Women as Catalysts: Junior League of Baton Rouge Shares their Vision for Tremendous
Community Impact, Marsha Foster
Join us for the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Fundraising Professionals Chapter
Mentoring Session where the amazing ladies of the Junior League of Baton Rouge share their
longstanding commitment to raising funds and giving directly back towards nonprofits within the
community.
Training Session
Professional Development in Fundraising
Presented by
Host/Facilitator, Danny Fields, CFRE
BIOS
Danny Fields, CFRE, is a certified fundraising executive, an experienced sales and business development professional, and a demonstrated organizational and community leader. He launched Daniel J. Fields Consulting in 2020 specializing in philanthropy and business development, public affairs, corporate social responsibility, and organizational leadership development and strategy. He serves nonprofit, corporate, and entrepreneurial clients.
Danny previously served for 14 years on the leadership team at Our Lady of the Lake Foundation, where he helped raise over $70 Million, primarily in support of Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital. Danny led the Foundation’s efforts in Major Giving, Annual Giving, Planned Giving, Data and Stewardship. For 12 of those years, he managed all national and local fundraising partnerships, programs, events, and activities associated with the local Children’s Miracle Network fundraising program at Our Lady of the Lake. Several of his fundraising campaigns garnered national attention and awards. He previously served as the Children’s Miracle Network South Region Hospital Relations Representative, serving 25 hospital foundations in LA, MS, AL, FL, GA, and Puerto Rico from 2014-2016.
In addition to his consulting practice, Danny is actively involved with launching a new company, Cremmjoy, serving as Chief Development Officer and Board Member. He recently guided the company through a successful seed funding round, raising over $1.8 million from investors and grants and is currently raising an additional $2.8 million in Series A Investor round funding.
He is a Past President of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Baton Rouge Chapter and is the 2024 recipient of the Outstanding Professional Fundraiser award. Danny is a 2014 graduate of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber’s Leadership program and served as Past Chair of the Leadership Baton Rouge Alumni Board. He is a Past President and Public Relations chair of the Cortana Kiwanis Board. He previously served on the board of the Charles W. Lamar YMCA. In 2018, Danny was recognized as one of Baton Rouge’s Top 40 Under 40 by the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report and was also recognized by Cortana Kiwanis as Kiwanian of the Year. He was recognized with the Excellence in Sales and Marketing award by the Sales and Marketing Executives of Baton Rouge. Danny serves on the steering committee of the Young Entrepreneurs Academy of Baton Rouge and proudly supports the St. Joseph’s Academy Entrepreneurship program.
Danny started his career working for a local Baton Rouge business, River Road Coffee Company, where he managed and developed a large territory that included over 130 clients, including restaurants, offices, and retail stores. Danny graduated in 2005 from Louisiana State University (LSU) with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management (concentration in Entrepreneurship). He obtained the CFRE (Certified Fundraising Executive) credential in 2019.
Danny has been married to Melony Fields for 19 years and they have 2 teenage daughters, Adeline and Noella. He enjoys running, swimming, biking, cooking, singing, traveling, and volunteering.
Bernard Dumond, CFRE serves as the President & CEO of Catholic Vitality 360. With over 25 years of experience in the field of parish and school strategic growth and vitality, Mr. Dumond is an accomplished consultant, author, process facilitator, leadership coach, enrollment and marketing and keynote speaker.
The creator of the Seven Circles of Catholic Vitality, Mr. Dumond illustrates an innovative framework and assessment tool for Catholic parish, school and diocesan growth and sustainability and is the author of THE CIRCLE, a monthly blog and live video series as part of The Catholic Vitality 360 Collective.
Working in partnership with hundreds of parishes, schools and dioceses in strategic visioning, leadership coaching, enrollment growth, marketing and branding strategy, collaboration, resource development and true discipleship, Mr. Dumond believes in the transformative power of a mindset of vitality in building the Kingdom of God in our parish and school communities.
Mr. Dumond has also served on local, regional and national boards and committees and is an active board member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) – Baton Rouge Chapter. Mr. Dumond is also the founder of the Catholic Leadership Forum, active in the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic spirituality group, Fearless Faith.
