Innovative Resources Group

Beth Hershenhart is founder and CEO of Innovative Resources Group, Inc., a consultancy specializing in building capacity for nonprofit organizations, foundations, and institutions. With her team of senior interdisciplinary experts, Beth has worked with a diverse spectrum of organizations as a turn-around strategist, executive counsel and coach, and philanthropic advisor.

Since founding the firm in 1991, Beth has partnered with more than 300 organizations that sought innovation and impact in their philanthropic efforts by embracing her relationship and engagement-based approaches to drive better results. In addition to her proven track record guiding mission-driven, capacity-building initiatives, Beth established a comprehensive creative services practice, Creative Innovations Studio™, that develops dynamic print and digital communications and web content.

She is past chair and an active member of the Association of Philanthropic Counsel (APC), and a 30-year member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP).

As an active volunteer leader, Beth is Board President of Congregation Berith Sholom, and has served on the board of Cristosal, an organization advancing human rights in Central America. She has a B.A. in Journalism and Theology from the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. She is a trained facilitator and member of the Technology of Participation (ToP) International Trainers Network, Institute of Cultural Affairs, Toronto, CA.

When not serving clients or engaging in volunteer leadership for social justice issues, Beth has a strong appreciation of arts and travel. From age four to 17 she attended a music and dance preparatory school in New York City. When she can, she retreats to the ocean or mountain lakes to hike, reflect, and take in the restorative power of nature.

George Nehme has served the philanthropic community for three decades and is Innovative Resources Group’s Senior Vice President for Client Relations. As counselor, mentor, frontline fundraiser, strategist, and campaign architect, Nehme has served some of the nation’s leading institutions of higher learning, cultural arts organizations, and independent schools, including the Arts Institute of Chicago, the University of Cincinnati, Columbia University, the University of Massachusetts, Smith College, Hamilton College, the New England Aquarium, Northfield Mount Hermon School, Albany Law School, and Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. In his more than three decades of service, Nehme has earned a reputation for a “hands-on” approach to leading by example.

Nehme earned his A.B. from Hamilton College and studied International Relations at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. He is fluent in Spanish and Arabic, reads widely on matters pertaining to diplomacy and foreign affairs; enjoys travel, music, theater, fine dining, and audio books and podcasts. Nehme is a fan of the Boston Red Sox and the New England Patriots.

Peggy O’Shea is Senior Advisor to Innovative Resources Group and founder of Peggy O’Shea Consulting, creating strategies to help strengthen organizations and institutions. Her wide-ranging expertise includes philanthropic counsel to individuals and organizations; guiding the structure, creation, and policies of community foundations, corporate foundations, and family foundations; and guiding organizations to create strategic, development, and donor-relations plans.

Peggy is former President and CEO of The Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties, Inc. From 2005 through 2014, she guided the organization’s transformational process, moving the institution from a reactive grant-making foundation to a catalytic community investor. Under her guidance, The Community Foundation earned the Council on Foundations National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations, the most rigorous standard for philanthropy.

Peggy is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of the State University of New York College of Technology at Utica-Rome, from which she holds a Bachelor of Arts degree. She has also completed the University of Wisconsin’s Certification Program for Excellence in Not-for-Profit Management, the Indiana University School of Philanthropy’s Certificate Program in Fundraising, and the Council on Foundations Program on Community Foundation Leadership.

Peggy has previously served on numerous regional/state boards and presently serves on the Boards of the UpMobility Foundation and the Griffin Family Charitable Foundation. She is also a member of the Association of Philanthropic Counsel (APC).

Nanette Maxim is a writer, content developer, and editor for Innovative Resources Group. Since joining the Innovative Resources team in 1995, Nanette has been instrumental in developing a plethora of communications materials for nonprofit organizations and educational institutions, including website content; social media content; press kits; magazine articles; newsletters; annual reports; and prospectuses, appeals, and acknowledgments for philanthropic investment.

Nanette has more than four decades of experience as a professional writer and editor for a wide array of clients, including book publishers; websites; magazines such as Gourmet, where she specialized in food politics and worked with Pulitzer Prize– and National Book Award–winning authors; educational institutions such as Columbia Teachers College, Brooklyn Law School, and Baruch College, and Fortune 500 companies such as AOL and American Express.

Nanette holds a B.A. in Policy Studies from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. She has been involved as a volunteer with the Taproot Foundation, developing content for nonprofits; Pegasus Therapeutic Riding, working with physically and developmentally disabled children; and For Animals, Inc., a nonprofit animal rescue and adoption organization.

Bob is Director of Design Services for Innovative Resources Group. A graphic artist and design professional with 25 years of experience, Bob specializes in cost-effective, high-quality publication designs and branding for individuals, businesses, and nonprofit organizations. He brings extraordinary talent and originality to every project. His award-winning graphics style is a standout in logo and brand-identity design, as well as a wide variety of materials supporting marketing and advertising endeavors, nonprofit outreach and prospectus publications, communications such as newsletters, brochures, and annual reports, fundraising efforts, and special-purpose campaigns.

Bob is expert in developing and unifying identity systems for clients that distinctively and memorably serve their mission and unique purposes. The Schenectady, NY, native has been with Innovative Resources Group since its founding in 1991.

Bob was awarded a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree by the State University College at Oswego. He is an avid skier and cyclist.

Sean Taylor directs Innovative Resources Group’s website design and development. Sean is the founder of Build Design Company, a digital agency focused on brand strategy and web design and development. Build's clients range from high-performing nonprofits to enterprise-level corporations. Before launching Build, Sean worked as a Content Strategist and Account Manager for a large, southeastern web agency, where he worked with multinational clients.

