Rachel pfeffer, PhD | INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR | SHE/HER/they | Email

Rachel is a seasoned executive transition specialist, organizational development coach, and fund developer with over 25 years of experience. Known as the "Mary Poppins" of nonprofits, she has successfully managed 17 social justice-focused groups across international, national, and local sectors.

Holder of a doctorate in Environmental Psychology from the CUNY Graduate Center, Rachel launched and directed four nonprofits based on her dissertation research, notably the award-winning Center for Young Women's Development. She replicated this model in Oakland and Brooklyn, creating a national network of young women-of-color leaders.

In addition to her work in education, Rachel served as Director of Mediation Services, conducted research on school/community violence, and volunteered as a contact tracer during the pandemic. Rachel has been an activist for many years, and was an HIV/AID activist during the early days of pandemic with Act-Up NY & SF and is currently immersed in Emergent Strategy by Adrienne Maree Brown.

Rachel resides and works in Oregon; "I live and work as a visitor within the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Multnomah, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Tumwater, Watlala bands of the Chinook, the Tualatin, Kalapuya, and many other indigenous nations of the Willamette, Columbia River regions in Oregon with my sweetheart (aka wife).