At New Chapter Coaching, we believe communities thrive when nonprofits thrive. Our vision is a future where our globe’s most important challenges are solved by the increasing strength and success of nonprofits. Our mission is to optimize nonprofits’ capacity to achieve their missions and improve quality of life for those they serve. We back this vision and mission with our core values: trust, equity, strengths-based, positive wellbeing, community-focused, and outcomes-oriented. We strive to create an inclusive and intellectually vibrant organization, and recognize that to do so we must understand and value both our individual differences and collective similarities. Our Principles of Community are aspirational statements that embody this commitment and reflect the ideals we seek to uphold.
Of all the recognitions we’ve received, 2023 Most Impactful Philanthropic Company from COMO Magazine and 2024 Progress in Entrepreneurship from the Columbia Missourian are by far the most meaningful. From the day we opened the doors of New Chapter Coaching in 2008, we set an intention to reinvest 3-5% back into the organizations and communities we serve – and we do that with regular volunteerism, annual pro bono work, discounted capacity building services, donations to a wide range of organizations, and more. We try not to miss an opportunity – large or small – to demonstrate the love we have for the nonprofit community, which is very much a part of who we are. Learn more about New Chapter Coaching in the Columbia Missourian.
We Are New Chapter Coaching
Carolyn Sullivan -
she/her/hers
Founder & President
Carolyn draws upon her over 35 years as a litigation attorney, executive director, leadership coach, and nonprofit consultant to help nonprofits achieve and sustain results that change lives and transform communities. She has led nonprofits at all levels from being an executive director all the way to holding every board of director office. Carolyn knows what it takes to grow and strengthen a nonprofit – knowledge, character, and competency – and thrives on helping nonprofit leaders do just that. Carolyn most recently served as the Vice President of the Central Missouri Community Foundation Board of Directors and is a certified CCAT Facilitator, a leading assessment tool for measuring a nonprofit’s effectiveness. In 2024, Carolyn was awarded the Luminary Community Impact Award by The Center Project for her personal and professional contributions to the organization and the local LGBTQ+ community. Learn more about Carolyn in CoMo Magazine here. See Carolyn speaking on the Missouri Women’s Business Center’s Nonprofit Panel here.
After 24 years together, Carolyn and her life partner Elisa Glick married in October of 2017. They live in Columbia with Cookie, their 45-pound dog and friend to all.
Carolyn’s Strengths include: Relator, Positivity, Connectedness, Strategic, and Arranger
Contact Carolyn at carolyn@newchaptercoach.com
Olivia Swanson -
she/her/hers
Director of Client Success
Olivia holds her MBA, is a certified nonprofit board consultant, as well as a strategic planning specialist with experience working and consulting in the nonprofit sector. Olivia leads with enthusiasm, a strengths-based approach, and her skills in project management and communication to ensure client processes are inclusive, efficient, and productive. Her expertise include strategic planning, team building, board training, and leadership development. Currently, Olivia serves as a member of a nonprofit Board of Directors. In her last position, Olivia was a member of the leadership team of a social services nonprofit. She has built a volunteer program from conception to over 200 active volunteers, managed a staff of 8, and led a team to design and organize over 200 activities and events per month. Olivia has a deep passion for nonprofits and thrives on helping them overcome, grow, and sustain.
Olivia loves music, so much so that she is also a Board-Certified Music Therapist (MT-BC). According to her parents, she has been singing ever since she could talk. She plays several instruments and performs with a band called Take Cover. After 7 years together, Olivia married her high school sweetheart, Eric Swanson, in June of 2019. They live in Columbia with their very spoiled dogs: Bagel the Beagle and Stella, their 7-pound Chiweenie.
Olivia’s Strengths include: Strategic, Communication, Woo, Includer, and Futuristic
Contact Olivia at olivia@newchaptercoach.com
Sara R. Leonard -
she/her/hers
Director of Capacity Building
Sara is committed to building capacities, strategies, and leaders for the nonprofit sector, empowering them to fulfill their missions and become vibrant, vital, and effective parts of their communities. With 20 years of experience working with and for nonprofit organizations, Sara brings knowledge, humor, clear communication, and expertise in strategic planning, board development, and leadership and team building to the clients she serves. Sara holds an MA in Arts Administration and is a sought-after presenter on patron relationship building and creating plans that really work. She is proud to serve on the boards of directors for both cultural and educational institutions and is an adjunct faculty member of nonprofit management and arts administration at Goucher College.
