Melissa Posel

About Melissa Posel

I’m a technology leader who specializes in helping nonprofit organizations build the systems, data infrastructure, and governance frameworks they need to operate at scale.Over the course of my career, I’ve worked at the intersection of enterprise IT leadership and nonprofit operations, designing technology ecosystems that support fundraising, grants, finance, and program management. My focus is on building practical, sustainable solutions that improve reporting visibility, strengthen data governance, and enable leadership teams to make confident decisions.At the San Diego Foundation, I’ve led enterprise technology strategy across systems that support a $1.7B philanthropic organization. Earlier in my role, I built and led the foundation’s IT department—including infrastructure, cybersecurity, helpdesk operations, and vendor partnerships—before focusing more deeply on enterprise systems, data architecture, and analytics platforms.What sets my background apart is that my career began in grantmaking operations before moving into technology leadership. Having worked directly in grants processing and foundation operations, I design systems that reflect how organizations actually work—bridging the gap between technical teams and program staff.I’m particularly interested in technology leadership roles where I can help mission-driven organizations strengthen their data infrastructure, enterprise systems, and governance practices to support long-term growth and community impact.

Experience

1. Director, IT

   San Diego Foundation

   Jan 2021 — Present · San Diego, CA, US

   I lead enterprise technology strategy across fundraising, grants, finance, investments, and Community Impact operations while overseeing a ~$900K systems and data portfolio within a $1.6M IT operating budget. My work focuses on building scalable systems architecture, strengthening data governance, and improving reporting infrastructure to support leadership decision-making. Earlier in this role, I oversaw the entire IT department—including infrastructure, cybersecurity, MSP operations, and helpdesk—before the organization evolved into separate infrastructure and systems leadership tracks.Key Achievements:• Led the enterprise IT department (2021–2023), managing a team of five and expanding the department budget from $1M to $1.4M.• Reduced manual reporting 60% by implementing enterprise KPI dashboards and Power BI analytics powered by an Azure data warehouse used by leadership and the Board across 70+ users.• Improved operational efficiency 30% by redesigning cross-department workflows across fundraising, grants, and finance operations.• Accelerated expense approvals from 3–5 days to same-day by implementing the Financial Edge NXT Expense Module for 100+ staff.• Prevented a $1.4M technology commitment by escalating vendor delivery risks and guiding leadership to terminate the project after limiting expenditures to $128K.• Strengthened access controls and governance across systems supporting 100+ users, contributing to clean financial audit results with Baker Tilly (formerly Moss Adams).• Modernized systems supporting a scholarship program processing 40K+ applications and 1,600+ awards annually.• Co-founded a regional technology consortium connecting six West Coast community foundations to collaborate on nonprofit technology strategy and data governance.

Education

• UC Santa Barbara

  B.A., Art Studio

Skills

• Teaching
• Public Speaking
• Social Networking
• Proposal Writing
• Microsoft Office
• Photoshop
• Prospect Research
• Copywriting
• Nonprofits
• Annual Giving
• Html
• Editing
• Grants
• Volunteer Management
• Philanthropy
• Event Planning
• Nonprofit Technology
• Fundraising
• Non-Profits
• Writing
• Blogging
• Research
• Community Outreach
• Event Management
• Program Development
• Non-Profit Administration
• Public Relations
• Client Liaison
• Project Management
• Social Media
• Higher Education
• Grant Writing
• Nonprofit Management
• Foundation Management
• Desktop Publishing
• Analysis