PIVOTAL
Chelsey Piasentin Souza, CFRE has extensive experience in the field of philanthropic development. Chelsey is currently serving as the Chief Development Officer at PIVOTAL. Prior to this, Chelsey held various roles at Essex & Drake Fundraising Counsel, where they started as a Senior Consultant in 2011. Chelsey then became the President of the company, responsible for advising clients and managing the consultancy. Chelsey also worked at eBay as part of the Corporate Philanthropy team and at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation as a Development Officer. Chelsey played a key role in raising funds, cultivating relationships with donors and professional advisors, and facilitating the donation of illiquid assets. Chelsey's earlier experience includes serving as the Director of Development at The Family Giving Tree and as a Development Manager at Second Harvest of Silicon Valley.
Chelsey Piasentin Souza completed a Certificate program in Fundraising from the University of Indiana, School of Philanthropy in 2002. Prior to that, they pursued a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Italian Studies from California State University, Chico between 1995 and 2000. In 1999, they also earned a Certificate of Language in Italian Language and Literature from Università di Pisa. Additionally, Chelsey obtained the Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) certification from CFRE International in March 2008.
PIVOTAL
PIVOTAL, formerly called Silicon Valley Children's Fund and TeenForce is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to improving educational and life outcomes for foster youth. PIVOTAL has provided over $3M in scholarship dollars to foster youth in Silicon Valley. Our persistent coaching model provides high school and college foster youth continuous mentor support, education planning, tutoring, career exploration and an unconditional commitment to help them define and achieve their life dreams! PIVOTAL scholars are 10x more likely to graduate from college, compared to only 3% of foster youth nationally. PIVOTAL helps foster youth acquire the skills, habits and work experience to fulfill their potential. Our staffing agency model makes it convenient and cost-effective for employers to hire teens and generates revenue to support our activities. Visit teenforce.org to learn more about our staffing model. For more information about our organization please email us: info@pivotalnow.org