Raised on the East Coast, Sara and her spouse, Nate Leonard, moved to Missouri in 2013. They love the theatre so much that they spent their honeymoon at the Stratford Festival seeing two plays every day. In her free time, Sara crochets adorable little stuffed critters, bakes delicious treats, and spends time hanging out with Nate and their two amazing kids, Charlie and Penny.
Sara’s Strengths include: Ideation, Input, Relator, Individualization and Arranger
Contact Sara at sara@newchaptercoach.com
Audrey Norquest -
she/her/hers
Strategic Communications Specialist
Audrey is currently a journalism student at the University of Missouri. Originally from southwest Kansas, she came to MU to push herself out of her comfort zone and explore different opportunities. In pursuit of her Bachelor of Journalism with an emphasis in Strategic Communications, Audrey’s background in journalism allows her to be well-adapt to many different skill sets within the field. She enjoys telling the stories of changemakers, and finding new and innovative ways to connect organizations with their community with an aim to promote and entertain. In her experience working with newspapers, magazines, and other publications, she’s covered campus and community events as both a reporter and a photographer. Audrey has designed and produced pieces that are truthful, appealing, and entertaining, and holds accuracy and equity in high regard when it comes to her work.
Audrey loves cooking and baking, and has even competed in national culinary competitions. Her signature dish is Lemon Garlic Pasta, and loves decorating cakes. Anytime a holiday or birthday comes around, you can always count on Audrey to plan a delicious menu. Her dog, Sky, and cat, Olive, are her favorite sous chefs.
Audrey’s Strengths include: Futuristic, Competition, Responsibility, Achiever and Deliberative.
Kylar Broadus -
he/him/his
Strategic Partner – Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
Kylar provides diversity, equity, and inclusion consulting, training, and legal assistance for our nonprofit and public sector clients. For over 30 years, Broadus has enjoyed a prolific career as an attorney, activist, trainer, professor, and public speaker. He’s worked with organizations from every sector, including nonprofits of all sizes, helping them move through barriers to create lasting positive change. His seminal Mid-Missouri work included being a former Human Rights Commissioner for the City of Columbia and an Associate Professor at Lincoln University, where he taught Discrimination in Employment. Broadus has provided trainings across the country and he’s excited to facilitate trainings for your organization on such issues as implicit bias; inclusive employment policies and practices; and belonging in the workplace. Learn more about Kylar HERE.
Jaime Freidrichs -
she/her/hers
Strategic Partner – Fundraising
Jaime has 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, nearly all of them as a fundraiser, achieving the Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) credential in 2009. You may also know Jaime as the founding director for Missouri Women’s Business Center and the former director of development for Woodhaven, where she led a successful $2 million capital campaign. Jaime has an MPA and is also a Faculty Associate for the Master of Nonprofit Leadership and Management program at Arizona State University, teaching courses on ethics, leadership, and fundraising. Jaime is a master at charting an organization’s course to fundraising success.
Click Here to Contact Jaime
Click Here to Hear from Jaime on the topic of Fundraising Resilience
Elisa Glick -
she/her/hers
Strategic Partner – Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
Dr. Elisa Glick believes that when we change ourselves, we change the world. Elisa is a diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging consultant, speaker, coach, educator, and award-winning educator with over 20 years experience in higher education. She is passionate about helping individuals and communities to thrive. Elisa works with clients at all stages of their DEI journeys to help them build more inclusive workplaces, classrooms, and organizations.
Elisa is the founder of the innovative Faculty Institute for Inclusive Teaching at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She has expertise in creating DEI and antiracist curricula, facilitating diversity trainings, and developing and implementing inclusive teaching programming. Her teaching and academic publications on LGBTQ+ Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, and Black Studies speak to her commitment to social justice. After retiring in 2023, Elisa was awarded the title Associate Professor Emerita in recognition of the many contributions she made to the University of Missouri during her tenure. She holds a Ph.D. in English from Brown University.
