We have nonprofit finance and operations experience dating back to 2005 and have worked together since 2015, connecting over our shared affinity for systems and processes that many people think are dull but we find fascinating and essential. In everything we do, we aim to keep people at the center, building operations foundations so that staff can do their best work.
We worked together for eight years as Chief Financial & Operating Officer and Senior Vice President of Finance & Operations at uAspire, a nonprofit focused on removing financial barriers to higher education. We helped steward the growth of the organization from an annual budget of $3 million and a staff of 20 to an annual budget of over $9 million and staff of over 70. As uAspire grew increasingly complex – expanding its services to six impact models distributed across three regional offices and nationally – we led the creation and maintenance of new financial management and operating systems that supported strategic decision making, enhanced organizational planning, strengthened revenue forecasting, and advanced technology to support evolving programming and fundraising goals. Throughout this growth, we focused on building a dynamic, flexible, and equitable operating structure to respond to the evolving needs of staff and students.
Sage Ruth, Co-Founder (See full professional history here)
I've worked in nonprofit finance and operations since 2008. I fell into the work because it seemed like a good fit for my propensity to organize things and make lists, and I've made it my career because I discovered how much I enjoy helping organizations run behind the scenes and creating the conditions that let others feel supported, valued, and focus on what matters most in their work. My experience spans facilities, technology, data systems, HR, people management and team building, cross-organizational planning and alignment, data privacy, strategic planning, financial management and reporting, and grant budgeting. I love that finance and operations work lets me see every part of an organization, and in doing so to identify patterns, bring people together to solve difficult problems, and understand how the choices we’re making in one part of the organization impact the whole. I'm most proud of the lasting personal connections I've built with people in each role I've held, and the ability to bring fun and humor to work that could otherwise feel technical and dry.
I have a Master in Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts in social studies degree from Wesleyan University. I’m on the Board of Directors of Retreat Farm and Hatchspace, two nonprofits in my hometown of Brattleboro, VT. In my free time, I enjoy building things with wood, running, exploring all the swimming holes in Vermont with my family, and organizing files in Google Drive.
Dave Dore, Co-Founder (See full professional history here)
Since 2008, I have dedicated my career to developing and leading Finance & Operations teams in the nonprofit sector. Financial management and operations work can be crucial to supporting key areas of a nonprofit business including strategic decision making, equitable and inclusive business practices, organizational planning, financial sustainability, staff morale, and the flexibility and responsiveness the sector demands. The gravity of this work excites me. One of my greatest professional joys is curating clear, accurate, timely and relevant financial information that brings numbers into nonprofit leaders’ comfort zones. Beyond demystifying the numbers, my experience includes fostering trusting, deep and transparent relationships with Executive Directors and Board and Finance Committee members, building budget plans that advance programming and fundraising goals and honor donor commitments, developing financials that enable full cost grant proposals, and establishing strong and collaborative relationships between development and finance teams.
My educational experience includes earning Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Science in finance degrees from Boston College and a Graduate Diploma in Professional Accounting from Suffolk University. When not having fun strengthening the nonprofit sector, I enjoy stepping away from spreadsheets and into the outdoors. I am an avid downhill skier, mountain biker and paddler, energized by almost any pursuit that gets my wife, two daughters and me into the mountains and lakes of my beautiful home state of Vermont.