A product of Catholic schools and currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Pastoral Studies and Church Leadership at Loyola University in New Orleans, with his wife, Joleah of 34 years, an educator, they are the parents of two daughters, Maeve and Sarah and remain active at St. John the Evangelist Cathedral Parish and Cathedral-Carmel School in Lafayette, LA.
Lindi Rubin Spalatin, CFRE, CFRM, is the Director of Development and Philanthropy at the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge, where she fosters partnerships and leads initiatives to advance arts access, equity, and education across Region 2 of Louisiana.
A Baton Rouge native and proud boomerang, Lindi’s career has been an exercise in controlled chaos. She spent years in California living the Hollywood dream—or, more accurately, the Hollywood hustle—as a working actor / casting director / producer / whatever else needed doing on set. Best boy? Sure. Grip? Why not? Reality TV competition shows? If it pays, it plays.
Lindi transitioned to nonprofit work to give back to the city that shaped her. She has created strategies to engage donors, reenergize sponsorship programs, and build stronger community connections. At the Arts Council, she works to strengthen relationships, support regional growth, and position the arts as a vital part of the area’s future. She also serves on several boards, including AFP, the Unified Jewish Congregation of Baton Rouge, and the Bishop Stanley Joseph Ott Works of Mercy Trust Fund.
Her mission is clear: to build a creative economy that invests in local talent and ensures the arts are recognized as essential—not a luxury—in building stronger, more resilient communities.
Charlene Guarisco Montelaro, CAP®, After a fundraising career spanning nearly two decades as a professional and more than a dozen years as a volunteer, Charlene retired as Senior Vice President of Development & Philanthropy for the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank. Prior to joining the Food Bank, Charlene served as Development/Marketing Director for the Istrouma Area Council, Boy Scouts of America and the Academic Distinction Fund in Baton Rouge, LA. In 2015, she achieved the designation Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (CAP®) from The American College.
Before beginning her second career in the nonprofit realm, Charlene’s first career was in a medical field. She then served as an engaged community volunteer as she raised her young twin sons upon moving to Baton Rouge.
Charlene was named a Volunteer Activist in 1998 and the Outstanding Professional Fundraiser by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) in 2012. She received the Brother Donnan Berry Award for Service from AFP in 2017. Charlene was honored with the Volunteer United Award from the Capital Area United Way (CAUW) in 2021 and the Sustainer of the Year Award from the Junior League of Baton Rouge in 2022. Most recently, she received the inaugural
Chairman’s Award from Leadership Baton Rouge Alumni in 2024.
Charlene is a 2001 graduate of Leadership Greater Baton Rouge, and she was selected by her class to serve on the Leadership Greater Baton Rouge Alumni Board of Directors following graduation. Charlene co-chaired the Community Progress Report, a project of Leadership Greater Baton Rouge Alumni, for three years. She currently serves as Immediate Past Chair of the Leadership Baton Rouge Alumni Board.
Charlene continues to serve her community through several community organizations. She currently serves as Chair of the CAUW Board of Directors and Chair of the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge Foundation Board of Trustees. Other avenues of service include Junior League of Baton Rouge (Sustaining Advisor), LPB Young Heroes Advisory Council, Association of
Fundraising Professionals (Past President and NPD committee member), Volunteers of America board member, Attic Trash and Treasure board member, Academic Distinction Fund member, and St. Thomas More Church, just to name a few. Charlene has presented to many groups on various topics ranging from fundraising to food insecurity on a local, state, and national level.
Charlene is passionate about improving communities, empowering people, and ensuring everyone has the resources they need to succeed and thrive, and she continues her work with nonprofits today as an engaged community volunteer.
Charlene holds a BS in Biology/Pre-Med from Nicholls State University and obtained additional Certification in Cytotechnology and Cytogenetics from LSU Health New Orleans. Originally, from Thibodaux, LA, she has lived in several places before making Baton Rouge her home in 1988. She is married to Dr. Stan Montelaro and has twin sons, one daughter-in-law, two precious grandchildren (ages 3½ and 6 months), and a rescue dachshund.