Elisa lives in Columbia with Carolyn Sullivan, her spouse and life partner of almost 30 years. A proud breast cancer survivor, she loves cooking, Halloween, and volunteering as a BRITE Educator for The Center Project.
Sean Hale -
he/him/his
Strategic Partner – Finance
Sean has been serving nonprofit organizations professionally since 1999. During his 20-year tenure as a nonprofit employee, he made strategic improvements that reduced waste, generated new revenue, boosted staff productivity and morale, grew financial transparency, and shrank risk. Drawing on his expertise, Sean has also helped both boards and staff leaders to navigate complex situations confidently. Sean consistently leaves the organizations he works with stronger and ready for their next stage of growth. In 2020, he founded Nonprofit CFOs, which rapidly grew to a 12-person team focused on helping small and mid-sized nonprofits ensure they have the strong, effective financial management they need to steward their resources and achieve their missions. Services include interim staffing, fractional CFO, training and presentations, indirect cost rate calculations, and more!
Sean has served on a variety of boards during his career, and currently volunteers as an officer for two: Austin Nonprofit Financial Leadership Group and the League for Nonprofit Human Capital. He holds a Master’s degree and Certificate in Nonprofit Management from the University of Texas at Austin.
Melody McClellan -
she/her/hers
Strategic Partner – Health & Wellness
Coach Melody is a Health and Wellness Transformation Strategist with 20 years of experience. She is an expert in the field of health & wellness, author, and health contributor. Coach Melody’s mission is to develop positive, effective, and sustainable health & wellness programs for leaders. She specializes in equipping nonprofit organizations and individuals with knowledge and a plan to improve mental and physical wellness, specifically through wellness coaching, wellness programming, workshops, and speaking.
Andrew Shaughnessy -
he/him/his
Strategic Partner – Program Design & Evaluation, Advocacy, Grant Writing
Andrew Shaughnessy, MPH, MA, is an award-winning advocate, evaluation specialist, and grant expert. He has worked successfully as an organizer, policy advocate, and philanthropic officer for fourteen years before opening his small business in 2019.
Initiatives led and managed by Andrew have led to over 200+ policies being implemented in six states, the development of millions for causes from health to the environment, and numerous collaborations with stakeholders on programs that positively impact vulnerable populations. Andrew received his master’s in human rights from University College London’s School of Public Policy and his second master’s degree from The Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is humbled to have received the Robert L. Northcutt Award from the Missouri Public Health Association, the Bear of Excellence award from Missouri State University’s Alumni Association, and was a finalist for the U.K. Alumni Award in Social Impact from the British Council.
Tonika Starks -
she/her/hers
Strategic Partner – Human Resources
Tonika Starks, MBA-HRM, SHRM-SCP is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources. She currently holds an MBA with emphasis in HRM from Columbia College and is working toward her Doctorate Business Administration in Leadership from Capella University. Tonika has 8 years of leadership experience in the nonprofit and public sectors. Tonika has worked as the Director of Human Resources in the non-profit sector. In the public sector Tonika has experience as a Director of People Operations, and as a Human Resource Specialist, Sr. Human Resource Consultant and Instructor in higher education.
Tonika’s areas of expertise include HR compliance and best practices, organizational assessments, policy development, employee relations, workforce planning, and workplace investigations.
Click Here to Contact Tonika
Click Here to Hear from Tonika on the topic of HR Resilience
Kerri Voyles -
she/her/hers
Strategic Partner – Marketing Services
Kerri Voyles (she/her) is founder/CEO of Flourish Creative, an inclusive brand strategy + design studio. Flourish Creative’s specialties include nonprofit brand strategy and communications planning, brand identity design, accessible websites, strategic communications, and inclusive brand consulting. We elevate your brand to reflect your quality of work, cultivate your relationships, and grow your impact.
Kerri’s passion is equipping purpose-driven brands — and their leaders — to grow inclusively and resiliently. She enjoys speaking, coaching, and serving on the board of The Beacon. A Nebraska-native, Kerri holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism with an emphasis in strategic communication from the University of Missouri School of Journalism. She lives in Kansas City, and her studio collaborates with missions worldwide.