Doni Blumenstock
coalition consultant
Doni Blumenstock is a nationally recognized expert on collaborative leadership, coalition building, and community development. She is the author of Community Organizing for Prevention: The First Steps, written for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health; and was a contributing author for The Community Collaboration Manual. She has led workshops and given presentations for national, state and local groups.
Ms Blumenstock is presently a consultant working in coalition building, program design, leadership training, organizational development, executive coaching and strategic planning.
From 1997 to 2009 Ms Blumenstock served as the founding executive director of the Sacramento region chapter of the American Leadership Forum, a national organization dedicated to joining and strengthening leaders to serve the public good. Each year the organization invites 24-27 established leaders representing diverse professions and ethnic groups from Sacramento, Yolo, El Dorado, Placer and Northern Solano counties to participate in a year-long Fellows program. Now in its 13th year of operation, ALF-MVC has an impressive list of 300 graduates, called Senior Fellows, who meet monthly in forums, lectures and social events and who work behind the scenes to address community issues. The chapter’s objective is to create a diverse network of leaders with the skills, trust and relationships to work collaboratively for the improvement of the region.
Ms Blumenstock is a graduate of Leadership America, a national women’s leadership program. She is on the Advisory Board of Area Congregations Together (ACT), and has served on the Partnership for Prosperity Civic Amenities Committee. She was a founding board member of the Sacramento Healthy Marriage Project. She works collaboratively with numerous regional efforts to improve the quality of life and leadership in the Sacramento region.
Prior to becoming executive director of ALF, for five years Ms. Blumenstock served as a consultant working with federal and state agencies and national organizations such as HUD, Health and Human Services, National 4-H, Points of Light, etc. She has provided technical assistance to organizations around the nation on community and organizational development, town meeting models, youth development, faith community initiatives, strategic planning, volunteer management, fund development, and a variety of other topics. She chaired the planning for two highly successful conferences held by the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts on “Domestic Violence: What a Parish Can Do”.
From 1986 to 1991 Ms Blumenstock served as the Assistant Director of The National Assembly in Washington DC, a consortium of national human service agencies, and staffed its affinity group, the National Collaboration for Youth. During her tenure with The Assembly she also served as project director of "Making the Grade" (MTG), an initiative designed to promote collaborative action to address youth issues. In partnership with the ABC television network, MTG aired a prime time special hosted by Barbara Walters, issued a National Report Card on the state of youth in America, and sponsored 350 town meetings. These town meetings brought parents, youth, and community leaders together to develop collaborative strategies for improving youth services and strengthening the ties between young people and their communities.
Ms Blumenstock’s career in community organizing began in Richmond, California, where she was the Volunteer Coordinator and Resource Developer for Contra Costa County Social Service. In that capacity she was a founding board member for a countywide food bank, a women’s network, a housing counseling agency and an interagency council. It was from these roots that an abiding interest in the dynamics of coalition building grew.
She is the wife of an Episcopal priest, and is the mother of three daughters and grandmother of four.
