2009 Veronica Award Judging Process
The Superstar Foundation received over 180 applications for 2009 Veronica Awards. Those applications have been sorted and each application has been sent to two of our judges. Judges spend 3-4 weeks evaluating applications. From the original field of applications, 10-12 are selected as “top tier.” These top tier applications then go through a final review and ranking by the entire panel of judges as well as a series of reference checks. The process is a subjective but rigorous one, and our judging panel uses their background in direct service work and their expertise in the field of non-profit performance management to make selections. Additionally, nationally recognized non-profit performance management expert David Hunter provided guidance regarding how to evaluate applicants.

By the first week in March the 2009 Veronica Award winners will be announced.
Within a few months, we will have the award winning applications posted to highlight the work of our winners and provide inspiration to future applicants.

Veronica Award Judging Process Changes for 2010
It is very much the intention of the Superstar Foundation Board of Directors to continue to hone our process so that the very best direct service workers in the country are found and honored. To that end, each year we are committed to evaluating all aspects of the application process with an eye towards improvement. (We believe in practicing what we preach: better performance management!) We also will continue to be as transparent as possible with both our current processes and future improvements.
Here are some improvements on tap for next year:

• In 2010 the panel of judges will be expanded to include other knowledgeable practitioners;
• We hope to open the window for 2010 applicants in October of 2010;
• We will incorporate more stringent inter-rater reliability training to ensure judges are approaching the task as uniformly as possible.
  

Look for other changes, the dates for the next awards, on this page in the future!

2009 Veronica Award Judging Panel

Steve Butz
Steve Butz was a direct social service worker at the Living Classrooms Foundation charged with developing the life skills of "at risk" youth referred to the program by the Department of Juvenile Justice. Steve applied his knowledge of the field and computers and founded Social Solutions in July 2000. He serves as the President.

Steve Montgomery
Steve Montgomery's work experience includes a total of 23 years working in non-profit organizations (12 years with Nyingma Centers in California, and 11 years with the Living Classroom Foundations in Baltimore, Maryland). Supervisory positions include 3 years as a Project Manager for the building of a retreat center, and 3 years as a Program Director for a youth training program. Direct service experience totals 8 years of case management, focused on workforce development to engage youth from the juvenile justice system, youth from foster care and disadvantaged inner-city adults.

Greg Rapisarda
Gregory E. Rapisarda is a litigation attorney with Saul Ewing's Baltimore office. Prior to practicing law, Greg provided direct services and managed programs in not-for-profit organizations.

David Hunter
David Hunter has been the Director of a state psychiatric hospital, the CEO of a network of mental health and substance abuse treatment centers, and the Director of Evaluation and Knowledge Development at a leading foundation. In all three positions he developed new approaches to designing, implementing, and utilizing performance management systems. Currently, David is the managing partner of Hunter Consulting LLC.

Matt Schubert
Matt Shubert brings his experience as the CEO of Social Solutions (since 2004) and as a developer of revenue-generating partnerships for Microsoft and Emangination to the Social Services Foundation. At Microsoft, Matt was responsible for heading up the Health and Human Services consulting business with the Federal Government. As CEO at Social Solutions, Matt has overseen a growing company with 50% growth in revenue over the past 3 years.

Anisha Chablani
Anisha Chablani is the Deputy Director of Roca, a vision and values-lead youth and young adult development multi-cultural organization working with young adults ages 14 and 24 who are most disconnected and disengaged living in the communities of Chelsea, East Boston, and Revere Massachusetts. Anisha has over 12 years of direct service experience working with very high-risk young adults and has over 5 years of program and organizational management experience.

Jeff Mason
Jeff is Vice President of Social Solutions. Jeff brings more than 20 years of marketing experience to his role at Social Solutions. Previously he led marketing and product management at Artifact Software, a company he co-founded. Prior to that, Jeff served as Sequoia Software's (NASDAQ: SQSW) Vice President of Marketing where he played an integral role in developing Sequoia into a market leading, publicly traded organization.

