Ruth Jones, Executive Director

Ruth Jones joined SVPI as Executive Director in 2006. Prior to moving to the United States, Ruth was Manager of Operations at Community Foundations of Canada, and General Manager of Philanthropy Australia, the membership association for Australia’s private, family, corporate and community foundations.  She was Chief Executive of the Australian Film Institute for five years, before deciding to focus on working within the philanthropic sector. At SVPI, Ruth oversees daily operations, affiliate and SVPI Board relations and fundraising for the organization. Incredibly energetic and dedicated to promoting SVPI around the world, Ruth works with local SVP affliates to help them take their organization to the next level. Email Ruth

Rona Pryor, Operations Manager

Rona Pryor joined SVPI in 2003 after working for a variety of nonprofit organizations in the areas of fundraising, communications and operations. A Northwest native, she has devoted her many talents to local theatre, publishing, music festivals and a humanitarian aid organization. At SVPI, Rona develops tools and resources designed to implement best practices throughout the network. She also manages the SVP Intranet and runs SVPI’s annual conference.  Email Rona.

Cara Lewis, Communications Manager

Cara Lewis joined SVP in January 2007 as Communications Manager. Having worked directly with local investees in staff and board positions, she has a true appreciation for the SVP model. Cara has lived and worked in North Carolina and California and has developed communication and marketing programs for a nonprofit organizations, advertising and public relations firms and Fortune 500 companies. At SVPI, Cara manages communications and develops affliate resources to support SVP promotion, marketing and branding activities. Email Cara

Aya Burgess, Administrative Coordinator

Aya Burgess joined SVPI in 2007 after working with the organization for two years as an intern. During that time, Aya organized every single piece of meaningful paper in the office and created an impressive Press Archive complete with all media mentions of SVPI and affiliates.  In 2007, she played an instrumental role in helping SVPI host the annual conference in Seattle. Always interested in the big picture, Aya was drawn to sociology and the methodologies, models and statistics used to prove what we think we see.  At SVPI, Aya supports all operations and currently manages our Salesforce database. She also handles registration for the annual conference as well as logistical and activity planning.  Email Aya.