In addition to his agency work, Sean is also a copywriting and research professional for fundraising campaigns, marketing emails, and websites. He has conducted research with groups such as the Nonprofit Research Collaborative, Association of Fundraising Professionals, Melissa S. Brown & Associates, and the Association of Philanthropic Counsel. Sean received his B.A. in Philosophy and Political Science from the University of South Carolina.

Janet Cooperman Hiser is a communications, marketing, and web-content specialist with Innovative Resources Group with more than 35 years of experience, spanning the higher education, health care, technology, and scientific sectors. Most recently, she was director of communications and advancement at the Austen Riggs Center, a private, nonprofit psychiatric hospital. Prior to that, she directed higher education, health care, and corporate accounts for Media Logic, a national marketing and communications firm.

Janet’s work includes fundraising and marketing strategy, counsel, and communications for Cornell University, Carnegie Mellon, the National Academies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Purchase College, Valley Health System, and St. Peter’s Hospital.

Janet is an adjunct professor of communications at Hudson Valley Community College. She serves on the boards of directors of St. Paul’s Center, a housing program for homeless women and children, and the Shaker Heritage Society. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Binghamton University and a Master’s Degree from Washington University.

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Susan Knapp is a fiscal planning, budgeting, and policy specialist with Innovative Resources Group with more than 33 years of experience in state government. Susan was a career professional in the New York State Division of the Budget. The more than 300 staff of the Division of the Budget work closely with the Governor’s Office, state agencies, and the Legislature to craft and enact each annual budget, and to implement the policies and programs it embodies. Specific experience includes: financial analysis, capital projects and planning, management of technology projects, program management, and risk assessment.

Susan assists clients in the development of multi-year forecasts, developing grant application strategies, drafting fiscal policies, and assessing financial risks. She focuses on helping organizations build their core capacity and shift away from over-reliance on restricted funding.

Susan also served as an advisor to the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan as part of a USAID-sponsored project team, where she advised on fiscal policy, improvements to the budget development processes, intergovernmental affairs (primarily in the education sphere), performance budgeting techniques, and staff development. She also served with the Peace Corps in Liberia, West Africa.

Susan holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh, as well as a Master’s in Public and International Affairs from the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh.

Susan is an avid gardener, fiber artist, and all-around crafter.

Cheryl Gnade McGrattan is a Marketing and Communications Specialist for Innovative Resources Group. She has spent a lifetime channeling passion into impactful, far-reaching projects. With a focus on nonprofit marketing and communications, Cheryl uses an entrepreneurial approach to gain market share and elevate brands. She enjoys the challenge of positioning an organization in a crowded marketplace. She employs creative market entry and humor to motivate even the most reluctant audiences. A devotee of public relations, Cheryl enjoys amplifying missions or helping the disenfranchised. She is passionate about employee relations including, mentorship, recruitment, retention, employee onboarding, team leadership and something she calls, “unconventional hiring practices”.

Her body of work includes: marketing communications management positions for two technology companies ranked by Inc. Magazine as the 200 Fastest-growing Companies in the US, promoting job inclusion for people with disabilities, food marketing, marketing international wineries and, most recently, Executive Vice President of an independent, private hospital. In what she would say is a lasting legacy, she steered a hospital and community through a deadly pandemic.

From her roots as an 11-year-old child activist to a Surrogate Speaker for a presidential campaign, Cheryl knows the collective power of change management.

Cheryl received her education at Siena College and holds a B.S. in Political Science. As an empath she recently traveled to World Central Kitchen to serve Ukraine refugees at the Polish/Ukraine border. She believes in taking risk and in the inherent good of humanity. Cheryl enjoys sleeping, boating, and hiking. When she is not scrolling through the news feed on her phone, she is planning her next trip or teaching her dog to sit. Cheryl currently lives in Upstate New York with her husband and young son with blue hair.

Alyssa Spina is a grants consultant and advisor at Innovative Resources, collaborating on researching, writing, editing, and reviewing grants for a wide variety of nonprofit organizations. She is also expert at working with an organization’s key leadership, its stakeholders, and/or the Board of Directors to conduct grant growth strategy sessions.

Alyssa founded and is CEO of the firm Spina Research and Consulting (SRC). Since 2019, Alyssa has authored 105 grants, resulting in over $15 million in total winning awards. She has more than a decade of experience working with nonprofits. Prior to starting SRC, Alyssa served as lead grant writer for a group of health care and disability nonprofits in Upstate New York, and, in Washington, DC, as the Manager of Research and Evaluation for a small, women-owned consulting firm that held multi-million-dollar contracts with Federal Agencies and financial institutions. She has also served as a development associate for legal services and child-care nonprofits and on nonprofit boards for more than five years. Alyssa serves as President of an arts nonprofit in Utica, NY.

Alyssa holds a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in Industrial and Labor Relations with minors in Inequality Studies and Law & Society. She also has a Master of Public Administration (MPA) with a concentration in nonprofit management from American University.

Father Carlomangno Osorio is a Spanish-language content developer for Innovative Resources Group. He is from Colombia and did his religious studies for the Roman Catholic priesthood there before moving to Mexico in 2017. He also has a degree in philosophy and theology from the Universidad UNIVA (Universidad del Valle de Atemajac) de Mexico and is currently studying for a master's degree in Gestalt psychology at Colegio Humanista de México.

Father Osorio has participated in community programs to help the poor in highly vulnerable rural areas. He is a cofounder of the Giant Steps Foundation, which is focused on improving conditions of the homeless. He has served as a lecturer at the Marist University of Querétaro and the Technological University of Querétaro (UTEQ), in the field of humanities. Father Osorio works as a consultant in communications and human services for private sector companies. He is the author of On the Seventh Day (En el séptimo día), a guide for therapeutic processes that was published in 2019.

Father Osorio is a very determined individual and a leader who is willing to take on challenges that benefit those in need.