In 2008, Jeff developed and launched an industry leadership group, the Alliance for Effective Social Investing, featuring some of the most influential leaders spanning the nonprofit sector. He recruited thought leaders across the country and abroad for this group, to join forces and improve the distribution of funds to nonprofit organizations. Jeff serves as the Chair of the Alliance.

Jeff has a B.S. degree in marketing from the Pennsylvania State University and an M.B.A from Loyola College.

Vince Griffith
Vince has a diverse background in business and human services. He has an MBA from Loyola College in Maryland and worked in Legg Mason’s Asset Management Department for 4 years. He then spent 10 years working as a direct service provider, program manager, and strategic planner in some of the nation’s most underserved communities.

After leaving Legg Mason in 1989, Vince joined the Electronic Industries Foundation in Washington, DC and became their National Project Director, where he advised partners in the areas of strategic planning, program development, budgeting, and fundraising.

Vince joined the Living Classrooms Foundation in Baltimore, MD in 1998 to create the Workforce Development Center, which implements market sector, employer-based strategies to address entry-level hiring and retention issues in Baltimore. Through the Center, he helped establish and direct the UPS School-to-Career Partnership. This Partnership was replicated in 8 cities around the country and became a nationally recognized model for transitioning at-risk and foster care youth to independence through employment and intensive case management.

In December 2000, Vince became a founding partner in Social Solutions, Inc., a socially-minded software development company in Baltimore, MD. Social Solutions was founded to provide innovative performance management software (ETO Impact) and services to outcomes-driven human service organizations. Today, as a Strategic Consultant, Vince continues to promote accountability, efficiency, and sound data management and business practices to human service organizations throughout the country

Ingvild Bjornvold
Ingvild is Director of Advocacy at Social Solutions. She has worked with non-profit organizations and foundations across the country to develop performance management systems to optimize program quality and client outcomes. Ms. Bjornvold came to Social Solutions with extensive non-profit experience, most recently developing the performance management framework of Asian American LEAD, a community-based organization for at-risk Asian American youths and their families in Washington, D.C. She has a background in international development and human rights, previously working with organizations like the Center for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA) in Washington, D.C. and Amnesty International in Oslo and Paris. Ms. Bjornvold has an M.A. in Applied Anthropology from American University.

April Rose
April is currently the Director of Integrated Youth Services for Social Solutions. Rose has an MA from College Park in Juvenile Justice. She began her career working with youth in a residential setting at Villa Maria, run by Catholic Charities. She then spent 7 years working for the House of Ruth Maryland domestic violence program in various capacities including Abuser Intervention Program Victim Coordinator, Database Manager, and Director of IT and Data Management/Director of Hotline & Community Advocates. Rose helped implement ETO software as a performance management tool for the $4.5 million dollar organization in 2001. She joined the Social Solutions Implementation team in 2007, and became the Director of Implementation in June 2008.

Adrian Bordone
Adrian co-founded Social Solutions with Steve Butz and Vince Griffith in 2000. Prior to Social Solutions, Adrian taught middle school students in Baltimore as part of an alternative education, off-site initiative called Ombudsman Educational Services. He later joined The Learning Bank, in the heart of Baltimore’s economically depressed west side, as an adult education instructor. While at The Learning Bank, he worked with Steve Butz to develop and implement coursework and activities built on increasing students’ personal accountability and employment related skills. He rose to the position of Assistant Director, before leaving The Learning Bank in 1999 to become the Director of the Maryland Center for Arts and Technology (MCAT). MCAT was a newly incorporated non-profit dedicated to improving the caliber of training and the marketability of Baltimore’s underemployed residents. MCAT’s mission was built on the strategies successfully implemented by its national workforce partners, Pittsburgh’s Bidwell/Manchester programs and New York’s Wildcat Services Corporation. Adrian rose to the position of Chief Operating Officer before helping to start Social Solutions and joining the day-to-day operations of the Company in January, 2001. Over the last 9 years, Adrian’s responsibilities with Social Solutions have run the gamut from operations to ETO Software implementation, consulting and sales.