triangle community for three decades as a social worker and fundraiser. Fred was the Director of Development for the Triangle Community Foundation from 1994-2010 and was honored to be part of a team that grew the Foundation from $10 million in 1994 to $135 million in 2010.
Linda Stryker-Luftig is chair of the ESC Marketing Committee and active as an ESC consultant. She retired as Executive Vice President of HSBC North America, where she was head of Public Affairs. She previously worked in public relations, corporate communications and marketing for 13 years for several different financial institutions, most recently First Union (now Wells Fargo). She is a past president of Fearrington Cares, and formerly Vice Chairman of Leadership America, one of the nation's premier organizations dedicated to women's leadership.