About Us

Elaine Reed, MPA

Consultant

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Elaine Reed is a proud collaborating consultant with Soukup Strategic Solutions and the Founder & CEO of Dragonfly Nonprofit Consulting, LLC. She is a nonprofit professional with over 35 years of experience who has worked in large, international non-governmental capacities and for 501c3 nonprofit organizations.

During her 18-year tenure at Naples Historical Society (and Naples Historical Society Foundation, Inc.), Reed led the re-building and re-branding of the deteriorated and unknown nonprofit, which suffered from a tumultuous institutional history. What was once a volunteer-only organization with less than $20k in its checking account (and no other accounts), grew into a remarkably viable, respected, well-funded nonprofit organization that is solidly poised for the future.

She created six major initiatives, 10 educational programs, many successful community events, motivated over 100 staff and volunteers, and managed an annual programming budget of $1 million by the end of her tenure. Reed attracted formidable Board members and encouraged them and other generous philanthropists to contribute to vital capital campaigns and build an endowment which was $0 and now sits at more than $13 million. In all, revenues generated during her celebrated tenure total over $30 million.

She never hired a Development Officer, nor a Membership Director. She made the most of the lean staff, ensuring that professional dignity and mutual respect were ever-present. With influential leadership, constructive mentoring, palpable inspiration, demonstrable team recognition, and personal and professional accountability, she believes almost anything can be achieved in nonprofit organizations, small or large.

While working overseas in economic development (Albania, Ukraine, Armenia, and Hungary), Reed’s work included business planning for Eastern European entrepreneurs, sector assessments on marketing distribution systems, and consumer awareness of land title rights. In 1995, she was hired to write a book on marketing (The Art of Marketing) and taught the subject at the University level. She was involved in many other global projects.

Reed earned an MPA in Nonprofit Management and a bachelor’s degree in Marketing. She has volunteered on numerous important Boards over the years. Conversational in Italian and fluent in Albanian (United States Peace Corps), she maintains her language skills with anyone willing to chat. Naples, Florida, has been her full-time home since 1999.